Adrien Veidt, Ozymandias of Watchmen fame, was a fictitious shepherd of people. A leader who I, personally, would characterize as more of a villain. Veidt is removed from the idea that each human entity is entitled to life. I suppose Moore did this to mirror the inception of atomic warfare and the rationale behind dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
This mass murder in the present will preserve our future--more or less the idea. Veidt successfully manufactures world peace.
Martin Luther King Jr. was another shepherd of people. The eminent face of the civil rights movement and one of my personal heroes. But non-violent protest relied heavily on the aggression of the oppressor (dogs, hoses, police brutality) and mass media coverage. The world was exposed to the atrocities of civil injustice at the hands of overtly racist southern institutions. There is a strong undercurrent of masochism and martyrdom under the idealism. MLK Jr. essentially encouraged people to come under fire for the good of the cause.
It is true that nothing in this world is gained without sacrifice, but at what cost? How many nameless lives lay at the foundation of our institutions?
Existentialism is a metacognitive realization (factual or imagined) of one's place in the universe. These are all allusions that have been made. To some with status and resource life is only a board game. People are expendable pieces. I believe in order. But how can these hierarchies exist without labels of class. Even if we can demolish aesthetic, religious and other social hierarchies--how will there ever be a solution to discontent and inequality?
Shepherds and Sheep
No comments:
Post a Comment