Metaphysical Musings of Multiversal Meaning: Mateo's Friday of Futures Past.

Metaphysical Musings of Multiversal Meaning: Mateo’s Friday of Futures Past.

The Multiverse

“I’m in love with you, and I’m not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I’m in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we’re all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we’ll ever have, and I am in love with you.”-  John Green, The Fault in Our Stars.

Excellent Book a Definite Must Read

Today I came across an article on nature.com, entitled “How to lose the one you love.” The article, which is more or less a semi-humorous/science fiction based story-solution to the problem of “unrequited love” caused me to consider the implications of such a solution in general and in particular. For those who have experienced unrequited love, the sentiments expressed in the article should be capable of evoking sympathetic relatability. For me this became even more so specifically in relation to the article because of its reliance on the concept of the “multiverse” as a solution. Those familiar with “multiverse” theory as espoused in quantum mechanics and popular science fiction /fantasy should also appreciate the article and hopefully the philosophical meandering that it, along with other sources catalyzed in me. Some of the ideas that seemed to coalesce into the general tone and sentiment of this post came about as rough contemplations of books and media that I have been consuming lately. The primary sources that spurred my thinking are the latest X-Men movie titled, “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” the book “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green,  the poem “Ulysses” by Lord Alfred Tennyson, and the album “World’s Apart”  by Seven Lions.

 For some reason, I have a tendency to try to find interrelated and correlated meaning across my “web” of experiential existence. As I will try to articulate in this entry, I believe that this tendency is a natural, inherent, and fundamental process of human existence that forms the basis for meaning and purpose itself, but yet at times remains frustratingly obscure, muddled, fuzzy, undefined, and “as yet.” Because of the seeming paradox that presents, life itself can often appear meaningless, random, and arbitrary, and yet still, the very act of distinguishing something “as such” is itself “meaningful.” That is to say that nothing could be “meaningless” if some thing were “meaningful,” nor could every thing  be “random” if something, anything could be considered  “systematic,” nor could a thing be “arbitrary” if there wasn’t a situation where that thing could be made “sensible.” That is to say that there must be meaning in the experiences of life, particularly the experience of pain, and that is what I am trying to tease out of this assessment. I believe that there must be clues in the seeming minutiae and apparent randomness of that which is consciously, subconsciously, and unconsciously chosen, experienced, and felt.

Infinite Universes, Infinite Possibility, and Infinite Crises

Suffice it to say that all the above mentioned sources combined with my own temporal experience caused me to question the nature of reality in relation to the possibilities and implications of a “multiverse.” The concept known as the multiverse was first coined by Andy Nimmo, a scientist who chaired the British Interplanetary Society. He defined the multiverse as “an apparent universe, a multiplicity of which goes to make up the whole universe.”  Over time science fiction novelists, theorists, cosmologists and others redefined the term to be “the set of all possible universes throughout time, including our observable universe.”  Since at least the early 1940s scientists had developed what is termed “big-bang cosmology” explaining with a proper scientific theory with quantitative estimates of how the universe “began” and has “evolved” over time with its attendant possible “endings.”  Essentially that theory postulates that the big bang was the “event” that defines the birth of the universe itself, i.e.  the big bang marks the origin of space and time itself. According to the theory the big bang occurred everywhere and all at once, and before that event nothing existed, neither space nor time.  As Hubble observed, the galaxies and stars that came into existence were moved as if attached to the very fabric of expanding space, much like dots on an inflating balloon. The primary points to glean from big bang cosmology for the purposes of my analysis are that time and space are essentially considered finite, that is that this distinct “universe” has a “beginning” and therefore an “end.” While the scientific positions regarding the ultimate fate of this universe have changed over time and  essentially boil down to at least three competing viewpoints about expansion, collapse, or inflation, it is sufficient to say that the properties that were “created” in the big bang are considered finite. Such a position lends itself to many other scientific theorems and laws governing the conservation of matter and the atomic materialism underlying the existence of things. In this sense, time and space are quantifiable, measureable, and as a result a linear understanding of both concepts has become the primary paradigm for understanding all known existence. That is that there is a temporal nature to all things, and that they have a beginning and an end. This is important for the contrast between big bang cosmology and multiverse theory in some specific instances and in relation to reckoning of cyclical infinite time.

Multiverse theory suggests that this universe, the one in which we live, may not be the only one in existence, and could be just one member of a set of either finite or infinite other universes similar or not to our very own. The most prominent multiverse theory is called "eternal inflation" theory. The theory states that this universe is just one of many "pocket universes" that were randomly generated as inflationary bubbles through some fluctuation of a quantum vacuum in space. That is to say that the conditions necessary for the existence of one big bang are infinite in their application across "epochs" or infinite quantities of time and space. Each successive pocket universe creates other bubbles which become their own universes in a chain reaction, producing a “fractal-like pattern of universes.” Andrei Linde, the primary author of this version of multiverse theory goes on to state that “in this scenario the universe as a whole is immortal. Each particular part of the universe may stem from a singularity somewhere in the past, and it may end up in a singularity somewhere in the future. There is, however, no end for the evolution of the entire universe.”  While the theory has gained traction and is supported by much philosophical and mathematical speculation it is still subject to much questioning and exploration. The primary difference between the big bang theory and a multiverse model is essentially in the possibility of infinite universes and infinite instances of the particular. Most relevant to the discussion here is the many-world interpretation of multiverse theory as a function of quantum mechanics and logical consistency. This interpretation asserts that all possible alternative histories and futures are real, each representing an actual “world” (or “universe”). Because there is a hypothesized t and potentially large and even infinite number of universes, everything that could have possibly have happened in this our past, but did not, has occurred in the past or will occur in some future of another universe.

More pointedly is the conclusion that if the universe is infinite, beyond the mere local observable universe which we inhabit (where seemingly there are only a finite number of ways that atoms can be arranged) then there would also be an infinite number of possible atomic configurations that either have or will be realized. Additionally, if you could observe such an event then it is logical that every configuration possible would repeat itself infinitely as a product of infinity as well.  This would lead to the logical conclusion that somewhere  in the vast expanse of infinite time and space there would be another observable universe similar to our own, which would also contain a duplicate (or near duplicate) version of “you” reading this. There would be an infinite number of "you’s" reading this, and also an infinite number of “you’s” in every possible configuration and variation of “your” life, in every instance of that life.

Infinite Final Crises

Science Fiction writers in general and comic book authors in particular have become entranced with the concept of the multiverse and have applied the theoretical principles in interesting ways, most specifically in regard to alternative timelines and infinite parallel worlds. In particular DC comics has crafted several major “events” in its comic universe around this concept of infinite parallel earths with infinite (or a seemingly systematic finite set,  like 52 earths) Superman’s, Batman’s, and Wonder Woman’s.  These stories often focus on what might be termed “singularities” of experience.  That is, those crucial decisions in historical reality lend themselves more readily due to some as yet understood quantum function of time and space, to the creation of a parallel earth or alternative history. For example, in the Superman story “Red Son,” Superman as a baby is sent to the USSR instead of America. The parallel story is said to have truly existed in a pocket universe and represents a singularity shift from what might be termed the “primary” or “prime” Superman story. Presumably, every action of quantum significance leads to the creation of a world where the opposite or other action was taken.

Days of My Future Past

The X-Men movie deals with this issue in some sense as the story deals with the attempt of the future X-Men to alter the course of history so as to avoid the apocalyptic destructive dystopian they find themselves in. Due to a mutant ability to red shift through time and space and therefore transcend the barriers between the two, Kitty Pryde is able to send back the consciousness of Wolverine to inhabit his younger self and to warn and attempt to change the past.  It is in that state that he is able to locate that pivotal singularity inducing moment when the dystopian future was created. It is much like the classic Back to the Future movies with its explanation of time and space and the possibility for alternative timelines and the changing of futures through alteration and quantum resonance of the past. While these time-travel scenarios differ from multiversal theory in important respects, this movie recognizes that in some sense the reality of the dystopian future still exists, but only in the mind of Wolverine, thus it is not really representative of a straight singular and linear “one universe” theory. I loved the ending of the movie for its reconciliation and redemptive nature in not only fixing the “errors” to continuity in the series, but also for recognizing the primordial nature of the X-Men’s premiere characters. I nearly teared up when Logan sees Jean Grey standing in the doorway, as it represents the ultimate wish fulfillment fantasy of time travelers, multiverse theorists, and comic book nerddom that one could “fix” the errors of the past and waking up from an awful dream.  I was even more touched when Scott Summers (Cyclops) steps through the door and catches Logan’s hand just as he is about to touch Jean’s cheek. In X-Men canon, though Wolverine and Jean share a special connection, they are never meant to be together, as Cyclops and Jean are considered soul mates. That this movie recognized the fundamental nature of these characters, while at the same time, allowing the “hero” of the movie to experience the overall effect and import of his quest  as the “loner” that he fundamentally is, was nothing but pure fan wish-fulfillment in cinematic storytelling. This brings me (finally) to the article that spurred my interest in multiversal theory. The article deals with the problem of “unrequited love” and the authors seeming “solution” to that problem and its resolution in the vein of Logan’s heroic sacrifice, in not only attempting to change the past, but also for taking on the burden of both “realities,” the one in which he is required to kill Jean even as she loves him and he her, and the one in which she survives and does not remember and is happily married to Scott. For those that have experienced such a situation (unrequited love and sacrifice, not being an X-Man or time traveler), or have aspirations to that effect, they can likely relate to the sentiment’s that both the author expresses and which I want to draw from for the possibility of an idealized realization of my own “futures past” from within a potential multiversal theory of infinite possibility.

I am Part of All that I Have Met

The article that spurred this analysis reads as follows:

How to Lose the One you Love by Gary Cuba

Out of sight, out of mind.

First off, the obligatory warning. Don't try this at home, kids! In the hands of inexperienced laymen, the method I am about to describe will inevitably be a disaster. Like, fatal-type disaster. Consider yourself forewarned.

That said, I have to admit that Jillian was truly one to die for. I'd never seen a woman whose visage struck me so deeply — smack-dab in my gut, and various regions nearby. Whenever I saw her in the flesh, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir would insinuate itself into my brain, and I would reel in response to the ecstasy of her divine musical theme.

Many wise men throughout the ages have written about this sensation. Suffice it for me to say that, if she were a predator and I were her prey, I'd gladly give up my bodily organs for her to feast upon.

Unfortunately, that was never to be. Jillian didn't even know I existed. Complete bummer.

And why shouldn't that be the case? I was an experimental physicist and she a talented concert violinist. We had nothing at all in common between us, aside from the fact that we both lived in the same apartment building. Furthermore, judging from my surreptitious surveillance of her, she already had an intimate relationship with her orchestra's bassoon player. Even more of a complete bummer. In the time it would take me to become a competent enough bassoonist to challenge his role, all the protons in the Universe would have disintegrated.

It was a no-win situation.

Which is why I began to contemplate suicide.

Trouble was, I didn't want to die. All I wanted to do was to forget about Jillian, completely and irrevocably. Then I could move on with my life. It was a real dilemma. Just as it is, I'm sure, for a million other sociophobic nerds like me.

So here is where it gets a little complicated. Stay with me; don't sweat the physics stuff. It's not that hard to follow.

Quantum mechanics boils down to one simple principle: sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and sometimes you get rained out. You can't be sure of the result until you read about it in the sports section of the newspaper.

But that's just one interpretation — and there's every reason to believe it's the wrong one. We both win and lose. We go on to glory in one version of the Universe, and go down to ignominious defeat in another. (And, not to neglect the other possibility, we get soaking wet in a third.) The field of play is called the multiverse.

But you already knew that, right? Lately, it's all over TV, movies and the Internet. Few, however, realize that the concept is more than 50 years old. Sometimes it takes that long to agglomerate something into the popular zeitgeist.

It may be difficult to understand how we can exploit this fact to our personal benefit — but that's what this exposition is all about.

Like I said, don't sweat the small stuff. Bottom line, here's what you need to kludge together to solve the age-old problem of unrequited love:

1) One big-assed electrical generator, capable of delivering instantaneous jolts of 20 or more amps on demand.

2) Two very large copper cables connected to the positive and negative poles of said generator, terminating in handgrips that you will grasp while standing barefoot in a tub of salt water.

3) A quantum trigger. An old radium-dial watch will do nicely.

4) A photomultiplier tube, to detect the random photons that emanate from the radium source.

5) A video camera, focused on the page of the telephone directory that lists the name of your love interest.

6) A PC programmed to fire off the generator's output when instructed by the quantum trigger, but also to cease firing when the video camera detects the disappearance of said name in the directory.

Simple, right? Remember, you both win and lose. The radium watch dial can either produce a photon within the computer's scanning cycle, or not. Both possibilities are real. The 'you' that survives this process will be the winner, set free, free, free. No more Jillian. No more love dilemma.

True, millions — possibly billions, trillions, quadrillions — of yourselves will die to get there. But they're just bodies under the bridge.

Yet, it's not all so simple. The astute reader will question why and how I can refer to Jillian at all in my tale, when she has never existed in my current Universe.

The answer? I never pulled that quantum trigger. Call me a hopeless romantic, but I just couldn't envisage living in a Universe where I didn't love Jillian.

This article really touched me, particularly the final stanza, in which the author having been tortured by unrequited love and faced with the fictional possibility of multiversal memory mind wipe, chooses instead to accept the pain associated with it due to its ultimate significance, meaning, and purpose in loving. Alright, call both me and Gary hopeless romantics, but I get that sentiment, completely.

I would posit that most have experienced a form of unrequited love, in any particular instance of the category that encompasses the universal, yet specific instances of the expression of “love.” This is essentially to say that everyone has experienced feelings of care, concern, and affection for others in many various forms that have not necessarily been returned in kind or in equal measure. The article specifically focuses on the form of love considered to be “romantic.” Truly, most of the great stories, whether science fiction or otherwise, have at their core a story about romantic love.  Something about the concept of love seems to underlie the very basis of human existence, meaning, and purpose.  The concept of love itself encompasses more than just biological stimulus responses systems, but also something of a deep and meaningful metaphysical reality. This manifests itself in human experience as emotion, as action, as thought, and as the existentially conceptual. That is to say that we can feel it, we can think about it, we can philosophize on it, we can speculate about it, and it can exist as something outside of or in us. Yet, in a literal sense we cannot “have” it in the same sense that I can “have” a pen or other object. As such it is somewhat ephemeral, yet completely fundamental.  Shakespeare summarized it thusly:

“Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs; Being purged, a fire sparkling in lover’s eyes; Being vex’d a sea nourish’d with lovers’ tears; What is it else? a madness most discreet, A choking gall and a preserving sweet.” (Romeo and Juliet 1.1).

Whatever it may be in its truest sense, it is a force, and a power that is real and a seemingly fundamental aspect of human existence. Even if the possibility of a universe, where the one you love or loved never existed were presented to you, what would that or could that mean to you in this moment? I posit that such a situation would actually diminish and destroy the very possibility of its meaning anything at all anywhere at all.

“Without pain, how could we know joy? This is an old argument in the field of thinking about suffering and its stupidity and lack of sophistication could be plumbed for centuries but suffice it to say that the existence of broccoli does not, in any way, affect the taste of chocolate.” – John Green, The Fault in Our Stars.

That the reality of such a sentiment existing is  ever-present, not only as a memory in the past, but as a catalyzing influence for some intended future, denotes that such a possibility cannot and should not exist. An infinite number of alternative historical Mateo’s could never matter to present Mateo, except in relation to that which caused such sentiments to arise in the first place. Further, multiversal theorists state that “in the case of a true multiverse, there is not even the possibility of any indirect causal connection of any kind- the universes are then completely disjoint and nothing that happens in any one of them is causally linked to what happens in any other one.”

  If there was another universe in which love was requited it would mean nothing to the one in which I exist in the same way that the existence of broccoli does not, in any way, affect the state and nature of chocolate. They are not the same thing and the same meaning could not be derived from such an actual situation. As demonstrated by Jean’s reaction to Logan’s incredulity of her being alive. She was completely oblivious to the actual lived experience of loss, loneliness, despair, and eventual hope, and fulfillment that defined the Wolverines journey. It is within this same context of our own historical realities, experiences, and intended hopeful futures past that we derive our ultimate joy.

 However, and yet, this is not to suggest that simply because no two “disjointed” universes could ever really mean anything to each other, it is the very sentiment and desire of causal connection that provides the possibility of choice through distinction, always toward an intended and meaningful future. My past, with the seeming cyclical “rain and the tears, the predictable storm that has come every year,” is what and who I am. It is, as the poet says, that “I am part of all that I have met.”

Cyclical Time Travel and Infinite Choral Movement

However, that there is an “earth prime” where the primordial, and primary self exists out of necessity for the possibility of meaning itself, and which therefore set the metes and bounds of the profound and significant across all time and space, does not mean that all “problems” have no “solution.”  In the western intellectual tradition we are taught that time itself is linear, that events proceed from A to B along a single, unchangeable line bounded by time and space, i.e. where there is a beginning there is an end. Other paradigmatic conceptions of time based on the concept of infinity (of which multiversal theory more or less operates) provide for” solutions” to the seeming harsh finality of linear time. Cyclical time can be conceptualized as a circle, where there is no beginning and no end, with its continuation stretching on forever. Such a conception of time suggests that life itself is a never ending recycling of things, places, people, and situations. I don’t know about anyone else, but I know that in my life I have had “singularity” moments, where my heart, mind, body, and soul were captured in one universe (mine or hers) encompassing state. Given my age, my experiences, and my understanding of the nature of things, I have also come to see such events as rare but yet coupled with cyclical patterns of behavior, sensations, conceptions, and conclusions. Why the universe appears to or actually does operate in this manner is simply beyond my full understanding, but I have a distinct feeling that this is exactly how it operates on the basis of “providence” and “fortune.” In this sense I reject the notion that history itself is completely controllable, static, and indifferent, or that force of will is the only state that mankind may operate under in relation to its movement. This conception must by necessity conceive of time as infinite, eternal, meaningful as a result of its folding back onto itself in cyclical manners. In this sense I find myself drawn to the melodious, the choral, and the harmonic in nature and in personal relational choice.  Thus, life, love, and meaning are best understood by me in terms of its “musical” tone.

The Miracle Musical Note

 The ancient Hebrews also conceptualized time in terms of musical resonance with God’s influence playing an important part in the manifestation of life’s experiences. Life is therefore conceived as purposeful in the same way that one musical note is integral to the ultimate expression and culmination of a symphonic masterpiece.  However, one note in that progression does not and cannot define the overall and “completed” musical expression. That one rhythm, beat, or notation has already occurred does not define, limit, or foreclose the possibilities and potentialities yet expressed. Indeed a later musical expression can change the entire tone of a singular note, a particular stanza, or the entire body of the work itself. This is the reckoning of time that lends itself to a multiverse. While a particular experience has happened and in some sense cannot be changed, it doesn’t mark the end of the resonance of that experience, nor does it represent any degree of finality in regard to the meaning that is derived from it. Unrequited love may yet become requited. Unrequited love may, and in some sense must provide the first sensation necessary in the introductory bittersweet melodic crescendo of love which ultimately culminates in the fulfillment of a masterful choral and harmonic movement. And even then, it will only be one of an infinite number of movements, stretching on to the eternities, each successive one building upon and enriching the former.

“There are infinite numbers between 0 and 1. There’s .1 and .12 and .112 and an infinite collection of others. Of course, there is a bigger infinite set of numbers between 0 and 2, or between 0 and a million. Some infinites are bigger than other infinities. A writer we used to like taught us that. There are days, many of them, when I resent the size of my unbounded set. I want more numbers than I’m likely to get . . . I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I am grateful.” – John Green, The Fault in Our Stars.

Truly, I am part of all that I have met, and she a part of me, but:

 “yet all experience is an arch wherethro’

Gleams that untravell’d world whose margin fades

 For ever and forever when I move.”  - Ulysses, Alfred Lord Tennyson

Ulysses Heroic Journey

The Hopeful Heroic Heart

 Hank McCoy: “There’s a theory in quantum physics that time is immutable. It’s like a river – you can throw a pebble in and create a ripple, but the current always corrects itself. No matter what you do the river just keeps flowing in the same direction. . . what I’m saying is, what if the war is inevitable? What if this is simply who [we are]? 

Charles Xavier: “Just because someone stumbles and loses their way it doesn’t mean they’re lost forever. No, I don’t believe that theory . . . and I cannot believe that is who [we are].”

In Days of Future Past, a large portion of the story focuses on Dr. Charles Xavier’s past self’s struggle with loss of hope, depression, and apathy. Due to the events in the previous X-Men film (First Class) he had not only lost the use of his legs due to being shot in the spine, but also his closest childhood friend, to his emerging arch-enemy and his philosophy of fascistic mutant superiority. It is explained that over time, the school he and Hank McCoy (Beast) set up to take in mutants and give them a safe haven, an education, and proper moral and practical training, had lost students due to the Vietnam War draft. After losing all these things, Charles Xavier spirals into a deep depression and resorts to using a serum developed by Hank McCoy to suppress the mutant gene. The reason given is that Charles can no longer deal with the myriad voices constantly in his head due to his telepathic abilities. This compounded with his own personal loss, sense of failure, and feeling of lack of efficacy, he suppresses his powers and regains his ability to walk. But it is clear that he is not the man he was before, nor was he even a shadow of what he could or in the case of the future version of himself, what he would be. In the most pivotal and poignant scene of the movie, he is able to access Wolverine’s mind and cross into the future timeline and speak to his future self. His future self gives him counsel and most importantly a platform to air his true feelings. Up until that point Charles had been somewhat reticent about the nature of his problems and reasoning behind his reclusiveness. It is clear that he was struggling with some profound feelings and issues, but just exactly the true nature of what it is that he feared is not revealed until this scene. Young Charles explains that he does not want to feel the pain of others, as compounded with his own, because it is overwhelming, both in terms of actual lived sensation and experience, but also in conceptual reality. The literal weight of the world, as it were, appears to rest on the shoulders of men with great minds, both as a result of their own lofty ideals, dreams, and visions, and their noble and superior character. Men in this vein “dream things that never were and ask why not,” and also have the capabilities and capacities necessary to achieve them. This does not mean that such things could not or would not ever be difficult, taxing, or traumatic. Often those who dare to dream and to catalyze change on a paradigmatic level go through the most trying and self-sacrificial lives. Usually, they seal all that they have done and become with their very last breath and drops of blood. Young Charles, after seeing the future says “[s]o this is what becomes of us. Eric was right. Humanity does this to us.” To which his future self replies, “not if we show them a betterpath.” Young Charles asks if he “still believes.” Old Charles imparts one of the key words of wisdom that, “just because someone stumbles and loses their way, it doesn’t mean they’re lost forever. Sometimes we need a little help.” As if to defy the very future and the very course of human and natural progression of existence (like rebellious youngsters are wont to do) Young Charles retorts, “I’m not the man I was. I open my mind and it almost overwhelms me. In all those voices . . . so much pain.” The older future version of him then provides the needed perspective and words, “It’s not their pain you are afraid of. It’s yours Charles. And as frightening as it may be, their pain will make you stronger. If you allow yourself to feel it. Embrace it. It will make you more powerful than you ever imagined. It’s the greatest gift we have-to bear their pain without breaking. It’s born from the most human power-Hope. Please Charles; we need you to hope again.” The concept of hope and its necessary corollary of faith lies at the heart of the problems presented by pain rooted in a misunderstanding of time as linear and final. It is for this very reason that hope is often lost. When we feel pain whether inflicted up on us by ourselves or others, it is natural to shut off, shut down, close off, and protects oneself. The hard thing to do is to forgive yourself, others, and humanity itself. Pain itself is a reactive catalyzing force that presents an immediate choice dilemma. How will I react? There are certainly instinctive and reflexive responses that are tied to biologically determined processes but there remains an aspect of free-will and volition that lies at the heart of all human existence. We can exercise faith towards hope or not. Pain can unearth strength that was not previously available, simply because the oppositional forces had never been experienced. Once it has, and the proper perspective is recognized, the pain that seemed so debilitating can now become a source of immense emotional, rational, and willful compassion, love, and sacrifice. Because one has experienced the very depths of pain, one can then withstand it, weather it, turn it to something useful not only for oneself but for others who experience similar despair. But none of that may be done without the experience of pain, loss, and suffering, nor may that be done without the deliberate and conscious choice to do so. Movement must therefore be towards that which is ultimately unknown and such uncertainty is at the base of all human existence, as it is the catalyst of faith, whether chosen or not, whether sought or not, and whether ever fully realized. The requisite heroic characteristic is therefore faith and its corresponding hope in the possibility of as yet known futures past--ad infinitum.

“Though much is taken, much abides; and though

We are not now that strength which in old days

Moved earth and Heaven, that which we are, we are--

One equal temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” - Ulysses, Alfred Lord Tennyson

"Why are we World's Apart?"

Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Geopolitical History, Secret Combination Conspiracy, and the Hard Price of Freedom.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is by far the best Marvel superhero movie produced to date. Yes, I have seen Iron Man and The Avengers, and the fact that I have does not change my opinion. There are many reasons to love the new Captain America movie, ranging from the excellent action scenes, the stellar cast (DC can learn from Marvel on casting choices), the stylistic tone, and the overall production value. However, the thing that I enjoyed most about this film was the perfect blend of post-modern 9/11 national security concerns with post-WW2 geopolitics and conspiracy. I would like to discuss some of these issues as presented in the film and as compared to its real-life counterpart. For these reasons, I believe Captain America: The Winter Soldier has much more to say about our current state of affairs than any other movie out there right now, as ridiculous as that might sound . . .  it’s going to get even more so after you read this.

In discussing the convergence of ideology and forms of mass communication and production the noted propaganda expert and author Edward Bernays stated:

“This is an age of mass production. In the mass production of materials a broad technique has been developed and applied for their distribution. In this age, too, there must be a technique for the mass distribution of ideas.” Manipulating Public Opinion,” American Journal of Sociology 33 (May, 1928), p. 958-971.

In his seminal work, entitled “Propaganda” Bernays made a series of arguments about the use of what might be termed “propaganda” by those who have the ability to mass produce, or provide mass produced information to the general populace. Bernays regarded this methodology as an old technique used throughout time to shape opinion and give context and form to time and space. Essentially, without information and its propagation, he explained, there would be nothing for man to be concerned about because nothing would be of concern.  In establishing the field of public relations he stated that its “three main elements,” were: informing people; persuading people; and/or integrating people with people through the use of persuasive information. Crystallizing Public Opinion (1923).

If Bernays were still alive he likely would have seen the fulfillment of his thesis and the evidence of its effectiveness in the yearly Hollywood Blockbuster season. The first movie out of that gate is Captain America and it is certainly not short on themes, messages, symbolism, and metaphorical application today.

HYDRA and the Bavarian Illuminati

The Ultmate Secret Combination

The story revolves around nearly a century year old conspiracy by the Marvel Comic Universe’s ultimate secret combination, HYDRA. In the Marvel comic universe HYRDA is a criminal organization dedicated to the establishment of a fascistic world government in the veins of the Bavarian Illuminati’s New World Order. HYDRA attempts to achieve the overthrow of governments, institutions, and all order through the destruction and disintegration of normative values and institutions through the chaos of terrorism, espionage, and the implementation of subversive propaganda.  HYRDA was formed by Baron von Strucker a comic book villain who has striking similarities to the arguably most famous benefactor of the Bavarian Illuminati and all of its subsequent conspiracy organization offshoots. The Wikipedia entry for Baron von Strucker states:

“Born in the late 19^th century to a Prussian noble family who had relocated to Strucker Castle in Bavaria following the Franco-Prussian War, Wolfgang von Strucker . . . fought for Germany during World War I . . . joined the Nazi Party, becoming infamous in the following years. In 1963 he and Geist, one of Hitler’s top men, allied themselves with the Egyptian mentalist Amahl Farouk (secretly the Shadow King) in an attempt to dispute the lineage of England’s royal family and install a new king who would be sympathetic to the Nazis.”

Wikipedia, Baron von Strucker.

Baron von Strucker

In the first Captain America movie we get a sense of the founding of HYDRA under the movie’s primary antagonist, the Red Skull. In the first the movie the Red Skull is seen as the fanatical leader of HYDRA with his ultimate goal of world domination on a scale and through a power reserved to the fantastical. Through the manipulation of the “tesseract” Red Skull ushered in the age of energy weapons just prior to the development of atomic and nuclear based weaponry. Interestingly enough the symbolic threads that underlie and interweave with the mystical premises of the existence of such supernatural power as derived from the “cosmic cube" or the “tesseract” also formed the basis of Adolph Hitler’s belief in the occult. It is fairly common knowledge now that Hitler was thoroughly engaged in occult beliefs, rituals, and some speculate that his vision, abilities, protection, and persuasiveness  throughout his life was due to his beliefs and their potential for practical reality.  Regardless of the reality of such a power and its derivations, it is well documented that the many of the top Nazi officials held and practiced occult beliefs and conducted rituals in connection with their political ideology to varying degrees.

Nazi Occultic Symbolism

Whatever the case, the Captain America movies recognize the idea that often what may be considered “supernatural” is simply a form of advanced technology that humans are currently unable to fully understand.  This is demonstrated by a response to a Nazi officer questioning his goal to “end this war through magic,” to which the Red Skull replies, “[s]cience. But I understand your confusion. Great power has always baffled primitive men.” Heinrich Himmler believed that through his machinations with the SS, he could breed a pure Aryan bloodline which had the power of the gods of Atlantis, the rhetoric, runes, and rituals he used for that purpose is very well documented. The underlying premises shouldn't sound so far fetched given this reality and the very real prospect of success such a worldview nearly entailed.

The Cosmic Cube Representing the Power of the Gods

 The New World Order as defined by one analyst recognizes the historical ideology that underlies the enlightenment era flourishing of scientism and its correlating ushering in of a secular new age for all mankind. In describing this New World Order he states:

“The New World Order is a global crime syndicate of elite bankers, CEOs, politicians, academics, media moguls, military executives and religious heads, that operate on the one hand in the public purview promoting a stated policy, while simultaneously working underhandedly in clandestine societies to set an alternate world policy. . . [t]here are different degrees of initiates and levels of knowledge, but the central ideology of the NOW is Fabian socialist technocracy and eugenics.”

Jays Analysis, What is the New World Order and Why does it Matter?

Novus Ordo Seclorum

While I don’t have the time or space to go through the many levels of connections needed to make such a bold claim, suffice it say that many writers have supported these types of overarching secret combination claims through money trails, political connections, ad hoc analysis of monetary policy, development of governments, declassified military and black op documents, inside leaks, and political and cosmological philosophical convergence of elite individuals. All of these types of evidence are fairly conclusive in suggesting, despite the way popular media has suggested, that conspiracies do take place, and that influential and powerful individuals with the means necessary for fraternal, governmental, and institutional conspiracy are available and attractive. Regardless of whether one believes in that possibility, this is the story that is given to us in Captain America.

The Bavarian Illuminati in contrast was said to have been formed in 1776 by an ex-Jesuit named Adam Weishaupt in Bavaria. His primary reason for the establishment of the Illuminati, which essentially means “the enlightened,” was to organize a group of like-minded rationalists to move the world to a one world socialistic order where religion would be abolished and a new “science” would take its place as the reigning worldview. This period of time was known as the enlightenment and represented a socio-cultural revolution that sought to remake the social order, which had since been based on either legalistic notions of Judaic revelation, or other theistic /authoritarian principles. This new view placed its emphasis on the origins of humans based on evolutionary theory and its related scientific assumptions regarding the nature of truth and natural law. The shift saw the removal of a world governed by God through his earthly hierarchy and those with the divine right to kingship, but instead based on man’s ability to dominate and control the natural world through the use of reason and technological know-how. It was believed that man would achieve encyclopedic knowledge through the lens of his observations and quantification methodologies such that he would be able to achieve total understanding of the universe and become god in his own right and by his own power. 

The Titan Prometheus Stealing Fire from the Gods

One can see the influence of Greek philosophy (particularly Prometheus) in this worldview both as a result of the skepticism with which much of that worldview begins with by assumption and based on its observation of the natural world. However, it can be argued that this scientific worldview, given its reliance on unsupported first premises must also yield to the limitations of mans limited reasoning ability and the imperfections of his observations, must also fall short of such a universal goal and understanding. In that regard it could be argued that science and all its assured certainties is the new mythology, the all-encompassing narrative (akin to the creation account in Genesis) which could explain all in god like fashion. The very pillars of this mythology, Galileo, Newton, and Bacon, have also been said to be practitioners of a form of occult beliefs known as hermeticism which relies on manipulation of nature through alchemy, astrology, and theurgy.  The last of which, means the conducting of rituals to invoke the power and presence of Gods for a desired outcome, essentially theurgy is classified as “magic.” The modern student of scientific inquiry has been led to believe, based on numerous assumptions that rationalism has always been disconnected from any supernatural influences, but such an empirical worldview is rather new in terms of the development of its own conclusions. Many would be shocked to see that Bacon, Newton, Galileo, Freud, Marx, and others practiced such beliefs while maintaining secular outward appearances.  This was the age of the birth of the new world, out of it came the reformation under Luther, in which religion (specifically Christianity) was freed from its authoritarian catholic roots such that sectarian religions could form and reinterpret the word and craft it to their liking, needs, or purposes. Also, the American and French Revolutions. Particularly, the French revolution leaders were documented members of illuminati orders that sought to overthrow the established social orders. In the American Revolution, George Washington was aware of the illuminati’s influence in world politics and its infiltration in the United States. Of that conspiracy he stated:

"It is not my intention to doubt that the doctrine of the Illuminati and the principles of Jacobinism had not spread in the United States. On the contrary, no one is more satisfied of this fact than I am. The idea that I meant to convey, was that I did not believe that the Lodges of Free Masons in this Country has, as Societies, endeavored to propagate the diabolical tenants of the first, or pernicious principles of the latter (if they are susceptible of separation). That individuals of them may have done it, or that the founder, or instrument employed to found, the Democratic Societies in the United States, may have had these objects; and actually had a separation of the People from their Government in view, is too evident to be questioned."

George Washington, Letter to George Washington Snyder, October 24, 1798, Mount Vernon, in The Writings of George Washington, vol. 20, p. 518.

Not only is it alleged that the Illuminists influenced many other revolutions taking place around the world throughout the two centuries in furtherance of the NWO but that they had achieved near complete control through the establishment of the worlds monetary, credit, and lending institutions.  In his seminal book, “None Dare Call it a Conspiracy,” Gary Allen makes a persuasive, if not undeniable argument that the Bolshevik Revolution was influenced by Illuminist principles, backed by illuminist money, and led by illuminist members, including Vladimir Lenin himself. While most would see a conflict between Communist regimes and the supposedly democratic free regimes of the West, many analysts including Allen, Joel Skousen, and KGB defector Anatoliy Golitsyn (to name only a few) see the revolutionary aspects of these political movements as different sides of the same fascistic coin. Further, that coin is imprinted with one man’s legacy, that of the Baron Nathan Rothschild. 

Baron Nathan de Rothschild (b

Baron von Rothschild . . . err Strucker and SHIELD as the OSS/CIA

The Rothschild family is one of the elite familial bloodlines mentioned above that appears through its many associates and relatives in all of the major anglo-american-british political and economic power positions of the last two centuries. The Rothschild family is known as one of the wealthiest families in history and the fortune was made through the lending of money to nations for financing their wars and then establishing a central bank in that country for lending of fiat money. This means that the nations where these private banks were established were backed by private fortunes, and bankers would charge the governments interest on the money that was printed as reserve currency notes. This would be in contrast to trading of currency with intrinsic value, like gold or silver. The expansion of these banks under the control of a few well connected families, including the Rothschilds, the Astors, the Morgans, and the Rockefellers, (among others of intermarried and political connection) would see the establishment of a world reserve currency in the United States dollar and the regional monetary currency in Euro of the European Union. In 1913 the U.S. economy was placed in the hands of these bankers, founded in the City of London, through the passage of the Federal Reserve Act (For an excellent treatment of this process check out The Creature of Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin). Also, arising from the same network of individuals and institutions was the Round Table Group, which saw many of these individuals in global positions of influence, actually meet together for the furtherance of world geopolitics. Out of these groups emerged other political think tanks and organizations like the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the British Round table. These groups were largely responsible for the creations of the intelligence networks of the western government establishments including MI6, the OSS, which was the precursor to the CIA as touched on below. 

Carrying the torch of the Illumanity through Global Political Control?

There are plenty of books on the subject of the establishment of the CIA as well as movies that document the secretive and elite nature of the founding of the intelligence branches of the American government. From an entertainment perspective the movie The Good Shepard starring Matt Damon offers a reveal as to the governmental forces underlying the establishment of the OSS and later the CIA. In that movie Matt is pursued as an initiate into the founding of the organization and is introduced to the elite Skull and Bones society of Harvard, of which all the founding members of the OSS belong. This brings me back to Captain America.

CIA Previously OSS

After the seeming defeat of the Red Skull at the hands of Captain America, we learn that HYDRA wasn’t actually destroyed but its ideological and practical core was transplanted to the United States of America through “Operation Paperclip.” The thing that is very interesting about this movie is how well all the conspiracy theory threads that underlie the origins of  actual intelligence apparatus of the United States government are represented. To those who aren’t familiar with Operation Paperclip, it might seem like a random name thrown into the script for the purpose of telling a fictional comic book story, but Operation Paperclip was an actual secret operation undertaken by the U.S. government to recruit German Nazi scientists to work for the U.S following WW2.  

"HYDRA" came to work for the U.S. government

All of the scientists had their previous support of the Nazi regime overlooked, were issued new backgrounds, and were granted security clearances by the U.S. government to work on a number of research and development projects. Many of these programs dealt with missile based weapons development, but there were others that dealt with all sorts of experimental procedures including torture, brainwashing, and mind control. More on this later. However, prior  to WW2 the U.S. didn’t have a dedicated intelligence agency or network like we do now, the very thing that this movie elaborates on as regarding the formation of the intelligence apparatus known as SHIELD. Prior to WW2 all of the espionage and intelligence gathering activities were compartmentalized in the separate military branches.  It was during WW2 that the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was established and which later became the Central Intelligence Agency. There are a lot of interesting details regarding the founders of the OSS and their various political connections with other founding members and further their connection to alleged elite bloodlines stemming from the founders of the Bavarian Illuminati as I’ve somewhat detailed above. But like before there is so much information and seeming coincidence there, that I am unable to get to in just this one post, but suffice it to say that many of the prominent individuals and families responsible for the establishment of the OSS and later the CIA all belong to a very small network of associated individuals and institutions which ultimately converge in the Anglo-American- banking establishment (for a detailed account of this establishment and its relationship to the NWO read Caroll Quigleys seminal work, "Tragedy and Hope").

Anglo-American Financial-Intelligence-Military-Industrial Complex

In Captain America, HYDRA can be seen as the corollary to the Bavarian Illuminati and its various permutations and institutions in the modern age, ending with the “skynet” type program known as “Project Insight” as instituted by the World Security Council and in particular Robert Redford’s character Secretary Alexander Pierce. In the movie is asserted that HYDRA through Doctor Armin Zola (from the first movie) was recruited under Operation Paperclip for the specific purpose of creating a system whereby mankind would give up its freedom for security in the form of a military-intelligence-industrial complex.

Nazi-Occult Experimentation

 Remember, that HYDRAs original plan was world domination, and its first attempt was to achieve that by force. Ultimately, thanks to Captain American it failed, but he learns that through Dr. Zola and other HYDRA agents recruited through paperclip, the plan was changed and adapted for the same long term objective, but to be achieved through more clandestine means.  This narrative parallels very well with what Anatoliy Golistyn an ex-KGB agent revealed regarding the dissolution of the USSR. Prior to and after WW2 it was clear that Communism and democracy were going to be at odds, especially given the nature of the interests involved, and the ideologies underlying them. The common misperception, according to Golitsyn, as detailed in his two books, “New Lies for Old Lies,” and “Perestroika Deception,” was that the collapse of the USSR did not end the goals of Communist Russia for world domination as argued by Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, and Kruschev. As mentioned before, the NWO has been established as being the benefactor of the Bolshevik revolution that led directly to the Communist leadership and regimes of both Lenin and Stalin and allowed its related worldview to propagate. The next several decades would be seen as the Cold War, pitting the two world-views against each other until the brink of WW3.  In his books, Golitsyn makes the claim that the Communist leaders knew they would never be able to defeat America by strength of military force and would have to resort to more long term tactics including espionage, creating internal weakness, and ideological shifts that would make it easier to eventually militarily dominate America.  There have been several statements that indicate this mindset including Stalin’s view that “[a]fter Russia we will take Eastern Europe, then the masses of Asia, and then we will encircle the United States which will be the last bastion of capitalism. We will not have to attack. It will fall like an overripe fruit into our hands.” Khrushchev echoed the same communist sentiment when he allegedly stated, “[y]ou Americans are so gullible. No, you won’t accept Communism outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of socialism until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have Communism. We won’t have to fight you. We’ll so weaken your economy until you’ll fall like an overripe fruit into our hands.” Also, those who were alive during the most heated moments of the Cold War remember him stating that Russia would “take America without firing a shot . . . we will bury you!” Golistyn makes the claim that the collapse of the Iron Wall was nothing more than a ploy to bide time for Russia to return to military and economic security, and to infiltrate American government and society. This was to be accomplished on a number of fronts, including the growth of statism in the form of socialism, the abolition of private property, and free market capitalism, and the secularization of society through education and legal precedent. One can see the list of Communist Goals as read into the Congressional Record for evidence of the goals of Communists at that time to infiltrate all aspects of U.S. government and society for the eventual world domination ends described above. Communist Goals (1963) Congressional Record –Appendix, pp. A34-A35, January 10, 1963.

No End to the Cold War

The importance of these details is to not necessarily to suggest that the Russian government is the NWO or that in the context of the movie that it represents HYRDA but only to establish a connection with the concept of complete infiltration of the U.S. intelligence sectors by clandestine agents for the purpose of complete overthrow and domination by military strength of force. The metaphor that the movie gives is that of the police state through the skynet type system, and the NSA-like intelligence and massive data mining currently being conducted on American citizens. Additionally, the Russian connection is important for the understanding of the role of the Winter Soldier.

The Winter Soldier

Red Star  Symbolism of Communism

The Winter Solder the NWO/Communist Manchurian Candidate

The Winter Soldier in the comics is essentially the same character that is portrayed in the movie with the difference being that he is a Russian black ops agent instead of originally and solely a HYDRA agent. This movie focuses on his role as the anti-Captain America and the enforcer for all the secret black ops missions HYDRA has perpetrated throughout history to get it to the point where Americans would freely surrender their liberties for the security of skynet. It is insinuated that HYDRA and the Winter Soldier have been engaged in black ops missions like the JFK assassination, the communist regimes in Cuba and Latin America, and it is implied in the post 9/11 context as well with regard to terrorism and drone strike capabilities. It is interesting that during the height of the Cold War the same allegations were being thrown around regarding the workers’ rights movements and the communist actions in Cuba, China, Vietnam, and Korea. Each of these particular engagements the U.S. was involved in some sort of way in allowing communist influences to gain or remain in power. There was a lot of resentment in several of these instances for policy positions made by powerful political figures  in the U.S. government for not intervening when possible or making decisive actions in turning back communist movements. Some assert that this was due to the infiltration of the U.S. government with sympathetic or outright Communist spies and agents that were bringing to pass the Perestroika Deception and weakening of American influences at home and abroad. Whatever the case, the movie makes the similar claim that HYDRA has been playing this game and using the Winter Soldier for that purpose.

Mind-Controlled Assassin

Another interesting aspect of the Winter Solider is the brainwashing/mind-control dynamic. As stated above following WW2, both sides of the Cold War conflict were engaged in complete competition, with both trying to secure Nazi scientists for the purpose of arms development, and other technological advancements. One of the lesser discussed experiments that have  become declassified to a minimal extent is that of Project Artichoke, later changed to Project MKULTRA. 

Project ARTICHOKE/MKULTRA

Under these projects and likely many more that have not become declassified, the goal was to perfect mind-control techniques for the purpose of espionage and black ops. The popular notion of the Manchurian Candidate is how the popular media has portrayed the minimal revealed information about these projects, in that the goal was to create soldiers who would be triggered to carry out espionage activities. 

Denzel?

Particularly, popular culture has focused on the aspect of the project for the purpose of creating assassins. This can be seen in almost any modern day action movie in one form or another. The general principles underlying all of these depictions and the ones that track with the actual declassified documents are essentially similar. Basically, you take a person, and you torture them until their mind becomes "fractured," it is documented that when individuals experience severe physical and psychological trauma that their mind is able to dissociate from the pain and compartmentalize it to deal with it. It is said that this process allows a fracturing of the individual’s primary psyche such that new one can take its place and conditioned to act in programmed ways through a process of operant and behavioral triggers. It is said that Pavlov’s dog was one of the founding studies used to support experiments on humans in this project. It has also been well documented that such a process does in fact exist and that dissociate identify disorder and a number of other bi-polar disorders may have roots in that process.  Whatever the case, Hollywood has fully bought into this idea as it’s a mainstay of action and thriller movies which exhibit some aspect of this concept. For example the Bourne Trilogy, the Manchurian Candidate, Inception, Conspiracy Theory, The Butterfly Effect, Sucker Punch, Salt and many other movies and TV programs that have programmed killers. The Winter Soldier is shown to be a product of MKULTRA like techniques as he has lost all memory of who he was and is, and that loss of identity seems to be induced through one of the primary methods used in MKULTRA, that of electroshock therapy. 

Electroshock Therapy/Lobotomy

When Bucky Barnes first starts to remember who he is through the intervention of Captain America, he starts to recover lost memories and is then forced by his handlers to undergo a reprogramming procedure to wipe his mind and  revert him back to his basic programming for assassinations. There have been many conspiracy theories that assert that the  “patsies” of major assassinations were under mind-control techniques and were programmed to carry out those specific missions. Many cite the connections of these perpetrators to military service, or research based on psychological studies and institutions and individuals with unusual governmental and military connections. Whatever the case, the theme of the Manchurian Candidate is extremely strong in popular culture in modern times, while gaining its ideological and philosophical roots from WW2 and Cold War era paradigms. 

Project Insight and NSA “Skynet”

Ultimately the movie settles for the idea that HYDRA as a seemingly NWO-like (Dr. Zola actually calls its end goal the ushering in of the New World Order) institution has permeated all of modernity and seeks to dominate it through the use of an algorithm designed to identify potential threats to the established order. The type of institution it reverts to never really seems to be discussed with much clarity, or in the sense of overt evil ideology, other than pairing it with HYDRA which we know from before is bad. However, the evil of such an institution has a long history in dystopian and apocalyptic literature and movies. For such reference we have George Orwell's 1984, the Matrix, the Hunger Games, Terminator, and the Book of Revelations triune of Evil. It's counterpoint is also apparent as the main concern seems to revolve around somewhat vague notions of “liberty,” and “freedom.” Most American’s relate to these concepts in a way that is unique from the rest of the world in very particular ways because of our fairly insulated history and its Constitutional foundations. Most American’s understand that Freedom and Liberty as underlying our institutions are not merely  relativistic or secular types, but ones that have as their base in a moral rightness, fixed in more or less absolute terms. It is on this basis that the general populace has looked at other nations with the desire to help institute a similar form of “democracy.” Captain America plays on this theme more in the first movie, with the notion that the old-fashioned concepts and notions of freedom and liberty do not change and that they are founded in a moral sense of right action, behavior, and ideology. Captain America is faced with several ideological enemies in this sequel, as I mentioned above, with the corollaries arguably paralleling our day in ways that most people haven’t thought or grasped in such detail. What if the U.S. government had been infiltrated by HYDRA like operatives whose goal is to enslave rather, and gain power over the masses through ideological manipulation, until the breaking point of installation of a massive spying and integrated military weapon system?

Project Insight/Skynet

That breaking point in the movie is based on the algorithm developed by Dr. Zola which will predict who will ultimately become a threat to the NWO  and eliminate that threat, preemptively and efficiently through drone-like-strikes from the sky. The algorithm, it is purported, takes into account every single persons informational identity through internet searches, cellphone data, historical, educational, and informational (social security numbers) data, then collating all that information and forming a “profile,” and a threat assessment. The climax of the movie sees HYDRA revealed for what it is, with Captain America and his allies, Nick Fury, Black Widow ( I heart Scarjo) and Falcon (Poppa Doc, awesome)  attempting to bring down the whole system, including SHIELD as an institution.  It is shown that not all of the agents of SHIELD are members of HYDRA but that a significant portion of the agency had been infiltrated under false pretenses.  This conflict is one that is currently a hot bed issue for Americans, because of the recent revelations of massive NSA spying akin to the profiling conducted by SHIELD/HYDRA.  The current debate is very will summarized in the conflict between Nick Fury and Captain America regarding the safety versus freedom issue. Nick Fury the consummate realist states, “ SHIELD takes the world as it is, not as we’d like it to be!” This same reasoning seems to underlie much of modern American foreign affairs ranging from the war on terror, to drone strikes, to the domestic spying and curtailment of civil liberties. Captain America counters with a more moderate notion based on a vague notion of freedom, when he says, “[t]he price of freedom is high . . . this isn’t freedom, this is fear.” Ultimately, in the aftermath of the destruction of project insight and its somewhat mastermind/administrator Alexander Pierce, played compellingly, stoically, and matter-of-factly by Robert Redford, SHIELD is left in disarray (presumed death of Nick Fury, retirement of Captain Rogers, outing of Black Widow as a former KGB and SHIELD Agent) but with the more mundane spying institutions seemingly still in play (Agent 13 goes to the CIA). While the SHIELD apparatus may be viewed as a metaphor for the NSA, I prefer to see it, with its full implications remaining logically consistent as the death of the entire intelligence gathering network. However, I don’t believe that is exactly what Captain America is getting at, as I mentioned  before with a more moderate viewpoint than he suggests when he says “[t]he price of freedom is high . . . and it’s a price I’m willing to pay! You told me not to trust anyone and this is how it ends: Everything goes!” Everything doesn’t go in the sense of the undoing of all ordered security measures but only the dismantling of the overtly unjustifiable and unsalvageable.  It is a decidedly liberty leaning message, but not to the point of absurdity, recognizing the realist argument of Alexander Pierce that the game of modern geopolitics is “one step,” away from “disorder,” and “war,” while simultaneously recognizing that heroes aren’t the ones that flip the switches (or give the kill orders) because of fear or based solely on the premise that they need to control the outcomes of the ultimately uncontrollable, but heroes are those who are “brave enough not to.”

The Hard Decisions

Each of the titular heroes in this movie ultimately make the brave and hard decision in their respective plot-points. Natasha Romanoff (aka Black Widow) keeps Alexander Pierce from launching the drone strikes while simultaneously leaking all the classified and proprietary information of Project Insight and SHIELD to the internet, thus outing her own role in it, with all its ugly details and implications. In the epilogue she is shown testifying before a Senate Subcommittee regarding her role and is threatened with imprisonment for outing sensitive national security information. Sound familiar? It should because it’s a direct metaphor for the information leaks of Edward Snowden and others of similar ilk. 

Whistleblowers Are Heroes in Captain America

In doing so, Black Widow takes a significant step forward as a character whose motivations and identity have been completely obscure and seemingly chaotic and unstable. It is with this act that she is able to move forward and establish her true identity and its necessary corollary of transparency. It is through transparency that she must learn to trust and be trusted.

Yes, please.

Nick Fury, presumed dead, is free from the stain that could have accompanied him for not being able to ferret out HYDRA operating around him and almost succumbing to the temptation and control that project insight could have garnered in his quest for national security. In the penultimate scene he is the one quoted as saying he is brave enough not to have to rely on such measures and as a result he becomes unburdened and seemingly dedicated to the “righteous path,” in “death.” 

This is some pulpy fiction

Falcon finds a cause to believe in after witnessing the destruction and aftermath of serving two tours in Iraq, he is disillusioned as to the loss, but yet using his own strong moral core to guide others with similar experiences. His character development is not as strong as the others as this is his first movie, but what I took from his development was that even when you become disillusioned and seemingly discarded as so many veterans of the latest of the U.S. wars on terrorism have, that there is still a good fight to be fought. Falcon, like a good and moral soldier (like so many of our soldiers) is immediately capable of recognizing a right cause and a virtuous leader in Captain America. It is under that type of leadership that his purpose and loyalty is established and will no doubt play it out in movies to come. 

Poppa Doc!

Finally, Captain America sees his own moral code validated after the Avengers. Captain was largely lampooned in The Avengers as being old-fashioned, fuddy-duddy, and useless, as compared to some of the other Avengers. What could a mere mortal (albeit superpowered) do in comparison to a God, a Hulk, and a Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist? Well, this movie answered it. The strong moral core that is implied throughout the Marvel movies of which he is a part ultimately played out to the tune of saving 20 million good people and undoubtedly more, simply because he remained true to time-tested and everlasting notions of freedom and liberty. If I learned anything from this character development was that perseverance, patience, non-flamboyance, seriousness, and reticence are ultimately rewarded and are the most important leadership qualities. While some may argue that there is no character development in Captain America because he is seen as somewhat unwaveringly good, and dull there is much more to learn from such a character. While Iron Man may learn to be a sacrificial hero, Captain America always had been and always will be a hero because as Dr. Erskine from the first movie explained. Steve Rogers is fundamentally a “good man.” This can seen in his tempered questioning of fundamentally questionable policy choices, his vocal concern over denial of basic due process, and his recognition of bedrock privacy violations and the blatant disregard of the rule of law for expediency and other unstated pragmatic reasons. The necessity of these lessons has never and will never weaken, and in fact, as argued by this movie are profoundly important and critically timely. If there is one lesson of Captain America that carries over from each movie and ultimately finds its fulfillment in the man now "giving the orders," it is that real heroes are simple men with unwavering dedication to timeless principles of freedom and liberty.

Truth, Justice, and the American Way