The Highest Poverty

Giorgio Agamben begins his book, The Highest Poverty, discussing the concept of time and rule. He analyzes the origins and transformations of rule over time and how it has come to govern human life. In possibly one of the greatest forms of “ruling”, there is the construct of time. While rule, controls the people by telling them what they can and cannot do, time tells them when they can or cannot do things. In present day, we are ruled by time, when to eat, when to get up, how much sleep to get, when to work, etc. Even when people think they are in control of their own actions or decisions, they are still operating under the framework of time, which Agamben uses Rabelais to explain, “the greatest folly in the world was to govern oneself by the ring of a bell and not at the dictation of good sense and understanding” (5). Continuing the discussion, …show more content…
They did not live their lives by rules or time, but if one person wanted to do something, they all would do it (6). I find that to be very interesting as it seems almost contradictory to living their lives as they want to live it. It makes me question how much of our lives, are ours? And how much of our decisions are made under the guise of what we “want” based on social constructs and expectations in society. Agamben continues his work by looking into the bible. He brings up the story of Jacob, uses hebraic language and brings up the relationship between God and his/her/their/its followers. In Judaism, there is a concept of Bechera Chupsheet, or “Free Will” which seeks to analyze if humans operate under their own free will and that God gave us the ability to do so, or if God