Celebrating 20 Years of Friendship!

[Roger Bissell]

It was just over 20 years ago that Chris and I first wrote to each other via email. I remember it very well. He was engaged in a Battle Royal on Moderated Discussion of Objectivist Philosophy with a bunch of people who were just as clueless over the nature of his model of dialectics as the ARI crowd still is today (as evidenced by remarks in the new Blackwell Companion to Ayn Rand). I jumped in, enthusiastically supporting his Russian Radical book; after having read only about 40 pages of it, I thought it was so crystal clear that he had his finger on something very true and important, and I still do 20 years later.

Chris has been a true friend, sharing deep and continuing interests in ideas, jazz, and movies, and I hope we will have at least another 20 years of such fun sharing.

REB

[Peter]

From: Chris Matthew Sciabarra
To: Atlantis*
Subject: ATL: Star Wars' Yoda and Rand on "Fear"
Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 09:54:07 -0500

I recently had the occasion to watch a tribute to the great Alfred Hitchcock. One of the individuals interviewed remarked that Hitchcock knew how to exploit the most basic of human emotions: fear. Fear of victimization, fear of unwitting plots, fear of conspiracies, and fear of betrayals. It was fear that Hitchcock's films revealed in all its primordial glory. Maybe Hitchcock understood implicitly a "Jedi" principle that fear was the basis of so much destruction in this world.

Every so often, a few kernels of philosophic truth come blaring forth from the dens of pop culture, and "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace," like other films in the George Lucas series, is no exception. Discussing whether young Anakin Skywalker (who shall become Darth Vader) is an appropriate subject for Jedi training, Yoda senses that the boy is filled with fear and even if he proves to be the "chosen one," there are too many unresolved contradictions and questions within his soul. "Fear," says Yoda, "is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to Anger. Anger leads to Hate. Hate leads to Suffering."

I thought this especially interesting since in previous posts we have discussed how fear is the "enemy within" (as the Rush lyricist Neil Peart expressed in three songs, the so-called "Fear" trilogy). Ayn Rand has had a lot to say about "fear"---in fact, I conclude the final chapter of my book, AYN RAND: THE RUSSIAN RADICAL, with a passage from THE FOUNTAINHEAD that has long been my favorite, and that centers on this very issue. It is a passage that other writers (such as Slavoj Zizek) have greatly appreciated. As Roark stands before a jury of his peers, ready to provide a defense of himself, Rand writes:

"He stood by the steps of the witness stand. The audience looked at him. They felt he had no chance. They could drop the nameless resentment, the sense of insecurity which he aroused in most people. And so, for the first time, they could see him as he was: a man totally innocent of fear. The fear of which they thought was not the normal kind, not a response to a tangible danger, but the chronic, unconfessed fear in which they all lived. They remembered the misery of the moments when, in loneliness, a man thinks of the bright words he could have said, but had not found, and hates those who robbed him of his courage. The misery of knowing how strong and able one is in one's own mind, the radiant picture never to be made real. Dreams? Self-delusion? Or a murdered reality, unborn, killed by that corroding emotion without name - fear - need - dependence - hatred? Roark stood before them as each man stands in the innocence of his own mind. But Roark stood like that before a hostile crowd - and they knew suddenly that no hatred was possible to him. For the flash of an instant, they grasped the manner of his consciousness. Each asked himself: do I need anyone's approval? - does it matter? - am I tied? And for that instant, each man was free - free enough to feel
benevolence for every other man in the room."

I think Rand and Yoda and Hitchcock all recognize a great truth: the reciprocally reinforcing relationship between fear, anger, hatred, dependency, malevolence, and suffering. It is only by facing the root of fear and triumphing over it that one can begin to express the best within oneself.

Interestingly, there is a new book out by Stanley Weintraub called SILENT NIGHT: THE STORY OF THE WORLD WAR I CHRISTMAS TRUCE (apropos for the season). In it, Weintraub discusses how enemy soldiers on the night of December 24, 1914, spontaneously erupted into peace on the battlefield along the French-Belgium front line. Men from both sides of the battle negotiated a temporary cease fire, and they joined amidst lit Christmas trees, and the British, French, Scots, and Germans exchanged rations and cigarettes and sang carols, and on Christmas Day they played a game of soccer, and the men gave each side the opportunity to claim and bury their dead comrades. The truce was not completely observed, and stray shots eventually escalated into full-scale battle once again. But for one Silent Night, men triumphed over their fear---and discovered their common humanity.

"Perfect friendship," says Aristotle, "is the friendship of men who are good, and alike in excellence." We might add that it can only be found among those men---and women---who do not fear.

Peace and goodwill to all of you during this holiday season, Chris
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Chris Matthew Sciabarra, Visiting Scholar