République universelle des lettres

Reading once more news about the death of Michael Jackson and its possible causes I felt that I have had enough. I feel I am somebody for whom the mass media, even the best of them, have become nearly intolerable. I am different, I don't want this rubbish any more. I would like to say no to a big part of our civilization, to its politics, entertainment, economy and arts. I want something different, I want to live in a different atmosphere. I think there are many people like me, now we must somehow find one another, establish contacts, begin to communicate, create our own virtual environment. We could well call it "La République universelle des lettres", RUL, the Universal Republic of Knowledge in free translation. It would continue the project of the Enlightenment, Enlightenment 2K. We should say clear NO to ideologies, to most of what is known as religion, to entertainment, to consumerism. In a way, our Republic would also be a virtual monastery, a refuge from a world that is becoming more and more a parody of itself as my late friend Georg Henrik von Wright wrote in his last letter to me. We should try to influence the world but not let the world influence ourselves. We should feel ourselves and act first of all as citizens of our Republic. Maybe it would make sense to issue an official proclamation of such a Republic. There are many problems, as e.g. the citizenship of our Republic. But I think these problems can be solved. I will try to contact people who may think in the same way, the potential citizens of the RUL.