Message

学生時代、ろくに大学にも通わず全くの劣等生だった私が、唯一授業で教わり、四半世紀経った今でも遺っている言葉が「構造的暴力」でした。「構造的暴力」とは国際政治学や平和学における概念の一つで、暴力行為を誘発する原因が、明確な個人や集団に特定できないような社会構造に起因する暴力の形態のことを指します。

暴力の形態には物理的なものから心理的なもの、行為主体が個人に特定可能なものから集団的なものまでさまざまに考えられますが、その中で行為主体が不明確であり、間接的・潜在的にふりかかる暴力の形態が「構造的暴力」と呼ばれ、特に国際社会においては貧困、飢餓、抑圧、差別などがこれに当たるとされています。

この概念はしばしば国内の社会問題を紐解く場合にも応用でき、形骸化した慣習や時代錯誤のルールによって発展や成長を阻害する要因にも何らかの構造的な問題が生じていると推察することができます。これは社会形態の種類や文化、場所、気候、組織の大小、個人に貧富の差に関わらず、人類が文明という構造を極大化させる以上、拭えない内部の「ひずみ」だと言っても良いでしょう。

また、哲学者サルトルの「世界や存在にはそもそも意味はない。だがだからこそ人間は根源的に自由なのだ」という言葉にも私は共感しています。「自由とは同時に人間に大きな不安を与えるものでもある。自分自身があらゆる行動の意味を決めなければならないからだ。そこには絶対的な孤独と責任が伴う」。そしてその状況を、サルトルは「我々は自由の刑に処せられている」と表現しました。経営者には甚だ耳の痛い話ですが、肝に銘じねばならないと感じています。

それと対比的に、いつも祖父が残した二つの遺言を思い浮かべてしまいます。「人生は二択の連続」「若いうちの苦労は買ってでもしろ」。なるべく苦しい道を選ぶように戒めた私は、大なり小なり失敗や挫折を繰り返し貪欲に成長することを求めました。しかし、充実さこそあれ時に自らを見失いかけていた私は、サルトルの言う通り、自由と不自由の狭間で自らの選択で伴った責任に押し潰されそうな長い時間を過ごしていましたのだと振り返ります。

今思えば、私の目的は個人として挑戦できる構造的暴力から脱却した境地に辿り着くことだったのかも知れません。それは、現代においては「完全なる自由」という甚だ絵空事のようなものだったでしょう。しかし、そもそもそんな馬鹿げたベクトルを立てて生きる者は稀有な存在であって、長い時間の経過により得た知識と経験を糧に、四十歳をこえて私は引き続きその境地を目指すためのチケットを握りしめていた事に初めて気がつきました。

最後に、小説家カート・ヴォネガットの「これで駄目なら」という邦題の著書について触れます。原題は” If this isn’ t nice, What is ?”ですが、まさに毎回、そうとしか言いようのない面持ちで生きていたつもりでした。ただ、それを繰り返してたどり着いた終着地だと思っていた場所の先には、いつもさらに見たことのない景色が広がっていて、私の人生の答えを先延ばしにさせてきました。「もう疲れた」とその度に泣き言を漏らし座り込んでも、体力が癒えれば溜息をついて立ち上がりまた歩くのみでした。

正解などはそもそも無いことを判っていながら、恐らく半分は「これまでの旅路に意味を与えなければ絶望してしまう、そうなりたくない」という心と、未だ見ぬ未来には今の自分が想像もし得ぬ希望に満ちた光が溢れ「野垂れ死ぬのではなく、立ち止まり目を閉じて安らかに眠ることができる場所があるのではないか」という二つの心が、二つの足を交互に動かしてきたのです。私にとって「これで駄目なら」は、「今持てる才能の全てをぶつけても駄目だったら、そのときは仕方ない。」という覚悟を表すものでした。

私が設立したMU で実現したいこと、大切にしたいことは” Ourmission” で表した通りです。たとえ小さな力であっても、目の前の問題と真摯に向き合い、本質を見極め、自分達の考えを信じて、より良い未来に少しでも貢献できるクリエイティブ・スタジオを目指したいと考えています。

When I was a student, I was an underachiever and did not go to college very well, but the only word I learned in class that has remained with me to this day, a quarter of a century later, is “structural violence. Structural violence is a concept in international politics and peace studies that refers to forms of violence that are caused by social structures that cannot be identified with a specific individual or group as the cause of the violence.There are many possible forms of violence, ranging from physical to psychological, and from individual to collective, but among them, violence in which the actor is indefinite and the violence is indirect or latent is called “structural violence,” and in the international community in particular, poverty, hunger, oppression, and discrimination are considered to fall under this category.This concept can often be applied when unraveling domestic social problems, and it can be inferred that some structural problem also arises in the factors that impede development and growth through skeletonized customs and anachronistic rules. Regardless of the type of social form, culture, location, climate, size of the organization, or whether the individual is rich or poor, it is safe to say that this is an internal “strain” that cannot be wiped out as long as humanity maximizes the structure of civilization.I also share the philosopher Sartre's statement, “The world and existence have no meaning in the first place. But that is why man is fundamentally free." Freedom is at the same time something that causes man great anxiety. “Freedom is at the same time a source of great anxiety for man, because he has to decide for himself the meaning of all his actions. There comes with it absolute loneliness and responsibility. Sartre described the situation as “we are condemned to freedom. This is a very painful story for managers to hear, but I feel that we must keep it in mind.In contrast, I always think of my grandfather's two wills. Life is a series of choices,” and ” You can't buy your way out of hardship while you are young. He warned me to take the hard road as much as possible, and I sought to grow greedily through repeated failures and setbacks, large and small. However, I was on the verge of losing sight of myself at times, and as Sartre said, I spent a long time between freedom and inconvenience, almost crushed by the responsibility that came with my own choices.In retrospect, my goal may have been to reach a point where I could challenge myself as an individual and break free from structural violence. In modern times, this would have been a highly imaginary “total freedom. However, it is a rare person who lives with such an absurd vector, and with the knowledge and experience I have gained over time, I realized for the first time that I was holding on to my ticket to continue to pursue this goal at the age of over 40. Finally, I would like to mention a book by novelist Kurt Vonnegut titled “If this isn't nice, what is ?” The original title was “If this isn't nice, what is ?” but I thought I was living in the face of exactly that every time. However, the place I thought was the end of the road that I reached after repeating it, there was always an even more unfamiliar landscape beyond it, which made me put off the answer to my life. I would whine and sit down and say, “I'm so tired,” but once my strength had healed, I would sigh, get up, and walk again. Although I knew there was no right answer to begin with, perhaps half of me was thinking, “If I don't give meaning to my journey so far, I will despair, and I don't want that to happen,” and the other half was thinking that the future I had yet to see was full of light filled with hope I could not even imagine at the moment, and that there was a place where I could stop and close my eyes and sleep peacefully, instead of dying in the field. I have been moving my two legs alternately. For me, “if this isn’ t nice,” was an expression of my resolve, If I can't do it with all the talent I have right now, then I'll have to do it.” What I want to achieve and what I value in MU is expressed in “Our mission” . Even if it is only a small effort, we will face the problems in front of us with sincerity, discern the essence, believe in our own ideas, and aim to be a creative studio that can contribute to a better future, however small.

Ryota Sako