Existence is twaddle

Being a pretentious type, with possible hipster tendencies, I am currently wearing a T-shirt which features the face of a Mr Meseeks (from Rick and Morty, that SF-based animated programme which has become something of a hit on both sides of the Atlantic) with the line 'Existence is Pain' beneath the portrait.  This is a reference to the nature of the Mr Meseeks people who merely exist in order to service the needs of those who call upon them.  Once these needs are met then the Mr Meseeks blinks out of existence.  Extended periods of existing and not meeting their required 'use' causes the Meseeks pain.

This did set me thinking about existentialism and some of the key writers in that genre of philosophy and literature.  Especially the French-Algerian Albert Camus who resisted the term 'existentialist' but wrote several works of fiction and nonfiction which appear to best summarise the existential branch of philosophy.

Camus' most famous work (arguably) is The Outsider.  In this novella, the narrator expresses little emotion over the death of his mother and even shoots dead an Arab character with no real motive.  The work emphasises the moral vacuum the narrator inhabits and equates each action as having similar value.

But is existence so very painful and morally sparse?  The first pillar of Buddhism is that 'life/existence is suffering'.  This may be a mis-translation  but it is often seen as the bedrock of Buddhist belief: if we exist we will suffer/experience pain/reject our experience of existing.  The first step of the Alcoholics Anonymous 12 step programme is that 'we realised we were powerless over alcohol' - that, effectively, we were suffering and then the programme expands into another 11 steps which make recovery possible.

From a personal perspective, I can see that we often face discomfort and that for many of us life is a real trial of will and strength.  This is made worse or better by our consciousness, that cursed sense of self which guides us to write poetry or prose, or even to express ourselves in music and art.  Something memorable and powerful comes from these efforts but if consciousness did not exist at all, would it matter that these constructions would not happen?

Dealing with the twentieth century was made worse by the ethical and psychological emptiness presented by Nietzsche's late nineteenth century proclamation that 'God is dead'.  Without an omniscient and omnipotent God, and the afterlife so many hoped for, life could seem meaningless.  The apparent rise in spirituality as a counter balance to this malaise may offer something more for those who inhabit the twenty-first century but it will be interesting to see how this manifests itself as the century progresses and other causes, such as environmentalism and nationalism, take hold of the popular imagination.  Perhaps however wealthy or powerful one becomes then existence will always entail a certain amount of pain.  And perhaps that pain has a use: to remind us that others often suffer more than we do and that we should make every effort to ease that pain and find a new purpose in such endeavours.

A strange kind of year

It's been an odd start to the year.  On the one hand, the UK has left the EU under a wave of banner and flag hoisting people who have no notion of how much damage they will probably have done to the British economy, spouting that this is democracy in action despite supporting an electoral system whereby the interests of the majority of the electorate is ignored.  Oh, if only coffin dodgers weren't so nimble, with their artificial knees and hips fitted while under the care of the immigrant health workers they so despise.  Where's an 'angel of mercy' masquerading as a nurse when you need one?

On the other hand, I have started gluing and painting the Space Marines I have owned for years.  This is both cathartic and a step towards actually gaming again.  If anything can cure my ennui it will be cleansing the galaxy of xeno filth while measuring weapon ranges and AOE with tape measures and plastic templates.  It should be made available on the national health.

I've always veered towards the Dark Angels as my preferred army. Partly because the Dark Vengeance starter set has the DA as its loyalist army but also because they sound mysterious, with their Fallen and the rather weird, fractured planet they are based on.  It is SF bombast as both extreme and suitably odd - something which suits the WH40K universe brilliantly.

My other SF interests are Star Wars, Doctor Who and Star Trek, in that order.  Star Wars was a childhood love of mine.  Everything about A New Hope pushes my buttons.  The vast canvas of a galaxy at war, with advanced technology, a powerful magic which can help tip the balance (in the guise of the Force), plucky underdogs fighting a massive, unaccountable empire where authority is enforced by a twisted, cybernetically enhanced henchman (Darth Vader obviously) was always too much for me to resist.

But, God bless DVDs: Blake's 7 has been able to rejoin this pantheon.  The complexity of the characters, the clever scripting and the questions of good vs bad (or goodish and not so badish) make more sense now than it did when I was a child.  The effects may have aged but the characters and the storylines haven't.  God bless Blakes 7 and the Liberator, and all who flew in her.