Every happening, great and small, is a parable whereby God speaks to us, and the art of life is to get the message 
Malcolm Muggeridge

The collapse of the vision and strategies of empire building in Afghanistan raises questions also about Hollywood’s Avengers’ philosophy and Marvel narratives which flourish in the ecosystem of newer and newer weapons of destruction in the off-screen real-world – abetted by technology.

While Hollywood might deceive us with their notions of success and domination by the “good guys” within 90 mins of screen time, it just takes 20 years of recent history to expose the falsity of the idea that force, knowledge and power do any good in the long run without a primary and relentless commitment to serving the community in question.

Put differently, we cannot “save the world” without the consent, participation and leadership of the world in question.

If we “get the message”, shouldn’t we explore other ways?


Photo by Andrew Klimke on Unsplash

Ajoy is a contributive writer based in Bangalore.