Either Aaron and Ira have become mature adults, or they’re rationalizing their own failure, but either way, ambition no longer seems to hold the same power for them that it once did. As Ira puts it, “We do not want to live our lives as sacrifices to what might happen in the future.” So is ambition by definition a young person’s game? And is letting go of it a sign of maturity, or resignation? Gradually abdicating long-held and largely unexamined ambitions, a couple of middle aged guys might start to notice something that can feel like a kind of success, uncoupled from rubrics of notoriety, power, or wealth. At the same time, ambition will always to some extent be shaped by the historical and technological moment – whether that is Restoration England, 1920s Hollywood, or post-COVID America and Europe – and by the particular identities and inheritances with which everyone has to grapple. Still, it might be nice if a few people knew who you were when you died.

Music:
“Open Up Your Heart” by Roger Miller (a song which features the show’s namesake lyric). arranged and recorded especially for JIALIO by 80 Foots, Chicago’s only End Times Vocal Trio.

“Open Up Your Heart” by Buddy Killen + Roger Miller
Arranged and recorded by: 80 Foots (https://www.facebook.com/80FPM)