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Romanticism fueled the French Revolution and, by extension, our own revolution. Ideas such as the dignity, basic goodness, and perfectability of mankind, the sacrosanct nature of individual expression and untrammeled human freedom inform western societies. These ideas have lost much of their meaning as a result of the cold, cruel, and existential experience of the Modern and Postmodern eras, yet they still stir the emotions of many. They've therefore become the standard memes of mass advertising and mass media. The notion that the state, government in general, and mechanisms of control stand in opposition to these romantic principles is a hallmark of our time.
I favor mechanisms of repression as I understand them to be our sole defense against uninspired anarchy. I have also found the free expression of most individuals to be not free at all - but conditioned by uninspired cultural influence. This includes the gyrations of adolescents.
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create evolution
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