Against the Robots

The modern world constantly presents us with scapegoats. Lance Armstrong, Richard Millet, Jérôme Kerviel, John Galliano, to name but a few, each in their own field, with completely different causes and reasons, have recently embodied the scapegoat, the justly punished culprit, the troublemaker brought back into line. The scapegoat is linked to egalitarianism, itself linked to envy. From hero to scapegoat, only envy remains constant. The modern world has spectacle in its blood; the scapegoat serves a cathartic function.

In the age of modern democracy, everything happens on Twitter or Facebook. That's where the real information is. To be absent is tantamount to disappearing, to living a life in the shadows, a life of secrecy. On social media, the ultimate expression of modern democracy is permitted: to be close to the idol, to live with the idol, to keep pace with the idol, to know everything about them, to see them when you get up, to kiss them goodnight; only physical contact is missing. This proximity transforms the role of the idol as it has always been known, altering it forever. If the idol were a simple statuette, it wouldn't speak, wouldn't respond, it would only occupy the space allotted to it, its image embodying all the mental images the brain can produce. The modern world doesn't understand mental images; it's beyond fantasy. It hates what is hidden, not to mention what is secret. Hence the often-used expression: fantasy become reality. The fantasy— phantasmata , the mental image for the ancient Greeks—cannot be, must not be, a reality. Otherwise, horror lurks. Otherwise, we can only pray while waiting for everything to return to normal. There is a potential for brutalization in being too close to the idol. Through this proximity, the modern world has sought to create a cathartic lever to control consciences. The idol can be a hero or a scapegoat; it can serve the society of the spectacle and its soft dictatorship. It also allows us to fill in boxes: hero, scapegoat, fallen man, condemned man, victim… A cigarette paper separates these labels. Against a backdrop of moralism, society lays its cards on the table and distributes praise and blame. All areas are affected, but some, more “popular” than others, are favored. The scapegoat allows one to rehabilitate oneself, to put on a show, or to assert one's responsibility and incorruptibility. But no one should be fooled by such schemes. The society of the spectacle is a sham society based on intrusion, indecency, and denunciation.

The fallen form a gallery of portraits. A gallery displayed because it is meant to be edifying. Our world prides itself on both victors and vanquished. It is considerate. But it delights in toppling an idol as soon as that idol rebels even slightly against the system, as soon as it becomes bigger than the egg. The society of the spectacle labels these vanquished cheaters; etymologically, a cheater is one who bothers, one who disturbs the established order. One is not born a cheater, one becomes one. The cheater is always malevolent. It is not society that corrupted him, it is he who corrupts society. No clemency can be invoked. The cheater is also guilty because he was trusted. He was loved. To summarize modern thought, one would have to say that the cheater is a provocateur who gets only what he deserves. This is where he becomes a scapegoat because he is considered intelligent enough to know what he's doing ^. It's important for the media and the justice system—often one and the same—to show that the disgraced individual had set up a flawless organization—the merit of the investigation is obviously highlighted here, and the courage of the court's decision proclaimed!—outwitting all controls, all scientific rigor—which is to say, just how brilliant and cunning the disgraced individual is. In common parlance, this tactic has a name: a smear campaign. Showing that the disgraced individual largely abused the generosity of his employer (whether we're talking about the sport or the advertising agency, of course) is a farce, especially since the press and the justice system often associate it with the idea that everyone knew about it. The process is crystal clear: everyone (in the system) knew what was happening, but no one spoke up because the scapegoat instilled terror in those around him. It's also certain that this so-called "everyone"—whom we could also call "the people" to maintain the extreme precision of the term—is being made to feel guilty; making them even more resentful towards the one responsible for their guilt. This process serves to completely discredit the fallen man. It's important to show that the practices in question: 1) are particular, singular, and therefore unique or nearly so; 2) if it were proven that these practices still exist somewhere, which is of course highly unlikely given the thoroughness and absolute fairness of the investigation, the remaining players would immediately be paralyzed with fear of being identified; 3) the scapegoat gets what's coming to him: justice is served. The scapegoat was a dictator, a fascist. The world (of discipline, of the socio-cultural sphere, but, implicitly, the world in general) will be better off after the cheat has been overthrown.

The scapegoat theory

René Girard spent his life studying and exploring the phenomenon of the scapegoat. ^René Girard's studies have this remarkable quality—and it is often this quality that reveals the importance of a thought—that time does not affect them, but on the contrary, they gain depth by following their historical course. This is because they transcend human time. Humans find it very difficult to think outside the confines of their lifetime. Their thoughts do not endure. Girard's thought is not afraid to confront eternity. Time can endure, and that is precisely what God's time does. "What does not last is not long," said Saint Augustine. Book after book, René Girard believes that the theory of the scapegoat reached its conclusion with the death of Christ on the cross. The various manifestations of the scapegoat are merely the dragon's tail, remnants of Antiquity, of the pre-Christian era. This theory may seem appalling to us; the post-Christian era has seen numerous bloody and monstrous manifestations of the scapegoat. The Holocaust and Rwanda, to name only the most recent examples, embody the expression of the scapegoat for the world. The driving force behind the scapegoat is envy. Indeed, the scapegoat is singled out for popular condemnation. If popular condemnation were never unleashed, the scapegoat would be free, or would no longer be a scapegoat, but simply a victim. And the victim does not bear the weight of the world and humanity; indeed, "they" are even pitied.

The people approve of the scapegoat's execution because the scapegoat is too handsome, too powerful, too gifted; he performs physical feats too easily; he is detestable; his arrogance must be punished. He must pay. It is clear that the scapegoat is a mental image, a fantasy, but where antiquity drew upon fictional figures or those embodying fiction, such as a statuette, an actor's role, a literary character, or even a fighter in the arena, the modern world pushes the men who embody these fantasies—men of flesh and blood—to exceed their limits—through lack of dialogue, indifference, or arrogance—only to then strip them of all glory. Envy draws its abundance from the spirit of competition. By creating suspicion, by successfully demonstrating that the fallen man's success hides something, that one is not born with such talent (the argument always omits work, the evidence of work required to achieve such success), more precisely, that one does not win with impunity without a hidden motive, that all of this is not clear, the society of the spectacle must be aware that it is partly sabotaging the dream without which the scapegoat would be stripped of all emotional weight. It is because it knows the dream is ever-stronger that it is able to act in this way. Human weakness is fully, absolutely, immensely manifested in envy. The deified, adored being, the being on whom my life depends, with whom I am unhappy or sad depending on his moods, the being so good, so beyond anything I know, this being has lied to me, he has played me for a fool, he is the most deceitful of men, the most incapable of understanding me, he must pay, he must pay, it would be just for him to pay, justice will be served, he must at least feel all the harm he has done me, he must experience what I have experienced and even more, because fundamentally I was good, I did nothing wrong, I devoted myself to him and he betrayed me, he is nothing, he is less than nothing. We follow the process. The driving force of the mechanism is called comparison. And comparison breeds envy. Comparison should be forbidden; indeed, this is always one of the precepts of a Christian education. Comparison creates a situation of rivalry; comparison exacerbates inequality ⁽ which it will then attempt to resolve by relying on envy), and from this situation of rivalry arises a feeling of powerlessness. Comparison exacerbates inequality because it forces one to forget oneself, it compels one to see only what is disturbing in the other. Comparison, and therefore envy, represent real forces of exclusion. They are its driving force. In comparison, the qualities of one are subjected to the flaws of the other. It is no longer the qualities of one that provide strength, but rather the hatred of flaws (which may be qualities that one lacks) that provides strength. The power to hate is immediate and waits for no response. From envy will arise a feeling of immeasurable power, even if the other possesses glory. The feeling of power stems from the fact that one person knows things the other doesn't. One is in control, with their own commands of hatred. They live in darkness, hidden in this twilight; they alone know, they alone possess this power. After the humiliation will come the revelation. The envy revealed. Either the envied, the future scapegoat, is all-powerful and creates the envious person's powerlessness—but also their own power, as we have seen. Or the envied person is not considered all-powerful by the envious, but rather lucky, treacherous, roguish, or a sorcerer, and they create the envious person's powerlessness. In any case, this feeling of powerlessness is present and "animates" the envious.

Christianity as an antidote to savagery

If Christ marks the end of the scapegoat in human history, according to René Girard, Christianity aims to annihilate envy ⁴ </sup> By marking the end of the scapegoat, through the perfect scapegoat, Jesus Christ, Christianity also offered an unenviable model^⁵; a perfect model that one cannot envy and that cannot be envied. Christianity considered envy as one of the supreme sources of evil and eradicated it. Of course, envy continues to exist, but historically speaking, envy has been vanquished. And with envy, evil. Dream and powerlessness are two sides of the same coin for envy. The shift from adulation to hatred is only a matter of time. The fallen idol will become the scapegoat. Especially since the idol has fallen. In less time than it takes to say it, with a heavy dose of egalitarianism and moralism, two of the most fertile breeding grounds of the modern world, the idol has become just another person, a person like you and me, a person almost like you and me. ^This space, this dimension, truly a place of lawlessness, a place of reverence and humility, has been trampled underfoot by egalitarianism. It is a life-or-death struggle waged by egalitarianism against every institution, every form of hierarchy, everything that endures, everything that takes deep root. Envy that does with misery reside, the joy and the revenge of ruined pride (Dryden). Envy that coexists with misery, joy and revenge of broken pride; envy often stems from pride. I felt pride in desiring this champion; I poured all my pride into defending him, supporting him, enduring his suffering, savoring his victories. Now, betrayed, I will use the same pride to denigrate him, vilify him, revile him, and humiliate him. Because he betrayed my pride, because he betrayed me, he betrayed my love. While the jealous person's motives revolve solely around the possessor, the envious person's motives revolve around possession. But this entire system rests on comparison. The viewer sitting in front of their television compares themselves to this great athlete because they support them, because they defend them, because they live with them… Through them? There is always an unhealthy appropriation in comparison.

Hatred of authority

By eliminating the sacred distance between the worshipper and their idol, egalitarianism has succeeded in making that idol human. There are no longer any great champions, those champions whose personality overflows their talent. Personality is smooth and sanitized, which in no way hinders excellence in their chosen field, but there are no more rough edges. During interviews, these athletes always repeat the same thing in the same tone. We barely know of a girlfriend or a fiancée they might have; we excuse their digressions, because digressions are part of youth. Like actors or writers promoting their books, great champions have become stars like any other. But they must always accept being spied on, being under the magnifying glass of moralism, and if they fail in their duty, they will be crushed. A sportsman who cheats on his wife is pilloried, his entire life splashed across the press, and he loses his captain's armband! English football reaches the height of moralism by punishing a player who called another Black player a "dirty nigger" with a civil lawsuit and a prohibitive fine. Egalitarianism, aided by moralism, targets its ideal and dethrones the idol. Whoever it may be. All those who transgress fall into line. If you cheat on your wife, you are not worthy of being in charge of a team. If you racially insult another player, you deserve prison. This is our system of a soft dictatorship, taking hold without anyone raising an objection. We have long been taught to think this way; in all American TV series and films, Black people live with Black people, Hispanics with Hispanics. In all American TV series and films, a man who transgresses can no longer be forgiven. He is lost forever; no one can do anything for him anymore; it's a damnation. Therefore, nothing is more satisfying than seeing this idol suddenly struck at the heart, brought down, ridiculed, and humiliated. Egalitarianism loves nothing more than making examples. It thus establishes its authority. At the slightest sign of rebellion, the ultimate weapon, moralism, will act to definitively humiliate the idol by degrading him, rendering him unworthy, shameful. Because the idol is nothing compared to the system that allowed him to exist. The system erodes all personalities, grinds them down, and wrings their necks if necessary, if they err, if they deviate from the expected path. A very… hierarchical system, in fact.

Here, then, is the inhumane society, utterly anti-Christian, because it refuses to acknowledge the weakness and depravity of the human soul. Modern society is anti-Christian because it is egalitarian, ⁷ egalitarianism being the breeding ground and fertilizer of envy. Christianity conceives of human society as free from envy. Modern society conceives of human society by founding it on envy. Christianity is interested only in humanity. Modern society is indifferent to it. Thus, the scapegoat, vanquished by egalitarianism and moralism, will continue to embody a lost humanity, a particular charisma, an unsurpassed talent, an indisputable freedom. Outcast from society, he becomes a reference point for the undocumented of modern ideology, those who await the next troublemaker: the next "cheater"; the one who never ceases to be a nuisance.