the first thing that i must admit to you, Mr. Jans, is that you are of a much higher intellectual pool than i. you write very expressively and what i conclude to be honestly. but your tongue is sharp...and i hope it is sharper than your heart (my oxymoronic belief about human nature being both evil and good at the same time leads me to a hopeful conclusion in regards to your heart's status).
Your response reeks of the arrogance you hold about your knowledge of your own territory. and while we all know our own backyards best, my education in human interaction leaves me wondering if you haven't missed the point.
yes, alex was cocky. yes, he was idealistic. and yes, he was enthusiastic about his convictions. but he also was more alive than you or i will ever be.
you claim to be a teacher, yet you fail to see the lesson in this story. alex leaves a legacy you cannot. your cynicism and cleverness will not always act as your shield. i know because i am a less-intelligent, less-talented, but possibly more passionate version of you (yet, i dont assume anything without meeting you personally).
i too, like you, have had a couple drinks. and while your analysis of alex is probably correct on a surface level - i have found that there are elements that pass beyond human understanding. He was alive - and here is where i consider myself closer to him and further from american society...
we (society in general) dont agree on reality - even though some believe they hold the reality of all realities. i have the same frustrations (assuredly, to a lesser degree than alex), i have the same desires, i have the same conclusions...and while i wont go to the extremes that he did, i can learn an infinite amount from him (just as i can from anyone), but specifically from him due to the connection i sense with nature...the same connection alex sensed with nature.
you say you are sorry for his parents, as am i. but you have devalued his life, his worth as a person, and his purpose (which i fully believe he accomplished). while most of us live in the economy of constructed organization, some break from the bonds of conditioning...and whether it is tragedy or victory, they are more than conquerors. alex is such a person...and i, for one (but probably not the only one) will choose to view his life as a victory...a brief time in history that shed light on the meaning of tragedy, conviction, and redemption.
although, i have discovered that tragedy and victory are close friends. One usually goes before the other - it's just a matter of which we will be experiencing when we die...
