The Unfortunate Tragedy of our Wonderful Times

'A new idea?'

The blond haired man looked at Rene with his dark eyes. He wore a grin of disbelief on his face.

The two men were together in the back seat of a cab being shuttled past concrete slabs and bustling business folk. Rene had been staring absently out the window, still unaccustom and somewhat awed by such a crowd.

'What for?' the young man continued, shaking his head. 'Why go about fishing for food when you can be stuffed full right here. I know how to make money. I know how to have a good time. I know how to live. What else could I learn? Not much I think. You have to change that attitude. You talk like the old men reminiscing about the times before. Out with the old guard. That's what I say. We're past that tired age of ideas. They were out of fashion with my grandfather. Those silly philosphers have no place here, and they know it! Do you ever hear about them? Well I guess you haven't been here long enough to realise it, but believe me, you don't. They have nothing left to say. Those left are smart to leave themselves in the dark corners that we lay out for them and amuse themselves with trivial puzzles and obscure theory. Lock them behind wooden doors, and let them write papers no one reads. A little like our own intellectual zoo.' he laughed heartily at this notion.

'The only idea you need is the one that reminds you to look out for yourself.' He pushed a finger hard into Rene's chest. Rene flinched but did not yield. 'That's what matters,' he continued animatedly, 'I went to school, I learned how the game works, I learned how to make myself, and now I'm going to go about doing it. Life is about living, not books and silly theories.'

Rene nodded obediently, though he was still not sure that he agreed with what was being said. John, however, confident and well regarded, argued powerfully, and being the older of the two and more experienced with the ways of the city, he was an intimidating presence. Rene was reluctant to express his disagreement. Besides, he was not sure of what he thought. It was confusing. While his intuition screamed to disagree, he could reason his mind to no conclusion.

'Maybe he is right. What is the point in wasting my time immersed in stories and theories... better to be out in the world, creating. Creating wealth, creating happiness, creating my life. I think I've spent my life too much in theory. I've missed life itself.' He thought back again to his night with Betty, and a hint of regret shivered through him.

Still, would he have left G~ had it not been for theory? He doubted it. But maybe there is no need for that here. What would be their purpose? 'My mind is still trapped by this former life. I still grasp at these ideas, as though I still need them to escape. But I have escaped. I am free. What use are they to me now? None. Here they've discovered life, they aren't held back by an invisible God that they have to fight with theory, so what purpose does such thought hold? Maybe none. Maybe here it is a waste?'

- posted by Sigurd6/09/2004 10:54:00 AM