Brandon Smith: Want to Defeat the Banks? Stop Participating In The System!

In Franz Kafka's most popular work "The Trial", his characters relate a short parable which has fascinated and confused curious readers for generations. That parable is entitled "Before The Law", and its message has been interpreted, reinterpreted, and agonized over by the labyrinthine contra -riness of academia, producing numerous conflicting views. Existentialists, of course, automatical- ly jump to the conclusion that "Before the Law" is a message of the absurd nature of man's search for reason and structure in a universe of random coincidence. That "the law", as it were, is a super-ficial concept that humanity uses to make life more bearable. That we seek to create social con- structs in order to keep ourselves afloat in a sea of chaos. This is partly true. The law is, indeed an abstraction conjured by men. However, the source of the most fundamental laws, being inherent conscience, is far from abstract. In fact, it is one of the few aspects of our existence that is undeni- ably tangible and universal. It is proof that all is not random, and that there is a meaning and a purpose to what we do here and now. I see "The Trial" and "Before The Law" not as treatise on the futility of man's search for justice, but as a warning on the foolishness of man's dependency on systems not rooted in conscience. That is to say, we have a tendency to linger about idly, while others make our decisions for us.