The oppoiste of war isn't peace, it's creation

Both Alyosha and Enjolras have brought up topics that I find fascination, love to ponder, and could discuss for hours, and they know it. However, I also am going to wait to broach the almost limitless topic of music.

I have been indoctrinated at various points in my education, and some of you know by whom, to believe that every conflict, every relationship, every moment in History can be explained in terms of economics. While I do not completely buy this, Enjolras's lament over the lack of creativity in today's society instantly made me think of Marx's theory of the worker and the effects of the industrialization and modern economics on the theory of the person.

Now don't worry, this is not going to turn into a complex discussion about economic theory. Marx, however, believed that people did not work to live but rather lived to work--humans by definition were workers, cogs in the economic machine. This idea has been so integrated into modern thought that many politicians and economists, in America at least, would be horrified if they realized they had bought a piece of Marxist philosophy so whole heartily.

This is one of the primary things that has removed the idea of creation from everyday life. A single person is rarely responsible for a product from start to finish anymore. Instead, they are another point on the assembly line, mass producing identical products that are devoid of all craft. Work, the act of creating something and of providing for yourself and your family has a salvific value. The shift from people as craftsmen to people as workers has done its best to remove the human dignity and the value of the product.

In particular, this is can seen in the arts, where it is almost impossible now to earn a living do art for arts sake. There is no obvious economic value in painting pictures, writing poetry, or composing music so these have been subordinated to other ends. Now if you want to study art it is usually in terms of a career such as graphic design or interior decorating.

Creating something for no commercial purpose does, like Enjolras said, bring a certain amount of satisfaction. More than that however, by creating something is a way for man to imitate his creator-it is a form of prayer and something that so desperately needs to be reclaimed in modern society. So bake an pie, knit a sweater, paint a picture and when ever possible support those who are craftsmen rather than huge corporate chains.