The law of free will

A contest

Chapter 15 The law of free will

“I beg your pardon, general,” Bob said, “ with due respect to your comment, I think the American experience is, at this time, in a stage of formulating our role in the world. We have been in process, on it, over the years. Our foreign policy aligns itself with such a world view.”

“I appreciate that,” the general replied, “ but we can't wait for the American people to tell us what their world view is. We have to make an assumption that this is what they want us to do.”

“You're referring to the stuff you documented on Guantano Bay?” the State Secretary, inquired.

“Well, its the most damming piece of information we'd had to-date.”

The President and the three of them were at Camp David. They were being treated to a buffet lunch.

“Okay, let me try to put it in a cultural context. The fact that they undertook an unprovoked attack on civilians on our soil.....okay, I'll leave that aside,” General Sanderson continued, “essentially the culture there makes too strong a case for gender identity. Socially, their women are oppressed in favor of the male priority..... .”

Bob cut in.

“It's a little more than that,” Bob said, “what we see is an attempt to interfere with the free will of another individual, but the fact is they undergo a great deal of learning in their culture to do it well. They don't hold a gun on their women. They practice a socially accepted perception of being both the male and the female and allowing for their female understanding to align with the physical responses of their women. It is the teaching of their faith.”

His comment was greeted with a cool silence. Everybody turned to look at the Secretary of State.

“This is very good salmon,” she said diplomatically, to the President, “you catered out.”

“I thought we could do with the change,” the President replied. He rose to refill his plate. “This is why I like having the General around on these chit-chats. It helps me maintain a balance.”

“Thank you Mr. President,” the General called.

“It's simple arithmetic in decision making,” the President said from the buffet table. “We don't yet have our own world view. We rely on studies about everybody else. So when everybody brings their perceptions to bear on us, we have no way of determining if that is true of us. So we reject it. If their perceptions are true they will stick to their guns and in the process convince us of its validity.”

“If I may say so, Mr. President, that is soldier talk,” the General echoed.

“Thank you General,” the President said as he returned to the table. “ And that is the crux of American foreign policy and unless I am mistaken, that is what every red-blooded American is about in their world view.”

“You guys have not touched the venison,” he complained, “ you ought to try it.”

Bob and the General rose to go to the table.

The President continued,

“The world has not always responded with a validation of their views. When you reject something, in the nature of a belief, in someone, their first response is to make up for it, by being agreeable with you. This is the position of the British Empire. They succumbed to the adulation of the world.”

“And the American way is......,” the State Secretary created the lead.

“Cut their balls off....,” he turned to the Secretary, “ if you'll pardon the expression.....and if they are still walking, then you know they've got something real.”

“The Puritans must have seen what that made of Great Britain,” Bob said, as he took his chair. “You start to believe that the whole world endorses what you do.....you don't walk away from that.”

“It is the law of free will,” the President said matter-of-factly. “You live by it and you die by it. And that is how we honor our fallen heroes.....as heroes in a cause.”

“This is great,” said the General, referring to the venison.

“I feel like I've stepped into an abyss,” said Neela. “I don't know how to take the next step.”

“Perhaps you should give it more time,” Peter advised.

They met at Neela's parents home.

“How's Kozinsky?”

Neela smiled.

“As crazy as ever, but he's got kids now, so the responsibility is good for him.”

“Explain crazy?” Peter asked.

Neela was taken aback for a moment, but regained his composure.

“I learnt to take an orderly view of life in Srinagar. We have to compartmentalize the mind, as a discipline, to create a specific relation to each issue we encounter in life. There is just too much going on these days to simply leave everything on the same plate. Kozinsky continues to do that and when I'm talking to him it feels like sitting next to a storm.”

Peter pondered deep into the comment. Then as an afterthought said,

“Somebody I know....well, actually, its my boss at UNESCO.....the way I heard him explain that, is this....he calls it the ' Moulin Rouge.' A moulin is a deep crevice in the snow that is created by melting ice. The French have a curious habit of referring that to the 'yoni' in women. Where it is as frigid as a galcier, the blood vessels on the sides cause an excitation that is carried to the mind and brought into activity in the person. So a woman who disengages from sex may actually have a very active mind.”

Neela considered the point but wondered about the position of Kozinsky or men in general.

“How does that apply to men?” he asked.

“We think it's possible it refers to all manner of crevices,” Peter said casually.

Neela appeared shocked and at a loss for words.

“We don't know,” Peter said quickly in response. “The research has not caught up with us yet. But you can see why we make these assumptions in our studies. We rely on human insight that people like you bring to us by your living experience.”

“So it creates a stimulation on the mind. That's how I recovered from my depression in Srinagar,” Neela gushed in surprise.

“You ought to give it some time,” Peter advised. Then added, “ Gangothri.....that's the ….,”

“The glacier in Nanda East,” Neela interjected. “My father named me after it.”