Though the battle to defend Minas Tirith has been won, the battle for Middle Earth is not over. Frodo is in Mordor, alone except for Sam. Victory and defeat are both in view and there is little those in Minas Tirith can do to change the outcome.
This chapter is called "The Last Debate," which refers to the discussions the leaders of Minas Tirith have. They determine the best way to help Frodo is to distract Sauron. They will send troops to the Black Gate and challenge Sauron directly. Sauron, they figure, will send all the troops he has from Mordor to confront them, thus giving Frodo and Sam a better chance at success. And if they die, at least they die fighting.
Elsewhere in Minas Tirith, Legolas and Gimli have a discussion about humans. It begins with Gimli admiring the stone of Minas Tirith.
‘And doubtless the good stone-work is the older and was wrought in the
first building,’ said Gimli. ‘It is ever so with the things that Men begin: there is a
frost in Spring, or a blight in Summer, and they fail of their promise.’
‘Yet seldom do they fail of their seed,’ said Legolas. ‘And that will
lie in the dust and rot to spring up again in times and places
unlooked-for. The deeds of Men will outlast us, Gimli.’
To provide a bit more context, Gimli is remarking that while Minas Tirith was given a strong foundation, eventually humans failed. First, with Isildur (the King) taking The One Ring, and then with Denethor (the Steward) committing suicide. Both were acts of arrogance. Humans showed great promise when they arrived in Middle Earth, but they have so far not met their potential. Something goes wrong whether "a frost in Spring, or a blight in Summer."
But Legolas provides a different view. Yes, humans may fail in an annual fashion, but those failures provide a fresh foundation for the future. Humans may botch important historical moments, and individuals may not reach their potential, but slowly but surely humans learn from their mistakes, and their failings inform the future. Aragorn's greatest attributes is his caution and humility. One does not acquire these characteristics by success.
This is a nuanced view on progress. Consider our own world. At the end of every century, for the most part, the world is better than it was at the beginning. Within each century, we can find moments of terrible and needless suffering, but that suffering (while still needless) can inspire a search for a better world for the future.
Failure is temporary. Failure teaches empathy, compassion, and reflection. Self-examination requires failure - what else would motivate it? And if we agree with Socrates that "the unexamined life is not worth living" then what we're saying is that failure makes life worthy.
It's extremely disappointing to see potential go to waste. Loyalty pledged to an unworthy cause. Passion shown for immoral acts. Joy found in cruelty. Loyalty and passion and joy are all good, but they become problematic in certain cases. If you see enough of this, you may turn to cyncism - the only ones motivated to do anything are the bad guys. Evil will always triumph because good is dumb.
But there's some small comfort knowing that, as a whole, humanity progresses for the better. There may be failures, and there may be tragedies, and there may be needless suffering, but we need not despair of the whole. Like the invisible hand of the free market, there's an invisible hand of humanity's moral compass. It may not always work on the individual level, but on the whole, we get results. The understanding of human rights in 2000 is considerably better than the understanding of human rights in 1900.
I purposely said this is a "small comfort." The wheel of progress doesn't release us from our responsibilities to participate. In fact, it's pointedly unethical to say "This all works out in the end - I can do what I want." An ethical guide should challenge and inspire, not excuse. That's a recipe for despair.
And, as I've noted before, despair is a real killer. Despair has short term and long term consequences which are almost too obvious to be worth mentioning. So instead, let's talk about recycling.
The most effective way to get people to recycle, it turns out, is to get other people to recycle. Peer pressure works. In fact, the pressure doesn't even have to be real. The best way to encourage recycling, it turns out, is to tell people other people are recycling. We all have a primal desire to be part of the group. If we think "the group" is recycling, we will recycle.
We should do good, and in doing good we will motivate others to do good. And the more do-gooders there are, the more people may be motivated to do good. And on and on and on. We should support others who do good, and we should help ensure loyalty, passion and joy support good and not evil. Indeed, that is precisely what the invisible hand of the moral compass is: The result of innumerable individuals doing what is right. Without that, nothing pushes the needle northward.
If most people don't see any point in doing what's right, and most people don't see anyone else doing what's right, that's a pretty strong foundation for wrong-doing to occur. Not because most people have become evil, but because they don't DO good. Being not-evil isn't enough. Even being good isn't enough. What's needed is action. Public action on behalf of good. Anything less only empowers evil, and weakens the magnet pulling humanity's needle north. We may 'fail of our promise' but we must try. To hijack a common saying: It is better to resist and lose than to yield willingly to evil. Our failures can inspire the future. Our surrender will not.
As long as we know what's right, we have a chance to withstand evil. But once we allow our sense of what's right to become muddled, everything is lost.
Like this project? Want to learn more? Want exclusive access to behind-the-scenes content? Go to my Patreon site and see how you can become a part of the action!
Failure is temporary. Failure teaches empathy, compassion, and reflection. Self-examination requires failure - what else would motivate it? And if we agree with Socrates that "the unexamined life is not worth living" then what we're saying is that failure makes life worthy.
It's extremely disappointing to see potential go to waste. Loyalty pledged to an unworthy cause. Passion shown for immoral acts. Joy found in cruelty. Loyalty and passion and joy are all good, but they become problematic in certain cases. If you see enough of this, you may turn to cyncism - the only ones motivated to do anything are the bad guys. Evil will always triumph because good is dumb.
But there's some small comfort knowing that, as a whole, humanity progresses for the better. There may be failures, and there may be tragedies, and there may be needless suffering, but we need not despair of the whole. Like the invisible hand of the free market, there's an invisible hand of humanity's moral compass. It may not always work on the individual level, but on the whole, we get results. The understanding of human rights in 2000 is considerably better than the understanding of human rights in 1900.
I purposely said this is a "small comfort." The wheel of progress doesn't release us from our responsibilities to participate. In fact, it's pointedly unethical to say "This all works out in the end - I can do what I want." An ethical guide should challenge and inspire, not excuse. That's a recipe for despair.
And, as I've noted before, despair is a real killer. Despair has short term and long term consequences which are almost too obvious to be worth mentioning. So instead, let's talk about recycling.
The most effective way to get people to recycle, it turns out, is to get other people to recycle. Peer pressure works. In fact, the pressure doesn't even have to be real. The best way to encourage recycling, it turns out, is to tell people other people are recycling. We all have a primal desire to be part of the group. If we think "the group" is recycling, we will recycle.
We should do good, and in doing good we will motivate others to do good. And the more do-gooders there are, the more people may be motivated to do good. And on and on and on. We should support others who do good, and we should help ensure loyalty, passion and joy support good and not evil. Indeed, that is precisely what the invisible hand of the moral compass is: The result of innumerable individuals doing what is right. Without that, nothing pushes the needle northward.
If most people don't see any point in doing what's right, and most people don't see anyone else doing what's right, that's a pretty strong foundation for wrong-doing to occur. Not because most people have become evil, but because they don't DO good. Being not-evil isn't enough. Even being good isn't enough. What's needed is action. Public action on behalf of good. Anything less only empowers evil, and weakens the magnet pulling humanity's needle north. We may 'fail of our promise' but we must try. To hijack a common saying: It is better to resist and lose than to yield willingly to evil. Our failures can inspire the future. Our surrender will not.
As long as we know what's right, we have a chance to withstand evil. But once we allow our sense of what's right to become muddled, everything is lost.
The Lord of the Rings: An Ethical Guide is a Patreon-supported project. Thank you to all those who have contributed.
Like this project? Want to learn more? Want exclusive access to behind-the-scenes content? Go to my Patreon site and see how you can become a part of the action!
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