Deserting Good and Evil

You’re on a desert island. Both sky and water envelop you in a calming blue existence, dotted with lush palm-tree-green palm trees and coconut-brown coconuts. Food is abundant, as a container containing a lifetime supply of manna washed ashore the other day. There is even a waterfall that flows with milk. (Coconuts are so abundant on this upper part of the island that they fall, crack open, and pour their contents so often as to establish a permanent river. I hope you weren’t thinking cow milk, as that would be absurd.)

There is only one catch. You are completely and totally alone. No other human is on the island, and no one will ever find it. No adorable monkeys dot the treetops, nor is there a single living being on the ocean oasis. Nothing attempts to kill or maim you and there is nothing to kill or maim, save plants. A deserted desert island.

As a result, there is plenty of time to think. So you think: “Is there good and evil on this island? Does good and evil exist without any others in life?”

It is a question I’ve pondered over the last few weeks, off and on. It is also a question based in theology and differences in religious or philosophical literature. I am approaching it from a Jewish perspective (one of many, as two Jews in a room have 5 opinions). But whatever perspective, the question cuts straight to the meaning of good and evil.
I am currently of the opinion that there is no good or evil without interaction with other humans or animals.

Without humans or animals, you cannot murder, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness, covet your neighbor’s property or spouse (no neighbors…) or dishonor your father and mother. If we could say the same for our own society, or any other, we would say that this is a mighty good society. I’d live there.
However, there is no choice in the matter, so this ‘perfect society’ on the island isn’t a result of goodness but rather of lack of choice.

Alone, you can still worship other gods, make graven images, take God’s name in vain, forget the Sabbath day, and commit suicide.
I argue though that while these are sins (in Judaism “missing the mark” as opposed to definite bad), they are not evil. At the very least, these actions are not in the same category as murder or theft. But they are unholy.

Holiness in Judaism concerns uplifting ourselves from an animal state to a divine state. To use an example from the Jewish writer Dennis Prager, while it is not evil to eat like a pig and scarf down our food --lapping it up from the plate with our tongues-- it is an animal act, not human. Yes, we are animal in body, but our behavior should strive for the divine. It is our behavioral choices that separate us from our animal roots.

Worshipping other gods, graven images, and taking God’s name in vain are primarily unholy acts, not evil ones. They do not harm others in general, and certainly do not on this island. If one doesn’t follow these laws, they may be more likely to dance around with a spear and become Lord of the Fire (… no Flies present…) but there is no harm done. It is unholy, it is pagan, but not evil.

What of suicide? I contend that the primary reason suicide is banned is because of the harm it does to surrounding people. Suicide takes away a mother, a sister, a friend, a neighbor, a daughter, a wife. It leaves a hole in the community. It may be understandable under some circumstances, but it is selfish none the less. Thus, if alone for life on an island, there is no community to harm. (In real life, one could not guarantee they would never be found, and as such I never condone suicide.)

I know other religions would disagree on other grounds (i.e. without gradation of sin, the unholy sin is equivalent to the sin harming others).

But from my perspective, good and evil is solely about how we treat others. 

Now, back to eating coconuts.

Be Good,
Enjoy Life,
Yaffe


Hear it too!
http://www.zoopy.com/audio/5qfd/deserting-good-and-evil

The Last Wish For Youth

I watched "The Last Emperor" in the past week, a quality film depicting the life Pu Yi, the final emperor of China. It served as a crucial tool in my own education, reinforcing what I learned in my Chinese Revolutionary History class. I also found it helpful that I had thoroughly explored one of the major set pieces, namely the Forbidden City (pictured right), the film being the first to record within the Beijing walls.

Photo Credit: Noah Yaffe

I don't think it spoils the movie to say that he is brought up as an emperor and eventually dies a peasant; it's historical fact. Then again, a Chinese citizen may not know whether Jefferson and Adams ended their lives with comradery or enmity for one another. (Do you know? It's quite the tale.)

It seems to me that this story would be a horrible ordeal to live. Rags to riches may have its tragic problems if you are sucked into a materialistic lifestyle or if you lack gratitude for those that helped you along the way. But riches to rags? It can take a toll on a mind raised on praise and fulfillment of whims.

This leads to two points.

One, we all have this challenge to some extent in the process of maturation, the growing pains of independence. 

And two, fame or finance early in life is more likely a curse than a blessing, whether the good fortune lingers or disappears.

In growing up, we leave the familiar ways of home and go off into the world. (Or, in the case of college attendance, we incubate for a while in another home.) Starting life out with the royal treatment of diaper changes and pre-chewed food (too lazy to process it ourselves), many in my generation continued on to have  disappointments and failures mitigated by parents, and responsibilities and obligations withheld. With the high standard of living in the US, it was at least a luxurious upbringing compared to the rest of the world, or our country 100 years ago. 

Regardless, at some point my generation will have to confront the reality of working and budgeting, if it hasn't happened already. I am one of the those who will soon be meeting basic independence, not yet having secured a job nor having left my parent's house. I hope to greet it with at least plastered-on smile, if initially lacking genuine goodwill.  (For the record, I only graduated a month ago and I may have a job in the next week.) 

This transition from college may be rough on a lot of college kids. I overheard a (loud) conversation between some local business owners today. They talked about their freshly graduated employees, how they are unreliable and hold wholly unrealistic salary expectations. These particular trade schools have an incentive to advertise large graduation salaries to lure in students but don't impart a well-rounded approach to business or even acceptable competence in their specific trade. 

But what these new employees lack in skill and tenacity, they reportedly make up in self-esteem. I am curious how long self-esteem will hold up against unemployment and/or student debt. (Maybe businesses will start giving out 'participation trophies' just for interviewing.) We will all adjust, but many of us have more growing up to do.We are finally learning that college isn't reality and the 'real world' doesn't often yield to our college dreams.

But this, I believe, is a blessing in disguise.

One only has to look at the world of celebrities to find profound tragedy of premature fortune. From the emperors of ancient Rome to the respective Kings of pop and rock and roll. While this certainly isn't the fate of the average college graduate, it serves as an example of empty fame and the difficulty one has living up to expectations set by one's past-self.

If our college education doesn't prepare us, we will have to start working minimum wage, a guarantee that pre-mature fame and finance will not find us, and subsequently will not wreak havoc on our psyche in later years. If we start at minimum wage, the only place to go is up!

What if you achieved fame and fortune at age twenty, lost it all by age twenty-five, and remained in financial uncertainty and social obscurity for the rest of your life? That's the last wish I have for our youth. Isn't it far better to grow up poor and obscure, build up a stable life, and then have your hard work transformed into notable success? 

At least if we enter the world unprepared by college, we will start at the bottom of the ladder. The only downside is that our labors will be a source of consternation for our employers and our egos for many years.

I, for one, would rather build slowly on achievement. I could probably find a good paying job with an economics degree, but I would rather master minimum wage work and grow from there. I will forever have the knowledge that if worst comes to worst, I can survive on minimum wage. If, in the future, I have a career that crashes and burns, I'll always have the security that I can work and be happy on the lowest salary possible. So with any luck, I'll remain obscure and poor for now.  (Then again... I hope people read this blog. Oh the conflict!) If I chance upon early success, I'll just be grateful for having my expectations exceeded.

In the end, the last emperor may have been one of the luckiest of his kin. He didn't have the curse of absolute power or palace isolation. He found independence, as difficult as it was.

Then again, he certainly lived in interesting times, the greatest curse of all.

Be Good,
Enjoy Life,
Yaffe

Future Blogs:

The expectation of business owners that youthful employees are technologically skilled.

College dreams vs. Life action

The Rest Of My Life

Christmas wrapped up after all the unwrapping, a New Gregorian Year began, and a college diploma in hand. Now what? Everything I've put off for four years!

College was a great opportunity to suppress ideas, creativity, and self for the pursuit of grades. But now college is over, at least the first round. (A cynical take, but I'll address it more fairly in the future.)

The lack of structured education has one major benefit and one major disadvantage for learning.
School has finally stopped interfering with my education (I apologize to Twain that I let it), and I have the time to pursue educational interests. In the three weeks since college, I've read a handful of fiction works, studied some differential equations to find out what it is, extended my study of Developmental Economics, listened to Torah commentaries, surfed Wikipedia, and organized a large pile of less-than-200-page books to read in the coming months. I want to 'have read' a good portion of the books piled on dressers, shelves, my desk, and under the bed in my room.
I now have the time, due to the lack of homework.

However, this leads to the major disadvantage. Without homework, I don't feel the strong desire to "burn my homework and go read". I'll discuss this more in the future when addressing my theory of Positive Productive Procrastination. (... Or PPP. There are two PPP theories I came across while studying Economics. I thought I needed one for myself.)
Suffice it to say that procrastinating isn't as fulfilling when there is nothing structured to procrastinate. Maybe the solution is to create my own rigid structure and avoid it by reading. Or I could have a friend ask a favor that I'll regrettably turn down because I have Dostoevsky to read.

In conjunction with self-education, I would like employment. I hope to first work at a coffee shop. Why?
I think it puts together the best of all worlds on the smallest scale. Working with people, manual labor, potential management responsibility, dish washing, possible experimentation, and creation of the product that one sells.
A waiter fundamentally moves the product from the kitchen to the table. A coffee shop employee requires skill in making a quality, consistent product. It also takes far less time to become employed making coffee than it does becoming an experienced waiter. ("Applicants require 2+ years Fine Dining Waiter Experience...")

Also, a coffee shop is a small scale operation that I can study. A business case study.
Output is customer service, atmosphere, varieties of coffee, tea, drinks, baked goods, sandwiches, and caffeine.
Input is rent, employees, managers to schedule employees (and whatever else), coffee and tea orders, facility upkeep, espresso machine depreciation, advertisement, and innovation.

I would like to see if my vision is accurate. And I would like to study it with the help of yet another book I found "How to Open a Financially Successful Coffee, Espesso, & Tea Shop". Looks useful and well written, attending to all the various facets of the business.

Working at a coffee shop includes one more invaluable advantage. I will be able to make coffee for loved ones, saving them (and me), thousands of dollars over the coming years of The Rest Of My Life.


Be Good,
Enjoy Life,
Yaffe




Brainstorming Future Blog Topics:
PPP (Positive Productive Procrastination)
Reduced Social Activity Without College
Merits of Community College
Merits of University
Post-Graduation Job Market
Youth and Healthcare
Youth and Retirement
Living on Minimum Wage