Ialdabaoth
Posts: 1073
Joined: 5/4/2008
From: Tempe, AZ
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: army101
Yes but another point is that you cant live life on your knees. You must stand on your feet no matter what life gives you! A person should only answer to their own self and not others as you must live with your self.
... bullshit.
I answer to everyone on the planet. I answer to history. I answer to everyone who has a stake in the consequences of my action, because the alternative is sociopathy.
Look, son, here's the score. "Power" isn't some magical thing that you decide you have and all of the sudden you have it. It's not some bit of wand-waving that you can do to get what you want, no matter how big your wand (yes, yes, I'm sure it's very nice. We're all quite impressed down here, let me tell you.) Power is situational. It's interpersonal. And it's chaotic. No-one has control over how much or how little power they have. No-one even has full control over their own actions and decisions. What we have is influence, and responsibility.
Responsibility's a funny word. Se how it has "response" in there? sound it out with me. "Response... Ability." Now think about that. Are you able to respond to the situation? I.e., can you do anything constructive from where you are? If so, then you do it. You don't worry about who's in control, or who's guiding who, or who's going to look better. You just do it, because it's what needs to be done. Sometimes that means you're giving the orders. Sometimes that means you're following them. And sometimes that means you follow your own path.
Let me tell you a parable.
Once, an old man came to a village. He was near the end of his life, and was unsure how much strength he still had in him. He saw a young woman, starving, trying to take care of her dying grandmother. He frowned and looked at her.
"Why do you not eat?", he said.
"I can't afford food right now, and I can't leave my grandmother's side to glean rice.", she replied.
"She will die soon anyways; go get some food!", he said.
"I can't!", she said, and went back to trying to ease the old woman's breathing.
"You go; I can take care of her for a little while.", he replied.
She nodded, and left, and while she went to eat he looked the woman over - for he knew a small amount of medicine, and could sometimes discern the causes of ailments.
The woman's condition was grave. She could not be cured, and very likely would never fully wake from her fever-fit. But her lungs and heart were still healthy, and it would likely be a long and low and lingering death, while the young girl wasted away to nothing caring for her.
He nodded to himself, and smothered the old woman with his pillow. He wrote an eloquent letter to the young girl, telling her to grieve, to bury her grandmother, and then to take the possessions in his traveling-satchel and try to reclaim her life. And then he stood up and walked to the magistrate's office.
The magistrate was bewildered. "Why... why did you murder that old woman?", he said.
"Because her lingering half-life would have killed a vibrant young girl", the old man replied. "My actions were necessary."
The magistrate nodded grimly. "I can see the logic and wisdom in your decision, good sir. It pains me to say it, but you have done a mercy, and perhaps the days would be kinder to our people if more could stomach to do the same. But why then must you bring it to my attention? My hands are tied now; you must be tried and punished for this, and you will be hanged."
The old man nodded sadly, and fixed his gaze firmly in the magistrates' eyes. "Because they were also wrong. Simply because a thing is necessary, simply because I have no choice but to perform an action, does not absolve me of the consequences of that action. I served the girl's needs by unburdening her from a still-breathing corpse. Now I serve your law's needs by turning myself in. I am your humble servant."
Now, when is righteousness harmful? And when does service mean disobedience?
Another parable:
One day, the mightiest ship in the Imperial Fleet was sailing through a dense fogbank. It lurched forward slowly, cautious of any rocks and obstacles that might be in its way. Suddenly, a light pierced through the dim grey of the fog - another ship was approaching!
The mighty warship sent out a lantern-semaphore to whoever was approaching - "You are on a collision course; you will divert five degrees to starboard."
It was rejoined by a terse reply: "Negative; you must divert 5 degrees to port."
The admiral on board the warship was irate! He was the commander of the entire Imperial Navy; he would not be ordered about by anyone, regardless of their rank or belligerence. He ordered the captain to send out another message - "This is an Imperial Warship, and you WILL divert dive degrees to starboard."
The answer, again, was terse: "Will not comply; you are advised to divert 5 degrees to port."
The admiral was furious! He had the captain fire a warning shot, and then send a final message - "This is the flagship of the fleet. We are transporting the Admiral of the Fleet to a war-game exercise. You are hereby ordered on his authority to divert dive degrees to starboard!"
A third, terse answer was given: "This is the South Point light-house. Please divert 5 degrees to port."
The admiral and the captain wisely submitted to the request.
Now, when is rulership folly? And when is service wise?
And finally:
One day, the Emperor died with twin sons, and the Empire was split into two kingdoms, Wu and Fu. The Empire was prosperous but in decline, and each brother had a different vision for how to return it to its former glory.
The King of Wu was a strong and proud man. When he ascended to the throne, he began to issue decrees. He decreed the proper way for milling grain. He decreed the proper way for tilling soil. He decreed the proper way for weaving baskets. He decreed the proper way to smelt iron, and the proper way to forge it. Anything that could be done in his kingdom, he decreed precisely how it was to be done - and then he had his magistrates record his decrees in perfect calligraphy, and ferry them to all his satrapies, so that his subjects could know the proper Way of doing things. Those that resisted, he decreed punishments for, and replaced with those who would do his bidding.
The King of Fu was humble and unassuming. When he ascended to the throne, he began to travel the kingdom. He asked peasants what the proper way for milling grain was, and how much grain they had milled, and why one way was better than another. He asked farmers why they tilled the soil one way and not another, and for how long they had tilled that way, and how many vegetables and fruits they had produced. He asked old women to teach him how to weave baskets. He asked blacksmiths to show him how to smelt ore and forge iron. Everywhere he went, he found workers, and he apprenticed himself to them - and then he had his sages apprentice as well, and try to discern in what ways things could be improved, and how those improvements might vary from satrapy to satrapy. And in all things, he humbled himself and followed - humbled first to the Way of Nature, then to the teachings of his elders, and then to the needs of his people. Those that tried to deceive him, he sadly learned to ignore their counsel, and replaced them with those who would guide him well.
Now, which of these men was a good King?
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