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Little Napoleons (a wake-up call)
"Happiness is the only sanction in life; where happiness fails, existence remains a sad and lamentable experiment"
-George SantayanaAmerica is a very unhappy place these days. It seems each and every one of us is at each other's throats over every little thing. Politically, we are at one another's throats, which to me is the most absurd thing of all being that it all seems to be by design, created by those who don't and will never have our interests at heart. We have allowed a certain class in America to make the rules and set the standards for our own individual lives, whether they be politicians, Madison Avenue, the wealthy, religious figures, what-have-you. While the wealthy and the powerful run off with everything they try to distract us with irrelevancies in order to turn one another against one another so no one can see what it is they are actually doing. While the average person fights one another over crumbs, the elite run away with the pie. They sit high upon their perch, amused at the masses while they seek to destroy one another over things that they have no stake in whatsoever. Political leaders, our "representatives" have figured out a way to make the public believe that they actually count for something. It's a dog and pony show. A means to an end. Once the public is used and they achieve their goal, they seem accountable to no one. And the public goes on buying it. It's as if they set up a standard, you know, "the American Dream". They then parade those around who have "achieved" it in front of everyone to show that it's possible for everyone. Then when the average person suddenly discovers that it will not happen for them, they turn to their neighbor as if it is their fault. What we get are an army of little Napoleons, power tripping because of their sliver of control they seem to have over someone else's life. They become duped into thinking that they are part of the very elite which has nothing but contempt for them.
And then there are those who are merely seeking happiness in life. They just want to be free to pursue what they want to pursue without some pseudo-elitist cretin getting in the way. The one's who don't want a priest or a reverend telling them that they are "sinners" and that they are living their lives incorrectly. The one's who don't want some "committed" politico turning every moment of conversation into a political debate in which you are expected to take a side. The one's who could care less about what their neighbors have. Those who just want to be left alone to follow their path, whatever it may be, without someone looking over their shoulder and telling them what they "should" do.
It's not easy when one allows himself to accept someone else's standards. Who sets these standards and why are we not to question them? Are we really expected to just shut up and do what we are told? For those at the top? Yes. For those who put all their faith into them? Yes. For those who feel they are part of them (a delusion to be sure)? Yes. And these little Napoleons are everywhere, deluding themselves into thinking that they are with those at the top. They see themselves as the movers and the shakers. They see themselves as the ones who are "doing business". They see themselves as having power. In the end, they are nothing, merely that cliche of the mental patient who really does think he is Napoleon while the rest of the basket weavers aspire to become him.
Take away what you will from having read this. I just hope the words above are as powerful and provocative to you as they are to me.
anxious
restless
envious
VERY amused