Ishmael part II

The gods didn't have a clue.  Frankly, I like this interpretation.  "What span of life and what destiny shall we fashion for him? (161)  Are the gods all-knowing or do they simply do whatever suits their fancy?  Quinn's interpretation of Genesis leads me to assume that the gods who created the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil suffered from the same egocentric plague that drives our species (the "Takers") to rape, pillage, and "take" whatever suits their fancy.  "How could Adam ever be so foolish as to imagine he had the knowledge that enables us to govern the world and to do what we will do? (162)"  How would Adam know what is the true and absolute "Knowledge of Good and Evil" and what he simply "imagine[s]" it to be?  In the same way that the gods discuss Adam's fate (and the fate of humanity), perhaps we can relate this to the culture of the "Takers," who believe they have the power and knowledge to rule the world.

While I appreciate the humor and the unconventional portrayal of the gods, Adam, and the "Takers" as really not so very different in terms of their common insatiable thirst for absolute power and knowledge, Quinn's interpretation of "how things came to be" (167) doesn't totally resonate with me.  He suggests that the Takers "will never give up their tyranny over the world, no matter how bad things get." (167)  Why?  Because they think what they are doing is "right"--and therefore good.  But really, they could care less about the universal law of equilibrium (in terms of good and evil--like in the example of the fox and the quail).  What is "right" to them, in other words, is the same as saying what is good for them--and them alone.  This is not a novel concept.  I mean my mother would always stop me from judging others by saying "we all do the best that we can."  Now, I am beginning to truly understand what this means.  We all do the best that we can--for ourselves.  And this means making sure we aren't in any way oppressed, or God forbid, humbled.

I mean, does it matter?  Is this relevant?  Is there such thing?  We do whatever we do because we think it's right.  But let's be honest, this means we do whatever we want and then justify it based on our own construction of right and wrong.

 I wonder what is tantamount to the maturation of a civilization; that is, when does a people like the "Takers" leave the stage of "arrogant foolishness" and finally "mature"?  (162)  But "maturity" in this context suggests an acceptance of powerlessness.  'Whatever I can justify doing is good and whatever i cannot justify doing is evil."

I have come to one conclusion.  We, the "takers," the "criminals," the "murderers of creatures," the "thie[ves] of life," are utterly deluded.  I mean, we think that "to be limited is evil."  In other words, in our view, to be anything short of all-powerful and all-knowing is evil.  That's fine---except that we actually invent and imagine the knowledge we think we have.  Not unlike the takers who think they alone possess the knowledge to rule the world.

Another thought has continued to resurface as I read....Capitalism, to speak of a system founded on these principles of economic freedom and limitlessness, preaches this mercilessly.  The movement of capital, levels of consumption and exploitation, according to capitalists, should be limitless.  We can enslave other peoples, offering them mere crumbs (work in Nokia sweatshops for only $3 a day or less), while we--the gods, or something like that--live in excess.  Under this capitalist system, the wealthy privileged consumers are the gods.  And yet somehow, capitalism is good?  The logic herein is beyond me, but so goes the rhetoric, right?And they (we?) think we've taken a bite of the fruit whose fibers and juices offer "knowledge that enables us to govern the world and to do what we will do" (162).  In this sense, Quinn seemed to get this and applied this ridiculous reality to the basic kernel of Genesis.  I appreciate--if nothing else--the new interpretation.  (I have never studied the Bible, so I have little to compare Quinn's interpretation with).

Capitalism....capitalists think like "Takers." They are "Takers" and frankly, at some level they likely think that they know it all and have the power to rule the world.  Well yes, because right now, they are.  But they (and we as consumers) are just free-falling....and every minute that we think we have the answer, we are just one more atom closer to hitting rock bottom---literally.