Against the Robots

To fully understand Oshio Heihachiro's actions, one must grasp that they were dictated by an anti-revolutionary character and will. Nothing in Oshio Heihachiro's attitude sought to challenge the established order. He knew the system could be improved, but also that it was functional. What made the system less effective stemmed more from the individuals involved than from the system itself.

Oshio's anger is directed towards men, towards what corrupts the system.

To suggest that a worm in the apple is the cause of all evils is the philosophy that has always accompanied our revolutions. Give a dog a bad name and hang him…

There is a Western arrogance that believes man is infallible. This Western arrogance has constituted, and continues to constitute, the essence of its anti-traditional character; and provides fertile ground for the will behind egalitarian society.

Even though the Japanese have overthrown political systems, this was most often by chance. There was no deliberate intention to break free from a system in order to change it and, above all, to replace it with another. Oshio Heihachiro is no exception to this rule. On the contrary, he makes it a golden rule. Like a true samurai, his doctrine rests on ethics (Confucianism is the ethical foundation of the samurai). He lives in an era where lords have not entirely disappeared, replaced by politicians (from whom they sometimes descend). However, Oshio knows that he owes no allegiance to these new lords. And here again, the fact that some are upstarts is of little consequence. What is decisive is that these lords attain this position for various reasons, but that they are unworthy of it, that their behavior is unbecoming.

Oshio has no intention of replacing these men. On the contrary, he would prefer to educate by showing them their impropriety and hoping that they will change and prove worthy of their position. Oshio still has faith in the human heart. Or more precisely, in the human mind, morality, and ethics.

We are light-years away from the Western character based on pride and arrogance. I still find it difficult to understand this character, which is nevertheless somewhat my own. Fortunately, my mixed heritage tempers it. This pride and arrogance, then, are intimately intertwined. Always eager to explain the world to the world.

Oshio will attempt his rebellion. Somewhat hastened by events and betrayals. Some of his companions will not understand him. Oshio knew that understanding was optional. There is a time for talk and a time for action. "Act by doing and do not worry about the fruits of the act," says the Bhagavad Gita. Oshio's Yomei philosophy paraphrases the foundational text of Hinduism by establishing that knowledge without action is equivalent to no knowledge at all.

To achieve revolution, Oshio would have had to make deals with people he despised. He would have had to distort his beliefs. Betray his ethics. Rebellion suited his role and character better. This quest for purity ultimately cost him victory.