Post by Chris Card on Oct 30, 2017 0:03:54 GMT
There is good in the world. There is evil. These things are known. These tales are told by fathers to sons across generations. By pastors to their flock. By elders to their tribe. By leaders to their people. Good and evil.
Good men fight the moral fight, live the pure life. Good men go to heaven. Good men are the kind of moral, upstanding citizens that you would want as neighbours, friends, partners for your daughters. Good men are the people that you aspire to be or the people you hope you are.
Evil men corrupt the soul through their impurities. Evil men face eternal damnation. Evil men, through their misdeeds lead people astray from their true path. You would not want to live next door to an evil man. You would not want to associate with them. You certainly would not want an evil man to date your daughter. The path of the evil man is one that you dread to step down lest you be damned with them.
And... this is all bunk.
It’s nice to raise children with a good moral framework, I admit. It’s nice to teach them the difference between right and wrong. But real life does not work like this. Think about it. Think long and hard. Unless you are totally blinded by your own personal moral code, there are examples from all sides of where good people have done evil things, evil people have done good things and the generally morally ambiguous mass of human society has done things that fall all over the alignment spectrum. All for their own personal goals. That’s just reality.
Here’s the rub, though. There is no objective good, no objective evil. Every person, every single person alive on this earth has their own moral code. And they are many and varied. Very few can look at themselves and truly say that they have stuck to them. If you can, then good for you. But humanity just doesn’t support this level of inflexibility. There are times, there are circumstances that you will be forced to cross lines. And then you look like a hypocrite.
If humanity, if the very nature of human beings requires crossing lines – maybe you just don’t need lines in the first place.
Enter Chris Card.
~~~~~
Pacing deliberately around his sumptuous office, Chris Card bears a faint grimace on his face. Card stops for a second when he reaches his antique oak writing desk as glances at the empty whisky tumbler on the table. He lefts it to his lips and knocks down any hints of the brown liquid that remained within. A knock at the door is swifty answered with a reply that is curt and does nothing to hide a frustrated tone.
Chris Card: Come in.
His wife Diana enters, a full bottle of vintage single malt in her hands. She walks over to take a position behind her husband, reaches round him in a half hug and places the bottle on the table.
Diana Card: Laphroaig. As you asked for.
Chris Card: Thankyou, honey. I need this.
Diana Card: I don’t like it when you’re in a Laphroaig mood, dear.
Chris Card: Well, as much as I hate to disappoint you, I’m in a very Laphroaig mood tonight.
Diana Card: Tell me. What is on your mind?
Chris pours out a generous double of the harsh, peaty whisky and relaxes a little as his wife begins to slowly massage his shoulders.
Diana Card: It can’t be the title match. I’ve never seen you worried about a title match before.
Chris Card: It’s not the title match. Just go out there, do my thing and everything falls into place.
Diana Card: Right.
Chris Card: Provided there are no factors outside of my control. And I mean utterly outside of my control.
Diana Card: I’m sure they won’t be. You’re Chris Card. You’re a better wrestler than either of those two. There’s nothing that either of them can offer that would even phase you.
Chris Card: I know.
Diana Card: Then you’re not worried about…
Chris cuts his wife off.
Chris Card: What time of year is it?
Diana Card: It’s late October.
Chris Card: There is nothing that should be bothering me. James Gilmore has no concept of his own failings, no ability to judge his own weaknesses. Jayson Matthews is naive and exploitable, even in a match where observance of the rules is not an issue. My experience in breaking rules affords me a much greater knowledge of how to exploit the match’s format. I have the experience edge. I have the talent edge. And yet…
Diana Card: And yet?
Chris leans down to his table, lifts the whisky to his lips and takes a considered swig from the glass. Chris lets his troubles show on his face, masked only by the natural reaction to the harsh, harsh bite of the whisky.
Chris Card: It’s late October.
~~~~~
Jayson Matthews. I understand where you are coming from. You were trained by Nighthawk. You’ve had his code drilled into you. Do the right thing. Don’t cheat. Don’t take shortcuts. Abide by the rules. It takes great strength of character to stick to that inflexible a moral code. It is, may I say, admirable. And it will inevitably lead to your downfall.
I am truly sorry about that. I really am. I like you, Jayson. I like you as a person. Maybe with a little better guidance than what Nighthawk was offering you, you’d be regarded among the true elite of this federation. You have all the tools to be one of the most successful wrestlers in this company. Your resilience is legendary. You turn your recklessness from what could be one of the most major flaws in a wrestler’s game into one of your greatest strengths. What you need is an edge. And you will never, ever have that until you listen to those “darker” urges.
And this is where the Invictus title suits you so well. Because with no rules to break, suddenly bringing out the darkness isn’t, in your eyes, morally wrong. If you could tap into that, to use a cliche, dark side then you could go on a tear through this federation. If you could access the vault that you have had to mentally lock away because Nighthawk told you to then I foresee nothing but success in your future. Take that Invictus spirit outside of the Invictus Division.
Leaving me to defend my title.
Different people have different moral codes? Never has this been more clearly on display than for one who compares Jayson Matthews to my other competitor, one Mr. James Gilmore. Matthews does things the supposed “right way.” He is a good, honest, solid, dependable, predictable man. Gilmore? He has a very clear set of morals. Do what is patriotic, what is best by his race, his background, his political alignment. And anybody who doesn’t share his personal standpoints on any of the issues that he feels strongly on?
They are the opposite of what he thinks. They are his own personal “evils.”
Now that’s moral inflexibility at its finest. If you don’t sit perfectly with his views on politics? You’re a Liberal. Or a Democrat. Or a Communist. Or a Terrorist. Or a purveyor of fake news. You’re whatever pet buzzword of hate has passed into his lexicon during the period since he last wrote one of his misguided polemics. Now you aren’t any of those things, dear fans. You just disagree with Gilmore and he’s expressing his views on you through the lens of projecting his own personal demons onto you. It makes things easier for him to understand. You’re the boogeyman.
Gilmore has raged at me for being a cheater. He says that I don’t understand American values. But I understand American values more than most. America values success. America has no time for losers. And it is this pioneer spirit, this venerating of the successful that has kept the thrashing tendrils of global socialism away from its shores. Because America is the land of opportunity. You get given nothing and the ability to seize anything. And seizing opportunities is what Chris Card does best.
Two other things America has no time for are ties and whiners. And in those, you have failed the very sensibilities of your country, Gilmore. Because if you hadn’t whined, if you hadn’t complained like the little spoiled child you often act up as then this match wouldn’t even be featuring you. And our match last week wouldn’t have been a tie. But seeing as I rate you less as a competitor and more as a blowhard who talks his way into matches way above his skill level I do not personally care.
And Gilmore, who will be watching, will have listened to that and screamed that I am wrong. I’m not American, what do I know about it? Is it not true that the spectator sees more of the game? Because in his simple little mind it just isn’t possible to half agree with him. You’re either with him or you’re against him. So allow me the time to present a conundrum.
America held a policy of fast tracking immigration for anti-Castro Cubans as a way of destabilizing the Castro regime, during the 1960s. So, is that correct? Which is better? Unchecked Hispanic immigration or Communism?
Now let me ask Jayson Matthews.
You are presented with an opportunity to defeat a long time rival, one who has been personally tormenting you with no regard to rules or regulations, fully within the bounds of a wrestling match, knowing that the victory will send him spiralling downwards on a path away from your own. However your strength is fading, you’re heavily bleeding and you know that if you don’t take a shortcut you are going to lose. What do you do.
Humanity does not deal in black and white answers. Sometimes you have to weigh up the pros and cons of a situation and consider all the possible outcomes.
Morals are bunk. Sometimes you have to do what is best for yourself.
I’m Chris Card. I live outside of your rules. And I’m fighting for a title with none?
I’m HOME.
Good men fight the moral fight, live the pure life. Good men go to heaven. Good men are the kind of moral, upstanding citizens that you would want as neighbours, friends, partners for your daughters. Good men are the people that you aspire to be or the people you hope you are.
Evil men corrupt the soul through their impurities. Evil men face eternal damnation. Evil men, through their misdeeds lead people astray from their true path. You would not want to live next door to an evil man. You would not want to associate with them. You certainly would not want an evil man to date your daughter. The path of the evil man is one that you dread to step down lest you be damned with them.
And... this is all bunk.
It’s nice to raise children with a good moral framework, I admit. It’s nice to teach them the difference between right and wrong. But real life does not work like this. Think about it. Think long and hard. Unless you are totally blinded by your own personal moral code, there are examples from all sides of where good people have done evil things, evil people have done good things and the generally morally ambiguous mass of human society has done things that fall all over the alignment spectrum. All for their own personal goals. That’s just reality.
Here’s the rub, though. There is no objective good, no objective evil. Every person, every single person alive on this earth has their own moral code. And they are many and varied. Very few can look at themselves and truly say that they have stuck to them. If you can, then good for you. But humanity just doesn’t support this level of inflexibility. There are times, there are circumstances that you will be forced to cross lines. And then you look like a hypocrite.
If humanity, if the very nature of human beings requires crossing lines – maybe you just don’t need lines in the first place.
Enter Chris Card.
~~~~~
Pacing deliberately around his sumptuous office, Chris Card bears a faint grimace on his face. Card stops for a second when he reaches his antique oak writing desk as glances at the empty whisky tumbler on the table. He lefts it to his lips and knocks down any hints of the brown liquid that remained within. A knock at the door is swifty answered with a reply that is curt and does nothing to hide a frustrated tone.
Chris Card: Come in.
His wife Diana enters, a full bottle of vintage single malt in her hands. She walks over to take a position behind her husband, reaches round him in a half hug and places the bottle on the table.
Diana Card: Laphroaig. As you asked for.
Chris Card: Thankyou, honey. I need this.
Diana Card: I don’t like it when you’re in a Laphroaig mood, dear.
Chris Card: Well, as much as I hate to disappoint you, I’m in a very Laphroaig mood tonight.
Diana Card: Tell me. What is on your mind?
Chris pours out a generous double of the harsh, peaty whisky and relaxes a little as his wife begins to slowly massage his shoulders.
Diana Card: It can’t be the title match. I’ve never seen you worried about a title match before.
Chris Card: It’s not the title match. Just go out there, do my thing and everything falls into place.
Diana Card: Right.
Chris Card: Provided there are no factors outside of my control. And I mean utterly outside of my control.
Diana Card: I’m sure they won’t be. You’re Chris Card. You’re a better wrestler than either of those two. There’s nothing that either of them can offer that would even phase you.
Chris Card: I know.
Diana Card: Then you’re not worried about…
Chris cuts his wife off.
Chris Card: What time of year is it?
Diana Card: It’s late October.
Chris Card: There is nothing that should be bothering me. James Gilmore has no concept of his own failings, no ability to judge his own weaknesses. Jayson Matthews is naive and exploitable, even in a match where observance of the rules is not an issue. My experience in breaking rules affords me a much greater knowledge of how to exploit the match’s format. I have the experience edge. I have the talent edge. And yet…
Diana Card: And yet?
Chris leans down to his table, lifts the whisky to his lips and takes a considered swig from the glass. Chris lets his troubles show on his face, masked only by the natural reaction to the harsh, harsh bite of the whisky.
Chris Card: It’s late October.
~~~~~
Jayson Matthews. I understand where you are coming from. You were trained by Nighthawk. You’ve had his code drilled into you. Do the right thing. Don’t cheat. Don’t take shortcuts. Abide by the rules. It takes great strength of character to stick to that inflexible a moral code. It is, may I say, admirable. And it will inevitably lead to your downfall.
I am truly sorry about that. I really am. I like you, Jayson. I like you as a person. Maybe with a little better guidance than what Nighthawk was offering you, you’d be regarded among the true elite of this federation. You have all the tools to be one of the most successful wrestlers in this company. Your resilience is legendary. You turn your recklessness from what could be one of the most major flaws in a wrestler’s game into one of your greatest strengths. What you need is an edge. And you will never, ever have that until you listen to those “darker” urges.
And this is where the Invictus title suits you so well. Because with no rules to break, suddenly bringing out the darkness isn’t, in your eyes, morally wrong. If you could tap into that, to use a cliche, dark side then you could go on a tear through this federation. If you could access the vault that you have had to mentally lock away because Nighthawk told you to then I foresee nothing but success in your future. Take that Invictus spirit outside of the Invictus Division.
Leaving me to defend my title.
Different people have different moral codes? Never has this been more clearly on display than for one who compares Jayson Matthews to my other competitor, one Mr. James Gilmore. Matthews does things the supposed “right way.” He is a good, honest, solid, dependable, predictable man. Gilmore? He has a very clear set of morals. Do what is patriotic, what is best by his race, his background, his political alignment. And anybody who doesn’t share his personal standpoints on any of the issues that he feels strongly on?
They are the opposite of what he thinks. They are his own personal “evils.”
Now that’s moral inflexibility at its finest. If you don’t sit perfectly with his views on politics? You’re a Liberal. Or a Democrat. Or a Communist. Or a Terrorist. Or a purveyor of fake news. You’re whatever pet buzzword of hate has passed into his lexicon during the period since he last wrote one of his misguided polemics. Now you aren’t any of those things, dear fans. You just disagree with Gilmore and he’s expressing his views on you through the lens of projecting his own personal demons onto you. It makes things easier for him to understand. You’re the boogeyman.
Gilmore has raged at me for being a cheater. He says that I don’t understand American values. But I understand American values more than most. America values success. America has no time for losers. And it is this pioneer spirit, this venerating of the successful that has kept the thrashing tendrils of global socialism away from its shores. Because America is the land of opportunity. You get given nothing and the ability to seize anything. And seizing opportunities is what Chris Card does best.
Two other things America has no time for are ties and whiners. And in those, you have failed the very sensibilities of your country, Gilmore. Because if you hadn’t whined, if you hadn’t complained like the little spoiled child you often act up as then this match wouldn’t even be featuring you. And our match last week wouldn’t have been a tie. But seeing as I rate you less as a competitor and more as a blowhard who talks his way into matches way above his skill level I do not personally care.
And Gilmore, who will be watching, will have listened to that and screamed that I am wrong. I’m not American, what do I know about it? Is it not true that the spectator sees more of the game? Because in his simple little mind it just isn’t possible to half agree with him. You’re either with him or you’re against him. So allow me the time to present a conundrum.
America held a policy of fast tracking immigration for anti-Castro Cubans as a way of destabilizing the Castro regime, during the 1960s. So, is that correct? Which is better? Unchecked Hispanic immigration or Communism?
Now let me ask Jayson Matthews.
You are presented with an opportunity to defeat a long time rival, one who has been personally tormenting you with no regard to rules or regulations, fully within the bounds of a wrestling match, knowing that the victory will send him spiralling downwards on a path away from your own. However your strength is fading, you’re heavily bleeding and you know that if you don’t take a shortcut you are going to lose. What do you do.
Humanity does not deal in black and white answers. Sometimes you have to weigh up the pros and cons of a situation and consider all the possible outcomes.
Morals are bunk. Sometimes you have to do what is best for yourself.
I’m Chris Card. I live outside of your rules. And I’m fighting for a title with none?
I’m HOME.
Well howdy there pardner.