Friday, February 3, 2012

Philosophy of Code Geass: Evolution? Survival of the Fittest?

          In the episode The Stolen Mask, Charles zi Britannia makes a speech about the dynamics of society. He claims,
“All men…are NOT created equal! Some are born smarter, or more beautiful, or with parents of greater status. Some, by contrast, are born weak of body or mind, or with few, if any, talents. All men are different! Yes, the very existence of man is discriminatory! That's why there is war, violence and unrest. Inequality is not evil. Equality is! What became of the EU, who claimed that all are equal? It is in constant conflict because its tenets go against human nature! The Middle Eastern Federation, which harbors similar sentiments, is constantly mired with sloths! But our Britannia is not like them! We put an end to wars and evolve with every conquest! Britannia alone looks forward and moves forward to a better future! The death of my son Clovis is yet more proof that our empire is evolving. Fight! For the future rests in the hands of its ruler! ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!!!!! 
In other words, Charles believes that the only way society can evolve is if inequality were encouraged. He suggests that equality is the reason why wars occur and go against human nature. Charles is right that equality goes against human nature, we can see that with the long history of slavery, but he seem on more dubious ground when he claims that “inequality is not evil”. Inequality is evil. In fact, one of the most evil things in the world is inequality. In the world today, inequality is much more frowned upon than it was 50 years ago, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen. Society is riddled with inequality.
What Charles says is true, not all men/women are not created equal, but doesn’t mean that the people who are less able should be left behind. Even the most disable person can be a diamond in the rough. Take for example Edward, a 36-year-old man with mental disabilities. Legally he is blind but can play the piano. How many people can claim that feat? Someone who is born less than average turns out to have extraordinary skills that not many people who claim to the average have. What others refer to as weak can actually be a very valuable commodity.
If you look at Code Geass, you have to wonder, has Britannia really stopped wars and evolved. Humans kill more of there own kind then any animal does in this entire world. We have a long history of killing and wars, from the Cain and Abel to the current Iraq war. Britannia is no different. They don’t stop wars, they start them, by conquering and oppressing other countries that were already peaceful. If evolved means massacring innocent people just to keep a secret, then I don’t want to be evolved. 

5 comments:

  1. I agree with 99.999999 percent of this blog post. Your ability to show how we as humans have repeated history instead of changed history is excellent. The only thing that I would have liked to have saw in this post is the reasoning behind why people in positions in power, keep deciding to go to war in hopes of change. (I think you have a future in blogging lol :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree with most of your post. Equality isn't necessarily good or evil. There are two different types of inequality. One is on the individual level, while the other is on the society as a whole. Everyone is expected to be equal in society, while we are also supposed to be individuals on a personal level. Everyone has something they are good at or a talent that makes them different than everyone else. This is generally accepted and even encouraged in our society. When we view equality in society as a whole, we want to have the same status and wealth as the person who is more successful than we are.

    ReplyDelete
  4. For some reason some people are having a hard time posting comments onto this blog so I am posting it for them. This is from vjsigler(http://vjsigler.wordpress.com).

    Your post is a lovely and hard-hitting take on the old philosophical issue of equality. However, I do not agree with you when you say that "inequality is evil." I believe that inequality, our flaws and our talents... that is what makes us who we are. If everybody was equal and perfect then nobody would stand out as an individual. It brings to mind a colony of ants, where everybody is the same and works together with a creepy hive-mind. However, I agree with you when you say that war is not a justifiable solution to people being unequal. If we could all just learn to accept our differences as human beings, recognize each other's talents and potential, and live together in harmony without all the war and the hate and the lies, only THEN will we be able to move forward and evolve as a collective society. But until then, we fight wars.

    ReplyDelete
  5. equality is part of what causes so many problems. Generally known as a sense of entitlement. By the laws of equality they have made as many problems as helpful advances. Numerous frivilous lawsuits,laws, etc when equality is felt violated. No human is truly equal to another in that each has what makes them good and what makes them bad and were we to revert to society based on survival of the fittest (anarchy or something devoted to state) being real good at piano means nothing

    ReplyDelete