By John W. Gibson
A few years ago, I went to see the movie, Avatar…and I absolutely hated it. It was “un-American, anti-military, and totally biased,” I “reasoned.” The year was 2009 and our armed services had been in Afghanistan for nearly a decade, Iraq for about seven years, and, in some cases, elsewhere in the world for longer than many could remember. For my part, and for many others who thought the way I did back then, these facts were all merely due to “our enemies” and their misdeeds; none of it, in my estimation, was due to any measure of wrongdoing on our part, foreign policy-wise.
Avatar, directed by James Cameron, seemed to diametrically and categorically contradict this line of thinking. Its story line, as many are aware, is centered around a planet with rare natural resources that are coveted by others; specifically humans. The humans are willing to do just about anything in order to get them, including take them by force. And take them by force, they do, usually at the command of a U.S. Marine commander; which really didn't do the film any favors in my eyes back then.
Fast-forward about four years to last week, 2013. Things have changed, at least for me; at least in terms of how I now view much of what goes on in the world. My office, which I share with four other people, has a flat-screen television which is sometimes tuned to television shows, or news channels, or whatever everyone feels like watching. I rarely pay attention to whatever is on, but on one particular day last week, the “Fx” channel was showing Avatar. It was a slow day so I decided to take a short break and watch part of the movie. Well, it ended up being just about ALL of the movie, and this time I ended up commending, rather than cursing, the creative work of Mr. Cameron.
A few years ago, I went to see the movie, Avatar…and I absolutely hated it. It was “un-American, anti-military, and totally biased,” I “reasoned.” The year was 2009 and our armed services had been in Afghanistan for nearly a decade, Iraq for about seven years, and, in some cases, elsewhere in the world for longer than many could remember. For my part, and for many others who thought the way I did back then, these facts were all merely due to “our enemies” and their misdeeds; none of it, in my estimation, was due to any measure of wrongdoing on our part, foreign policy-wise.
Avatar, directed by James Cameron, seemed to diametrically and categorically contradict this line of thinking. Its story line, as many are aware, is centered around a planet with rare natural resources that are coveted by others; specifically humans. The humans are willing to do just about anything in order to get them, including take them by force. And take them by force, they do, usually at the command of a U.S. Marine commander; which really didn't do the film any favors in my eyes back then.
Fast-forward about four years to last week, 2013. Things have changed, at least for me; at least in terms of how I now view much of what goes on in the world. My office, which I share with four other people, has a flat-screen television which is sometimes tuned to television shows, or news channels, or whatever everyone feels like watching. I rarely pay attention to whatever is on, but on one particular day last week, the “Fx” channel was showing Avatar. It was a slow day so I decided to take a short break and watch part of the movie. Well, it ended up being just about ALL of the movie, and this time I ended up commending, rather than cursing, the creative work of Mr. Cameron.
Here is where a little more background information is in order; I have traditionally aligned with the Republican Party politically, but switched to the Libertarian camp during the last election. Many different factors went into this decision, but overall I would say that what drove that decision was a shift not so much in terms of my personal feelings on a given issue or even a series of issues; but rather on what kinds of questions I was asking. For example: whereas I once asked myself, “how do I feel about abortion/the war on terror/the Patriot Act,” thanks to seeing just how quickly policies such as the Patriot Act can be turned around on me (thanks to President Obama’s administration suggesting that I may be a “terrorist” – aka, gun owning veteran), I now began to ask myself the question: “how much power do I really want the federal government to have and am I okay with that power being used against me someday?”
That paradigm shift is what revolutionized my way of thinking about politics and that is why I now vote for Liberty every time, rather than vote according to my own personal feelings. It is why (though I’ve always supported “gun rights”) I now categorically REJECT any effort on the part of politicians to restrict my rights to defend myself against invaders (be they common thieves or those representing the government). It is why, though I am a conservative Southern Baptist ordained minister and I oppose homosexual marriage personally, I will fight for marriage equality. It is why I have made part of my life’s motto the words of Thomas Paine, “He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression.” And it is why I now oppose foreign intervention and occupation when our TRUE national self-interest is not in danger and why I will practice genuine patriotism by questioning the real motive behind my government’s actions rather than “patriotically” marching along with the beat of public opinion.
That paradigm shift is what revolutionized my way of thinking about politics and that is why I now vote for Liberty every time, rather than vote according to my own personal feelings. It is why (though I’ve always supported “gun rights”) I now categorically REJECT any effort on the part of politicians to restrict my rights to defend myself against invaders (be they common thieves or those representing the government). It is why, though I am a conservative Southern Baptist ordained minister and I oppose homosexual marriage personally, I will fight for marriage equality. It is why I have made part of my life’s motto the words of Thomas Paine, “He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression.” And it is why I now oppose foreign intervention and occupation when our TRUE national self-interest is not in danger and why I will practice genuine patriotism by questioning the real motive behind my government’s actions rather than “patriotically” marching along with the beat of public opinion.
Which I guess brings us back to Avatar. Whereas before my head was being thrown back in disgust as I watched the special effect-created blue characters defend what was rightfully theirs from foreign invaders, my head was now nodding in affirmation, and perhaps also with a degree of anticipation, for who truly knows just how long before fiction becomes reality?