Are Ideas Bullet-proof?
Musings on Idea, classical liberalism, and Christian liberation in the face of postmodern evil.
I'd like to consider the main idea imparted in the movie V for Vendetta with Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving. That idea is most memorably expressed in V's words to Mr. Creedy,
"Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy, and ideas are bullet-proof."
I think I could safely summarize the Moral of this movie (if you like Morals to tales) as the victorious freedom of Free Thought over against tyranny. You will notice in the movie that music, art collection, and satire are all illegal forms of expression unless controlled by the will of the government. The heroes of the movie correctly recognize and appreciate art for it's ability to allow the human spirit to soar above tyrrany. "V" is a classically trained antihero who wakens the public from their slumbering freedom to overthrow the tyrant by virtue of their great ideals.
Let me point out why this simple story poses no threat to contemporary Western governments. The heart of the victorious "idea" in this movie is based on a belief in human nature that came to prominence during the Enlightenment. In case you haven't been paying attention, the reigning system of the thought now is Post-modernism, essentially a critique of the modernism that had it's roots in the Enlightenment. Within postmodernism arguments are not won or lost on the basis of collective rational thought. Competing arguments each have their spheres of influence. Within America's form of liberal democracy capitalism very easily uses postmodernism for it's own purposes, namely the spread of free enterprise. Agendas that are throw-backs to modernist times are now packaged conveniently in postmodern thought for today's audience. In previous days the idea of an African American Woman representing American foreign policy would have been thought impossibly too progressive, feminist and liberal. Condoleeza Rice has broken all stereotypes as an evangelist for the new face of postmodern neo-conservativism.
To be sure, the moneyed and the powerful still have an agenda for the world. But we are hard pressed to see one single imperial power. "V" as a simple literary device can stir our passions to fight the Power. But what power? How do the money'd and powerful continue control? By distributing the power to various associations. In this way the Democratic western powers manage to further an old agenda forcing free trade on would-be players, isolating non-players, and when necessary "protecting" themselves with invasion and occupation. Power and control are exerted over time and usually in the face of resistance so that action is always in the name of defense. This way we don't feel either controlled by the powers or part of the powers.
Let me get back to "V"s statement. "Ideas are bulletproof." In "V"s world the truth of this statement has the perfect lighting and contrast. In our world we have little need for such statements. But what about an area of our world that has constant media attention, so much so that a generation has passed and we in America think we know about it so much that we aren't paying attention? I'm speaking of the military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Palestine. Have more resolutions been passed concerning this little region than any other in the history of the International Community? I would say yes. And yet what has the UN ever been able to do to stop Israel from controlling every aspect of this region? The building of the Wall? Making the resident's lives a living hell? Nothing. Israel is right in the center of America's vision for Democracy in the Arab world. America wants to force this kind of democracy on the Arab world.
Iraq is America's attempt to Occupy (like Israel's long work in Palestine) a sovereign country for it's own good. The Iraqi Occupation swears that it is the new seed of democracy that the region wants. At least the Americans are swearing that.
My friend Jon walked into my office recently and said of Hezbollah, "It is an idea. You cannot kill an idea." Well that remains to be seen. If bullets won't work, maybe psychology, greed, torture, propaganda, and "good will" will. If the American people will go along with this radical way of seeding Democracy to weed out terror long into future governmental administrations, it will take a terrible toll on our own psyches. It takes a certain kind of morality to pull of an Occupation. A lot of self delusion. The reasoning must be: "If we can't kill their new ideas we'll at least keep it from infecting our own."
The next question I would ask is how can I be different? In "V"'s world the new superhuman test experiment arises from the inferno as the moral conscience of the nation. The perfect creation intended turns against the creators as their moral superior. Where does it get this moral superiority? As I said before, it is classical training from the Enlightenment. (Not of course, taking Nietchze's critique of morality into account.) The Christian Church in the film is part of the fascist matrix of control. Christianity makes the people impotent. This is not a unique idea, and neither is it necessarily true to history or human nature. Humans are not necessarily more noble for having discarded religion.
For myself, I can't find satisfaction in an argument for human nobility out of itself. Retorting that noble actions just as easily arise from the same humans that do the evil is just exercising contradiction.
Reminds me of a Monty Python skit that went thusly:
M: I came here for a good argument.
A: No you didn't; no, you came here for an argument.
M: An argument isn't just contradiction.
A: It can be.
M: No it can't. An argument is a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition.
A: No it isn't.
M: Yes it is! It's not just contradiction.
A: Look, if I argue with you, I must take up a contrary position.
M: Yes, but that's not just saying 'No it isn't.'
A: Yes it is!
M: No it isn't!
A: Yes it is!
M: Argument is an intellectual process. Contradiction is just the automatic gainsaying of any statement the other person makes.
(short pause)
A: No it isn't.
M: It is.
A: Not at all.
(http://www.mindspring.com/~mfpatton/sketch.htm)
The argument that faith always play victim to power doesn't work. It doesn't have to be true. I must bear witness that the opposite is true. The only way to make a stand morally and personally, as I see it, is with an active faith in the Jesus of the Bible. He alone embodies the reality of the new Kingdom that we dream of . A Kingdom of mutual submission, freedom from want, an economy of abundance, freedom for captives, healing and shared power. In worship and communion in Christ's church I'm taking part in His realities. I am becoming the kind of person able to resist the dark oppressive realities of the money'd and powerful. Ideas can be manipulated and subdued. They can be forgotten or ignored. A faithful life of service to a Higher Power effects real change.
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