The recent period — and in particular the last six weeks of our peaceful revolution — has shown the enormous human, moral and spiritual potential, an… - Václav Havel

siamo di fronte a un compito fondamentale da cui tutto il resto dovrebbe discendere. Tale compito è quello di resistere in modo vigile e attento, ma allo stesso tempo con totale dedizione, sempre e ovunque, all’impeto irrazionale del potere anonimo, impersonale e inumano, il potere delle ideologie, dei sistemi, degli apparati, della burocrazia, dei linguaggi artificiali e degli slogan politici. Dobbiamo resistere alla sua complessa e totalmente alienante pressione, sia che assuma la forma di consumo, pubblicità, repressione, tecnologia o cliché, che sono tutti consanguinei del fanatismo e fonte del pensiero totalitario.

Why do I say this? It would be very unreasonable to understand the sad legacy of the last forty years as something alien, which some distant relative bequeathed to us. On the contrary, we have to accept this legacy as a sin we committed against ourselves. If we accept it as such, we will understand that it is up to us all, and up to us alone to do something about it. We cannot blame the previous rulers for everything, not only because it would be untrue, but also because it would blunt the duty that each of us faces today: namely, the obligation to act independently, freely, reasonably and quickly. Let us not be mistaken: the best government in the world, the best parliament and the best president, cannot achieve much on their own. And it would be wrong to expect a general remedy from them alone. Freedom and democracy include participation and therefore responsibility from us all.

Modern man must descend the spiral of his own absurdity to the lowest point; only then can he look beyond it. It is obviously impossible to get around it, jump over it, or simply avoid it.