Transcription
When people make sacrifices, they will not gain anything. As long as you want to obtain something, you must pay an equivalent price. This is the basic principle of alchemy, equivalent exchange. If you have watched Fullmetal Alchemist, you will not be unfamiliar with this line. Many people have taken equivalent exchange as their life motto since childhood. Society also constantly feeds us this concept: as long as you are willing to study, you will have a good future; as long as you are willing to work overtime crazily, your boss will give you a considerable salary and bonus. "One soul, one gain," but after you truly enter society and are beaten by the iron fist of reality, have you realized that this world is completely different from what you imagined? Why is it that after you have put in so much effort, sacrificed so much health and time with your family, the reward you finally get is so pathetic? Tonight, "Deep Dive into Fullmetal Alchemist" will peel back the outer layer of alchemy. The author, Hiromu Arakawa, has subverted the entire work, precisely to personally destroy the myth of equivalent exchange. It turns out that equivalent exchange is just a slogan of capital for the poor. What truly governs this world is knowledge without rules. We will explain the hidden survival rules of modern society through Marx's Das Kapital and psychology. Let's start by talking about the root of everything in the story. At the beginning of the story, brothers Edward and Alphonse, in order to resurrect their mother who had died, violated the greatest taboo of alchemy: human transmutation. They thought that as long as they prepared the chemical elements that constitute a human body—35 liters of water, 20 kilograms of carbon, 4 liters of ammonia—and put these materials together, they could perfectly follow the principle of equivalent exchange to bring their mother back to life. But what was the result? Truth severely punished them. Edward lost his leg and right arm, and Alphonse even had his entire body taken away. Why did they fail? Because they fell into an extremely dangerous logical trap. They thought that life and soul could be quantified and exchanged with matter. This plot perfectly corresponds to the tragedy of the objectification of humans in modern society. Within the calculation rules of capitalism, each of us is just a pile of data and a pile of labels. They have a formula in their minds: how much is your degree worth, how much is your annual salary worth, and finally, they conclude that you are worth 30,000 yuan per month. After we start working, we gradually associate our self-worth with the number that comes out each month. When we go all out for promotions, for luxury brands, sacrificing our time, expertise, and even our lives, we are actually making an extremely foolish transaction with the truth of the real world. In the first episode of the story, the author, through the mouth of the Truth, tells us that human soul, emotions, and life transcend all transaction rules. As long as you try to put a price tag on yourself or others, and try to quantify humanity through equivalent exchange, you will ultimately be backfired and lose the most precious things in your life. When you understand that life cannot be exchanged, we can follow in the footsteps of the brothers to explore the darkest setting of the entire work. The two brothers, in order to find their lost bodies, embarked on a journey to find the legendary ultimate philosopher's stone. The legend says that this red stone can break the law of exchange, creating something from nothing. But when Ed infiltrated the fifth research facility, as they gradually uncovered the conspiracy behind the country's alchemy, the most chilling and cruel truth was finally revealed. It turned out that the philosopher's stone could not break the exchange at all; it merely perfectly transferred the price to others. The philosopher's stone, radiating a covetous red light, is not some rare mineral at all, but the lives and souls of tens of millions of innocent people or ordinary civilians. The ultimate boss in the story, even dug a huge mine deep beneath the entire country, connecting the souls of the entire nation to swallow as energy and price, attempting to gain absolute power beyond reason. This setting is simply the most absurd in human history. These ordinary people are like those who sacrificed themselves for the country's alchemy qualification. We continue to sweat, turning it into more matter, and we strictly adhere to the rules of equivalent exchange, but we will never reach our goal. Why? Because the truly powerful elites and capitalists never play by the rules of equivalent exchange. Marx, in his Das Kapital, proposed a core concept called surplus value. Marx pointed out that the accumulation of wealth by capitalists never comes from equivalent exchange, but from the part of the value created by labor that is not paid as wages. You think that the 30,000 yuan salary your boss gives you each month is equivalent to your 30,000 yuan effort. The value you create for the company might be 100,000 yuan. The difference of 70,000 yuan is the surplus value ruthlessly extracted by the capitalist. What is the difference between the scene in the story where the ultimate boss, Father, refines countless souls into the philosopher's stone, and the scene in reality where the big bosses of multinational corporations transform the health, youth, and time of countless low-level employees into their tens of billions of assets through the system? The wealth of capitalists appears out of thin air. The reason they can unscrupulously use capital to exploit and profit is because they transfer the price to us ordinary people. When you see through this, you will understand that there has never been absolute fairness in this world. The so-called equivalent exchange is just a set of rules used to appease the masses, making us obediently become a cog in the machine, thinking we control our destiny. Fullmetal Alchemist, in front of the vast capitalist system, our souls are being ruthlessly objectified every minute and second. This kind of systemic, class oppression is the real operating rule of the world. Since equivalent exchange is a scam, and since this world is ruled by monsters with extraordinary abilities, how can ordinary people resist? The greatest and most brilliant part of Fullmetal Alchemist is that it does not fall into the cliché of a typical shonen manga where the protagonist defeats the villain through power. In the final decisive battle, in order to help Ed, Al sacrifices his own soul. Edward, in order to save his younger brother, once again performs human transmutation. In that pure white space, facing the Truth. This time, Edward does not seek any knowledge, nor does he search for more powerful magic. He makes a decision that shocks the Truth and all the viewers. Edward points to the Gate of Truth behind him, which represents all the knowledge, talent, and ability to perform alchemy. By losing this gate, Edward will become an ordinary person who cannot even light a match. The Truth is surprised and says, "You're really amazing. To become an ordinary person who can't use alchemy." Edward replies, "I was originally just an ordinary person. I'm just a small human who couldn't even save a little girl who was turned into a homunculus." "Even without alchemy, I still have a group of companions by my side." After hearing this, the Truth comes out and says to him, "You win. You've seen everything. Take what you want." This scene truly brought tears to the eyes of countless adults. This sacrifice perfectly corresponds to the inevitable life stage and mid-life crisis that everyone must go through, and the reconciliation with oneself. Adler proposed that when people are young, they have a kind of arrogant psychology. When we are young, we think we are omnipotent, want to get rich, want to control everyone and everything around us, and believe that humans can conquer nature. It's like thinking you can control the slow alchemy. But when we enter middle age, experience severe setbacks in our careers, and are severely beaten by reality, we then discover that our strength is actually insufficient. Many people cannot accept this sense of loss, so they frantically pursue more money and power, attempting to gain knowledge that belongs to them, and finally fail. Edward teaches us the courage to accept mediocrity, as Adler said. True strength is not about how much wealth and power you possess, nor how much advanced alchemy you know, but rather, after you have experienced the cruelty of the world, you still have the courage to admit your own insignificance. This sacrifice is equivalent to letting go of our excessive obsession with fame, status, and control. When you are no longer obsessed with quantifying success and failure in life through equivalent exchange, you can then see your family and friends who have always been by your side. Only then can you be completely liberated from the abyss of capitalist exploitation. At the end of the story, Al prepares to go east to study. He and Edward have an extremely classic and sublime dialogue that elevates the entire masterpiece. Al personally refutes the truth they have believed since childhood. He says, "When people make sacrifices, they will not gain anything." We used to believe that this was the law of the world, but it is not so. Al proposes a new law: if I receive 10 points, I will not just return 10 points; I will add my own part and return 11 points to this world. This simple principle is precisely the ultimate weapon against the capitalist society. The underlying logic of equivalent exchange is utilitarianism: you give how much, I give back how much. If everyone in the world only believes in equivalent exchange, then society will only become a cold exchange, capital will always flow, and people can only struggle for survival. But the reason humanity is great and society can progress is because we possess altruism and human touch that transcend calculation. That extra part might be the boss's willingness to earn less when making money rather than firing employees, or it might be your friend's willingness to spend time listening to you when they are busy, or it might be Edward and Al's willingness to use their lives to help others after experiencing countless life and death situations. This extra part cannot be measured by money, but it is precisely this part that connects the cold society and breaks the absolute power of the strong and capital. The above is the "Deep Dive into Fullmetal Alchemist" which is simply a philosophy packaged as an anime. It cruelly tears off the mask of "effort leads to success." The world is full of systemic oppression. Even if we cannot resist the vast system, even if we ultimately have to accept that we are just ordinary people, as long as we are willing to add our own part to the world when we receive ten points, we have already achieved the greatest magic in life. When you feel disheartened by the hardships of life, when you feel that your efforts and rewards are disproportionate, I hope the story of Edward and Al can give you the courage to let go of your執著. If you agree with this law that transcends equivalent exchange, please type a "+1" in the comments section below, so we know how many more like-minded old friends are willing to add a touch of humanity to this cold world. If you like our analysis, please leave a like and subscribe. If you want to treat us to a coffee or two, we will continue to interpret for you in the late night. You can join as a premium researcher to get the background music for this episode and previous ones. See you next time.