EQUIVALENT TRADE

“A painless lesson is one without any meaning.
One who does not sacrifice anything cannot achieve anything.”
-- Full Metal Alchemist (Episode 1: The Two Alchemists)

Do we have always to present something of equal value to get something we want? Or should we lost something to gain something better? Is this the principle that balances our everyday life?

The Principles of Equivalent Trade (or the Law of Conservation) was something that made me think after watching the Full Metal Alchemist series. It even brought me to different internet sites browsing and goggling related articles to Principles of Equivalent Trade or even the Law of Conservation. I even asked myself, if that law is something that governs our daily routine in life.

At first, I believed that the principles do exists, and they are just here around me, around us all. For an example, I cannot buy foods without paying the price requested! One will never able to have money if one does not work hard to earn it! You will never be able to pass subjects if you don’t study hard! You cannot steal if you don’t know what and how to steal! That’s it!

In Full Metal Alchemist series, two young alchemists, Edward and Alphonse Elric, who wanted to revive their dead mother, attempted a dangerous and forbidden alchemy. At first, they thought they succeeded, but sadly they failed. The worst, something was taken from them. Edward had lost his right arm and left limb, while Alphonse’s body was completely taken, but with Edward’s help, he immortalized his brother’s soul inside the suit of armor with a blood seal, written by Edward himself, to keep his brother’s memory alive. All that was left in Alphonse was his voice and a memory fixed by his brother.

“Alchemy; the science of understanding the structure of matter,
breaking it down, then reconstructing it as something else.
It can even make gold from lead. But alchemy is a science,
so it must follow the natural laws:
To create, something of equal value must be lost.
This is the principle of Equivalent Exchange.
But on that night, I learned the value of some things
can't be measured on a simple scale.
My brother and I knew the laws of science,
of Equivalent Exchange, that gain required sacrifice,
that something had to be taken from us.
But we thought there was nothing more we could lose.
We were wrong.”

-- Edward Elric



The consequence, they set out for a long journey in search of the Philosopher’s Stone, the legendary substance that possess astonishing powers. It can transform lead into pure gold, also it produces elixir of life that whosever drinks it will gain immortality, and moreover, it bestows unlimited power.

As they gain closer to finding the Philosopher’s Stone, they came to realize that whoever draws closer to it suddenly gave up or worse, died.

Later, they realized that whoever possesses the Philosopher’s Stone does not necessarily to offer or sacrifice something to get something. With the stone’s power, everything is possible.

If the Principles of Equivalent Trade do really balances the daily routine of our life, then what about the unconditional giving? I admit that sometimes, we receive something without doing or sacrificing anything. It just comes to us, and it came by coincidence whether we want it or not, or on the other hand, whether we expect for it or not. Additionally, sometimes we do lost something, but we do not gain something in return, instead it was others who benefit from it.

“Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return.
To obtain, something of equal value must be lost.
That is alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange.
In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one,
and only, truth. But the world isn't perfect,
and the law is incomplete. Equivalent Exchange
doesn't encompass everything that goes on here,
but I still choose to believe in its principle,
that all things do come at a price,
that there's an ebb and a flow, a cycle,
that the pain we went through, did have a reward,
and that anyone who's determined and perseveres,
will get something of value in return,
even if it's not what they expected.
I don't think of Equivalent Exchange as a law of the world anymore.”

-- Alphonse Elric