When I got back from the course, we both went off to see the film Charlie Wilson’s War. Highly recommended, if you haven’t seen it. When American movies do take a dry, wry sideswipe at their own culture and political system the effects are always entertaining and thought-provoking.
A disgraceful, hard-drinking, womanizing congressman, for reasons he himself doesn’t fully understand, decides to use the political system he knows how to manipulate in order to influence the American response to the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. Though not himself good or virtuous, he is able to do good, by devious means. Or so it would appear. The law of unintended consequences is there, lurking throughout, and steps forward into the spotlight as the Taliban and co rush into the vacuum left by the departing Russians, sent packing by the Muslim warriors armed with American-funded weapons. The movie ends with one version of a famous story, about a Zen master (but could be a rabbi or priest) who is asked for his opinion on a series of events in the life of one young man.
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