Alexander Deterrence

The way a door is painted serves no purpose to it. It’s job is to open or close. In such a way is a leader’s job only to lead. To be liked or disliked are brittle aesthetics.

What is change, but a subjugation of reality to the individual’s subjection? One shapes or forms what is to what is not to accommodate, to adapt to them as we cannot adapt as fast. One destroys to live. What is right then, and what is wrong if to one person another’s reality is the inverse of their desire. Is our pride enough to give us the right to take action to segregate the world to our ideas, from those of others? Do we have enough land to share peace among 7 billion individuals? Is this what you meant Sartre? Is this why you wrote Kierkegaard? The only ones that die in peace are those that can effectively ignore the death of a child in the past, present, and future that was efficiently burned to provide a life of joy that lead to one’s eventual blissful death. War is a bi product of change. Death is a bi product of change. We will not understand such a thing until we shed ourselves from such trivialities of social constructions as what is right, or wrong, good or evil, and start focusing on concepts like creation and destruction, what works and does not work, what balances the equation or disrupts it. Who are we to change anything outside ourselves? Is having authority really strong enough to give us the reason to destroy, cause war, and subjugate, knowing that in due time another conflict will arise for the other side to take our place? We live in a world where reality is existence stripped of its embodiments and given definitions and categories designated by human perception. Without us, what exists is not what we perceive but what it is and has it’s own behavior. Who are we to nature where authority always resides above us? Change is trivial, is what it is. In the sense that the outcomes are never permanent. Then again, is any change worth the due time that is received in exchange for the lives and resources received? Is change an oil machine, or is it an electric engine?

One does not need to understand an action to be able to perform it. Many people go through life in that sense, never questioning anything, just passing by. Others go through the next extreme and find themselves in a chaotic state of mind constantly looking for an answer when they never even find a question. Which approach is taken does not matter when talking about the individual because these approaches are only right or wrong according to the context in their lives. When we blow up the picture, though, then we can see that these two approaches to life affect all order in society. Existentialism defines both paths of life according to how the individual experiences those paths and either abolishes or establishes order when applied in society. Order is a necessity for a peaceful continuation of life, so we will refer to it as a good in itself that an Existentialist should try to achieve.

            To fully understand an Existentialist, we must first be able to distinguish between the concepts of life and existence, and their meaning and purpose. Life is broad and multi contextual. As biology describes it, life is a concept that distinguishes inorganic objects from organisms due to organisms being able to reproduce, metabolize, and maintain homeostasis, which allows adaptation. Existence is different as it applies to all things. It merely implies that something is in a state of being. The opposites of both would be death for life, or inexistence for existence. Life and existence both have their individual meanings and purpose.

            Besides a dictionary definition, life to humans can have two other meanings: life in general, and life according to the individual. Assuming a rational ground absent of theology, life can only take a perpetual meaning. Once life comes to fruition it can only move forward like the progression of time and anything done is at one moment important but not at the next. Everything is done to achieve something to achieve something else. This is the favorite angle of the evolutionary scientist. Life only exists to create life. It is a redundancy in nature; therefore, the meaning of life in general is to be perpetually meaningless, or to achieve death. Digging deeper, the meaning of life takes a whole other light when reduced to the individual. Life cannot give meaning to the individual, but an individual does give meaning to life by existing in a specific context in time. The meaning of life constantly fluctuates then by the times and ends at the start of every new situation entered. In the end the meaning is defined by purpose of the body of the individual according to the current context.

            Existence can be carried not only by the living but by the inorganic as well. Organic and inorganic objects carry out the meaning of existence differently in a sense but not in another. Together they are in a state of being in existence making the meaning merely to be. Inorganic objects are different because the meaning of existence to them is to be as they are in the state of nature for they cannot be something else. A rock is a rock because all its properties are those of a rock. If an inorganic object changes it no longer is the same and so it becomes another thing carrying out a different existence. If a rock is molten, that rock is no longer in existence. Organic existence is distinguished by being alive and able to carry the biological meaning of life. Once an organism is unable to carry the meaning of biological life then that organism becomes dead and its existence separates into inorganic existence of mass and memory. Once a person dies, its body becomes a body, but is no longer working like a human body; it is only mass after death. Memory is not in any sense physical, but it exists in another realm in the same sense that all ideas are in existence because they are perceivable. For ideas and memory to exist, at least one sentient life form with cognitive abilities needs to be alive.

            The purpose works and even come from the meaning of things. For life as a general concept, the purpose is to be in a state of persistent existence until its end. General life amounts to nothing, which makes it be absurd or redundant, and therefore it makes its purpose that of any cycle: to be perpetual or to end. The purpose granted to life of the individual is for the individual to be in a constant use of the existence granted to them for the allotted time by becoming purposeful in order to give meaning to life. For a human to fulfill their purpose they should be at all moments doing something that helps them use and achieve their full physical, mental, and social potential or their life would mean nothing. As for existence, the only purpose is to be, or to not be in a state of inexistence. These are the factors that play the universe without theology. They are important to understand because existentialist approaches to life deal with how they perceive the world around them, their emotional and physical responses towards those perceptions, and how they affect society around them due to their individual existence.

            The first approach mentioned is about the Existential lifestyle which author Albert Camus is famous to portray. Such form of egoistic existentialist, as I will call it, is one that by any social standard is bound to be the cause of harm. To explain why, let us review the characteristics of this existentialist path. Such individual would lack the drive of the curiosity of life. To go without questioning anything, though, does not mean an individual must be devoid of emotion; it merely implies that a person’s primary way of living is driven by sensory stimuli, perceptions, and by no form of reflective thinking. Such perspective is the perfect illustration of the absurdity of life and the idea that life is the meaning of life in itself because the individual would only live to live without amounting to anything. The major problem with the egoistic existentialist is the lack of conscientiousness of the individual towards other people, hence, the nature of the name.

While the Albert Camus existentialist is capable of emotion, he/she is in a constant state of egoism, so much in fact, that the person might be at the borderline of being considered a sociopath. Such is the fate of Meursault, protagonist in Albert Camus’s The Stranger, who represents this angle of the egoistic existentialist. His emotions are appreciative of his surrounding and observance of those around him, but never past to the point of reflection. Instances such as sitting vigil to the town every afternoon after doing his time at work, waiting to get hungry to eat just to then go to work again show his dullness to life and his comfort in a meaningless life. At some point he shows what one can call compassion by lending his time to a bitter man and his dog, although this compassion is later destroyed in our eyes as he states his motives to clearly be, “I had time, so I could find no excuse not to,” which again reinforces his egoism.

The danger in society and his condemnation as a sociopath take form in the shocking event of the murder of an Arabian man who had been part of an earlier altercation with Meursault himself. The shock comes from him shooting at the man, yes, but even more so because the motive of Meursault shooting him was because “it seemed to [him] as if the sky split open from one end to the other to rain down fire,” and as he described it, “my whole being tensed and I squeezed my hand around the revolver. The trigger gave…. I shook off the sweat and the sun.” This must be appreciated by the audience into two things: his indifference to the harm with the possibility of death of another man, and relieve of his discomfort in the face of a higher consequence. Although the murder is in no way premeditated, and the gun had been given to him by someone else, he committed a major crime. His lack of ethical guidelines or any use of reflective thinking lowers him from his status of humanity into a mere animal. We are nobody to tell anyone how to live; yet if their way of living may impair our livelihood and put us in danger then we have no reason not to defend ourselves. Meursault was convicted for murder and rightly so, but if we go deeper we can see that the court was judging not the actions of a man, it was judging the danger of the egoistic existentialist. It judged the danger of chaos that could obliterate at any moment the foundation of order that we all need.

            The second approach consists of an individual making use of a wider range of human characteristics such as rationality. Such views are important to the three lifestyles Søren Kierkegaard used to balance out the existentialist. The three lifestyles work as a system of checks and balances that take care of the weaknesses of each other in order to work effectively, except that they are tiered in a hierarchy of weakest to strongest: Aesthetic, Ethical, and Religious lifestyle. The complete existentialist is meant to be able to go through life alternating effectively between them.

            Kierkegaard’s Existentialist is superior to that of Albert Camus as it transcends its foundation of the absurdity of life with the ethical lifestyle. Overall, the egoistic existentialist is parallel to the aesthetic lifestyle. They both work using the idea of the absurdity of life, the meaninglessness of life, and constant pursuit of pleasure making them egoistic. The danger of such existentialist is by now obvious. To place the aesthetic in check the ethical lifestyle comes into fruition. The ethical existentialist changes the principle view on life from the meaninglessness or absurdity of life in general to the concept of the meaning of life according to the individual. With new ground then the individual is enabled the ability to use advanced rationality and reflective thinking which leaves room for conscientiousness of other people otherwise lacking in the purely aesthetic.

            With this new Ethical lifestyle overlooking the Aesthetic lifestyle two main weaknesses are still incorporated. One weakness is presented in the overcompensation of the ethical over the aesthetic. By itself, a fully automatic rational thinker would act as a machine, always rational and reflective working in order to fulfill the potentiality the body without obeying any context of emotion including harm or beneficence of other individuals. In this sense the danger of the egoist would remain present, but the individual would be working to fulfill an always changing purpose at the expense of others. With no aesthetic, there is no point to care about emotions, just functionality. With no ethics, there is not point to care about anything.

The second weakness is apparent due to the incompleteness of the two lifestyles combined, the aesthetic/ethical. The aesthetic/ethical in prima facie are a complete humanity as they have a balance of emotional intelligence (care for emotions), and stratification properties (inhibitions due to social constraints). The danger remains in the sense that while the pursuit of pleasure transforms into pursuit of purpose, the lifestyle remains largely Sisyphean. All actions are mediated so that they bring about a fulfillment of purpose according to the context the individual is living (meaning of life as an individual), but if the individual at any point is on the verge of dying, sees no more purpose to keep living, or achieves an overarching depression then neither the aesthetic, the ethical, nor the aesthetic/ethical can defend a reason that the individual should be considerate of other people. With this in mind, we would have to assume that all old individuals are a danger to society and all on the verge of death or mentally unstable. An individual without care is always dangerous.

In sight of these weaknesses the aesthetic/ethical lifestyle can only provide stability and order between individuals in society for an extended period of time, but fails towards the end of a life or if at any point an individual becomes tired of living. Kierkegaard later in life completed the circle by adding emphasis in a final lifestyle he believed would establish all order. He called it the religious life. Going back we have to note that the existential sees life through a scope absent of theology, but the theological purpose of religion here is not to give meaning to life but reasons to be purposeful through fear of god. Whether god does or doesn’t exist, it is the fear of a higher being that is important in the full concept of the existential. By completing the aesthetic/ethical with the religious life the three-life system would complete any man into a stable existentialist. The religious life worked by establishing the fear of god onto people to do what is right. An aesthetic/ethical existentialist with the fear of god would have to act as Aristotle’s virtuous man did, being excellent by achieving excellent actions, except that the existentialist unlike Aristotle’s virtuous man would have no choice but to be good by doing good things until his death. A religious man would not have the luxury to stop being good as he will not be judged on fulfilled purposes, but on overall goodness accumulated to the end of his life, and judged by the ultimate being which is the christian god in Kierkegaard’s case. The danger at the end of the individual’s life is quenched by fear.

A full Kierkegaard existentialist, then, is one with reflective and rational properties who can balance aesthetics and works his full life to achieve all purpose and potential, at all times accumulating goodness by doing good deeds. It uses the existentialist views of the absurd, betters it with ethics, and completes it with the fear of god. Any form of existence would fall short, but all together they form a complete life which can bring about order to society. A society with order is a society good in and of itself, as it takes care of the needs of the individual and the individual does for society. Also everyone is complete with a meaning and purpose of both life and existence.

 - We tend to follow our morals unquestioningly as an animal does their instincts. The difference lies in that we have the ability to do otherwise. When we do we tend to find that what we saw all along was a very brittle reality on the outside and very empty on the inside with room for everyone. -

Entry 1: My health is very important to me. I simply do not understand how people can go a day without brushing their teeth at least twice. Just to think of the germs building up or the filthy saturated feeling stench in my mouth after I eat is enough to send me right to the tic tacs. That’s why I start my day every day as a good day with a clean smile and shiny personality. It really is all that the world needs to be happy. That and clean intentions so nothing can go wrong.

Entry 2: On my way to school I always see a poor old man going back and forth with his heavy bags. I would be glad to help if I were not always so short on time. I always fill my schedule greatly every half a year. I will never understand how it is that all those around him fail to aid him; then again I can be no judge since I do not know their lives. It still bites me though. His white arms, colorful only due to the veins protruding, barely seem to hold themselves. I can only imagine how difficult it is for him to carry those bags. One day I will help the poor man.

Entry 3: I met a strange woman today. She didn’t speak. She seemed rather distracted when I noticed her so I attempted to place her in a soothing situation by attempting a conversation. I inquired her about her business in school and she did not answer. I went about and told her a bit about me then as the quiet did not dissipate, but my efforts were to no avail. Not wanting to intrude I at first decided not to poke about her unsettled nature as that could simply be personality and I was not in the hope of coming out as a rude individual. After several more attempts and starting to feel like an annoyance I decided to quiet down. She must have felt compassion for my failed attempt and me because when she noticed my dull look she approached me gently and placed her hand in my shoulder and patted me before she started her stroll. I suppose she recognized my intentions where fully to the best of intentions and she didn’t want me to go about my day as if having been shamed by her. It felt strange though. Her touch felt strange.

Entry 4: I did not see the old man today. That was strange to me. I had seen him without fault every day I took that route to school.

Entry 5: I saw my friends today. I feel truly gifted when I think of the company I have. It’s a rather intelligent bunch and for that I appreciate them. They are quite rowdy and misplaced when they talk about morality. One should strive to do the best for everyone.

Entry 6: I keep thinking about that woman I met the other day. Her touch has stayed with me all this time. It’s as if she gave me something I cannot explain. Something that is neither good nor bad. I simply know it’s there and it is growing within me. It explores my body and feels me with urges. It is changing me I think. I don’t want to sound like a lunatic or paranoid, but there are times where I do not even feel like myself any more. Urges have been building up. Urges that I do not understand.

Entry 7: I had some free time today. I decided to spend it with my young neighbor Cole. He’s a real charm of a boy, too young to do harm yet too young to understand if he does. His parents let him roam and play in the front yard after school. I don’t want to say it’s irresponsible because I know the fellows and they are very good at keeping a happy and functioning family, but I would not let my children go unsupervised. I supervise him when I can because I understand that they both work and what help they can get I am sure they appreciate. Today I made up some silly logic just to exercise his little brain. I can hardly wait for the anecdotes he’ll bring to me from his parents and school.

Entry 8: There is still no sign of the of old man and I never stumbled with the woman again. Strangeness fills the air as this month progresses.

Entry 9: I…I don’t understand. My best explanation is that the woman’s touch has taken more and more of me, but what does that even mean? It’s nonsense only I can make any meaning of. I feel filled with others. I feel saturated and conflicted. I’m not even sure if it’s affecting me on the outside, but if it’s growing so well then how long before it does affect my personality? Growing well? Where did that even come from? Is this good or bad?

Entry 10: I finally saw the old man! It was a sight to see. He was a little more pale than usual which says a lot considering his already snowy façade. He must have been sick then. Even I knew him better I would have given him a visit to warm the poor man’s heart. He was carrying the usual packages as always but this time there was something different about him besides his color. His nails were dirty with blood. If I didn’t know better than to judge the worse I would have been worried. I’m sure I’m right to assume he’s a butcher then though. That would explain the packages, the nails, and even his paleness. Besides his age of course, after all, who could be that pale even at that age? Surely it’s nothing to worry about.

Entry 11: OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHITOHSHITOHSHITOHSHIT! WHY? This feeling keeps growing! I didn’t do anything on purpose! I clearly just snapped at that stranger! He just wanted to know what? I can’t even remember! He just approached me and I punched him in the face! It was a reaction merely to his. It seemed acceptable at the time, but why? It was not I! Something is growing inside me as this feeling drowns me! I have to keep controlled from now on. With my entire will, I need to control these outbursts. I cannot let whatever is taking over me complete it’s doing. I feel so much remorse now. I must go and apologize, but I am very ashamed just to show my face to that man ever again.

Entry 12: The air has been cleared since last incident thankfully. I guess I just needed some release, but what strange release. It just was not like me. Maybe it is one of those mysteries of life. I am doing a great job at suppressing the feeling after that. I don’t even care about the situation any more. In a way it was kind of exciting.

Entry 13: Strange. The feeling is suppressed, but my perceptions of life are all altering. Everything seems like a game on a stage. I’m trying to ignore it as well. It is very interesting and powerful though. It’s as if only the situation existed and the only future was the next move in relationship to the hand played by the environment. At least that’s all the sense I can make of it with words.

Entry 14: Oh my. It seems a terrible act of terrorism has occurred recently. A bombing of some sorts took place. It killed at least a few dozen government officials. I’m not one big on politics so I’m not sure how impacting that is on the field, but I can sure sympathize with the families of the men and woman involved. Who could have done this?

Entry 15: The old man is starting to disappear again. I hope he isn’t sick. I pity the helplessness of those who have aged to such extent. On another note, I stumbled with that lady again. I wanted to ask her about what she had passed on to me. I was assuming, and hoping, that the strangeness of my changes was nothing more than an illness transmitted. When I attempted to approach her though she ran at the sight of me as if a ghost was before her … very unsettling to me.

Entry 16: This is positively ridiculous! I can’t believe my friends and I got into such a quarrel over such a stupid thing! I was merely stating my opinion on the matter of the terroristic attack that happened the other day. They didn’t have to argue all about the situation. I feel no pity for striking one of them. They had it coming. Who did they think they are to be stepping out of the rules? One talks, and then does the other, every movement meaningful. I swear some people don’t understand the rules to this game…wait…what?

Entry 17: I think I might finally have some free time to help that old man! Vacations are clearing up my schedule very positively. I will take that free time and use it productively. I just hope that man is there tomorrow. Hope he isn’t sick. I wouldn’t want to be given more filth as that woman’s touch. Everyone has been very filthy lately. I’m starting to notice how dirty the world is. I wish I could cleanse it all. I feel so embraced still by that touch. It’s as if it cradles me. It soothes me. I must do well to this world. It must play by the rules and it needs to be cleansed.

Entry 18: I did not see the old man today. It’s a shame. I’m pretty sure he could have used me. On a more cheerful note, I saw Cole today. I had plenty of free time so I decided to mess with him a little more. It is wonderful how gullible children are. If given the wrong logic they could easily be corrupted. I’ll do him some good and teach him the rules of the game of existence. It’ll do him some good I’m sure. Kids are rather wonderful. One cannot help but give them a tap in the back and hope for the best.

Entry 19: Today I saw the old man! I parked my car and approached him carefully. I had to inspect him first as I didn’t want anyone else’s filth to corrupt me. I hesitated in talking to him because his hands where stained by more blood. I noticed his bags were a little different. They were bloody as well. I decided it was a natural imperative for a butcher to be condemned to a life of blood. I approached him in the sidewalk before crossing the street. He was taken aback by my presence as if it were somehow different from all others. Maybe he was aware of the game so I decided to play it. The people turned into the environment and senses were active all around. All the activity was analogical to the lack of it as there was too much to pay any attention to any particular one. I ignored his first movement as a turn so I decided no consequences would come out of this action. I performed. I extended my hand signifying my intentions. He took more than his share of time, but eventually he played. He gave me one bag. I extended my other arm, and he extended his other bag. He signaled me hesitantly to follow, although he looked very puzzled and insecure. Maybe because no words were exchanged, so I understood his insecurity. I followed him to his truck. He had a freezer in there, which I found strange as I always thought that butchers carried their meat in freezer trucks, not trucks with coolers. I paid no more attention to the matter as he told me to let the bags down in the container. I followed him again to where he had originated from before I spoke to him. This would be a new environment to me so he was in the advantage. He existed more in this situation than me. He walked me to a shabby building around the corner in the other block. The scenery was very brutal. This one was a freezer. Meat seemed to have been hanging from the ceiling to drain it from the blood. I am no expert by any means, but I have to say that meat didn’t look like it corresponded to the shape of any animal I have ever seen. He had some bags prepared already. It was clear that he had chopped up the bodies into different pieces as is customary for butchers. My hands were getting dirty with the bags. They were stained red. We kept the routine intact until there were no more bags. At the truck the old man sat in the driver’s seat. Out from the window he looked at me. He seemed annoyed, but content. I had done the deed I set out to do and the game had ended this time. The man turned to me and said, “I suppose you deserve a little bit of truth. I know they don’t pay you young lads very much when you assist me in these jobs, but I don’t have any money so the least I can do is give you a good story you can go and tell your friends. I’m quite sure you’ll only tell a selected group of people or we will come for you as well so you represent no harm. This meat you just carried is the body of the woman who performed the act of terrorism just a few weeks ago. She messed with very virtuous men when she did that. These men are powerful men who only see justice in revenge. Not exactly the kind of people that you go talk to about helping others and that whole silliness. It was only natural for them to contract the best to get rid of her, and the best is usually a wave of torment before death to the obliteration of existence. Today you have done a powerful thing young man.” He smiled at me and tossed a knife for me to catch. It was in its sheath so it did not harm me. At that he took off. I snapped! What was I thinking all along? Everything started rushing to me. It seemed unreal! What was all this game of existence I had been thinking to myself? Getting paid? I never got paid. I had just become an accomplice to a terrible crime! Or had I? She had terrorized the masses and murdered people! I…I…she was already dead anyway! I just helped move meat! I ran out to my car and went home. It was too risky to call the authorities. I…I had done the right thing! I helped an old butcher carry his meat to his truck. Nothing more. There is no reason I should be punished by such action.

Entry 20: I was back home. I was safe. I had done nothing wrong. Just home. I helped a man move meat. I didn’t help him move a dead woman’s body. Even if I had, so what? That woman was evil. She committed several crimes and she was punished one way or another. So what if it wasn’t the law that punished her. So what? I helped a good old man do a good thing. Imagine how many other people would have died if she had not. That man is a man of good heart. He did a good to society, yet, what if I had reported him? Many people could have been saved as well…but no! Had I done that I would have been prosecuted and tried unjustly. I was doing a good thing. So if I am a good person then he has to be a good person. That means whatever his reasoning he has to be killing for the benefit of someone. His actions are not selfish. His actions are unselfish and for the self-interest of others. He is the best man I have ever met. He is doing the work that many of us are too afraid to do. If I had called the cops, that would have been a terrible thing to do. Two good men would have been misjudged! Now two good men are in this world and able to do it a very good favor. He is killing for the best, so will I then. I will rid this world of the scum who dirty this world with meaningless existence. They will play the game, and if they prove their existence meaningful then they will exist. If they don’t then they will be obliterated. The emptiness of space will mean more than those who fail. I must bathe my filth first. Then I will judge.

Entry 21: This world is so filthy. It is filthy and disgusting. I must protect myself. Bandages? Well, it’s sanitary. I’ll need plenty. I’ll go to the store quick enough.

Entry 22: These people are filthy. I must not go near them until I am protected. I got my kart and filled it with my bandages. I must have been acting too strange for the liking of these people because they started to judge me with their body. I could not accept their challenges yet though. I proceeded to my car. A savage approached me yelling from his length away that I had to pay for my bandages. Why should I pay for my protection when I was about to do the world some good? He came too close. I couldn’t allow him to pollute me so I took the sheathed knife and took action. The knife, once alive, stabbed him under his stomach. There were no players other than him in the parking lot situation, which was what made it discrete. I allowed him to drop into my car and with my sweater I covered my hands to push him inside. I went back home to cleanse. Once there I had to leave the body somewhere…without wanting to ruin my sanctuary I proceeded to take him to the tub. I was dirty enough for now anyway. I had to find another way to cleanse myself though. Through the back yard I smuggled into Cole’s house. I’m sure his innocence wouldn’t mind. I immersed my body into the comfortable tepidness of their bath. I cleansed my soul with calm and relaxation. I then protected myself by enclosing myself in the bandages acquired. Some of the bandages had been polluted by that man’s blood though. I was not able to cover myself completely. I went downstairs to find more. I felt eerie. A game was about to start. I scavenged around and found some in the bathroom. Wonderful. I covered myself and proceeded to walk out of the house. I was in the living room when I heard the door. There they stood, Cole’s family. The First Game Began.

There is no truth to a fact.

Nor there is farse to it.

It is merely a situation of existence or non-existence.

Take your fight to the opinion,

Which is the theory that may be rejected.

Distraught because of the amenities of life,

I found an ocean,

But no home.