Movie: Spy Game

Two movies in two days. I'm getting lax,
aren't I?

Well, I got a lot of work done throughout
the day and decided that I wanted to waste a
few brain cells.

Spy Game was a good movie. Not great. Not
as bad as Zoolander. It kept me entertained
and made me want to be a spy. Or did I want
to be Brad Pitt? Hmm... not sure on that
one... was it Brad that got the ladies or
the spy thing that got the ladies?

I may have to test this. Here's the plan:
I'll have two test groups. In test group
one I'll walk around the mall and act like a
spy, hitting on women. I'll tally the
number of women that will agree to a date
with me... Uber-Spy. In test group two I'll
send Brad Pitt out to a similar mall and
have him do the same. The catch is that
Brad can't act like a spy. Yeah, that'll
really screw him up. He'll be lost without
that angle. By comparing numbers I'll see
if it's the spyness or the Brad Pittness
that works with the ladies. I'm betting on
the spy thing myself.

One of the interesting concepts that's
raised in Spy Games is the concept of
greater good for the greater number. This
theory holds that in some situations a few
people may have to die to protect the
greater freedoms of the masses.

In America we believe in a different
approach. We believe in concept of justice
above and beyond the concept of the greater
good for the greater number. It's a
beautiful view... the entire society agrees
that it will sacrifice so that no one person
is unjustly harmed.

An example: Let's say that in a strange
nation, far far away, we find a group of
people that love to see somebody innocent
hanged. In this strange land it's been
proven that if the population sees one
innocent person hanged per year then they
will not commit crime and will not kill each
other. In fact, they will be happy all year
round.

If we argue for the greater good for the
greater number then it's an easy argument:
once a year we pick an innocent person out
of the phone book and hang them. This will
cut crime saving lives in the process
because there will be no crime. It's
logical. It's rational. It saves more
lives.

If we argue for justice however, then we
would not choose to hang a person. By
prioritizing justice over the greater good
for the greater number we ensure that none
of us are the one poor sap that gets picked
from the phone book. This is how we're
raised in America. Yes, there will be
crime. Yes, there will be more innocent
people that die. But our government system
will not have unjustly killed anybody.

In practice both concepts are idealistic and
fail to be fully implemented. Reality is a
much more blended version of the two. But
the ideals serve their purpose.

In light of the events of September 11th, we
find ourselves looking at these issues a
little more closely. In the last few months
I've given the above example to a number of
people, but I've painted it in a light that
presents the US government rooting out
terrorists. In such a pursuit we have to
ask whether we are willing to sacrifice the
rights (justice) of a few to protect the
masses. Invariably we will convict innocent
people, given the heightened urgency of
homeland defense. I ask people how they
feel about this reality.

Most people are glad to see this. They seem
to argue that these few innocents that may
lose rights in the US are equivalent to the
great men and women that may lose their
lives in a war. Or that they are equivalent
to other innocents that may lose their lives
in terrorist attacks that could have been
prevented.

While I understand this from a logical
perspective, it scares me a little. It is a
very pragmatic view and that's one of the
things that has made our nation great. But
another thing that has made this nation
great is that we won't draw mathematical
equalities to explain people. We value
justice over the greater good. We won't
reduce a person to mathematics because it is
unfair. Our founding fathers believed that
such judgments were too complex for humans.
They created a system where humans did not
have to make such decisions.

Which brings us back to the movie. In Spy
Games you see a government that does make
these decisions. They operate on the
concept of greater good for the greater
number. They are willing to sacrifice a
life here and there to get information to
protect our nation.

I always have mixed feelings about this. I
pride myself on being both pragmatic (I'll
get the job done) as well as idealistic
(I'll get the job done the right way). I
have no doubt that given the power as an
elected official I would be able to make the
best decision for our nation... but I have
to admit that I would need to talk to more
people. From an idealistic perspective I
would want people to help me understand what
they want. From a pragmatic perspective I
know that this would be difficult.

It seems that when it comes to this one core
issue Americans, after a few hundred years,
are swaying a little. They are no longer
fearful of a dictatorial government. They
are comfortable with their government making
some rather difficult decisions on their
behalf... decisions that are easily
explained as protecting the masses, but
decisions that have morbid impacts.

Again, I am still struggling with this issue
and have not concluded where I stand. I
think that only by discussing this with as
many people as possible can I begin to
understand my own viewpoint completely.