Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast - #569: Color Talk - White Speaks

Episode Date: September 7, 2018

I turn over my podcast to the color white, which explains in its own words what it believes. This is part one of a five-part series I'm calling "Color Talk."

I'm pulling out of the parking lot. We all know what that means. It's time for another drive to work. I dropped my phone off at camp again. Okay, so today is going to be interesting. This is going to be the first in a series of five podcasts. This is something I did in my column, but I thought I would try it in my podcast. What I'm going to do is, I'm going to turn over the podcast to one of each of the five colors and let them spend a whole podcast explaining to you, in their own words, what they believe and what they represent. Because one of the things I find really interesting is that each color has its own perspective,

and I find it very interesting to hear from the colors in their own perspective. So we're going to go in a Woburg order, white, blue, black, red, green. So today we're going to start with white. Okay, white, take it away. Hey, everyone. this is White. Thank you so much for having me on. I'm really looking forward to this opportunity to explain my philosophy, what exactly I represent. So let me start by saying the following, which is, we are a world rich in resources.

we are a world rich in resources. And that one of the things that is true is not only do we have the means to take care of each individual person, we have the means to take care of all people, of all creatures. And so a big part to me is making sure that mostly what I want is I want good for the world. I want everybody to be in the best possible place. And the idea, and here's the important thing, is that it is not enough. I know there's other cowards that are all about me, me, me.

It's not that I don't want to look after myself. It's not that I don't care about myself. Obviously, I do. But I care about myself in the larger picture. I mean, how can I live with myself if others are needlessly suffering? So mostly what I want, I mean, really my goal is I want to figure out a means and a ways to get everybody what they need. Now note, there's a difference between what they want and what they need.

People can be inherently selfish. You know, there's a tendency to want as much as you can have. Um, but really what I want is if every, if everybody, everybody can get what they need in the means in which the whole world gets what they need. Now you have to overcome this idea of, you know, want, want, want, and I want more than the next person and I want everything I can get my hands on. So that's, that's just, that's greed and things talking. You know, what I want is to say, okay, everybody in the world has their needs. Those needs can be

met and that everybody can be happy. But part of doing that, a part of, I mean, fundamentally, I want peace. I believe the world could be at peace. I believe that no one needs to suffer. I believe that no one needs to go to bed hungry. I believe no one needs to live in a world of crime. All the great injustices of the world only exist because there's not enough structure and

discipline to make sure that everybody is doing what they're supposed to be doing. Mostly what I want is I want to make it such that nobody suffers, that nobody has to know what it is to go to bed hungry or angry or, you know, lacking of some vital necessary need. Now, here's the problem, is there are a lot of sort of fundamental forces that make people act in their own interest

against the interest of the group as a whole. And a lot of what I want is, okay, look, if we all sort of take into account that what we're trying to do is work for the good of everybody, we can create a world in which everybody gets what they need. And I know one of the problems in general is, and I know a lot of the other calls will say this, is, is that practical? Is it practical? Are we fighting human nature or something?

And my answer is, look, people will do what they need to do when they don't understand other options. Part of what I want to do is provide those options, is say to people, look, there's a way to live in which you can be happy, your friends can be happy, your family can be happy, and strangers you don't even know can be happy. There's a way in which everybody can be happy. But, and this is the important thing, it requires, it doesn't happen without some work you know, in order to make the world in order to bring peace to the world

peace is not something that happens without work and so a lot of what I want to do is set up a structure like, one of the things in general is people left to their own devices will do things they shouldn't be doing they'll be swayed by emotions They'll be swayed by emotions. They'll be swayed by just different things that encourage them to act at their own interest

against the interest of the group. And so a lot of what I want to do is help people understand the needs of the group. Now, the biggest way to do that is two means. One is sort of a civil means, which is laws. That, you know, people will take advantage of situations if they feel they can. So what you need to do is make a strict rule of laws that are supervised and say, okay, you know what? We as a society don't do that.

You know, I could get mad and kill somebody, but no, no, no, no. We don't kill people. I could just take things I mad and kill somebody, but no, no, no, no. We don't kill people. I could just take things I want from other people, but no, no, no. We don't steal from other people. And so one of the tools I use is just laws, is civil rules to say, look, this is what's allowed and what's not allowed. And the idea is things you want to do that allow you to be you, fine. But things you want to do that take from other people, that hurt other people, no, that's not okay. And a lot of people, I mean, the issue is, a lot of people will behave accordingly if given the guidance that they need. Not everybody, you know, people, people unfortunately can get swayed.

So part of the reason you keep them from doing that is giving them structure. If you say to them, hey, there are laws and there's repercussions for the laws, most people will follow the law. Most people don't want to break the law. Most people don't, you know, in their heart of hearts, most people don't want to rob and steal and kill, you know. They would rather live their lives and not have, you know, and have the security that knowing that the things that they won't do to other people won't be done to them. You know, one of the nice things about having laws, about having soldiers or police or, you know, people that are upholding those laws is there's a sense of security. You know, I'm not, I'm not worried that I'm going to walk down the street and someone's going to just kill me and just to steal my shoes, you know, because there's rules set up and people follow those rules. And that is important.

A lot of what I want to do with the world is make sure that the people living in the world have a sense of security, have a sense of not, like, when I say I want people at peace, I want them at peace all of their life. I want them to focus not on fear, not on worry, but focus on the things that matter. The people that matter. Look, my concept is simple. Everybody in the world can be happy. Everybody can be happy. Now, that doesn't come at no cost.

That doesn't come without work. But it can be done. And, you know, why not? Wouldn't it be a wonderful place if everybody had what they needed? If nobody worried? If nobody had concern? If there was security? So anyway, the first step to doing that is civil rules, is laws.

You know, that you need to sort of lay down what is and isn't acceptable. And the vast majority of people will follow the, you know, I mean, look, they're criminals. They're people you need to deal with. And that part of having structure is identifying those people and dealing with those people. And once again, I'm not saying you even kill those people. You lock them away and you educate them. And ideally, what you want to do is use their time locked away to teach them so they understand. Like most people, the reason I think people perform acts of violence or just negative acts in general

is because they don't understand. They feel desperate. They feel sometimes alone or sometimes that they have no choice. And part of what we want to do is create a society where people aren't forced to do that. They don't feel as if they have no choice but to do bad things. And that through education we can help make them understand that that isn't necessary. So laws are the, civil laws are the first. The second thing are sort of moral laws.

I mean, religion is probably the most common place you see this, but there's other places other than religion. The idea is teaching people that there is a moral right and a moral wrong. That you can live a moral life or you can live an immoral life. You can make decisions that think about how you affect other people or you can't. And a lot of the things about sort of moral laws are it is more about understanding

the very concept of right and wrong. That there's things you should and shouldn't do. And the reason, by the way, the reason we have civil laws and sort of, you know, moral laws is different people have different needs for how they function. Some people just need to be told what to do. And once they realize those consequences, we'll do the right thing. While others, it's a matter of making them understand

kind of the higher purpose of it all. And some people need moral laws. Some people need civil laws. Some need a combination of moral and civil laws. That is fine. Like one of the things I've realized is if you want people to be able to live in a world in which we can achieve the peace that I know we can achieve, it has to be because you're creating a system that

allows each individual person to find their own inner peace. Like that's the important thing to understand also is you can't, until you are comfortable within, until you accept within, until you have a sense of security within, it's hard to do that without. And so a lot of creating these laws, of creating these moral guidelines, is to make people realize that there is a path, that there is a righteous way to live, there's a proper way to live. And that, if you follow these rules, that you can be there.

Like what a lot of people, the problem I find for most people is they want to get to the place where they're at peace. Who doesn't want peace? Who doesn't want to be happy? Everybody wants to be happy. Everybody wants to be at peace. The issue is some people get lost and they don't know how to get there. And so a lot of what I preach is the idea that there are means to educate yourself and there are guidelines to help guide you, to tell you what you should and shouldn't be doing. Now, some of this hopefully is just inherent, but not for everybody.

You know, I mean, the reason we write things down, the reason we make laws, we make spiritual guidelines is so people can, as children, can learn and understand and see that, look, you follow the righteous path and good things will come of you. Okay. Now, another big thing that is important is the idea that you have to think of the good of the group. That part of making this work, part of making the whole system work is saying that you are part of a system, that you are part of a larger system, and that the reason you can't act in a vacuum is everything you do impacts on the people around you.

That, you know, if you go out and kill people, that makes other people ill at ease because they now have to fear being killed. If you rob from other people, they now have to be afraid because maybe you could take things from them. And that it's a delicate balance. That the reason people feel security

is because there aren't people doing the things that would make them feel unwelcome. And so a lot of the guidance we want to do is doing that. Now, in the bigger sense, like I said, the lowest level is we tell you what to do and not to do. But we want you to go beyond that. You know, the laws are real simple. Don't do this or you'll get in trouble. The spiritual is a little higher about this is what the sort of, if you want to live a good life. And yes, there are rewards past this life as a means to...

In general, rewards are a good system that you want to say to people, do good things and good things will happen to you. And I truly believe that. I believe in karma. I believe in the sense that there is a purpose to life and that if you put out good into the world, the good will come back to you.

Fully believe that. So let me talk a little bit about the other colors. So I want to talk about sort of how I see them and where they stand with me. So let's first, I'm going to start talking about my allies. So I like to start with the positive. So blue, blue is very much about finding themselves. Blue says, okay, what do I need to do to make myself better? What do I need to do?

And where blue and I see eye to eye is there's a lot of need of trying to perfect oneself, of trying to make oneself better. Now, where we differ a little bit is, I think the reason you want to make yourself better is so that you fit in society. It's a cleaner fit in what you're doing. That you want to be better so you can improve the things around you. Blue's a little more internal than my taste. Blue's a lot like, how do I make myself better to make myself better? Where I'm a little bit more, how do I make myself better to make the world? Where I'm a little bit more, how do I make myself better to make the world better? But Blue does have a side that recognizes

that improving the community improves yourself. That, you know, Blue definitely understands that part of, I mean, Blue is big on the idea of people bending together, of civilizations, you know. And Blue is always figuring out what is the best way to improve not just itself, but its systems, its structure, its people, you know. My one worry with Blue is that Blue's motivations

are a little different than mine. Blue is trying to get better for the sake of getting better a little more than the actions of getting better. Blue's a little more, looks a little bit more within than I'm comfortable with. But I do think that blue has a general,

the general sense of what blue wants is let's make the world better. It's an awesome, you know, let's improve things. It's a good outlook. And I think with a little bit of guidance from me, you know, as long as blue is trying to use his guidance to make things generally better, then that's good.

Now, I'll admit, blue sometimes listens to black. You know, sometimes it makes itself better at the cost of those around it I'm not agreeing with that so I mean there are some sides of blue that I'm a little more cautious about but in general blue and I work well together you know the kind of structure we can make

blue really appreciates the details and the nuance. And a lot of structure is taking care of all those details. So Blue's eye for detail is really useful. And then when Blue and I get together, we create systems that really maintain the piece in a nice, clean, cohesive, but detailed way. And I really appreciate that. That's the part of blue I really like. The part of blue that I worry a little bit about is blue is not as outward facing as I would wish.

Blue has a little bit more of a selfish motivations that I think can be steered in directions that aren't ideal. But in general, I like blue. Green really is the color that understands community as well as I do. Green, I mean, green is a little wilder than me. When I talk about structure, I'm looking more at civilizations. I'm looking at a place in which rules apply. Green has a little bit of a wild side, but green doesn't understand that every single creature interacts with every other creature. Green understands that the acts that you do impact those around you. And green really does understand

the spiritual side of things and sees the interconnectivity. I mean, you know, it respects community, respects connectivity. And so green really, you know, when I get together with blue, I feel that I really make an awesome set of laws. And when I get together with Green, I feel like we make really cool moral laws. That Green's spiritual side definitely understands sort of the nature of things. Now, where Green and I don't see eye to eye is Green embraces the wild side of nature a little more than I'm comfortable with. There's a feral side to nature where people are acting not in the best interest of the group but are sort of following their own instincts.

And instincts and impulses can be really dangerous at times. And the thing I worry about green sometimes is while green respects the larger picture, sometimes it gets lost in the weeds a little bit. You know, like, for example, I'm big in not killing, and green definitely... Not that green kill...

Green does not believe... Green is not big on killing without purpose, but I'm hungry, not much my purpose. I think that green doesn't always have the will needed to sort of protect the group. That it's a little more willing to allow chaos to happen than I'm comfortable with. But Green is a good ally.

Green understands community. When Green and I get together, we really create groups that really understand the point of the larger system. And Green and I working together really makes things in which it truly, truly is group first. Okay, let's talk about black and red. Okay, so I talk about how there's two sets of rules. First, there's the civil laws. The idea of, look, I need to trust that when I'm walking down the street

that bad things aren't going to happen. And the problem is red really has no respect for laws. Red is kind of chaos. Red embraces chaos. Red kind of enjoys when things aren't neat and tidy. And the problem with that is that in Red's sort of embrace of chaos, a lot of dangerous things can happen. You know, if you don't respect the laws, if you

flaunt the laws, well, then people get hurt. And it's not even that Red is trying to hurt people. I mean, Red's problem is Red is driven by factors that are very internal factors. Red both has the problem of Red doesn't think through the consequences of his actions and Red will do things just kind of on the spur of the moment. Both of which are just fight in the face of structure. Fight in the face of

laws and one of the problems is if Red can sort of just do what Red wants to do it just destroys laws. It doesn't follow them. And it creates chaos. And people get hurt in chaos. The reason you have structure, the reason you have rules,

is so that people can know what to expect. Once you say there are no rules, once you say do whatever you want, people will get hurt. Because what helps one person might hurt another another and really the fundamental issue of it is is that you need to think about how your actions affect other people and when you're being impulsive and you're just doing things for the moment

you're not doing that you're not thinking it through and so it's not that red I don't even feel that red is necessarily trying to be malevolent or anything. I just feel that Red is, its base nature is dangerous. And that's my concern with Red. That Red is chaos personified.

That Red is all about hedonism and doing what you want. personified, that red is all about hedonism and doing what you want and at the sake of not thinking out of the, you know, not thinking of the ramifications of your actions and not understanding how it impacts other people. Red is very selfish in a lot of ways. Red is very carefree in a way that's dangerous. You know, red ignores the very system we set up. Like, if Red had his way, Red would knock the system down.

Red doesn't like the system because it doesn't let Red do what Red wants to do. But that's why the system was put in place. Because if Red could just act the way Red wanted, needless people would be hurt. Because when you're sort of acting short-term on your impulses, who knows what's going to happen to other people? Or even what's going to happen to yourself if you're not

thinking it through. And then we come to black. Black, in my mind, if red's the one that ignores the civil laws, black's the one that ignores the moral laws. I mean, black is immorality just outright. Black is like black has a sense of black wants what it wants, and it'll do whatever it takes to get it. I mean, that's dangerous. That's so dangerous. I mean, red at least, I mean, red is careless

and red can harm people through accident, but black sort of harms them through purpose. Now, once again, actions are actions. If you kill somebody, does it matter whether you meant to kill them or not meant to kill them? Not really. So in some way, red's as bad as black in its own way that its consequences are the same.

But what really strikes me about black is that black sort of purposely breaks the rules and does it in a way that takes advantage of the fact that breaking the rule will harm others. Black almost takes pleasure in harming others. You know, it's a black... I mean, red, I feel like, you know, will act in the heat of the moment. And yes, people will get hurt, but at least red has some...

usually later has some regret about it or, you know, at least red has some, usually later has some regret about it or at least has some feelings where black will take someone out and as far as black is concerned that was the optimal move for black to make and in a world where you just sort of pretend like right and wrong don't exist or even worse, just act as if

doing things that are fundamentally morally wrong is some advantage. I mean, in general, the problem I have with red and black is that they ignore the structures that I set up. Blue and green, look, we have issues from time to time, but they respect the structure. They understand the structure. They see the need of the structure.

Red and black just tear it down. I mean, for different reasons, for different causes, but nonetheless, the end result is all these safety precautions you're putting up to help people, red and black tear those down. And they make people, the very point of the rules is to make people feel comfortable, that things will be okay. And that when there's red and black out there acting counter to that, it really fights that.

And a lot of the problem is the system only works if everybody is playing along. And here's the hard part. Once you have things in place, everybody has what they need. People are happy. But the act of getting there at times can be troublesome. And when you have actors like Black and Red that are just sort of stirring up trouble or creating a dissent that is keeping people, you know, that's one of the hardest

parts of my job is making people realize that they have the power within themselves to bring happiness to the world, to bring peace to the world, but requires each individual sort of recognizing that and understanding that. Now, another thing that I think people misunderstand is I get labeled a lot with the goody two-shoes label. You know what I'm saying? Like, as if somehow, you know, there is... I think where it comes from is

there are people that want to paint doing the right thing as somehow being not cool, you know, and that a lot of the propaganda sort of pushed against me is this idea that trying to reach for peace is somehow a sign of weakness or a sign that you, you know, it is not weakness to try to think of others. It is not weakness to act out of a larger sense. If anything, that is strength. Weakness is acting on your impulse.

Weakness is just doing what you want to do without the consequence of what your actions mean to others. Or even worse, taking actions that you know will harm others. That a lot of, you know, I think when I look at sort of the negativity that gets spread toward me, it's either people misunderstanding my goals or, even worse, people trying to subvert my goals. Or, even worse, people trying to subvert my goals. You know? I guess that when you make rules, that it allows you to not do things.

But the things that it's not allowing you to do, there's a reason, there's a purpose for not being able to do them. And I know people get really caught up in rationales and the minutia of the rules. But you need to take a step back and look at it in the larger context, which is why are you here? You were born. What is your role? And you could be part of something amazing. You can be part of something that really sort of makes the world better. Like I said, not for yourself, but for everyone. I mean, yes, for yourself, but for everyone. And one of the things that's hard is, and this is where my enemies will criticize me most. There are times when you need to act not in your own self-interest, but in the interest of the group. And that is hard when you have to do something that is to your

detriment. But the point is, why do we have friends? Why do we have families? Why do we have communities? Because people matter. Other people matter. And I know it's easier for you to, like, for example, you know, if you go to any parent and say your child's in trouble, would you go through great pains to protect your child? You would say, of course I would. Of course I would. I would go through pain so my child may not go through pain. But on some level, this is the same thing that's going on.

If you can take an action and suffer just a little tiny bit, so many, many other people would not suffer at all. How is that not the right thing? How is that not a good thing? And I think that's a lot of the trouble right there is this mindset that if I ever have to do anything that's uncomfortable or ever have to do anything that's not, you know, what I want to do, that that's somehow a great misjustice. You know, I mean, the world is not a fundamental fair place. I get that. But that doesn't mean we can't compensate for that. It doesn't mean that we can't work to make the world a fundamental fair place. I get that. But that doesn't mean we can't compensate for that.

It doesn't mean that we can't work to make the world a more fair place. You know? And the reason it isn't fair isn't because inherently it needs to be unfair. There are just a lot of temptations. There are a lot of things that exist that just push people the wrong way.

And that's why I exist. That's why I create my laws and my moral guidelines is to give people the tools to, to function in a world that, that can scare them, that sort of pushes them toward acting against the larger interests. the larger interests. And that's the most insidious thing is, you know, my enemies want to make it sound like I'm out of touch. You know, want to make it sound like I am the one that is, you know, seeing things. But look, we already can see the actions of what I'm talking about. We have civilizations and that you can live in actions of what I'm talking about. We have civilizations.

And that you can live in chaos or you can live in order. And look, history has shown us both. History has shown us living in order and living in chaos. One of which people thrive, the other in which they fall. You know, I mean, it's not as if... I mean, I know other callers are going to talk later on in the series and give all sorts of other viewpoints. But this viewpoint is a pretty clear and clean viewpoint,

which is there are things that you can do that will make the world better overall. And those things don't necessarily make your world better overall, but if each person is able to take the idea of, let me operate in a larger sense, let me operate for the greater good, let me operate in a means that will help as many people as possible, that raise, you know, a high tide raises all boats. And that, and here's the other important thing. Living a good life, living a clean life, living a life in which you're trying to help others is a guilt-free life.

It is a life, like one of the things that I think happens for a lot of people is that they go through life carrying burdens, feeling shame, feeling guilt, feeling sadness, and just feeling things that weigh them down. And part of that is I think people inherently know when they're doing things that are harming other people. And it hurts to harm other people. No matter what other colors tell you, it hurts. And so if you can live a life where you know you're doing good, if you can live a life where you know you're helping other people, that brings a spirit, a lightness to you that just makes life worth living. You know, that part of what I'm saying is that not only are we asking from something from you, but you're getting something in return. That living a pure life,

living a good life, living a life in which you're helping others, is you don't need to carry that guilt or that shame or that sadness. That you can know that what you are doing is making the world a better place for you, for your loved ones, for your friends, for strangers, for the world, for everybody. And with that, like when I talk about peace, I don't just mean that I want peace external to the world. I do. I also mean internal. I want each individual person to be happy with themselves, to be happy with who they are. And part of doing that is knowing that you are contributing and doing good. You know, I believe in good. I know people like to make fun of me,

you know, goody-two-shoes, but I wear that with pride. I am a goody-two-shoes. That there's nothing wrong with promoting good. There's nothing wrong with being good. You know, there's nothing wrong with recognizing that there are many paths in the world that you can take. And most of those paths involve doing things that harm other people. That there's a righteous path.

That there is a clean, cool... There's a path in which you not only get to make the world a better place, you get to make you a better person. And that's my whole point. That in the end, if you live a good life and are a good person, you both bring peace to the world and you bring peace to yourself.

That's all I'm saying. Like, I'm not, I'm not naive. I'm not ignorant. Look, I get that there's ways to live that might help you in the short term or maybe even help you personally in the long term, but for the sake of what? For the sake of watching your friends or family or even just

strangers suffer? Do you need to live your life in a means and in ways that causes suffering? There's a heaviness that brings. I'm saying you don't need to have that heaviness. You don't need to live in a world where you know that your actions harm others. You can live in a world where you know that your actions help yourself. And that's what I'm talking about. And I know other cars are going to come and they're going to talk about how I don't get it or I don't see things or somehow I'm living some lie. But I'm not living a lie. Look, there is, we as a people can live in peace. It is within our grasp.

It's something we can do. Anybody telling you that that's not possible, they are propagating the lie. They are the ones that are saying, look, there's plenty of examples in human history of people getting along, of people working together. And the things that we can do as a group

is so much stronger than the things we can do as individuals. Then when we work together, we are capable of so much more. So that's my pitch. Why believe in me? Why walk the path, the white path, if you will? Because it leads to a better world

and it leads to a better you. I mean, that's my pitch. Better world, better you. What more do you want? So, anyway, that is what I stand for. That is what I believe. That is why, look, of all the colors, of all the philosophies,

look, mine is the right one. Mine is the one that just makes the world a better place. So anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed my talk today. I'm going to turn this back over to Mark. But that was why white is the most important color. Okay, Mark, back to you. Thank you, white. I hope you guys enjoyed that.

It's very interesting to listen to white. We'll have, obviously, the other colors on in future podcasts so you can hear what they think about the world or how they see things. But I just parked my car, so we all know what that means. This is the end of my drive to work. So instead of talking magic, it's time for me to be making magic. Thanks. See you guys next time.