Invisible thoughts, part 3: "Say You Want A Revolution."

[wolven7]

I was thinking about the nature of revolution this evening and, besides the fact that that word is more telling than any "revolutionaries" ever seem to realise, I realised something about those who follow leaders who fall into under the aforementioned category: They gloss over the attrocities perpetrated by those leaders, instead prefering the falsely deified face of "glorious revolution."

Che, Mao, Castro, Washington, Hussein, bin Laden, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Ptolemy, Alexander... I could go on and on, with a list of people who wanted to changer the world, for the better, and who killed, burned, maimed, destroyed families, crushed farms and fields and the environment, to do it.

King Mob's violence is primary. The violence of The Invisibles is inescapable, in all that they do. When you read what they do, you cannot but see the horror that they cause, in the name of revolution, and Morrison makes sure that you feel every part of it. Soliders have families. Those families have names. Those names interlock and intersect with emotions and meaning. People are dying here.

It's for a greater good? What good is greater than a loving parent? A husband or wife? A great friend.

You don't get to gloss over the horrible things you do. You don't get to say, "If They're Not Free Of The Matrix, Then They're All Potential Agents, So It's Okay To Kill Them." No. They're someone's family, loved by someone, and trying to do what they think is right.

I like that Morrison doesn't let people.

Comments

[momentai.livejournal.com]

Soldiers and anyone else don't necessarily have families nor would they necessarily care about their families feelings on what they were doing. Likewise, the families might not care, if they exist. People vying for revolution, or doing anything really, don't necessarily beleive it is right, especially not the minions.

A family's love is particular, individual, personal, and fleeting, relatively speaking. So, there are plenty of goods greater than it. Hence the qualifier "greater". That good is ostensibly more significant than anyone one person's personal emotions since it effects more than one small set of people.

[not-hothead-yet.livejournal.com]

similar to my thoughts: becoming a soldier is somewhat a statement of intent and priorities in and of itself. Families of all types abound and a soldier's family is no different. I may not agree with any particular soldiers priorities but I do not fault them for choosing such.

[wolven.livejournal.com]

Also very true.

[wolven.livejournal.com]

The only change between them is context, not actual amount or size.

If you make your concerns as big as the universe and as small as a universe, then everything, Everything matters the same.

"Greater" good is only "greater" if we allow ourselves to forget that it is only built for and Out Of every piece of "lesser good" that goes into it.

[momentai.livejournal.com]

The context is always the most important aspect b/c it gives us the impetus to make our choices. Whether a leader admits that all humans and all opinions matter the same is irrelevant. That leader has to make a choice b/c you can't live in both sides of a desicion. In addition to saying that sometimes so called good things are not as relevant to the wider issues, I'm saying that revolutionaries, or whoever, don't necessarily gloss over the tragedy of their actions.

They may be perfectly aware of all the adverse consequences, but they still have to make a choice in order to move forward. We all just cope with and understand that choice differently than others.

[wolven.livejournal.com]

My problem is the justification of the acts, beyond what you say, right there. When we go from "I have to take a stand somewhere, and it is here, and so I will do these things, if they are necessary to this stand, and i am truly sorry for the negative impact it will have on the lives and minds of these people" to "It's Okay To Kill Them, Because They Are The Enemy," we make the transition from understanding to monsters.

When we stop facing the atrocity of what we have to do, every time we have to do it, and instead allow it to become easily done, that is when we have gone wrong.

[mendori.livejournal.com]

All I can think is the child's rhyme from This Perfect Day

Christ, Marx, Wood and Wei,
Led us to this perfect day.
Marx, Wood, Wei and Christ,
All but Wei were sacrificed.
Wood, Wei, Christ and Marx,
Gave us lovely schools and parks.
Wei, Christ, Marx and Wood,
Made us humble, made us good.

[wolven.livejournal.com]

That they did. That they did.

[moonandserpent.livejournal.com]

"Saving is what misers so."

[wolven.livejournal.com]

Now i can't stop thinking about 4D solids, each moment-segment lasting forever.