on selflessness

selflessness moves me in such a way i feel like a human heart muscle bleeding out all over everything i conceive. i read a news story today about a group of 200 senior citizens in japan who call themselves 'the skilled veterans corps.' they have volunteered to go into the fukushima nuclear power plant to work on repairs to the reactor that was damaged severely by tsunami and represents certain illness and death for those who approach it.

the selflessness of this act impresses me. it simultaneously makes me want to jump for joy and sob like a little baby. i felt connected when i read this story, connected to humanity.

these japanese seniors are aware of, concerned with and invested in, the bigger picture. they want to replace younger employees and work in a place few are willing to work due to the precipitous likelihood of harm. they have cited a couple reasons why they should do this work: slower cell division makes a slower cancer, and the time is right for the nuclear generation to take real responsibility for their decisions. they also make clear that none of the members of the skilled veterans corps has a death wish.

what's more is this group of 250 recognize their place in the scope of our species. they’re pragmatic. they care. this quality more than any other touches me.

thinking of them...imagining them as as retired bankers and auto workers, doctors and garbage collectors, conjuring their thought processes, seeing them reflecting on these 60-80 years they have had thus far, fat with all the joys and pain of being human, childhood and adolescence, familiarity with the amazing capabilities of their physical beings but also tasting the bitter reality of the body's frailty...

knowing they will have focused on the specifics of grown children, grandchildren embarking on their great adventure, and some even contemplating the planned obsolescence that is great grandparenthood...

knowing how their hearts must swell at the idea of being able to make such a sacrifice for their kind. i think of them so bravely signing up for the group then having a quiet moment of solitude later at home, alone. i know they are resolute and i know they are afraid though i think their fear is more like a sadness in knowing their fear of death has diminished with age which must feel like surrender. i know they also feel a peace, a humble gratitude and a full knowledge they have not ceased to rage against the dying of the light, rather they have chosen to help the species rage all the more vibrantly and effectively.

the skilled veterans corps embodies all that it should mean to be elderly. they are wise and generous. their selflessness is legendary. we do not see this much in our lives-it is what attracts me to men like bobby sands and che guevara, ghandi and martin luther king jr. these men of various causes displayed the similar trait of recognizing the greater good and being willing to act even at their own peril. that touches me perhaps because i live in a society that seems to pooh pooh that behavior valuing instead the culture of gordon gecko and celebrity investors and respect for winning even if you cheated.

the reward for selfless behavior is clear and undeniable. it ranges from being able to sleep at night to the inner sunshine of bestowing a gift on the brotherhood of man to immortality, (such as immortality is.) still, in my society perhaps a majority of people with a choice of a material windfall and more time on earth versus the opportunity to commit an ultimate act of love and goodness would choose the former and smirk, "suckah..." all the way to the bank.

i read the story in a sandwich shop on my iphone at lunch today and i barely composed myself. i sat alone in a room of populated lunch tables eating my sandwich and reading and suddenly i felt like choking. my face flushed and i felt tears well up in my eyes. real tears-tears such as i typically know only at funerals or the like. i grabbed a hold of myself fiercely and pushed the emotion from my consciousness. i soldiered on through the story but at the end when the group's leader announces his expectation the power company will accept the offer from the elderly group to work on site, because, "they need us," i felt it again. it was a sudden jerking of my emotions right to the brink of overflowing.

i checked them again and wondered to myself why such a strong reaction to a news story. this was when i thought of che guevara and how his life story affected me in such a similar fashion, (so much so his visage adorns my calf.) i am slightly chagrined by the idea of having a man's face tattooed on my body, men being so fallible and prone to err. but guevara, like king and ghandi and sands, for me is selflessness incarnate. selflessness, when i see it, the selflessness of those who would advance the envelope of human understanding and evolution, those who actively work to hammer away at the veil of our time, who are discontented by the plodding advance of our age, it moves me in every way. it restores my conviction that goodness is winning, understanding is conquering ignorance, life is meaningful.

and to mr. yasuteru yamada of the skilled veteran's corps i say, "yes sir. you are right. we do need you."

movie - che

there are a multitude of reasons why steven soderbergh's 'che' was not nominated for any academy awards. the complicated reason is che guevara, (played by benicio del toro,) has been demonized in american culture, (pop or otherwise,) from the time he became known to americans right up to today. so in effect, this is like making a movie about charles manson, (wherein manson is the hero.)

of course the reality is that guevara behaved fairly heroically in his brief life. even for one who may oppose marxism or socialism, if they are familiar with the facts of the man's life, it is difficult to deny the selflessness of one who would go fight in foreign lands on behalf of the poor and powerless.

in che, soderbergh has created a modern, film-making marvel. by choosing a simple style of storytelling, from the use of hand held cameras to a dearth of context, soderbergh has achieved a quality of grittiness heretofore unseen.

in che, the facts are holy. style, dramatic effect, ego...they are all put aside in order to portray guevara's story as accurately as possible. even the music is scarce albeit effective. soderbergh stops well short of going all dogme 95 with this film, striking instead a tender balance between enhancing the story and letting it tell itself.

it is as if che was made for the american audience, for the purpose of informing them as to the true essence of che guevara. as it is, in america his image is considered iconic and at the same time it is parodied. ideologues on either side may sport the image unaware of the myriad and confused implications.

the movie is not a biography. it does not include guevara's childhood in argentina, his time in medical school, his trip by motorcycle up the continent, nor does it include his foray in the congo. it is the story of his encounter with fidel castro, (demian bichir,) in mexico city and their subsequent successful revolution in cuba, (part 1-"the argentine.") and it is the story of guevara's mission to bolivia to foment another revolution, (part 2-"guerrilla,") which of course failed and for which guevara lost his life. 80% of the film is war.

to understand the essence of che guevara the film offers a quote from che who said, in response to a reporter during a sequence of the film when he is in new york to address the united nations who asked him what one quality is most important for a true revolutionary,

an authentic revolutionary does it for love.

che guevara did not crave power. he was not interested in material gain. he did it for love. the movie, 'che,' captures this about guevara and also illustrates how strident he was in regards to his values. "a revolutionary must feel like he is already dead to live." "feed the children first." "we always go back for a comrade who is down."

che guevara was a principled man extraordinaire. in addition to living his values, he lived for his values. despite the fact he wrote a book on guerrilla warfare, he was in no way a theoretician. he was a man of action. he put his principles into practice and proved their practicality in spite of those who live so far short of that and expect the worse from others. he was a man in the truest sense of the word.

in 'che,' guevara is never glorified, at least not by anything other than the facts. del toro is stoic in his portrayal of the warrior, which seems entirely accurate. if truth is a factor in the giving of awards, if consistency is a factor, del toro should have been a serious contender. (and kudos to sean penn for mentioning del toro's performance upon receiving the best actor golden globe.) still, awards are just awards. they are fun but they are subjective. benicio del toro's accomplishment is one of truth and the shame that is the lack of award nominations in no way detracts from the accomplishment and higher purpose that is 'che.'

the 50 years that have passed since fidel castro's rebel army toppled the regime of fulgencio bautista have provided perspective. in those days it was hard to know if bautista was the corrupt u.s. puppet the revolution portrayed him as or if he was the honorable leader our government would have us believe at that time. however, in time things such as these become clear and in spite of the many cuban-americans who were on the right side of that bautista regime and who lost land and wealth as a result of that revolution, it is difficult to see bautista as anything other than the despot he truly was.

in the years following that revolution the cia hatched plan after plan to assassinate castro. our government has funded propaganda primarily for distribution to and through the cuban-american community in the miami area using the newspapers of that area. since that revolution our government has stopped producing steel in birmingham, alabama, and along with trade embargoes, travel restrictions and other means of economic oppression, we have effectively isolated cuba from much of the world. in spite of those conditions, cuba has thrived in many ways.

cuba has a health care system of the first world. cuba has 100% literacy. despite limited natural resources, with only sugar cane and tobacco being valuable exportable products, cuba has survived in the face of long odds. wouldn't it have been interesting if the united states has been less insecure about our system of capitalism and instead agreed to trade with cuba and aid them in their quest to try something different so that they would not have been forced to ally themselves with the former soviet union?

hopefully 'che,' is seen by many americans and as older generations pass away the younger ones will open to the idea of accepting the sovereignty of cuba as well as their decision to try a path other than capitalism. this film is powerful and can certainly be a cog in the wheel of change.