They Say A Lot of Things

"They" (professors, parents, authority figures, etc...) tell me I have to be a realist and that idealism is a concept that does not actually occur within the "real" world. This is how I am told to view my entire existence, from a realist perspective. I must learn to understand that every human being, my own species, is iniquitous by birth. There lies the paradox of humanity; I would be lying if I said people are inevitably wicked for if it were true, those who told me were attempting to corrupt my mind with yet another lie. This is the state of the entire civilization. There is an engrained Social Darwinism that stretches beyond superior race, but rather, has inherited a concept of superior trickery and deceit. By being born, we have entered into an involuntary game of chess at which point you must decide to either be the pawn or the queen. This decision relies on the perception of your surroundings brought on by the political and overall cultural socialization of your upbringing. Our history, that is, where we come from as individuals, decides our definition of success. To some, and a statistic majority for that matter, success is material gain and social status based upon reputation. To others, success is to survive.

When discussed from the first perspective, success seems to be easily accessible for those who choose the path of "ambition." I see it as the way those who actually ate the spoonfuls of pre-digested baby food, without looking at their mother's lunch with apprehension, go to achieve their "dreams" which were more than likely evoked by educational propaganda. What is amition? Is it really the overwhelming desire to leave home, do hardly anything to change the world for the better, and possess excessive amounts of paper with pictures and faces on it that, for the most part, you never actually see? Success, from this point of view, is the most elegant of all masquerades requiring the cunning application of poise and charms with undertones of sly networking in which, when the king stands up to stretch, the jester steals the throne. It should be respected as an art, yet hardly a way to actually live.

I once read on a fortune cookie that, "a positive attitude is the key to success." After pondering that for quite a while, I realized the true meaning was, "a positive face is the key to universal acceptance as a person of prestige." If you stumble blindly through euphoric portrayal, surely the summit is accessible. For it is within this paradox that to mask yourself is to be in pursuit of majesty. The cleverest of these ambitious people will give up their right to live, making sacrifices within their own lives in order to attain more paper. Money does not give people actual power because, when looked at for what it is, a dirty slice of paper with a since deceased person on it, it means nothing. It is those who have been participating in this masquerade who believe that a dirty slice of paper means everything. The queen sacrifices free will in order to extend her play in the game. Giving up free will is essentially dying from a self-inflicted flesh wound, but that is the reality within the bargaining of the ambitious.

A pawn's only real goal, if he were asked in the beginning of a game, is to survive. For the pawn, there are more important things than winning the race across the board. Of course, there is honesty in the fact that if you tried to explain to the homeless man eating from the trash that you do not need to have money to be happy, he may disagree with you because the reality of the paradox is that, it sure helps. The difference then, is in it's value to the individual who attains it.

To a pawn, success may be achieved by making sacrifices that the queen would not dare make. This includes turning down opportunities which no doubt promise a "rewarding" career in order to take the time out to smell the roses. Granted, the life of a pawn becomes far more complicated than that of a queen considering the concept the the pawn can only move one space at a time and there is no going back. But these people are idealists and dreamers, putting faith in the fact that every person, even those who choose the life of a queen, can be reasoned with because everyone's intentions are to do good. As Kahlil Gibran wrote, "I prefer to be a dreamer among the humblest, with visions to be realized, than lord among those without dreams and desires."

It is important to remember in sacrificing life experiences for societal gains that when the game is over, the queen, although she has almost the entire board at her leisure, has not actually gone that far. When she moves, she moves only to avoid another. The pawn has free will, and although it seems that failure is inevitable for him, when the pain settles in, he has lived. There are restrictions to all our lives and everyone must choose between the concepts of realism and idealism. When all is over and the pawn has left the game, he will never regret the sacrifices he made nor the people he met along the road. Remember that dreams are important and other humans, no matter what their philosophy may be, are not so different from each other. The next time "they" try to feed you lies about the intentions of people and the "pathway to success," remember that everyone is born with complete free will, whether we keep it depends on our application of it. We are not bound by any laws and we are responsible for the consequences of our choices. Think about what you are sacrificing, will you lose by becoming the last man standing, chased around the board? Or will you lose with principle, free will, opening gateways for others as opposed to deceiving those aquaintances who may just be on your side?

"They" say I have to be a realist, but I think I'll try idealism, if only for the two spaces in the beginning.

"Take a straight and stronger course to the corner of your life" Your Move (I've Seen All Good People) Yes