TV and Movies

Elementary, Agents of Shield, and Person of Interest all had similar storylines this week. It will also be the major plot line for this summer's big Marvel blockbuster, Captain America: Civil War.

The story is an interesting one to be sure. It's not a question of good guys and bad guys, it's a battle between world-views and perspectives. Most powerful organizations don't consider what they are doing as wrong. They purport to be there to help or to fix things. But the bigger the organization, the better chance they might take questionable steps in order to achieve these goals.  Questionable at least, by other powerful organizations that sees things differently.

In the Marvel Universe, Hydra wants out take out  "bad guys" before they become bad guys. In the game of baseball sabermetric stats show player tendencies clearly that aren't always seen just by looking. Hydra wants to take out an Adolf Hitler BEFORE he becomes Adolf Hitler. Sheild wants people to have the chance to mess up before they actually, you know, start killing them.

In a world where not everyone agrees on what IS best, a world with no ONE set of clear moral conduct guidelines, people will always do what THEY think is right or best. Hence the world-view conflict. Hence, the battle of perspectives.

The Democrats and Republicans in America are becoming more like that. It's definitely a real world struggle. And that's assuming that people really DO want to do what's right. If either party has an agenda, hidden or otherwise, that only adds to the conflict. And we're always asked to take sides.

We tend to think those we agree with have less of an agenda. We tend not to trust those we disagree with. We see them as evil. The bad thing? Our perceptions may be right.

But, of course, we may be wrong as well. Your world-view is shaped by what you truly believe is right or wrong. If you have a standard that doesn't move, you'll probably be safer than someone who changes their mind constantly based on circumstance.

Of course if you disagree with me, you'll think just the opposite.

That's our world-views in conflict. We can't even see the other person's perspective.