Write Me!

“I am not going to write about you!” said the author definitively. The sharpness in her voice was reflective of her fear of the consequences of wars that had doomed her homeland for a decade. No! She would never ever tell the story of an evil that could burgeon out of pure good. But the main character of her story was not giving up:

“You are blaming me for something I haven’t committed. In fact, you are punishing me solely based on your prejudices. How do you know that I am going to commit them? What if I don’t? I never thought you could be such a cruel author! Just let me live through my experiences. Why did you think of me anyway, if you are not going to write about me?”

At first she thought “I conceived you in my mind, and your destiny is in my hands! I am the author! That’s how I know what you are going to do.” But she remembered her philosophy of creative writing: “If you already know all the details of your story and especially the end of it, there is no creative act in that writing. You are no more than a printer, in such a case. True creative writing is a journey into unknown realms, into unknown lives. You discover what’s there as you write. You discover who is friend and who is foe as you meet and interact with your characters.”

Just then, the unwritten character pick up again, because he was determined to devastate his author’s cognitive defenses that were standing between him and his existence in the real world: “You think that you are doing this in the name of good! But you are committing an injustice by the very same act. I did not do anything, yet you are sentencing me to death for ever. Then, how come you consider yourself as good? If I am an imagined evil, you are a real one. By not writing about me, you are committing theft. You are stealing my most fundamental right: my right to life.”

On one side, the author was surprised at what her fictitious character could come up with. But on the other side, the words of her character had pierced through her mind, and her brain was bleeding into her heart. She was leaning towards writing the story of this male character whose actions of good were to nest the most evil acts; a seemingly innocent character who turns out to be the origin of series of conflicts.

Who was he? He was a lucky, business genius whose investments returned much gain, which he kept investing in different areas. This cycle of investment and gain followed by the enlargement of investment areas continued for about a decade. Throughout these years, he tremendously expanded his social network not just through business but also through extensive volunteer service and donations. In his personal life, he did not seem to have much material glory, but his presence in the business world and among the NGO network was invaluable.

He used to travel a lot. Some of these travels included business trips to cities like Paris, Rome, New York, Beijing, Delhi, Mecca, Cairo, Jerusalem, Istanbul… At other times, he had trips for leisure to various countries: Egypt, South Africa, Brazil, Algeria, Kazakhstan, and others... At first sight, this could look like a snobbish waste of resources. But he always used these trips to investigate new opportunities for volunteer work and humanitarian aid. As a principle, he wanted to take place in the non-profit activities first-hand. Accordingly, he used to decline the donation opportunities that did not involve first-hand contact with those in need. For this, he would say: “I don’t want to grow arrogant by distancing myself from others using my wealth.” These visits gave him an influence beyond imagination.

This influence, combined with his financial means and social network, made him a global power on his own. With every passing day, he enlarged his circle of friends and business contacts, bought lands that were attractive for various branches of business, established factories for export, and started large international commerce companies. He was investing every penny he gained for the growth of his presence at the local and global arena in business and humanitarian enterprises. Therefore, politicians naturally followed him, although he did not go after them. Not subscribing to a particular political sect, everybody was eager to support the causes and businesses he was involved with. Clocks were ticking as he had planned…

Where was he headed with this power? The author did not seem to have an answer to this question, and furthermore, she was not any more concerned with her worries at the beginning. Pages were flowing with the legend of an imaginary man of good. And this state of submission from his author was exactly what he needed. In a world that was full of selfish acts, everybody was thirsty for selfless ones. Therefore, nobody was immune to the acts of a self that was void enough to swallow the world. A black hole in psychological terms… Nobody could escape the attraction of his lofty qualities. Even the youngsters were raised with stories of him as a role-model.

But, a black hole is invisible. That was exactly how he started the awful conflicts that led to global wars. That is, he did not do anything in the appearance, but he became so precious for each and every stake holder in the global arena that nobody wanted to lose him or be on the side opposing him. But, as a human, he had limits, and could only have enough time for limited number of people. So, people started arguing with each other in order to secure a time with him. These arguments sparked minor fights at times.

Pretending to be incognizant of the situation, he insisted on not using any intermediaries for his interactions, hence no secretaries or representatives. In order to avoid getting caught by his author’s mental immune system, he promoted the principle that he wanted to have one-on-one quality time with people, which was a precious commodity in the modern world. Also, he told his author that many people who have been seduced by wealth and power are the ones who give up personal contact with people from the lower classes of the society or those who are only encircled by the like-minded, hence the need for first-hand contact with the representatives of other cultures, etc.

Thus the author continued writing the story of this ultimate good character who was working for the good of everybody around the world. At first, she was the ultimate authority for the realization of anything in the novel. But now, she was the most exuberant servant of the character she had conceived in her mind. With every page, with every good-intentioned action, she only paved the ways for the brewing of the perfect global storm. She was thinking “if only people could understand him!” Clocks were still ticking as the character had planned…

As time went by, the competition between small groups to secure a time with this great man-of-good evolved into the formation of two opposing, global alliances. At first, trade routes were rearranged according to the alliance memberships. Later, energy technologies and energy resources were exclusively shared among the alliance members. Finally, natural resources such as fresh water and fresh food were outrageously priced for out-of-alliance transactions. With the increase of population and growth of hunger and unemployment, mutual accusations started among the alliances. When mass deaths started due to lack of water and food, the suffering countries counted the situation as an act of mass murder, and they retaliated by organizing terrorist attacks to the civilians of the other alliance. And, the war erupted much like an auto-ignition.

Of course throughout all these, the author could not understand what happened and why. The very character that was intended for the establishing of global peace had done every bit of action in his hands, yet the world had fallen into jeopardy. The author was sorry for him; and he was sarcastically sorry for her. At times, he would brag about himself: “Who is writing whom?” But he had forgotten a fact: the author was still the author, and she was very creative at that.

Despite the evil intentions of the character, his image in the author’s mind was a benevolent, rich and influential person globally. A person who had strong contacts with both sides of the war. Most importantly, a human being who had a mother and a father.

His parents were both charitable people. His father was a businessman investing every penny of his gains back to people. Thus, he had not accrued much of a wealth, but had funded the establishment of many schools both in and out of the country. His mom was the CEO of a sizeable charity organization, which facilitated the ways for this couple to do charity much more effectively. Unfortunately, for reasons unbeknownst to their child, the parents had divorced. Soon after that event, his mom had disappeared in pursuit of a career involving humanitarian aid at a global level. So the child had stayed with his father, who later found a new partner. But the child had developed terrible reactions against this new comer. So, he was given to his aunt as foster child.

During the current conflicts around the world, his mom had gone through difficult times in the country she had gone to, since this country was deprived of sufficient clean water and food. As part of longevity plans, she was deported by the officials since she was not a citizen of that country and, worse, she was a citizen of a country from the other alliance. When she returned to her home country, she thought about going to her sister’s, from whom she learned that her ex-husband’s wife was killed in a terrorist attack. Quickly, she arranged a meeting with him, and before long, they were reunited. And they both had one concern in mind: their son.

So, they made a surprise appearance at a dinner at his aunt’s house. Although one meeting did not end the “ice age” between them, reunion of his parents had triggered an earthquake in his heart. And he disappeared for an extended period, so long that people who had appointments with him started doubting his life. But in fact, he had taken an escape to one of those unfortunate countries as in his custom for humanitarian help. Using his own wealth and influence, he arranged for immense food donations, and invested money in the water supply system. This was not unusual of him as known to the people of both alliances. This very act became an icebreaker, and many other business people and organizations followed him, each becoming an independent actor of good. When the food and water problems were solved, fatal clashes receded. Soon, the world was again one place, and people were one family.

The book about the most evil person had failed! The very same acts that had prepared the grounds for a global war had also brought the end of it. But of course nobody doubted that the spark for this war was made possible by the “good will” of a “good person”. In their eyes, good was good and evil was evil; and they only wished that those evil acts be stopped.