Mankind, pt. 1

After a while, you have to wonder whether all that tension between Israel and Palestine is religious in nature anymore. You ask yourself if anybody is actually following an ideology, or if they’re simply doing everything they can to deny the other side what they want. Why, when seeking autonomy, does one group wish to deny the same thing to others? That’s like when people who have been discriminated against pass that discrimination onto somebody else. Everybody must establish themselves above others, it seems. But that makes no sense to you. Someone who has experienced discrimination knows how awful it is, and should therefore not want to subject others to that kind of treatment. It seems that the concern is always for the individual, though. A man hates to be derided, but does not care a whit if others are derided. Man’s basic instinct is hypocrisy, because man cares not for the well-being of others while he is comfortable.

I’ve thought about Jesus, and the whole Lamb of God thing. He was the shepherd, too, right? How can he be the sacrificial lamb as well as the one guiding the lamb to the sacrifice? I think that it’s possible because every one of us is simultaneously sheep and shepherd. We are the shepherds of our own lives, yet we are part of the flock of mankind. It is our responsibility, as shepherds, to guide our fellow human beings when they err, but it is our privilege, as sheep, to be able to rely on others to help us when we are lost as well.

As a former wrestler, and as a writer, one who thinks in metaphor and symbols, I see that wrestling, as a team sport, is the perfect analogy for humanity. During an individual’s match, it is solely up to the individual to win. Yet his skill level, and even his drive for victory, is a direct result of the interactions in the practice room with his teammates. Also, for those that don’t know wrestling, each individual match contributes a certain number of points to the team, depending on the outcome. A loss, of course, contributes nothing. A decision, a win where the margin of victory is less than 8 points, gives the team 3 points. A major decision, where the margin of victory is between 8 and 14 points, gives the team 4 points. A technical fall, where the match is stopped because one individual has outscored the opponent by 15 (or more) points, gives the team 5. A pin, forfeit, or disqualification (those should be self-explanatory) give the team 6 points.

There have been many situations in my experience where the outcome of a meet rested upon an individual match. I think that we (Carmel) once beat Portage by one point. I don’t remember the matches exactly, but if one of our guys had only gotten a decision instead of a major decision, we would have ended in a tie. So, while each match is up to the individual, the individual’s performance in that match affects his entire team, and the context of the match (i.e., you're the last match, and your team is behind by five points) will influence how you wrestle, and the outcome you seek. I loved to tech. fall people, and rarely went for the pin; but if my team was behind by five, I would adjust my style during the match so that I could pin my opponent and win the meet.

The same can be said for society. This is simply another way of describing that thing from A Beautiful Mind, when Nash declares that Adam Smith was incorrect. You get the best results, Nash says, not by doing what is best for the individual, but by doing what is best for the individual in the context of what is best for the group.