Welcome back to The Territory. This week I’d like to bring in one of the great thinkers and believers of the human condition, none other than the great Walter Benjamin. Walter Benjamin (Valter Ben-Jah-Meen) was a humanitarian and an esoteric philosopher. In philosophy circles he would be known as a non linear philosopher in that he contradicts himself and finds that there are lots of contradictory parts of life to adapt too and it’s not regarded as an insult either, just a term. Nietzsche was also like this as an example. Benjamin did the majority of his work in the early to mid nineteen hundreds and really started picking up speed in the thirties. He was a German humanitarian which means he was an enemy of Hitler which is hard when your FROM GERMANY. Benjamin’s works and essays got translated around the globe and the one that I want to talk about is a collection of his essays called “Illuminations”. “Illumintaions” is a great introduction to WB and his way of attacking ideas. He was a fierce critic and a beautiful writer and some of his essays found in “Illuminations” are read and taught today in asthetics and art classes around the globe. He has another book that is huge and a massive undertakeing called “The Arcades Project” that I’ll bring into The Territory later on. Benjamin’s death is about as tragic as you can get. He committed suicide while trying to get out of occupied Spain and into America. Spain and the Gestapo were very much in cahoots and Benjamin was in a large gathering of people also trying to get out of the country. The reached a border that they thought was unoccupied but the Gestapo were there and looking for WB. WB knew that the Gestapo were looking for him and if they found him in this large gathering of people that the people would not only not have a chance at freedom but his presence would probably endanger their lives. That night he killed himself. The kicker is that the Gestapo were only there for that week and if WB had hit the border one day earlier or waited one week he would have made it across just fine. This one went long and thanks for sticking with it. WB can be found on amazon and the like for pretty cheap. good luck.

Of all the ways of acquiring books, writing them oneself is regarded as the most praiseworthy method. Writers are really people who write books not because they are poor, but because they are dissatisfied with the books which they could buy but do not like.