Ishmael sighed. "Do you remember what I advertised for?"
"Of course. A pupil with an earnest desire to save the world."
"Then presumably you came here because you have that desire. Did you think I was going to hand you a magic wand? Or an automatic weapon with which you could gun down all the evildoers of the world?"
"No."
"On the basis of what I've been saying here, Julie, what needs to be done? What needs to be done first before people will begin figuring out how to get to the wealth [of knowledge] they so desperately need?"
I shook my head but that wasn't nearly enough. I popped out of my chair and windmilled my arms. Ishmael looked at me curiously, as if I might have lost my mind at last. I said to him, "Look! You're not talking about saving the world! I can't figure you out! You're talking about saving us !"
Ishmael nodded. "I understand you're puzzlement, Julie. But here is how it is. The people of your culture are in the process of rendering this planet uninhabitable to yourselves and millions of other species. If you succeed in doing this, life will certainly continue, but at levels you (in your lofty way) would undoubtedly consider more primitive. When you and I speak of saving the world, we mean saving the world roughly as we know it now--a world populated by elephants, gorillas, kangaroos, bison, elk, eagles, seals, whales, and so on. Do you understand?"
"Of course"
"Then there are two ways to save the world in this sense. One is to destroy you immediately--not to wait for you to render them world uninhabitable for yourselves. I know of no way to accomplish that, Julie. Do you?"
"No."
"The only other way to save the world is to save you . Is to show you how to get the things you so desperately need-- instead of destroying the world."
"Oh," I said.
"It is my bizarre theory, Julie, that the people of your culture are destroying the world not because they're vicious and stupid, as Mother Culture teaches, but because they're terribly, terribly deprived--of things that humans absolutely must have, simply cannot go on living without year after year and generation after generation. It's my bizarre theory that, given the choice between destroying the world and having the things they really, deeply want, they'll choose the latter. But before they can make that choice, they must see that choice."
-Daniel Quinn, My Ishmael
Give this man a read, starting with Ishmael , then The Story of B , and then My Ishmael. I don't see how anyone can remain unchanged by these works...
"Of course. A pupil with an earnest desire to save the world."
"Then presumably you came here because you have that desire. Did you think I was going to hand you a magic wand? Or an automatic weapon with which you could gun down all the evildoers of the world?"
"No."
"On the basis of what I've been saying here, Julie, what needs to be done? What needs to be done first before people will begin figuring out how to get to the wealth [of knowledge] they so desperately need?"
I shook my head but that wasn't nearly enough. I popped out of my chair and windmilled my arms. Ishmael looked at me curiously, as if I might have lost my mind at last. I said to him, "Look! You're not talking about saving the world! I can't figure you out! You're talking about saving us !"
Ishmael nodded. "I understand you're puzzlement, Julie. But here is how it is. The people of your culture are in the process of rendering this planet uninhabitable to yourselves and millions of other species. If you succeed in doing this, life will certainly continue, but at levels you (in your lofty way) would undoubtedly consider more primitive. When you and I speak of saving the world, we mean saving the world roughly as we know it now--a world populated by elephants, gorillas, kangaroos, bison, elk, eagles, seals, whales, and so on. Do you understand?"
"Of course"
"Then there are two ways to save the world in this sense. One is to destroy you immediately--not to wait for you to render them world uninhabitable for yourselves. I know of no way to accomplish that, Julie. Do you?"
"No."
"The only other way to save the world is to save you . Is to show you how to get the things you so desperately need-- instead of destroying the world."
"Oh," I said.
"It is my bizarre theory, Julie, that the people of your culture are destroying the world not because they're vicious and stupid, as Mother Culture teaches, but because they're terribly, terribly deprived--of things that humans absolutely must have, simply cannot go on living without year after year and generation after generation. It's my bizarre theory that, given the choice between destroying the world and having the things they really, deeply want, they'll choose the latter. But before they can make that choice, they must see that choice."
-Daniel Quinn, My Ishmael
Give this man a read, starting with Ishmael , then The Story of B , and then My Ishmael. I don't see how anyone can remain unchanged by these works...
VIEW 20 of 20 COMMENTS
tarnish:
in response to your comment in fireflys journal about stoners not being worth the effort of rooming with....THIS stoner is totally worth the effort. But THIS stoner would know better than to fuck around on the edit page. 
ghosty:
I wish you would answer your phone once in awhile I've been trying to get ahold of you. but i Keep getting the machine.