Destiny. Do we find it or does it find us? Do we make it or does it make us? Or is it all just something to fake us out of doing the things we really want or really should?
Avatar: The Last Airbender had a lot of talk about destinies, and finding them, being favored by them or not. In the end people met their destinies, chose them and shaped them. Well, the heroes did. The villains followed their destinies and were destroyed, or at least discomfited.
The United States talked about it Manifest Destiny in the 1800s. But historically many major figures were ambivalent or against it.
Destiny can inspire, but it can also lead to a certain sense of paternalism. I think of the musical “Tom Sawyer” with the son “A man’s gotta be what he’s born to be” — the line goes: “A man’s gotta be what he’s born to be, so just sit back and wait, be it soon or late, he’ll be small or great.” Destiny can encourage action or sloth.
Destiny is sort of like government. When government exercises a gentle hand, it encourages action and individual responsibility. When government exercises a stronger hand, it encourages sloth. Government becomes the parent, of spoiled, indulged kids.
At The Rainbow 