Politics and War. Business & Science. Art & Philosophy. When I think of what the son inherits from the father, I think in these terms. The father who is successful in politics and war can have his son work for business and science. That father, if successful will have his son work for the higher sensibilities of art and philosophy. My mother on the other hand said, don't lie. If you lie then you will steal. If you steal then you will kill. My brother is a cop and he knows that it takes a lot more nerve to steal than to lie. And killing is a lot harder than stealing. At dinner this evening, over sushi and wine, I put together my family of ambition and treachery. Each level has it's own extreme.
It thus occurs to me that in art and philosophy, the great crime is the falsehood. Neither art nor philosophy nor religion can sustain a lie, for these pursuits above all have truth as their goal. To lie about god or beauty or meaning is to destroy the very perfection of the seeking.
But in the professions, a lie is something to be dealt with. It may corrupt, it may mislead, and it may be overlooked, but the creations of engineering and of economics can survive a mere lie. But all the competence of a businessman is brought to naught if at bottom he is a thief. All the greatness of any engineering genius is squandered if it enslaves. Theft destroys the genius of creation.
War, one might think, is the art of killing. No. That is slaughter and it separates the general from the butcher. The warrior knows above all that life is most precious, because his calculations are at all times that of life and limb. When he crosses the line of nobility, he becomes a murderer. And what is the meaning of political ambition if it must serve murder? Nothing.
These are the three treasons, and they represent the final temptation of the three ambitions.
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