Vol 7 - Bruce's Decision : The Dark and White Knights

Everyone needs others to understand them.

Harvey Dent believed in Batman, he understood why someone needed to act outside of the law, and do what no one else was willing to.

Harvey was proud of Batman, and thus, was vicariously proud of Bruce.

It goes without saying that Bruce felt extremely grateful to Harvey, in whom he found a kindred spirit to combat criminals, and, more importantly, someone who believed in him and who could be the "noble" face of justice and truth for the despairing people of Gotham city, the face of hope, Bruce felt Batman could never be.

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Bruce succeeds in saving Gordon and his family from Harvey's crazed replay of the death of Rachel, only to be faced with yet another soul wrenching decision.

Harvey was Gotham's White Knight, he was the immaculate and noble hero who was going to scour the evil from the city through formal, societally "acceptable" methods in the courtroom, adhering to the established justice system.

He was the hero, Bruce felt Gotham truly needed, a symbol of combating evil in the appropriate, "civilized" way.

Bruce views himself as a necessary, but, by no means, laudable, force in Gotham, fighting criminals "in the trenches", but, never approved, never sanctioned, forever someone feared nearly as much as the ones he takes down.

That Harvey murdered police officers in revenge over the death of Rachel, obliterating a squeaky clean image of pure, incorruptible, compliance with the justice system, hurts Bruce more than all the knife wounds, dog bites, and bullet bruises he received throughout Gotham's latest ordeal..

Harvey was the person who was going to save Gotham in plain sight of everyone, in the bright light of honesty and truth and justice.

Bruce knew he was the person who was going to operate in the darkness, to do what Harvey could not, to bend, or break the rules of society, to dirty his hands with necessary violence, and root out the criminal element into the light, to be defeated gloriously by Harvey.

Bruce bet his hopes for the bright, pure, peaceful Gotham he wishes he could have lived in as a child, on the righteousness of Harvey. He was willing to sacrifice himself for it. And he does so again.

Bruce tells Gordon to lay the blame of the police officer's deaths on Batman's shoulders and makes implicit that nobody can find out Harvey murdered people.

With that, Batman begins his life as a fugitive. Bruce made the decision because he felt that people needed to be protected from the truth, that ignorance is bliss, that the resolve and depth and vision of his fellow human beings was so shallow and undeveloped and stunted they would not be able to absorb the idea that their "incorruptible" White Knight was capable of succumbing to normal human emotions like rage or a desire for revenge.

Bruce feels that everyday, "normal", people need a symbol of absolute nobility, divinity, a God of Light, to forever shine gloriously and benevolently over them, protecting them from all harm and hardship.

Bruce believes that "normal" people are so devoid of courage and the ability to reason that they will collapse if they discover that the one among them who was supposed to be more than a man was, in fact: just a man.

In a society of hero worship, where a single person is held up as an ideal to aspire to, an example of a better human being, shining like a beacon to point to and be comforted by while everyone else, the "normal" people, go about their small affairs, knowing that they will always be protected and sheltered, people never need to grow up, or grow strong themselves.

I would tell Bruce, and Gordon, and Harvey, people do not need heroes, people do not need supermen, people need to feel strong themselves.

Then they can save themselves.

But, Bruce acts from the desperation and fear he sees in the people around him, those feelings he wishes to protect others from.

As Gordon says, "because he can take it." With the unstated implication that other people simply cannot.

In Ancient Rome, during times of crisis, a single man was selected to take the responsibility for protecting the city.

Such a man ultimately bore a great burden, and was filled with a sense of great power, with the capacity of becoming an awesome hero, or a terrible villain.

It is an unfair and unhealthy decision.

One person should not have to shoulder the burden of their species.

“We are all in this together.”

Humanity is comprised of countless individuals and its challenges are so for everyone.

The fair and healthy approach is for everyone to be raised and cultivated to be strong, to carry their portion of the burden, and to take the satisfaction and joy of knowing they are invaluable to their people.

Bruce and Harvey tried to save their city on their own.

I hope that in the next film, the people of Gotham prove to them, they don't have to do it alone.

Vol 7 (Secondary Article) - Batman Begins and The Dark Knight : The Two Central Themes

The first two Batman films in Christopher Nolan's new trilogy have 2 central, penetrating themes.

1.People searching deep inside themselves to find out who they truly are, and what they truly believe in.

2.People wanting desperately for others to understand them.

Batman has always been the story of a man on a neverending journey to struggle with his own demons by struggling with the demons of others.

It makes for a tragic, heroic, tale, but it does not offer a solution to the vicious cycle Bruce and the criminals he locks himself in combat are trapped in.

The solution lies beyond the delimited world of Gotham's Dark Knight, in the hearts and minds of the fellow human beings surrounding it.

When children are raised to express their feelings freely, and adults feel they can express their feelings without fear of rebuke or retribution, the noble, but finally, unfulfilling tale of one man trying to save everyone, will have served its purpose : to galvanize people to realizing that the solution to human problems is not to pound them with fists, but to feel them, and then express those feelings, freely and openly, with the maturity of knowing that not doing so, burying them in logic and denial, only causes them to manifest in perversions of healthy human behavior.

The story of the Dark Knight has eternal human lessons to teach.

Such is the way of stories, their ultimate goal being the growth of the story receiver.

Vol 7 (Tertiary Article) - Let the Stories Affect You

Staying until the end of the credits.

I don't know when I started, or if I've always done this.

Going to see a movie, being deeply moved, and then staying until the very end of the credits.

Why do I do this? Because I want to let the stories affect me.

I notice that most people leave a movie as soon as it's over.

The movie could have been very powerful and deeply moving, and yet the majority of people leave as soon as the credits begin.

I don't think this is a good thing to do.

It is tearing one's heart and soul away from an experience which had begun to weave itself into one's psyche.

For me, the credits are a chance to allow my thoughts and feelings to settle inside of me, to integrate.

It would be traumatic, like being forcefully pulled away from the body of a dead friend, to instantly depart from the theatre, and resume wearing my mask and erecting the tall,cold wall around my emotions.

Because : Movies are Stories.

Stories are a means of human beings sharing experiences without their fellow human beings directly experiencing them.

The reason we share experiences with our fellow human beings is, it is by the confirmation and approval of others that are our own lives receive validation and a sense of significance.

All human activity is the execution of service to one's fellow human beings, it is by serving others and being acknowledged for our service that our lives possess a sense of purpose.

Stories are told to move one's fellow human beings, to show them something that will contribute to their life.

Stories are the means by which knowledge is shared and a perspective on life heretofore unknown to someone shown.

Being affected by a story is a fundamental part of the experience, denying being moved, is denying one's instinctual reaction to a powerful stimulus, and cannot help but diminish a person and deprive them of an opportunity to grow.

Vol 6 - The Joker's Experiment

The Joker creates a nearly impo-ssible situation in the movie when he places the lives of two separate groups of people "literally" in each other's hands.

One ferry full of convicts from Arkham Asylum, another ferry full of "normal" people (including women and children). Both groups have a trigger which when activated will set off the explosives on the opposite boat.

Joker's rules are that only one boatload of people is allowed to survive, and that one group will be responsible for the death of the other. Joker will not permit them to delay their decision like a bunch of bureaucats though; he places asphyxiating constraints on both groups, less than an hour to make a decision with a deadline of midnight, and the sure knowledge that should either group fail to destroy the other, he will set off both sets of explosives himself and kill them all.

It is a terrifying social experiment. Joker picked his groups perfectly. The convicts are desperate men, who have already committed all manner of heinous crimes, including murder.

Going by the narrow-minded, unfeeling, black and white beliefs our society holds regarding the social "degenerates" we call criminals, it is expected that they will kill others without hesitation.

The Joker knows that "normal" people view criminals as he knows people view himself : as animals, beasts, who have long ago sacrificed any notions of decency, morality, or kindness, motivated only by bloodlust and a desire for destruction.

The Joker fully expects the upright, normal, "good" people on the other ferry to self-righteously judge themselves more deserving of life then the dregs of society whom "civilized" people fear, shun, and lock-away calling such reactions "normal".

The Joker is a man out to test the limits of what a society deems to call "normal".

At the same time, The Joker wouldn't be at all surprised if the convicts blew up the other ferryload of "innocent" people, after all, they're killers just like him.

The Joker is delighted with the ethical "conundrum" he has created, and he is further delighted by the fact that he is going to be able to prove his point to Batman, Gordon, and all the citizens of Gotham, that all people (especially, so-called, "normal" people) are essentially vicious animals, like himself, who will commit any sort of horror in order to survive.

It is a credit to the sheer vision of the movie that during the period of time the clock is winding itself down to midnight, both groups, appear prepared to sentence the other to a fiery death.

The convicts and the everyday people behave in a very real, very human way, struggling with the pain of making such a soul-scorching decision.

The Joker has to be given credit. In a society which basically numbs people to the point of feeling practically nothing, ceaselessly distracted from emotions by heedless consumerism and non-stop anaesthizing entertainment, the horrifying situation The Joker puts these two disparate groups of people in, irrevocably "forces" them to open up the rusty doors of their oft-forgotten hearts and actually "feel".

Maybe if The Joker (whose name we never learn in the movie) had been raised in a society where human beings lived in integration with their emotions, where a rage-filled Father, or a half-crazed Wife, felt, really felt deep down inside, they could express their feelings in ways instinctual and natural to human beings (crying, sobbing, screaming) instead of perverted, violent distortions of normal behavior, he would not have felt compelled to become an Agent of Chaos, sowing the seeds of madness, hell-bent on teaching a species in denial of its emotions, the undeniable reality of their repressed existence.

Misery loves Company. The Joker certainly wants the citizens of Gotham to experience misery as he has experienced it. Maybe if they understood what misery is, they would be less capable of easily dismissing it in the name of "normal" behavior.

On both boats, people are forced to search their souls to find how much value they place on human life.

On both boats the ship's crew is forced into the position of acting as the incorruptible, unbiased, and impartial observer.

On both boats, a single person from amongst the crowd, who senses the overall mood of his fellows, takes the initiative to decide the fate of the other boat.

It is a credit, fairly given, to the convicts, that the large, powerful, scarred man who decides to take the trigger, throws it out a porthole without a second thought, then, chastises the ship's Captain for not having done so immediately.

Convicts, men who spend endless days enmeshed in their own thoughts, searching their souls for meaning in life, pondering the circumstances that led them to being caged like brute animals, are much, much closer to knowing their feelings, and the true value of life and freedom.

For them, taking away life and freedom from another human being, is a decision charged with emotion. They know the line between life and death.

It is a much harder moral struggle for the "normal" man on the opposite ferry. He comes within a hair's breadth of fulfilling The Joker's vision of humanity.

Ultimately, it is a testament to human nature, that both men, decide not to execute their fellow human beings.

I think that this says, when human beings are amongst their fellows and given the freedom to search their souls quietly and deeply, without pressure or perversion, we choose to preserve life.

I think this shows human beings are saviors, not killers.

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It is perhaps the most subtle and poignant point in the whole film.

The Joker watches the clock pass Midnight with neither boat exploding.

For a moment The Joker wears a face of genuine surprise, a glimmer of feelings seems to crest just a bit.

The Joker placed two groups of strangers, societal antithesis, at odds, with their lives hanging in the balance, certain one group would sacrifice the other in order to survive, and, to his utter amazement, both would rather choose death then be responsible for the deaths of others.

Maybe a society made of people raised with that kind of nobility in their hearts wouldn't have let an enraged, crazed father carve his son's face into a mockery of a smile, or been so hard and cold that a woman would get trapped in gambling debts pushing her aggrieved husband into an act of mutilation.

In that brief moment, I think, The Joker wondered what he would have been like, in a better world, a world where people are in touch with their feelings.

I also think, The Joker was secretly glad that Batman stopped him from destroying both ships.

This was a moment where Joker was ,deep inside, happy to be proven wrong.

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When humanity evolves to the point where it chooses to understand people who are "aggressively disatisfied" with their society, instead of merely demonizing and ostracizing them, the label of "criminal" will no longer need to be applied to a human being.

Vol 6 (Secondary Article) - Humanism

A survey conducted by Harris Interactive found that 41% of people who leave a job, do so because of a lack of opportunity to grow.

The Capitalist system is dedicated to Supply and Demand and the Status Quo, not to the development of human potential.

It is a system which would much rather have robots in place of human beings, where constantly predictable numbers could be ceaselessly computed with total accuracy.

No surprises. No uncertainties.

And completely not-human.

“Human beings need food and shelter to survive, and purpose to thrive.”

It could be argued that it is not a society's responsibility to insure that people are having fulfilling lives.

That it is an individual's own problem, to be solved alone.

I disagree. When someone is dissatisfied with their societal role, it is everyone's problem and responsibility.

Not insuring that an individual is realizing their full capacity is depriving that person and the rest of humanity of their untapped potential to contribute and enhance the species.

Unfulfilled people are not productive people. Why should they be? Human beings are not robots. Human beings have human feelings. Feeling unsatisfied and empty inside deprives one of the desire to strive.

The Capitalist Approach is to increase pressure on people. To entice people with more money. It appeals to the crudest part of human nature, and in the process strips people's souls.

The Humanist Approach is for humanity to dedicate itself to insuring that every unique individual finds their special path, their special way of contributing to their people. Doing so insures that they will be fulfilled and infinitely more productive.

This is the next systemic step after Capitalism.

It requires a paradigm shift. Emphasis on Human Feelings being absolutely essential to Human Health.

Vol 5 - Bruce Wayne's Coming of Age

"Why do we fall Bruce?" asks Bruce's Father.

"To learn to pick ourselves up again." he concludes.

Bruce is a descendant of a family of noble people. His Father was using the Wayne Fortune to help improve the lot of less fortunate citizens of Gotham, an example of this being the construction of the low-cost public train featured in Batman Begins. One of Bruce's ancestors from the 19th Century used the caverns underneath Wayne Manor to transport slaves via the Underground Railroad.

It is part of Bruce's heritage and upbringing to help those in need. That he comes to do so in a more dramatic and "hands-on" way is a testament to the powerful emotions that storm inside of him.

The traumatic experience of Bruce's parents being murdered before his eyes, forever changes him to the very core of his being.

Bruce had planned to kill Joe Chill, the man who murdered his parents, but a hitwoman working for Carmine Falcone, one of Gotham's major Crime Bosses, murders Chill right in front of Bruce.

As Rachel Dawes (Bruce's child-hood friend) is driving him home, he reveals to her that he intended to kill Chill himself causing Rachel to be furious, pointing out that Bruce's father would have been ashamed. Bruce angrily leaves the car, and wanders the docks where he has an epiphany : killing Chill would not have brought him satisfaction nor closure. Bruce proceeds to confront Falcone, to tell him that he will not capitulate to a world of fear, one where people's parents are murdered for a wallet.

Strange as it is, Falcone inadvertently mentors Bruce.

He mocks Bruce's self-righteous anger and his desire to prove something to himself, pointing out Bruce cannot understand the “desperation” of criminals being the Prince of Gotham, where people from his happy, normal world have so much to lose.

Bruce does not understand the desperation which drives criminals to control a world which leaves them for dead, nor the intoxication of power that comes from achieving that control. Falcone describes the power of fear to control others, how people fear what they do not understand.

What one controls : One cannot be hurt by.

Falcone does admire Bruce's spirit and unwaringly gives Bruce the final push he needs to find an answer and a direction for the raging feelings inside of him.

Falcone points out that Bruce would have to travel 1000 miles to find someone who didn't know his name, and Falcone gives Bruce a taste of the anger and humiliation criminals feel by mocking Bruce's father, the way that society mocks the desperate men who become criminals.

The amount of time Falcone invests in “educating” Bruce begs the question : why? Perhaps Falcone wanted someone from Bruce's world, a once happy world, to understand why criminals, men like him, exist.

It is remarkable, the unexpected guides that appear in a person's life when they are in search of purpose.

Bruce leaves behind his worldly identity, and looks down unfamiliar paths to a purpose he can't see, but must seek out, and breaks into a run as he hurls himself forward into his journey of self-discovery.

When he is challenged and accepted by Ducard and The League of Shadows for training in the mastery of the fear and anger which fuels him, Bruce has already matured and grown a great deal.

In Ducard, Bruce finds a mentor, someone who understands his feelings.

Ducard lost his wife to the actions of criminals and the feelings of anger and grief this engendered nearly destroyed him.

Ducard is thus able to teach Bruce to channel his powerful emotions into profound strength, because, he has done so before himself.

Everyone needs a mentor they resonate with, who has traveled the path they need to walk, and can guide them to becoming truly strong.

Training with Ducard forces Bruce to take possession of his powerful emotions, to hone his resolve into an absolute purpose, to confront his fears and master them and use them as a tool to confront criminals with.

Ducard recognizes that Bruce traveled the world to understand the criminal mind and conquer his fears, what Ducard does not see is that Bruce developed empathy and compassion for the plight of criminals in his journey, and came to understand their feelings, though he never allowed himself to become corrupted by the surrender to complete disregard for the welfare of others.

Bruce decided to explore the criminal mind by being forced, through the necessity for survival, to become a criminal himself. He did so not to discover the resolve to be a righteous executioner; he wanted to understand the mindset of the men he had dedicated himself to stopping. Bruce holds true to the noble vision of humanity held by the Wayne family.

Ducard asks that Bruce throw away his compassion; Bruce points out that compassion is what separates him from criminals and is something he will not give up.

The student adopts the lessons of the teacher, but adapts them to fit his own unique personality and emotional landscape.

That is the way wisdom is passed from one generation to the next.

Bruce's training is brutal and intense, but he emerges from it a different person. He accomplishes what life in normal society ill affords, mastery of the powerful emotions that course within a person, encased within a powerful body.

Bruce finds a purpose in his parent's death and molds himself into a person able to carry out that purpose.

He fulfills his personal Coming of Age, and, as with all such experiences, entered as a questioning, confused child, and emerged a strong, confident, mature adult, filled with a sense of purpose.

Such has always been the reason behind a Coming of Age journey.

Bruce returns from his journey, to his former world, a wholly different person.

Undeniably one of the most powerful scenes in the film occurs when Bruce rediscovers the caverns underneath Wayne Manor, and wanders into the lair of the nesting Bats that reside there. The image of Bruce being surrounded, nearly suspended, by an endless stream of pulsating bats, is a moment of elemental catharsis for the emerging hero, one that impresses itself upon the mind.

It is a baptism of sorts, an affirmation of the successful confrontation of Bruce's fear, and the incorporation of it into the essence of his being.

A final ritual to confirm his successful Coming of Age.

At the end of the film, Rachel Dawes has discovered that Bruce is indeed Batman, and his childhood friend, his true love, points out to him that the boy she knew, who left on a journey of self discovery never came back.

“This is your mask." she says, referring to the civilized face of a wealthy playboy he shows to the normal world.

It is painful for Bruce to hear, but, inside his heart, he knows it is true

He went on a journey to find purpose and meaning in his parent's death, and he found it, and that purpose has become who he is.

The strength of it penetrates the entirety of his being. Batman is Bruce Wayne's purpose, who Bruce Wayne truly is, and will be until the day humanity matures beyond a society which creates such terrible desperation in people that they turn to criminality and the power of fear it holds, to control others, and to control one's own.

I admire Bruce Wayne. I understand his journey, and his decision, but I would tell him this, the way to stop criminals, to create a world where an 8 year old boys parents aren't murdered for a wallet and a necklace, is not through violently punishing the poor, desperate, lost souls who become criminals, it is through the path Bruce himself followed to master his own dark emotions.

If everyone had the benefit of going on their own personal Journey of Self Discovery, their own Coming of Age, they would have matured beyond being controlled by their powerful emotions and instead have learned to channel them into powerful purpose which fulfills a person in a way unmatched by simple, blind, adherence to the norms of “everyday” society.

I would tell Bruce that if people weren't put in a desperate situation, where they were hungry, cold, abused, they would never become enveloped in feelings of anger and fear, and compelled into performing acts which if they had simply had a normal, happy life, as he once had, they would have never considered doing.

I would tell Bruce he had the foundation of nobility and kindness afforded by a happy early childhood, and he had indeed been lost, but he found an unlikely catalyst to pursue a purpose for his life in the form of a criminal : Falcone.

He journeyed, he sought purpose, and he found it, never abandoning the base of kindness and compassion planted by his parents.

If everyone else followed such a path of self-discovery, there would be no criminals. This I believe.

Vol 4 - Personal Vision Quest

Our current society is impressive in some ways and severely lacking in others. One especially close to my heart is the complete absence of experiences which confirm for a person their Coming of Age.

When I was 15 and living in China, I was given the opportunity by my father's and mine Wushu Lao-Shi (teacher), to go to a Wushu Monastery to study Kung-Fu.

I visited a Shaolin Temple with my family when we went on one of our vacations. One of the demonstrations for the tourists included a mock battle, telling the story of two monks who attack the palace of a corrupt royal. When one of them is defeated, the remaining monk engages in a heroic struggle eventually engaging the royal's personal bodyguard. Sadly both monks are defeated, but both are honored for their valiant spirits. The story should have moved me more, as it was very sad and noble, but, the fact that I was sitting next to overweight American tourists with gaudy clothing and telescopic cameras, and that the Monks put on the show 3 times a day like a circus act, removed much of the tale's magic.

The flexibility and speed of the monks though was very impressive, and their skill couldn't be dismissed.

The insertion of modern influence was inevitable though. As we were walking along the streets outside of the temple, my brothers and I were immediately drawn to the sounds of combat, ones which we specifically recognized. A group of the young monks were playing Street Fighter 2 in the Temple's video arcade. I found it a little bit disheartening that modern trappings had penetrated into secular Temple life, but, mostly I thought it was cool that young Kung-Fu monks were playing a game where a lot of the moves they could already do.

Ultimately though, the trip to the Temple demonstrated to me, that the kind of powerful enlightment I had imagined I would find in an isolated place of self-exploration and evolution, might not be so forthcoming with the undeniable influence of Capitalist concerns making their impression on Monastic life.

This is probably why I resisted accepting my Lao-Shi's offer. My instincts told me, I might not find the magical inspiration I sought and needed. I thought better to remain with my family and schooling I was familiar with.

I do rather regret it now, considering my schooling taught me little of use, but, I understand the decision I made at the time. I followed my feelings and instincts since I didn't receive much encouragement to follow the path that would contribute most to my growth. Whatever I thought was best was fine. Our society isn't dedicated to making people strong after all, just functional and obedient is what's expected.

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Coming of Age Rituals have been an integral part of human cultures since the beginning of human evolution. Ones that impress me include, the Walkabout of the Aborigines of Australia. A young person retraces the songlines of their ancestors alone and unaided, recreating their heroic adventures and discovering their own personal strength in the process. This is similar to what I've heard some African tribes do, where a young person is sent into the desert, to survive alone for a long period of time, with the goal of finding their own sense of purpose and upon coming back, engaging in a ritual to confirm their adulthood.

The Coming of Age Ritual which I like best is the one practised by some First Nation's peoples called The Vision Quest. In it a young person goes into the wilderness to find their Spirit Guide who often takes the form of an animal. The Spirit Guide will be the young person's constant companion and will guide them throughout their life. The young person spends a great deal of time alone with their own thoughts and must find their own answers as to who they are and what their purpose is in life. I think of the Spirit Guide as a manifestation of a person's own sense of selfhood. It gives a physical image for a person to lock onto and call to mind when they find need of the guidance only they can provide themselves. I personally think this is exactly the same phenomenon experienced during prayer in religion. It is a meeting with one's true self, the only one who can provide personal answers, to one's own personal questions.

In modern society, Coming of Age Rituals are empty and devoid of power. Getting a driver's license. Being able to get into a bar. Buying cigarettes or alcohol. Getting into R rated movies. Insignificant and ridiculous tripe, affording nothing for a person's growth and evolution. We must recognize that people need to have Noble Purpose in their lives to feel useful and happy.

Do you remember The Simpsons episode where Lisa has an extraordinary male substitute teacher who takes her to the Egyptian Exhibit at the museum? Homer joins in but finds it inexpressibly boring, thus embarrassing Lisa who finds herself once again wishing she had a different Father. Well, at the end of the episode, the substitute teacher, as was inevitable, leaves to continue his journey of helping to guide the woefully unguided youth of our modern society, but, before he leaves, he gives Lisa one invaluable piece of paper as a parting gift. When Lisa opens the paper it reads simply, "You Are Lisa Simpson." The fundamentally important lesson every person must encounter in their lives : coming to the realization, the understanding, and the acceptance of who one is. A truly wise teacher. I'm sure he aided Lisa immeasurably.

The 2 most important questions anyone must ask themselves are this :

1.Who are YOU? ,and,

2.What do YOU want?

A person who does not know Who they are is only half a person.

It is an unsurprising state though in modern society, since the entire focus of our culture is the outside and a constant cacophony of external stimulation in substitution for the true needs, the human needs which we are raised to ignore and suppress. We are all walking around like automatons and zombies, operating on fixed rails like trains, going from unsatisfying jobs to unfulfilling home lives, because we do not know who we truly are, and what we truly want.

Tattoos and Body Piercings have become extremely popular. Both traditions are as old as humanity and are a part of Coming of Age Rituals. In our society though they have been reduced to novelty and a fashion statement. Just another fad, another distraction without any powerful, penetrating purpose. They used to be symbols of having overcome a life-changing challenge, no longer.

I believe that as a species we must recognize the essential purpose of Coming of Age Rituals in every single person's life.

I feel that one of the biggest problems facing our society is,

"Children are raising Children."

Adults, who have never grown up, are naturally raising children who do not have the benefit of genuine adult guidance, and are thus lost and wayward.

The only way for a child to become an adult is through powerful, self-revelatory experiences.

If we are not content with the emptiness of our modern lives, we need to accept we must once again introduce powerful Coming of Age experiences into our civilization.

For young people, I think it should be a normal part of schooling for a young person to take off as much time as they need, to go on their own personal journey of discovery. What form the journey would take, would be up to the young person.

For adults, the vast majority of which need a Coming of Age journey just as much as young people do, I think our society should introduce a fund which would provide adults with the resources to live, like E.I or Welfare, and the permission to take as much time as they need off of work, to find themselves in whatever manner they see fit.

During my early twenties, when I was debilitatingly depressed and on Welfare, I found a time when finally, after feeling I could not stop running my whole life, I could stop, and truly take time to think about who I am, and what my purpose was. I thought seriously about killing myself, but that was an essential step in coming to an internal sense of balance and purpose, an acceptance of who I was. My resolution was : I either die or change the world. I chose the latter. That kind of powerful decision, Noble Purpose, is essential to a person.

For the human species as a whole to function healthily, it must be comprised of individuals who are healthy.

For humanity to be moving towards a compelling vision, individuals must have a compelling vision of their own to aspire to.

People need food, water, shelter and purpose.

Currently, at any given time, 1 out of 4 people are suffering from a mental illness in our society. Those mental illnesses are actually nothing more than people suffering from a lack of fulfilling purpose and a sense of who they are.

American soldiers are being given truck loads of anti-depressants in Iraq. When the soldiers come home, there is a high percentage of suicide, depression and spouse slayings. These poor people are lost.

Human beings need purpose.

That purpose can be found when sought.

Coming of Age Rituals are journeys to seek that purpose. We must incorporate the Seeking of Self as a fundamental facet of our society once more.

We simply cannot continue to live in this half-human condition.

It is : inhuman.