Many people that are bitter or cynical about Valentine's day argue that it is ridiculous to have a designated day where you are supposed to treat your loved one as he/she deserves, when you should be doing that every day.
I cannot say I agree with that: indeed, you should always treat your partner well, and extra well during Valentine's day! It is not about being decent one day of the year and an arse for the rest, but of taking a special day to devote to him/her specially.
I think exactly the same way about similar events, such as the International Women's Day (March 8), Children's Day (November 20), and, indeed Earth Day (April 22).
The problem is that I have no partner, and I never remember these dates, so I end up not doing anything unusual every year... However, I tell myself I respect and look after women, children and the environment well enough normally, so my conscience is not really scarred by forgetting these arbitrary 'special' days. If I behaved worse from day to day, I might be more ashamed, but at least I do a little something all the time, so those days where so may others do so much more, I hope my small part contriubtes with something.
The aim of this blog is or has come to be to inspire both small everyday efforts and occasional major contributions. I know that I have been inactive of late, but other things need attention as well (studies, practical things related to accomodation, work, social activities, etc.). Having realised that goal has not been fulfilled – not even sure if I should say it has been working in that direction at all – I should have a big rethink of what I could do. Maybe include smaller posts with tips about minor activities that can help improve living standards?
I am not giving up on this blog, and now that I can feel a tad of inspiration coming back, maybe I can launch a resurgence. In honour of Earth Day!
Monday, 22 April 2013
Sunday, 14 April 2013
Learning from Spartacus
Yesterday night, I watched the final
episode of the new tv-series of Spartacus
(Spartacus: Blood and Sand 2010, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena 2011, Spartacus: Vengeance 2012, and Spartacus: War of the Damned 2013), the
gladiator that sparked the greatest slave
rebellion in the history of the Roman Empire. First now, I realised his
greatness.
The tv-show is gruesomely violent and gory,
which might be off-putting to viewers with sensible stomachs, and to many it
might appear that the show is all about the moviemakers having fun producing
exaggeratedly bloody fight scenes with arms dropping off, heads and bodies
cleaved in halves, and soldiers being slashed so hard they fly away. However,
the mature viewer will value the battles as being metaphorical, as well as amazingly well done. (Actually, I love the
battles because I appreciate both interpretations.)
Regardless, what I want to discuss here is
one of the main philosophical messages in this show, which might not be
apparent at first.
I am sure that most of the events in the
three and a half seasons (Spartacus: Gods
of the Arena is short and only counts as a mini-series) are speculative and
have little factual support, since written records and archeological finds from
that period are scarce, but I still want to discuss the fictional character Spartacus in the series (i.e. regardless of how
it reflects the real person), because it is he who inspired my thoughts.
Spartacus, acted
by Liam McIntyre in the final two seasons, develops into a much more epic
character as the story evolves than I would ever have expected.
My mom is not fond of the tale of
Spartacus, because he suffers and struggles so much throughout his entire life,
which bluntly ends in failure. In the tv-show, he is captured with his wife;
she is enslaved and probably raped countless times until she finally dies,
while Spartacus is sold as a gladiator, savagely drilled to fight and endure
physical pain, and forced to kill his only friend by a whim of his arrogant and
ambitious master.
Andy Whitfield
played the role of Spartacus in the first season, but died of
lymphoma (cancer
in white blood cells).
When learning that the master he has been
bowing like a dog to was the one that had his wife murdered, Spartacus spurs a
gladiator uprising, slaughters all Roman nobles within reach. Now craving
revenge on the Roman praetor that captured him and his wife, he builds an army
of fighting slaves (whose chaotic nature challenge his patience more than a few
times) to match the Roman forces sent to destroy him. When victorious,
Spartacus continues to swell his army, now with the unfeasible goal of crushing
the Roman Empire. After years of fighting bloody battles and struggling to give
his people what they need (food, shelter, etc.) and want (some desire only to
fight endlessly, others dream of living their lives in freedom and peace), the
rebels are defeated at the Siler River, and it turns out that all the pain and
losses (on both sides) had been in vain.
Spartacus has all
the reasons to be angry… Image from
The plot is indeed tragic, but that makes
Spartacus the more admirable! What I thought of when I was watching the last
episode, and the thing I want to emphasise here, is that throughout his time, Spartacus had ample opportunities to run away and settle down for a long, restful
life, something he unquestionably earned for what he has sacrificed, but he never abandoned the fight for his
ideal – that all have the right to live free.
Although he had
many opportunities, Spartacus never took the easy
way out, but stood
persistently for his ideal that no
man or woman should be a slave.
Image from http://spartacus.wikia.com/wiki/Spartacus
Spartacus fights against the Roman people
to free the slaves from oppression and injustice. He fights for the value and
dignity of every human being, while many others fight because they are angry and
enjoy killing Romans. (Spartacus appears to enjoy the slaughter, but I suspect
that it is only to keep his much-needed companions keen and engaged.)
There seems to be no reason for Spartacus
to pursue his struggle against the Roman Empire, other than that he believes so
strongly that it is the right thing to do. He does not revel in pleasure of
killing his hated enemies, he knows that no amount of slaughter will bring back
the loved ones he already has lost, and he really has no moral obligation to devote
himself to this campaign.
So, what I read into this is that Spartacus made it the purpose of his life to fight for the dignity of all men and women. He is a man who has lost
everything, but instead of crying in a corner, he selflessly makes it his life’s
quest to protect all others who have suffered similar fates. And, despite all
instances where most people would give up and retreat to live in peace and comfort,
he never fell to the temptation. This is the hallmark of a true hero.
For all he has
suffered, Spartacus’ spirit was never broken.
This is the hallmark of a true hero. And such people do exist today. From this day on, I will respect them
as I respect Spartacus, but more so because what they are doing for needing people
is real.
Saturday, 13 April 2013
Racism level: 0
From See more's Facebook page.
I was thinking about whether I should engage any post in racism, since it is an important global issue. But, the thing is that I do not have much to say about racism, except that it is complete and stupid nonsense!
Intolerance is just something so remote from my personality and my environment (thank God, I haven't come in contact with any real racism or anything like it in my twenty years, for which I am eternally grateful), that I don't know what to say... My friends know I like to make many prejudist jokes, especially about the Chinese, for some reason, but they also know well that they are nothing but jokes, and that although I might expect certain behaviour from someone of a particular nationality, I will abandon that preconception as soon as he/she shows that I was wrong.
In my view, prejudices are not bad as long as you are prepared to overlook them at any time. It is when you stubbornly clutch at an opinion about a type of people that it becomes dangerous.
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