To die for the nation or to spend a lifetime doing manual labour.

What would you pick? Why?

It's strange how easily we, as a society, get swept up in grand narratives of loyalty to the country and the justness of war. What is war? What is the nation? How does an abstract, social entity, such as the nation, come to be treated as a natural fact?

Fear and Desire (1953) is Stanley Kubrick's disowned child. Interestingly, he spent the rest of his career trying (albeit unsuccessfully) to erase all copies of the movie, calling it a painfully amateur attempt, like a "child's drawing on a  fridge". However, even though it was not as great a cinematic feat as his other films, it remains philosophically relevant to this day, perhaps increasingly so over the years.

To all those who've kept coming back for each episode, we thank you, immensely. This is our final release of a grim year, and it seems fitting to sign off on a note about a grim topic.

We hope to have you back next year, and look forward to many more stimulating conversations.

Thank you, once again.

Dewansh & Shrish.

Mentioned in the episode:

Fear and Desire - Stanley Kubrick (MUBI)(YouTube)

How the "Greater Good" is Used as a Tool of Social Control - Academy of Ideas

Music in the episode:

I used to not pretend - Horthy Kristóf