one step forward, two steps back

As Fasolt emphasizes in his text, there is a distinction between past and present that must not be blurred. Benjamin also mentions on page 254: "There is a secret agreement between past generations and the present one." and continues on to say, "A chronicler who recites events without distinguishing between major and minor ones acts in accordance with the following truth: nothing that has ever happened should be regarded as lost for history." Fasolt and Benjamin seem very connected in their thoughts considering they both believe that there is an undeniable distinction necessarily existent between past and present as well as the fact that nothing in history should be lost. Of course, Fasolt reinforces how much of history truly is lost and how nothing is ever objectively documented nor is every piece of history even recorded to begin with. These connections I found to be very valid and prominent.

I also found that much of the content was related to Hegel. Benjamin's passage that he included in part IV said, "'Seek for food and clothing first, then the Kingdom of God shall be added unto you.' -Hegel 1807" I found this particularly interesting because I am familiar with a saying in the church that goes, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." I was not sure what Hegel meant by replacing the ideas of God and His righteousness with the items of food and clothing, but perhaps he was trying to emphasize that one must live for him or herself and gain his or her necessities in order to gain the Kingdom of God?

There was another connection I found in regards to Hegel in that Benjamin in part XIII on page 260 when he describes progress. Social Democratic theory has been formed by a conception of progress of: mankind itself, infinite perfectibility of mankind, and irresistibility. The last form of progress was interesting to me because he goes on to say, "Thirdly, progress was regarded as irresistible, something that automatically pursued a straight or spiral course." Hegel reinforces that paths in life are unidirectional and that man lives to fulfill a certain vocation. I think it is intriguing how Benjamin believes Social Democrats regard progress as something that is inevitably on a straight or spiral course as Hegel tends to think of progress as linear as well.

I found Benjamin's thoughts on how Social Democrats view progress intriguing and relative to my life because how I see progress is not linear at all. When I think of progress, I believe it wavers and despite the progressive incline, there are definite moments of decline as well. My best friend is struggling with a personal issue, and something I keep emphasizing to her is that progress is not linear. To be realistic, it is important to remember that with every step taken forward, there will be times that you break down or feel weak, but that is all part of the process of progression. Progress simply is not linear.