regenbogen*the charisma of technology

[lorentzen-nicklaus]

 "'beg pardon?' slothrop looks around to finds miklos thanatz, full beard, 
 eyebrows feathering out like trailing edges of hawks' wings, drinking absinthe 
 out of a souvenir stein on which, in colors made ghastly by the carnival lights 
 on deck, bony and giggling death is about to surprise two lovers in bed.
 there's no problem steering him onto the subject of the rocket---'i think of 
 the a4,' sez he, 'as a baby jesus with endless committees of herods out to 
 destroy it in infancy---prussians, some of whom in their innermost hearts still 
 felt artillery to be a dangerous innovation. if you'd been out there ... inside 
 the first minute, you saw, you grew docile under its ... it really did possess 
 a max weber charisma ... some joyful---and  d e e p l y  irrational---force the 
 state bureaucracy could never routinize, against which it could not prevail ... 
 they did resist it, but they also allowed it to happen. we can't imagine anyone 
 c h o o s i n g  a role like that. but every year, somehow, their numbers 
 grow.'" (p. 464)


 *** does thanatz speak out pynchon's own weber reading here? in the 
    herrschaftssoziologie max weber distinguishes "ideal-typically" between 
    traditional, bureaucratic, and charismatic domination. standing inside the  
    storm of enforced organizational modernization weber suggested for his own  
    time a balanced mixture of bureaucratic and charismatic domination. that's  
    why weber (see "politik als beruf", 1919) demanded of politicians not only  
    sense of proportion and responsibility but also --- passion. in § 10 of "die 
    typen der herrschaft", which is "wirtschaft und gesellschaft"'s third     
    chapter, weber describes charisma as a "quality of a personality"     
    appreciated by supporters. i don't think, yet you may correct me, that weber 
    ever seriously thought about the thesis that technology could do the job.   
    the quoted rainbow passage, however, seems to suggest the rising charismatic 
    domination of post-humanist technology. (and in m&d, to throw a little      
    side-glance, the  american founding fathers do impress more with their     
    equipment than with their personalities, no?) rockets & nukes are still,   
    you may also think of india and pakistan here, pretty popular and of     
    charismatic symbolism in some parts of the world ... and these days - ein   
    schreien am himmel jetzt! - there's this new kid on the block ... to invite 
    yoyodyne for genetic engineering our governments compete with each other    
    who's first to dissolve laws and morals on this highway to the brave new    
    world... so if you want to be helpful, go to the "body shop" tonight and 
    make sure to get one of this oh so reasonable "you & your genes" test ...   
    it's easy, you can do it at home ... & and it's a must, i mean, really ...  
    
let's stop bio-technology now! kai