So for the past month or so I’ve been thinking about the motivation behind one’s pursuit of a cause. Do we do things because they are the right thing to do or because we desire to succeed at reaching a goal? Must a goal be obtainable if we decide to pursue it?
Let me explain the context of my thoughts. Before we moved, I went to go see The Dark Knight with a group of friends. On the way home we were discussing the movie and I brought up Peter Rollin’s blog post on Batman as the ultimate capitalist superhero. In this post Rollins writes –
Batman is unable to see that the subjective crime he fights on a nightly basis is the direct manifestation of the objective crime he perpetrates on a daily basis. The street crime is the explosion of violence that results from greedy, large industries obsessed with the increase of abstract capital at the expense of all else.
As part of the discussion a friend suggested that if someone like Bruce Wayne (with infinite resources and a desire for justice) couldn’t manage to succeed at living justly within the economic system, who could? For her this discouraged her pursuit of such a lifestyle. If one could not obtain the goal of living completely justly within an economic system then why bother at all. She needed a goal to strive towards that could ultimately be obtained.
I countered that while I believe that it is impossible to live completely justly within our current economic system, I know that I can work to help create a system that is just little by little. Instead of being an individual pursuing a certain goal, I see myself as just part of a larger movement. I have been called to live a certain way – to seek first the Kingdom of God in all things – and I will follow that command. I merely fulfill my duty to the best of my ability.
This distinction is one I hear repeated often. I’ve heard over and over again the accusation that small lifestyle changes (like using cfl light-bulbs or buying fair trade) really have very little effect in the grand scheme of things. Those actions won’t solve all the problems, so why bother? Or if I show support for a religious gathering or political movement I am accused of placing my hope and salvation in their hands. Apparently if I support anything it is because I think they have the power to change everything with the wave of a magic wand. It’s all or nothing in this view. Either the goal is out there, obtainable to all, or it’s not worth getting involved at all.
Maybe I’m just too postmodern, but I prefer to just be part of the process. I know that revolutions take time. I can’t name a date in the future and say that by that date all economic systems will be just. I can’t even say that someday such a goal will be reached. Certain things like justice aren’t goals to be checked off a to do list and forgotten as we move on to the next item. They are constant pursuits – elusive and everchanging. Seekers and followers must adapt and change as circumstances change. To engage at all we must be willing to merely be part of a process – players in a larger game motivated not by the idea of winning the game but by enjoyment of (or commitment to) the game itself.
But the question remains – is the average modern person capable of eschewing goals? Or are we too entrenched in skinneristic systems and outcome oriented structures to abandon goals and live in the ambiguity of process? Is seeking the Kingdom enough or do we insist on grasping hold of it?