My Dinner with Andre - A Libertarian Review

I recently watched this very unique film (See link 4 below), and found much value in it.

Granted, the first thirty minutes is hard to get through--as it consists of Andre describing his wild journeys to Wally--but what follows is well worth the temporary pain. I nearly stopped watching it myself, but was urged on from what I had seen in a great YouTube clip (Link 1) from the film.

The conversation then shifts to a long exchange over what both characters believe to be the deeper meaning of life. Throughout this conversation, there are numerous claims advanced by both characters--especially Andre--that the viewer will no doubt find quite thought-provoking. The following statements from Andre are the ones I found to be the most valuable, in no particular order:

• Going through life on autopilot--by habit alone--is NOT truly living; instead, some degree of mindfullness should be used in all aspects of life
• habit leads to a dearth of true feeling and thought
• comfort can lull you into a false sense of security
• Most human contact is indirect and superficial; we must instead attempt to truly get to know the other person
• See the whole person, not only what/who you wish to see
• people are constantly told about what is wrong with the world; try instead to provide them with solutions (link 3)
• work to live, do not live to work

Another scene from the film (link 2)--one that will have libertarians salivating from the mouth--is when Andre poses a question about reality. He asks whether it is truly a kind of self-made matrix and that the people are going through life as drones, not even realizing that they created their own "prison". He then says that one of his friends stopped reading and watching the news in order to extricate himself from this matrix.

What I found to be the motif of this most interesting film is that in order to get the most out of life, one must take the time to look around and smell the roses, as opposed to thoughtlessly moving from one task to another. If one is always moving as fast as they can to get from A to B, they are not truly living. Awareness of life is the key to truly enjoying it.


Links:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl9wjhXqC98
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68JLWyPxt7g
3. https://www.corbettreport.com/?s=solutions
4. Full Movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Rc40jtqVVk&spfreload=10&hd=1