Friday, April 29, 2005

Spartan living, today?

Right now I'm currently reading "Gates of fire" by Steven Pressfield, he's the fellow who gave us "Bagger Vance". This book is a historical fiction, like Bagger, that details the Battle of Thermopylae. In this battle, an ancient day version of the Alamo, the grossly undermanned Spartan armies held the large imperial amries of King Xerxes at bay and helped Greece fend off the Persian invaders. The book doesn't try to give a factual play by play, that would be hard, but tries to provide insights into the Spartan culture.

The Spartan region was home to the proud warriors of ancient Greece. While the thinkers came out of Athens, the toughest men came from Sparta. They had an elaborate and harsh warrior code that dictated Spartan living. At age 9 Spartan boys would enroll in the Agoge and would focus on warrior skills and working together in victory. Their training regiment bordered on brutality and young men, beaten down and exhusted by the training, were taught that it was better to keep going and die then to give in and submit. After all, are breaks given for the tired during warfare? As a result of this training the Spartan armies were among the envy of the ancient world and their lines were rarely broken. While training was extreme, these boys learned the value of brotherhood, honor, and competition.

Now to my question. How would the Spartans fare in today's world? Theirs was a world that broke down the individual and built up a unit. Ours is a world that breaks down the group while catering and celebrating the individual. While I would agree that some of Spartan life was extremely brutal, I do greatly admire what they were able to accomplish and what they stood for. I am not alone. The greatest leaders and thinkers throughout history have studied and celebrated the Spartan code. But sadly we live in a time when we couldn't truly live according to their code. Heck, the Boy Scouts can't even function without being intruden upon by someone whose "rights" have been violated.

The reason that the Spartan's were so feared and effective was due to their code and the way they lived. Without those those harsh conditions they wouldn't have been great. Our modern society today wouldn't allow for alot of the conditions that made the Spartans what they were. Personal rights are great and necessary, but sometimes it seems that their excessive emphasis can also be an excuse for not truly being great or not truly being responsible.

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Reading Relevance

Sometimes during certain parts of my life I encounter something that perfectly pertains to my situation at that point. Many times I have uncovered scriptures that have spoken directly to a challenge I was facing. Recently the book that is speaking to me is "Atlas Shrugged".

The book, like the views of Rand, espouse the importance of productivity of capital generation. The enemies or antagonists are called "looters" and make their wealth by feeding off of their connections, laws, and socialist tendancies. The real generators of industrial wealth are condemned and weighed down and finally flee the country.

Why does this pertain to me? I am currently in between jobs and evaluating my worth as a contributor to the work force. Do I have the courage, work ethic, and intelligence to generate wealth myself? Do I have to rely on others to make things happen for me? These thoughts were recently evoked by a recent phone call from my mother-in-law. In it she stated that she knew a few people that I can talk to regarding a couple of opportunities in Utah. It made me think. Should I feel guilty for accepting such help? I didn't truly earn this advantage through my own work but through my connection to other people. All things being equal I want my work to speak for me and not my network.

Connections are an essential thing, a true necessity in todays world. I guess they are good in establishing an initial relationship. But work, skill, and knowledge are what should be needed in order prove worth and make connections last. So both social abilities and pure skill are needed to truly succeed. I wonder what Ayn Rand would think?

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Parrot Mania

Shelley and I attended the Jimmy Buffet concert last night. If I were to ever switch careers and become an anthropologist his fan following would be a fascinating case study. The show was great but the real treat came from people watching.

Jimmy Buffet is one of those artists, like Phish or the Dead, that don't see much commercial success but have a tremendous and loyal following. So while bands like U2 or ColdPlay make a killing on album sales, performers like Buffet are constantly touring and feeding off of their devoted followings. And these devoted fans definitely make the price of admission worth it.

Most Buffet fans are in their 40's and 50's. Almost all are Caucasian and middle class. These are people who, on any other day you'd expect to run into at Home Depot, have completely embraced the escape Jimmy's tropical sounds. The concerts allow them to forget about their mundane suburban lifestyles and drink insane amounts of alcohol, all while wearing parrot hats and flowered shirts. This is escapism at its finest. Inhibitions are out the window and people are carried far away from reality. We could make some serious money by videotaping and blackmailing random people in the audience. We just sat back and enjoyed the view.

I agree that escapism comes in many forms- sports, other forms of music, gardening, etc...- but it is hard to argue that there is anything more entertaining than watching Jimmy Buffet fans forget about reality and become drunken pirates. It's a real cultural treat. Oh yeah, and the concert wasn't that bad either.

Friday, April 01, 2005

Gadianton Jihad

Just an observation from my scripture reading, nothing more.

The books of Helaman and early 3rd Nephi contain many passages that detail the problems created by the dark and secret works of the Gadianton Robbers. This clandestine group worked in the shadows and constantly thwarted the efforts of the government and church, even to the point of quietly controlling key government posts. While it didn't appear that they were able to influence to most righteous saints, they were able to get to the vast majority whose faith wasn't as strong.

The actions and tactics of this group caught my attention, given what is currently going on in the Middle East. While their motives might be different, Al Queda appears to use many of the same techniques employed anciently by the robbers. The most striking similarity is how they employ quiet and guerilla tactics, blending in among the people and using unconventional warfare. They both appeared to be extremely devoted to their cause, to the point of employing fear and elaborate rituals to ensure loyalty. I won't go as far to say that Satan is the author of Al Queda but both groups were set on the destruction of their enemy, the US now and the Church in ancient times.

This observation isn't too significant but it has shown me that human nature is virtually the same, regardless of place or time. The problems, tendencies, conditions that existed thousands of years ago still exist today. That is why I can read the writings of ancient prophets and still benefit from their teachings. The fundamental aspects of life are always the same.

Dude