I'm glad that Jet Li is no longer making martial arts films. This announcement was made to coincide with the release of FEARLESS, his most recent film. A man who glamorizes self-sacrifice for the benefit of his neighbors could only be a hindrance upon the genre.

FEARLESS is yet another of Jet Li's recent films where he turns the other cheek to those who wish to kill him and dies in the end for the supposed benefit of his country.

Most of those who preach pacifism are moral relativists, meaning that they find it impossible to determine clearly what actions are right and which are wrong. To them, peace can only be obtained by seeing life through the eyes of one's aggressor in an attempt to relate to him. They hold protest signs because it feels good.

Then, there are some pacifists who claim to understand right and wrong, but only from a mystical perspective. Rather than finding evidence in reality, they choose to find it in the equivalent of fairy tales. They hold protest signs because it feels good, but also because they want to gain rewards in the afterlife.

The pacifist believes that violence can only change the physical attributes of humanity, and that only sacrifice can truly change the hearts of the bloodthirsty. This is incorrect.

Pacifism is a danger to our survival.

The truth is that good and evil can be clearly defined in reality. The best definition of these terms comes from Ayn Rand. She defines good as all that supports the life of a rational being. She defines evil as all that hinders the life of a rational being. The key word in these definitions is "rational". Rationality is the recognition and acceptance of reason as one's only source of knowledge, ones only judge of values, and one's only guide in action.

If someone initiates force against you, determine their reason. If their reason is irrational (not based upon the facts of reality), then their act of force is evil. Allowing oneself to be defeated by evil will not lead to progress, but to entropy for everyone involved.

The only way to beat violence is to smash it.

Of course it is inappropriate to respond with violence to every conflict in life. But it is proper to respond to violence with greater violence -- Not solely for glory, but to obtain peace. Glory is a side-effect of righteous force.

Hence, the question arises: "Is it wrong to find pleasure in vengeance?"

No. Not so long as the vengeance is righteous. Not so long as one's reason for revenge is to bring about long-term peace. Just as a musician loves music, he loves the act of creating it. If one loves peace, he should find pleasure in the act of creating it.

The Chinese systems of martial arts are rooted in an intentional modification of Indian Buddhism to a science of killing. Even Tai Chi, which many pacifists respect for it's soft and meditative exercises, is actually a faculty to maim and kill. Those who practice the art of killing with no thought of the meaning to each of their movements are lying to themselves. The loudest ones who welcome this contradiction into their psyche are those who have already made a fortune in beating people up, like Jet Li.

The protagonist in all of Jet Li's films spends his life becoming the absolute best at his art by working extremely hard. He does this not to win in the end, but he becomes the best to only throw it all away. Alone, this philosophy is detrimental only to those who live it. However, when practiced by a government, it is called communism. History has proven that communism leads to more violence than any other form of government, for both the people it pretends to protect and for everyone who opposes it.

Jet Li, a product of capitalist Hong Kong during the British years, is wrong to denounce violence as a means to maintain peace. Now that his industry is controlled by communist China, it is wrong for him to continue to make films that spout their propaganda. Now that he's a stooge, my only happiness comes in knowing that he will no longer taint the war arts (something i love) with his vile propaganda. Let him go make romantic comedies instead!