The Two Step

Two Step

“When I snap my fingers, you will awaken and remember nothing of what has occurred…

So Michael, you are stating that the election as far as you are concerned is all but over. Do you really believe that, or are you just telling me what I don't want to hear?”

“Does it matter? You know you have no intention of leaving. You have seen to that. You have corrupted the system to the point that it is no longer a system.  Which indicates there are no avenues that one can pursue to procure a different outcome. When that becomes no longer possible, you will be either with us, or you will be against us. You have succeeded in doing what none of the founding fathers could have imagined. How does that make you feel?”

“What do you mean, how does it make me feel? It makes me feel like the leader I am. The duty of a leader is to determine weaknesses in others and make sure they are compromised. It cannot be allowed to affect your vision, no matter what it is. Once you determine who, or what, these adversaries are, you only need remove or negate any power they have. Then set them adrift, with no means to return to a place where they can survive without you.

People are not very smart; you do realize that. Everyone is addicted to some source of power. It gives them leverage they need to keep those they consider enemies in their place, and those who are attempting to usurp their power, unable to get the footing needed.

There is something about power that attracts all people, and at the same time repels them. 

Those drawn to the possibilities power provides, do not recognize at first the addictive qualities it possess. They often times find themselves down on their knees, like peasants before the king. Those that find power disgusting, do so, because they believe themselves immune. In actuality, they are more than aware of power, and they recognize their own fear of it, the possibility of being seduced by it.”

“Are you insinuating then that power is what all people seek in an attempt to be successful?”

Did you happen to know Dick Balham? No, probably not, before your time. Richard was a judge for twenty-five years before he was elevated to the district circuit. He was then, after a short stint, nominated to the Supreme Court. It was then, the trouble began for him. For me, it was confirming. Richard was one of those people you can entice to do whatever you desire, given the right prompts. He believed himself to be one of those resistant to power and corruption, and therefore incapable of being swayed by it. That is, but for the lure of the pinnacle of power, the Supreme Court.

Who could blame him. He started out a public defender. He graduated Georgetown Law, the bottom of his class. Had it not been for the Dean at the school he would never have passed the bar. Dean Able was a friend of his father, and well, the story goes back to a time when both of them were in love with Richard’s mother. Remind me to tell you about that sometime.

Richard, perhaps because of his, "difficulties," as I refer to them, found himself involved with all manner of causes having to do with the downtrodden members of society. He was a natural public defender. Fighting for the little man was his calling in life, or so he believed, until the opportunity came along to leave the seedy shadows of the underworld and move up, into the high-end position at Jamison and Jamison.

You know the law firm that handles most of the newspaper worthy cases around the capital. His previous experience and connections provided him with the ability to mix with people who could and would solve certain legal obstacles, for a fee.  Jurors would change their stories; eye witnesses would loose their memories; that sort of thing.”

“So you believe that old adage that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

“Michael, It is more than an adage of old, as you say. It is a commandment that was left off the tablets, an inscription left off the tabernacle, the black spot on everyone’s souls that erupts like a cancer at every opportunity. Greed you see is the sixth sense, contrary to belief. It is responsible for Eve and Adam’s expulsion from the garden, Abel’s death at the hand of his brother. It lurks like the evil spirit it is, in each of us.  And until we learn to deal with the chaos it causes, we will remain human.”

“So, it is one of the seven deadly sins?”        

“It is more than just one of the sins.  It is the pre-requisite for the others existence. It is the one sin that holds all others accountable, demands their subservience. It pulls them all together and allows them to become the tornado of events that swirl around the eye, the vortex of disillusionment that allows everything to fall away, but the individual need we all poses, to bargain with evil in hopes of attaining good. For who or what we are afraid to say.  We are never successful, which is why we continually search in vain for the answer to a need, that we know, can never be satisfied, as there is nothing that will squelch the desire for superiority, that we all chase.

You see, playing God is what we all want to do. We just pretend we don’t. We are afraid of being judged as arrogant, and yet arrogance is the one thing that makes greed possible. We assume we are entitled to receive the adulation and benefits of people and systems, because we believe we are inherently more worthy than other people, more deserving. 

We have placed all the attributes we claim to be adverse to, in the realm of the God we claim to believe in. God’s mercy, although mentioned from time to time, is dwarfed by the retaliation he bestows on people who fail to meet his standards, or pay Him, their allegiance. The same is true with the rulers of today. 

I pledge allegiance to the flag. What does that mean? We pledge to honor the principles it promotes, or the principles those in power tell us to ascribe to?

People, I’ve found for the most part, would rather follow, than lead. Being a leader takes work, imagination, time, all the things most people are unwilling to donate to a cause. Even ones they profess to believe in! It is easier to complain. Have you ever wondered how someone, or some group, can become so involved in a philosophy, they are willing to throw their lives, and those of others, away. They become so consumed with frustration and anger, they no longer think logically. They react, most often physically, emotionally, rather than logically. And logic of course, is the only way things will ever change, and become imbedded in the democracy we proclaim to be our greatest asset.

There are people today who proclaim to be patriots, purveyors of democracy, and then go on to dispel and impede the very essence of the democratic system, voting. And people stand by and say nothing.

The concept argued during the formation of the constitution, was that not all men are capable of voting, as they are not educated, have property, or are generally concerned with the direction a society is moving. They are primarily consumed with their own interests.

That mentality of those that serve the notion of privilege, disrespects the concept of democracy. You have heard of the analogy about the other shoe dropping. That is what they forget. The pendulum swings in both directions until it stops from lack of inertia, somewhere between the extreme arc it enjoys for a short time, and immobility.  The trick is to find the time and place when momentum is at its height, and the populace is seeking a savior.

To not recognize that beliefs are certain to change, is denying the essence of man. We strive for change. We see it as our duty because we associate change with the betterment of a situation. We rarely see change as having negative effects, although we are for the most part afraid of change, because it implies the unknown, and what lurks in its shadow. We are trapped in a paradox between remaining frozen and dissolving into something different. The difference is where the problems lay. What they forget, is that one day it is their turn, the next, someone else’s.

To believe in democracy one must accept the fact that disagreement is what keeps its heart beating. Authoritarianism, dictatorship, any number of idealisms that rely on one persons notion of what is best for the masses, will lead to being disassociated with the people claimed to be the reason for changes, to their social functions. God reins on earth while dispelling the notion of alternatives, and if any are suggested, those alternatives must be propagated by a devil.

Humans do not seem capable of living their own lives and leaving others to live theirs. They, we, seem to need to become missionaries of a creed we neither understand nor know how to incorporate into our societies. Add to that, the problems associated with knowledge, and the industrialization of societies and their affect on the environment and cultures, and you can reason why we have become so erratic and undisciplined in our response to most situations.

Michael, you know the phrase, common sense? What does that mean to you?”

“I assume it means an inherent feeling of what is right and what is wrong.”

“And you would be wrong. Common sense means that I agree with you and you with me. If we have differing opinions about a philosophy or means to a solution, then one of us does not have common sense. Our concept of right and wrong are based on similar principles.   

Take the notion of a starving village. Is it moral to leave the weakest to die if the remaining food will allow the society to continue to survive? We are at a place in history where that notion, because of devices like the bomb and nuclear fallout, we have shelved the moral and ethical proclivity of man, as to continuing a species, and its societies. We are at a point in history where one person, or group of people, have the ability to destroy not only our species, but all species until a time when life finds a way back, as the planet heals itself.

We would like to believe that is impossible, unthinkable, but temper that with religious and social ideologies that place a greater emphasis on a place, like heaven, where a God exists, that agrees with your notion of Its existence. The promise of eternal happiness, and anything is possible. The carrot and stick philosophy that keeps us moving towards a goal, no matter how illogical or unprovable.

It only takes one person, an ideology, and followers with power to change the course of history, as proven by men like Hitler. They can only be stopped by a philosophical might that entertains the notion that all men are created equal and are deserving of rights afforded every human being. 

Liberty and justice to prevail, must be able to tolerate philosophical differences that do not infringe on other’s rights.; an attempt to live in peace and achieve happiness. And there has never been a lasting example of that, that has lasted more than a few centuries. Do you agree?”

“You realize your ideology is contrary to mine. Not only contrary, but revolutionary in nature. If everyone were to accept and adhere to your diatribes of equality and freedom being overridden by self-interest, we would perish. If the universe does not operate as prescribed, as you say, and we are destined to become our own Gods, then what?”

When I snap my fingers we will proceed.”

“What? Wait!”

“Ready gentlemen? 

Eight, Nine…and!  Push the button, please.”