The Losers
I was just looking at this trailer for the 2010 movie release, Andy Diggle's The Losers. It strikes me that this is a very ancient tale; elite troops who might know too much, and are not trusted with what they might know, and therefore become targets for elimination.
Look around you, as the tomb of Sir Christopher Wren in St Paul's Cathedral says. You will find many hidden memorials to this ancient tale, even in the workplace you thought was safe and bright. For there is no haven which doesn't have a dark side; a haven is designed to keep you safe, and to do that, it must keep itself safe. What then if the haven-keepers think you are a threat to them?
It is the same with altruism and philanthropy. All philanthropists must constrain their giving. All you have to do is to analyse the patterns of their giving, and you will know what kind of world they prefer. And by preferring one kind of world over another, they are using money to create the world they want. Should they have the right, simply because they have the cash? The answer is beyond us, and perhaps there is no real answer.
That's because in any situation, the one with the motive and the power will force the issue. Resistance is futile; be assimilated or eliminated. As Dante wrote in Vergilius's mouth, "Where will and power are one, so let it be; ask now no more."
There will always be losers, no matter how 'win-win' our narratives and hopeful publicity brochures are. As Jesus said, "The poor you will have with you always."
Does this then mean that we should abandon the hypocrisy of altruism? No. It should mean that even in dark times, we can help others. The light may be faint, and enlightenment therefore dim; but some light is infinitely better than none — for a time anyway, and in this world of all worlds, world without end.
Look around you, as the tomb of Sir Christopher Wren in St Paul's Cathedral says. You will find many hidden memorials to this ancient tale, even in the workplace you thought was safe and bright. For there is no haven which doesn't have a dark side; a haven is designed to keep you safe, and to do that, it must keep itself safe. What then if the haven-keepers think you are a threat to them?
It is the same with altruism and philanthropy. All philanthropists must constrain their giving. All you have to do is to analyse the patterns of their giving, and you will know what kind of world they prefer. And by preferring one kind of world over another, they are using money to create the world they want. Should they have the right, simply because they have the cash? The answer is beyond us, and perhaps there is no real answer.
That's because in any situation, the one with the motive and the power will force the issue. Resistance is futile; be assimilated or eliminated. As Dante wrote in Vergilius's mouth, "Where will and power are one, so let it be; ask now no more."
There will always be losers, no matter how 'win-win' our narratives and hopeful publicity brochures are. As Jesus said, "The poor you will have with you always."
Does this then mean that we should abandon the hypocrisy of altruism? No. It should mean that even in dark times, we can help others. The light may be faint, and enlightenment therefore dim; but some light is infinitely better than none — for a time anyway, and in this world of all worlds, world without end.
etched with acid at 1:34:00 pm
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