In my last post, I cited quotes from Chinese leaders, reflecting their beliefs about ideology. We, of course, have to take their ideas very seriously. But, we should recognize that this type of thinking is not the exclusive province of one group of people. It is widely understood and exploited by those seeking power and control of others. It is very much a part of human culture today, so much so that even movie screen writers are picking up on it.
For example, I recently saw a movie, called The Book of Eli, that was released in 2010 by Warner Brothers, which illustrates the pervasiveness of these ideas in our society.
The film is about a man, named Eli, who is journeying through a post-apocalyptic world, carrying the last remaining copy of a sacred book, undoubtedly the Bible. During his journey, he entered a town that had been rebuilt and was being run by a man, named Carnegie. Carnegie wanted to build more towns and expand his little empire. He had been looking for a book that he thought could help him attract followers. He knew about it because he grew up with it in childhood, before the nuclear war that almost destroyed civilization.
He learned that Eli’s book was the one he had been seeking. So, he tried to persuade Eli to give it to him.
Carnegie:
“Look, I need that book, I mean I want the book. And you, if you make me choose, I will kill you and take the book.”
Eli:
“Why? Why do you want it?”
Carnegie:
“I grew up with it. I know its power, and, if you read it, then so do you. That’s why they burned them all after the war. Look, just staying alive is an act of faith. Building this town is an even bigger act of faith. And they don’t understand that. None of them. And I don’t have the right words to help them. But the book does. And I admit, I have had to do things--many, many things I hate--to build this; I confess that. But if we had that book, I wouldn’t have to. Imagine… how different, how righteous this little world could be if we had the right words for our faith. People would truly understand why they are here and what they are doing. And they wouldn’t need any of the uglier motivations.”
As might be expected, Eli did not give the book to Carnegie, because he knew that he intended to use it to control and manipulate others. So, he fled. But Carnegie was not to be dissuaded and decided to take the book by force.
Carnegie to his head man:
“Put a crew together. We are going after him”
Carnegie’s head man:
“For a book?”
Carnegie:
“It’s not just a book. It’s a weapon--a weapon aimed right at the hearts and minds of the weak and the desperate. And it will give us control of them. If we want to rule more than one small town, we have to have it. People will come from all over. They will do exactly what I tell them if the words are from the book. It’s happened before; and it will happen again. All we need is that book.”
Obviously, Carnegie understood the tremendous appeal of the ideas in Eli’s book. He knew that, if he wished to accumulate power and wealth and effect change, he needed to attract people who would support him and put him in control. He understood that the book’s ideas were tools that would allow him to reach people and motivate them to follow him, something he could not do on his own. He knew that people, especially “the weak and the desperate,” but also those who struggled to deal with the uncertainties and difficulties of this life, would follow him and do exactly what he said once they heard the words from the book.
Carnegie was not uniquely insightful in his understanding of the leverage he could gain from exploiting ideologies. In fact, throughout history, men, like Carnegie, have been consistently using mankind’s belief systems to gain control of others; and they still are today.
We are constantly being bombarded with ideological appeals that have tremendous power over us. But, we cannot allow ourselves to be manipulated by those espousing these ideas. We cannot just blindly embrace their beliefs. We must subject them to serious study and critical evaluation before accepting them.