Thursday, June 9, 2011

I Just Want to Bring Fire to the People


So this was a post I originally devised quite some time ago but never actually wrote. I love this clip from Superman Returns. Lex Luthor is such a masterful villain. Really there is so much to admire of him. He almost seems like a man of the people in his behavior and his schemes. Of course, where he goes wrong is when he tries to get that cut for himself; not to mention his schemes often involve the harming of other individuals. I guess I often see a lot of Lex in myself.

I've found that I'm very big on the rule of law in my life. I want to see that maxim of equality to shine through to the people as a whole. I believe whole heartedly that someday when I'm brought before God and Jesus Christ for judgement that a very similar principle will be applied. So when I see these inequities in my life or the lives of others, it sorely vexes me.

Unfortunately I'm sure that I'm not nearly as selfless as I would like to be in these ambitions. I know there's often a bit too much Lex in me and I want my cut for myself. I feel like I get wronged and want that justice. However, I know it still bothers me even more when I see it happen to others.

I really don't know what the solution to this problem is though. Capitalist economics seem to dictate most of how the world works. Of course the interesting thing about the economic system in which we live is that it still provides an opportunity for a lot of the main principles to be seemingly violated. Capitalism typically works off of a meritocracy in which your good work is rewarded. However, the more I see of the world, the more I see a game of politics really running even the economics of the day. Right man, right place, right time seems to run what happens more than hard work.

I think of my dad a lot with this kind of idea. I really admire my father a lot because I know how hard he has worked for my family to get us to where we are. My father used to commute for a number of hours each day to provide for our family. He was highly loyal to the companies he worked for and was a long time, valuable employee for them. Unfortunately (and I will say this with the disclaimer that this is what I've gleaned of the circumstances and may not be entirely accurate) his loyalty was more of a grounds for him to not necessarily have opportunities to advance and be rewarded for his loyalty and hard work. Now I could never say with any certainty what sort of employee my father is; I've never been his employer. However, I have a hard time believing that the sort of dedication he put forth was rewarded as was right.

Sometimes the world is kind of rough place. It's interesting having the lens of my Political Science BA to look through everything. It makes me understand and appreciate that politicking is a real phenomenon that I have to deal with in my working experience.