The notion of Christ as an anti-sacrifice, as a symbol of an order he was seeking thereby to signify, name, describe, and overturn, is one of Rene Girard’s, at least. And at one time I read everything he wrote. He is the one that got me interested in sacrifice.
As I think about it, though, repetition serves a purpose. Most importantly, it is imperfect, particularly when done unprofessionally, carelessly, in an ad hoc fashion. Small difference may emerge, small genetic mutations, and possible improvements, possible “selections”, to use the term we apply to biology as seen through a Darwinian lens.
And I think about repetition as seen through a class perspective. Perfect repetition is the concern of the elite. It is the system that got them there, and the system they want to preserve. In India, to take a pure metaphor, the Brahmin children were expected to remember the Vedas perfectly. Flawlessly. They were beaten–are beaten, as far as I know–until they get it perfect.
The uber-rich, say, the Rockefellers, are expected to inherit certain traits of command, certain traits of prosperity, certain habits of mind. They may differ considerably in their hobbies, passions, etc. But they are expected to be able to take the helm. Some things are not to be touched or changed. They are upheld with violence.
And I thought about it: the most violent in a strict social order are the owners, the leaders, those who benefit most. They cannot innovate. They cannot change. Every change risks a fall.
This is why social evolution happens in the lower classes, those who have no particular order to maintain, no status to uphold. Being interesting is, by and large, the role blacks play in American and even global culture. They do and say and think new things.
And I would contrast this organic change–one which is voluntarily embraced by many or even most people–with the propaganda oriented, coerced change, such as we are seeing with the issues of gay rights, trans-rights, and the claims that illegal aliens are somehow not detrimental to the economic well being of people born here. These are agendas, pushed by and for elites. For what? For power. This habit they dare not change.
If you want the current script, simply look at the areas where Democrats and Republicans agree at the Party level. If you want an alternative, look to the people in this election cycle who are hated by their respective parties.
I think we all sense everything I am saying is true. To get to the top of a structure, you have to internalize the values of that structure. You have to want very much to be a part of that structure. This is why anyone who emerges from that structure can be expected to behave in certain predictable, scriptable ways.
I don’t like Ted Cruz, but I will vote for him if I have to. If the formerly Grand OP wants to foist Kasich or even Ryan on me, I am going to donate to the Democrats, sit home, and plan out my stockpile of food and ammunition. Perhaps this is the plan. If so, I can’t see how we are not well and truly fucked.