Engagement

Just watched a very good film, Lions for Lambs. Good themes, civic engagement, duty, honor. It's interesting because for as good of a movie as it is, and for as good as the cast was, I really hadn't heard anything about it.

The idea of civic engagement is a good one. One interesting thing about the movie was that it was very Greek themed. Not Greek like I was Greek, but I'm talking about ideas of the polis, the idea of being a citizen. Not in the passive sense that so many of us seem to enjoy that concept, of having rights bestowed on us in exchange for taxes and stopping at stop signs. But being an active citizen, engaging, debating, acting and all the good, active parts of culture that people seem so happy to shy away from.

There was another movie (based on a book of course) that also addressed ideas like this, 'Starship Troopers.' Yes believe it or not, 'Starship Trooper' was based on political theory, and a uniquely Greek Political Theory as well. 'ST' was about voting, and in that world, voting was only a right bestowed upon those who had served.

It's interesting how these Greek theories of the Polis, and the Demos still emerge, how they are still so rooted in our culture and heretiage, a heritage not of physical ancestry, but of moral, political and ethical ancestry. All valuable ideas. Maybe like another Greek was famous for saying, "there's nothing new under the Sun"


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