Saving the world
This looks like my last book quote post for a while. Though they appear quite good, none of the books on my current reading list looks very quotable. :)
As you'll quickly be able to tell, this is from the same source as my last two. :)
"So what are you saying? That it's impossible?"
Ishmael sighed. "Do you remember what I advertised for?"
"Of course. A pupil with an earnest desire to save the world."
"Then presumably you came here because you have that desire. Did you think I was going to hand you a magic wand? Or an automatic weapon with which you could gun down all the evildoers of the world?"
"No."
"Did you think there was nothing to be done? Did you think that you would come here, listen for a while, and then go home and do nothing? Did you think that doing nothing was my idea for saving the world?"
"No."
"On the basis of what I've been saying here, Julie, what needs to be done? What needs to be done first before people will begin figuring out how to get [what] they so desperately need?"
I shook my head but that wasn't nearly enough. I popped up out of my chair and windmilled my arms. Ishmael looked at me curiously, as if I might have lost my mind at last. I said to him, "Look! You're not talking about saving the world. I can't figure you out! You're talking about saving us!"
Ishmael nodded. "I understand your puzzlement, Julie. But here is how it is. The people of your culture are in the process of rendering this planet uninhabitable for yourselves and millions of other species. If you succeed in doing this, life will certainly continue, but at levels you (in your lofty way) would undoubtedly consider more primitive. When you and I speak of saving the world, we mean saving the world roughly as we know it now--a world populated by elephants, gorillas, kangaroos, bison, elk, eagles, seals, whales, and so on. Do you understand?"
"Of course."
"There are only two ways to save the world in this sense. One of them is to destroy you immediately--not wait for you to render the world uninhabitable for yourselves. I know of no way to accomplish that, Julie. Do you?"
"No."
"The only other way to save the world is to save you. Is to show you how to get the things you so desperately need--instead of destroying the world."
"Oh," I said.
"It is my bizzare theory, Julie, that the people of your culture are destroying the world not because they're vicious or stupid, as Mother Culture teaches, but because they're terribly, terribly deprived--of things that humans absolutely must have, simply cannot go on living without year after year and generation after generation. It's my bizarre theory that, given a choice between destroying the world and having the things tehy really, deeply want, they'll choose the latter. But before they can make that choice, they must see that choice."
I gave him back one of his own blank stares. "And I'm supposed to show them that they have that choice. Is that it?"
"That's it, Julie. Isn't that what you wanted to do in your daydream? Bring enlightenment to the world from afar?"
"Yeah, that's what I wanted to do in my daydream, all right. But in real life, gimme a break. I'm just a kid wondering how I'm gonna make it out when I finally get to high school."
"I realize that. But you're not going to remain so forever. Whether you know it or not, you came here to be changed, and you've been changed. And whether you know it or not, the change is permanent."
Good stuff. Very good stuff.
I love you.
Serafina
As you'll quickly be able to tell, this is from the same source as my last two. :)
"So what are you saying? That it's impossible?"
Ishmael sighed. "Do you remember what I advertised for?"
"Of course. A pupil with an earnest desire to save the world."
"Then presumably you came here because you have that desire. Did you think I was going to hand you a magic wand? Or an automatic weapon with which you could gun down all the evildoers of the world?"
"No."
"Did you think there was nothing to be done? Did you think that you would come here, listen for a while, and then go home and do nothing? Did you think that doing nothing was my idea for saving the world?"
"No."
"On the basis of what I've been saying here, Julie, what needs to be done? What needs to be done first before people will begin figuring out how to get [what] they so desperately need?"
I shook my head but that wasn't nearly enough. I popped up out of my chair and windmilled my arms. Ishmael looked at me curiously, as if I might have lost my mind at last. I said to him, "Look! You're not talking about saving the world. I can't figure you out! You're talking about saving us!"
Ishmael nodded. "I understand your puzzlement, Julie. But here is how it is. The people of your culture are in the process of rendering this planet uninhabitable for yourselves and millions of other species. If you succeed in doing this, life will certainly continue, but at levels you (in your lofty way) would undoubtedly consider more primitive. When you and I speak of saving the world, we mean saving the world roughly as we know it now--a world populated by elephants, gorillas, kangaroos, bison, elk, eagles, seals, whales, and so on. Do you understand?"
"Of course."
"There are only two ways to save the world in this sense. One of them is to destroy you immediately--not wait for you to render the world uninhabitable for yourselves. I know of no way to accomplish that, Julie. Do you?"
"No."
"The only other way to save the world is to save you. Is to show you how to get the things you so desperately need--instead of destroying the world."
"Oh," I said.
"It is my bizzare theory, Julie, that the people of your culture are destroying the world not because they're vicious or stupid, as Mother Culture teaches, but because they're terribly, terribly deprived--of things that humans absolutely must have, simply cannot go on living without year after year and generation after generation. It's my bizarre theory that, given a choice between destroying the world and having the things tehy really, deeply want, they'll choose the latter. But before they can make that choice, they must see that choice."
I gave him back one of his own blank stares. "And I'm supposed to show them that they have that choice. Is that it?"
"That's it, Julie. Isn't that what you wanted to do in your daydream? Bring enlightenment to the world from afar?"
"Yeah, that's what I wanted to do in my daydream, all right. But in real life, gimme a break. I'm just a kid wondering how I'm gonna make it out when I finally get to high school."
"I realize that. But you're not going to remain so forever. Whether you know it or not, you came here to be changed, and you've been changed. And whether you know it or not, the change is permanent."
Good stuff. Very good stuff.
I love you.
Serafina