People are sheep!

The Conformist (Il conformista, Italian; 1970)
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci

People are like sheep. They flock around each other, following their shepherd, not knowing that their shepherd has only one thing on their mind. That is, to protect the herd from the wolf, to fatten them and nicely line them up to the slaughter.

The one thing that differentiates people from animals, their minds are so quickly malleable. With a bit of persuasion, they will bark, sing, bleat, dance or croak to the tune of their masters.

Plato’s Cave Allegory, described in this movie, succinctly tells how we behave.

In Plato’s original example, he told of prisoners who had never seen the outside world, tied by their hands to face a wall of the inside of a cave. From the silhouette that appears on the wall of human activity, of people playing and children eating ice cream, they imagine how the world is without ever setting foot outside their prisons. It is an imagined outside world that he imagines may be far from what may be present in reality.

Strong leaders, through their rhetorics and perhaps behaviour, are able to create an understanding of a future that the politicians want their voters to believe. If the leader tries to usurp power via ‘divide and rule’ tactics, that is how he will steer the nation, i.e., one with animosity amongst the citizens whilst the leaders laugh all the way to the bank. That may be their legacy. If he tries to inculcate an inclusive rule, that is how the nation would go towards prosperity, barring any untoward catastrophe.

Look around. The shrieks of religious bigots in this country were reaching deafening pitches just before the GE15. As the results of the elections turned out to be against their favour, the yells mellowed down to occasional muffled murmurs. What gave? I would like to think it is the leader that makes all the difference. This time around, we see everyone wishing each other Yuletide greetings, even those who do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Previously, religious bigots propagated the idea that one would convert to Christianity by expressing felicitations.

Look at WW2 Japan, Germany and Italy. See how their law-abiding, peaceful people followed behind the footsteps of their dictatorial leaders without questioning them, like the children of Hamelin would. The current generation must indeed feel ashamed of what their ancestors have done. A gag order on their faux pas is preferred.

Plato's Cave Allegory

This classic Italian movie by a master moviemaker managed to recreate the ambience of 1930s Italy under Benito Mussolini. The people of Italy are divided between following his fascist teaching and the faction that believes that knowledge and art should not be suppressed.

The clever use of darkness, light and shadow in this movie gives a traditional neo-noir ambience resulting in sumptuous visuals and extravagant, artful cinematography.

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Easier to go with the flow...

The Conformist (Italian, 1970)

Director: Bernardo Bertolucci

With rhetoric like "you're either with us or against us!", there is a pressure for most of us to conform. The daily bombardment of an overdose of information in the social media puts its followers in a quandary. The urgency to submit to the flavour of the moment and to be on the right side of history is quite confusing.   

No man is an island. Living in a society, we are all interdependent. When one's own survival is dependent on goodwill and patronage of the others,  he would not want to offend the others' sensitivity; he would just conform or at least appear to. 

In the current world climate and the country's political scenario, the need to follow the majority is very real. Merely following the tide is, of course, less tiring. Fighting back and arguing your stand may sometimes be an act of futility. Arguing with stupid and zombies is never easy. It takes a certain kind of resilient to debate with people who set with their beliefs and are not ready to accept other opinions. Perhaps, they are fearful of losing the favour of the majority. 

Go with the flow...

This timepiece flick from 1970 is set in the trying times of the 1930s Italy when Benito Mussolini and his Fascist Party members were overrunning the country. It tells of a disturbed man from the upper crust of society trying to be 'normal' in society. He tries to conform to the trend of the times without for a moment, taking a step back to ponder whether the action that he is about to do is the right thing to do. 

As in the observation of Plato in the Cave Allegory, people create their own perception of the world and are hellbent on living on that conviction. They resist any challenge to that belief because reassessing their stand merely is too taxing. It is easier to go with the flow...

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Thinking is hard work...

That is the danger of self-teaching oneself of philosophy. One tends to garble everything up and develop his own 'brand' of philosophy. It cannot be such a wrong thing, on the contrary, since no two philosophers can completely agree with each other. Whatsmore, even students and masters have parted ways upon minor disagreements. Think Plato and Aristotle, Freud and Jung, you know what I am talking about. Even with time, a particular interpretation can morph, perhaps as an afterthought or in keeping with the flavour of the era.

The scope of the field of philosophy itself has evolved over time. If before it used to encompass everything under the sun and beyond, mathematics, grammar and sciences included, it is now agreed that it covers knowledge, life and existence. Since the journey of life does not come with a preset map, I guess that it could be sailed anyway we like as long as we live and let live. Let everybody navigate his own route.

 I always thought Plato was just a scribe to Socrates train of thoughts. Socrates never wrote any books but engaged in public discourses in the marketplace (agora). Plato helped to disseminate Socratic teachings to the world. 

But then, I realise that there are some subtle differences in their approaches in their attempts to explore the meaning of life. Socrates believed that discussion out in the open with any Tom, Dick and Harry would bring out wisdom. Knowledge has no boundaries, and not everyone knows everything. Hence, everyone can bring something to the table; a sailor on the understanding of the high seas, a weaver on mastery of designs, a surgeon the grasp of the functions of the body and so on.

In 'The Apology' Socrates compared himself to an annoying gadfly that constantly irritates the horse. He prods others to think, introspect and find the answers to life questions that lay in front from us. He was a master teacher who could needle out responses. He is quoted to have said that his actions are, "as upon a great noble horse which was somewhat sluggish because of its size and needed to be stirred up by a kind of gadfly."

Maya

Plato, in 'The Republic',  as seen in the Cave allegory, thinks that people are like the prisoners who see the world through shadows on the wall look at reality through their own lenses. They are so convinced of their perception of the world that they are unconvinced when a knowledgeable person tries to convince them of the colourful three-dimensional world out there. People need leaders to pave the path for them; preferably, leaders should be philosophers.

When we look around us, Platonic teachings seem to hold many truths. People find it easier to just follow preset rules without thinking. Using the brain is a very strenuous exercise. Following a set protocol decided by the powers that be absolves them from liabilities and wild accusations. They are protected. At the same time, they forget that, through this means, they can be manipulated by self-serving leaders. Some professions demand such obedience. The country wants a soldier to carry out his assignments without having a second thought. When his superior commands him to kill the bandits, his job is shoot, not introspect. But then, does this rhetoric also apply to the promise of a good after-life or better placing in the karmic ladder by an intangible force in the celestial space?

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In search of Eudaemonia...

After attaining such a stature in life, there is nothing that excites him anymore. He is now looking for that elusive eudaemonia. He is following the footsteps of Plato to reach the state of eternal bliss, but the path to Nirvana seem to be paved with uneven pebbles.

After visiting Greece, he is fascinated with the Greeks and their forward thinking philosophers, particularly Plato. He has started thinking more, asking the meaning of it all, of life and the baggage that comes with it. He is trying to self-explore himself, with the hope that he can identify his strong and weak points. He yearns to engage in Socratic discussions with his ever cynical colleague who think that he is blasphemous by questioning the orders of the Universe. They tell him that he is too feeble to ask, let alone to understand, the purpose of it all.

He heard that Plato has advised to one seeking fulfilment to reach out to find a lover who can change him and ease him in goal. Unfortunately, that is not a viable option. At this mid-life of his life span, a crisis involving the fairer sex is going to send him the opposite pole of eudaemonia! He appreciates beauty, yes, and the beauty of art, drama and aesthetics. Philosophers also give importance to the appreciation of tragedy to understand life. It makes you stronger, they say. Hence, it was melodramatic tragedy shows for him.

But then, his friend reminded him that he does not have to seek for tragedy. Hardship and misery are part of life. It comes in waves. He narrated his recent experience with a band of brothers who could never see eye to eye with each other. They breathe fire at each other’s sight. All it took was a tragic fatal robbery of a family member to unite them. The sight of blood and wailing quivered the skin to chuck aside their differences to come to each other’s support!