Parable for Ishmael
There was once a very rich and ambitious man. He had everything he could ever want. One day, he realized there was something he wanted which he did not already have. He realized he had yet to possess his very own city.
And so, the man set about building his own city. He built the most wonderful city there ever was. Railroad, banks, apartments, restaurants, parks, all the things one could ever want in a city. When the city was complete, he found people, and invited them to live in this wonderful city of his. The conditions were perfect. The economy was thriving, the people were happy, and no one could ask for anything more.
Then one day, something disrupted the perfect city. A building sunk into the ground. The man, however, was not worried. He simply said to himself, "Not to worry, I have enough money; I will build a new one in place of the old one." And so he did. Things were back to normal, and everyone was happy again.
And then, another building sunk into the ground. The man thought nothing of it, and built a new one in place of it. However, the buildings did not stop sinking. The buildings sunk one after the other and the man built and built and built. However, the man could not win. The buildings were disappearing into the ground much faster than he could build them. One day, the man woke in despair to find that all the buildings had gone. The city was no more.
The man wandered around his "city" in despair, wondering what had led to its collapse. He had hired the best company. He had used the best materials. He had maintained the excellent conditions of the buildings. He had... Suddenly, his foot sunk into the ground. The man looked down and saw that he was standing on nothing other than sand.
Labels: global ethics
Instinct Reflection
This film outdid my expectations. After a look at the film's
IMDB page prior to watching the film, I hadn't expected much. I think, however, you have to have read Ishmael to understand better what the film was about. I think the film was a good tie-in with Ishmael, but I preferred the book.
"It's the game. The game, Ethan. And I was so good at it. I made sure all the right people liked me. At night, I'd go through the checklist in my mind: Am I cool with Ben Hillard? Am I cool with Dr. Josephson? Am I cool with all the people who can help me? Am I cool with all the people who can hurt me? Nobody thought I was weak or a loser. There was nobody I was offending, nobody I loved. That game, Ethan. But guess what? You taught me how to live outside of the game. You taught me how to live. And you know what scares me even more? That I'm going back in."
I feel this part of the film was most powerful to me. I knew exactly what Theo was talking about. We spend all our lives trying to please the right people. No matter what we feel, no matter what we want, we put on this facade and pretend that we are fine with everything. We do the sort of things, and please the sorts of people that will get us places. We try our hardest not to offend anyone, and if we do, we apologize straight away. But what's most horrible is the fact that we have become so accustomed to this game that we cannot, we will not, live outside of it. For many of us, we don't even realize that we are playing this game...
I, too, want to learn how to live. I, too, want to learn how to live outside the rules, outside the game, outside the restrictions set upon me by both myself and society. I want to be able to experience freedom for myself, instead of vicariously.
Freedom is not a dream. Both the film and Ishmael give a very strong sense of hope at the end. There is some security in knowing that we can break free, tear down the bars, and save not only ourselves, but the world too. As Ishmael said, our task "is not to reach back but to reach forward."
Labels: global ethics
