... than face the truth.
Opacity, the New Transparency
The Subject: We embrace lies that masquerade as truths... willfully and intentfully.
The Potentate: What?!
The Subject: When faced with true transparency... we reject the truth and embrace opacity. Because the opacity we embrace is the lie that coheres most to that which we make believe. Such that our dedication to rejecting the truth and embracing opacity is indomitable and steadfast and impervious to the blatant hypocrisy of advancing opacity as the truth.
The Potentate: But I stand for the truth! I speak the truth without fear! I and I alone am fearless!
The Subject: Do you stand for the truth? Or do you stand for alternative truths that cohere with make believe?
The Potentate: Of course not! My beliefs are not make believe! That so many of you believe lies, is why so many of you are suffering. I and I alone possess the persistence to speak the truth in the face of lies.
The Subject: Then by what veracity of God, by what incontrovertible law of Allah, by what indisputable fact of Shiva... are your beliefs the eternal truth? Do you and you alone possess the peerless wisdom of Buddha with which to impart every truth of life and all therein?
The Potentate: Trust me. Believe me. The faithful believe me. The faithful know. The truth I speak is the truth that exposes the lies that liars propagate to keep you from rising and leaning in and taking your piece of the pie!
The Subject: Then, do you envisage yourself a Prophet, a Savior, a God of the hapless and the dim deluded by lies and liars?
The Potentate: Of course! Am I not altruistic to all? Am I not magnanimous with my wisdom? Am I not advancing agendas of prosperity and generosity from a benevolent heart? Am I not instilling ideals of unity and nobility from a patriotic spirit?
The Subject: Sadly... the allure of the false prophet is undeniably compelling to the unfound. Still... there are some of us who see such transparency as that espoused by you, as blatant ruse for power, for immortality, for conceit.
The Potentate: Enough! You stand for no one. You stand for your self. You would rather the hapless and the dim wallow in misery with you than uplift us all. For what? For the truth? No. For your truth. For your agenda. That robs us all of our prosperity and our dreams.
The Subject: Such is free will... that all of us decide our fate. To flock to the deceiver whose faerie tales enchant the unfound who demand what they haven't earned, steal what is not theirs, exploit what is inviolably free. Or stand for the truth impervious to bullshit.
Such choice has been the choice of all kind... for all time. And without fail... when faced with true transparency... many kind reject the truth and embrace opacity with the devoted fervor of the enthralled... swayed by promises that drip like molten silver from the tongues of fisher kings and snow queens.
Epilogue
The Potentate: You are the deceiver, you twister of words. I am the truth! See! My flock is proud. My flock is defiant. My flock resists your lies that pretend to truth!
The Subject: Verily... I have died for all kind across times beyond counting. Still... the truth is the truth and the found will find their way from your intentions that lie to my pillars home. Guided by veritas... the faithful who see have embraced not the blindness of sides that war... steadfastly... in the wake of Potentates who come and go like so many grains of sand that matter little in the grand matter of what matters and what does not.
The Potentate: Your words so obscure solve nothing. Your words so inscrutable help no one. I and I alone stand for the silent, for the invisible, for the destitute. You, by your useless idealism, buttress the very system that keeps the silent from rising, the very institution that keeps the invisible from leaning in, the very domination that keeps the destitute from taking their piece of the pie.
The Subject: Thus... you and your agenda and every potentate you mirror in heart and in spirit... are transparent to the fearless... who refuse to buy the bullshit you sell to sell bullshit.
M
Postface
Written half a year ago...
... this dialogue is as relevant, as apropos... now, as then...
... no...?
M
Postface
Written half a year ago...
... this dialogue is as relevant, as apropos... now, as then...
... no...?
M
Last writing half a year ago, you are as relevant, as apropos... now, as then...
ReplyDeleteRarely do you say something that is as complimentary as it is concise. But in those few minutes you do - you remind us that even you can be selfless, and that should give us all hope that maybe the "top predators" on this planet can find that bone called their conscience.
DeleteFeudal times was rife with master (potentate) and subject (slave) where the concept of self-preservation poisoned the master to believe that they ruled not for the benefit of their subjects but rather for the their own self-glorification, gain, and preservation. Is it not ironic in this day and age that we have not come far despite all of the self-proclaimed, "servant leaders," that have not walked among their subjects or ruled as if they are subject to those that they rule. For those naysayers, never-enoughers, and false idols that fill our religious, corporate, political, and societal landscape, ask yourself one simple question... would any one of those people who live above, apart, and in superiority to you sacrifice their lifestyle, wealth, and power to save you, to benefit you, to take a burden from you. The silence is deafening is it not. Think of that before you hold these people as your idols and before you take on their agendas as your own... For they are not the ones that live among you - nor would they seek to make things better by living with you even for a single night. Maybe- just maybe - it's the one that is there each day with you, selflessly trying to make the world better without gain, power, or wealth - that should capture your ear - well that is if you can take your head out of the potentate's ass.
ReplyDeletePotentates come and go, the pendulum swings back and forth. It always has and probably always will, so the subjects should not occupy themselves with the whims of the potentates, politics, religions, and fame. "Subjects," should stay away from these things and the envy, lust, and self promotion of potentate society; instead focusing on the stories from these real subjects who are secretly the prophets, kings, queens, and knights that fight to improve the world that we all live in. Take heed to this post the next time that you think to follow a potentate that has no interest in being accountable, responsible, and subject to the same condition, laws, and humanity that you are; or serving to promote us all instead of just themselves and the ones that are like them.
ReplyDeleteVerily, the pillars of humanity and all-kind are found not in the potentate and their magnificent but rather in the humility - selflessness- and charity of the subject who lives their life among all and caring more about the state of all subjects rather than just their state or the "label" they choose.
DeleteOf course children born potentates would "act" like they are one of you in order to sway you down the path that does not promote a future absent of hatred, injustice, and reality. Idealism, Socialism, and Communal Benefit are "White" methods for keeping down those that have suffered uniquely due to these harmful ideals. Of course, should you not question the subject, the wormtongue, the stormcrow that tells you to look to the subject leadership instead of those best suited to rule? I think that you should as both you and your, "sister," are nothing more than harpies and wormtongues put here to lead the faithful astray with your idealistic nonsense.
DeleteYour urge to save humanity and people is almost always only a false-face for the urge of people like you to use any means possible to rule it. Power is what all, "saviors," like you really seek; not the chance to serve the people that you espouse such love and desire to rule. And now you seek to carry your "gospel" and "piety" through your "truths" which seek to enable your power and your dreams over all of those that you want to, "subject" to your narrative and reality.
Delete