I personally grew up for eleven years in an isolated area. It was true that I still socialized occasionally with other people outside of my family’s farm, but I never really had any deep conversations with anyone other than my family. I developed my own philosophies of life and what it meant to me. But now I realize that it would have been good to study other people’s views too. It would’ve broadened my look on life and made me a more well-rounded individual. Even though looking into things this deep can be boring sometimes, I find myself somewhat interested to talk about what I’ve learned about some very smart people that I have studied. Those people consist of Tom Shadyac, Tom Douglas, Thomas Merton, and Ayn Rand. In some ways all four people have similar perspectives on different ideas on philosophy, while in other ways they are very different from each other.
Tom Shadyac, a famous film director, seemed to stand out to me out of the four, mostly because I remember watching a couple of his movies many years ago (though I don’t remember anything about the movies, only that I had laughed very heartily throughout). He is a very interesting man. He grew up with a very competitive nature as a young person being determined to be a successful director and to make masses of people laugh at his movies. And that is exactly what he did. He became very successful in his work, making a lot of money. With this he continued to buy bigger houses and more cars. He often went on expensive trips. But after all that luxury and fun, Tom still felt a kind of hole in his soul--something that could not be filled. He began to be depressed. After a while of going through hell, Tom accepted death. It was then that his depression eased, and at the same time he realized that he wanted to share his personal thoughts on life with the world. Tom got together a small film crew and created a very inspiring and enlightening documentary.
In this movie I learned many things, most of it being similar to how I view this world. America, along with the rest of the world, has become very greedy. A vast majority of people feel the need to spend more and more money on things they don’t need. And when that happens, most of them go into a large amount of debt, which is a big reason why countries like America are hurting. In other words, money isn’t really something that is a necessity. “Money does not buy happiness.” (Tom Shadyac) The statement is very true for a lot of people. However there are some out there that would argue that money does in fact make them very happy. This however was not the case for Tom. After living in luxurious mansions and driving expensive cars, Tom ultimately moved into a trailer park. It made him happy to be there, as he felt that he was making a big step, not living in gluttony. I personally think that he was entitled to live in those mansions, as he had plenty of money for it and it wasn’t like he was sponging off the government for the lifestyle. But I respect his decision, because it made him happy in the end.
Another large point, which was what Tom’s entire movie was hinging on, was the question, ‘What is wrong with this world?’. There are a lot of things wrong with this world, the greed, hate, selfishness, violence, and utter evil that grip the planet in a choking hold. But Tom simply answered the question with the phrase: “I am.” We all play a part in the problems with this world. If we all just made a combined effort to be better people, this world would be a very different place.
The other people, whose names I have already listed, did not stand out nearly as much as Tom Shadyac. Thomas Merton--as I mentioned before some of his personal beliefs are similar to Tom Shadyac. He despised the government and the way that so many people were living their lives. He talked about how in the future people were going to put a price tag on rain, but that for now he liked to sit out under it in the woods because it was free at the moment. The rain symbolized peace and tranquility for Thomas, and he said how he didn’t care if other people thought him strange for what he enjoyed doing.
It’s a little weird how three of the people I’ve learned about all have ‘Tom’ in their names. Anyway, Tom Douglas owned a large restaurant in Seattle. A very good boss, he believed that he should treat all his employees with kindness and respect. Which is good logic for how you should treat anyone in life, even your enemies. Tom Douglas raised the pay for all of his cooks and other employees by a substantial amount. This made all of them overjoyed. Some told him that it had given them new lives, opening opportunities that they had not even hoped for. They mentioned things like getting into college or providing for their families without much worry about money. The chefs, who were at the top of the ladder in the business, were angry because they had worked hard to get where they were for that job, whereas the cooks, waiters/waitresses, and other employees had not. Tom argued that the chefs were still being paid higher than the others, and saying that it was their choice to work to that level anyway. He believed that, if a business owner had the money, they should take good care of their employees. Because of this many of Tom’s employees chose to work for him for a very long time, instead of seeing working for Tom as just a casual job (which is what Tom wanted).
Ayn Rand is a very fiery thinker. She composed her writing with much more ferocity than any of the other people. She wrote badly about men, and was completely against the government in a further degree than even the other thinkers. The worst part was that she wrote passionately about the belief that people should not follow how society feels they should live their lives (how to act around others, what to wear, etc.), but ironically Ayn is telling people how to live herself.
If you boil all this down and all the fancy, complicated philosophy, the big message is simply this: there is a lot wrong with this world, things that could ultimately lead to its destruction. But we as individuals have the power to change the earth. We could greatly decrease crime, poverty, and overall suffering if we all just did our part to be better people and care about others than just solely ourselves. I honestly already had this logic for many years. I have tried to be unselfish, trying to care for others and help where I can.The things I have studied have only reinforced my beliefs, and strengthened the desire to encourage others to do the same.