"It is NOT the possession of wealth that is evil. It is the thirst for limitless power in the hands of petty government officers, or the behind-the-scenes oligarchy."

This is what I meant when I talked about psychopathy as the underlying motive to power. I believe all social and political questions resolve to this one constant, which is why history is a series of wars and revolutions punctuated by short periods of peace where the combatants pause for breath. Differences of wealth are symptomatic, not causal. Wealth accumulates via unfair advantage, but it's the psychopathic nature of power that creates the conditions that allow that to happen in the first place.

That's why I believe directly attacking the establishment (as we used to call it) is futile. On an individual level, you're too easy to isolate and disarm. On a collective level the approach, when successful, merely empowers a new cast of psychopaths, and once the usual "purges" have taken place we're back to square one (or worse).

On an individual level about all you can really do is to try and avoid being a victim. This requires a clear understanding of the nature of human behavior, and the extremes to which psychopaths will go to establish their control. The classic example is the Jews of Europe in the 1930's. Long before the first train left for Auschwitz the signals were clear that it was time to leave. Granted many lacked the means, but a far greater number who did simply chose not to believe the evidence before them, even though their own history taught them to expect persecution.

Perhaps Nazi Germany isn't the best example though, seeing as it was a systematic plan supported by a well crafted propaganda effort. The average German didn't have much part in it, at least at first. There was tacit support of course, but active participation was probably the exception. Not so in the separation of India in 1949. On the basis of mere rumor, thousands of people picked up whatever weapon was at hand and used it to massacre thousands of innocent civilians. The worst massacres happened aboard the trains - people who were already leaving and would never be seen again. Why? Because someone told you those other guys did the same thing the day before? This is all the excuse we need? Even if confirmed, how is it justified? There's no moral or religious justification anywhere to be found, and yet so-called ordinary people became monsters, virtually overnight.

The only conclusion I can draw is that there exists within all of us the potential for psychopathic behavior. This brings us to step two. It's not enough to avoid being a victim, we also have to avoid becoming the oppressor. It's awfully tempting to take control over others as a justification for securing your own position. This is really where it starts for most people. They don't question what they're told, either as children or as adults. By the time they reach a position where they have a choice to excise power, how many take into consideration the responsibility that goes along with it, and act accordingly?

This is the part of the essay where I'm supposed to summarize my thesis and bring it to some sort of conclusion, but I can't. I've been working on this problem all my adult life and have yet to reach any sort of resolution. The best I can do is to relate my own perception on the nature of the problem, in effect acting as a reminder both to myself and others, to be wary of simple answers and easy solutions. When some one offers us an easy way out of a difficult situation, you have to ask yourself: who is really being served? The basic admonition then, is to be wary of all things bright and shiny. Not cynical, because that's a dead end, but skeptical. Bring the power of reason to bear, while recalling that it's that power alone which makes it possible to overcome those base instincts we all possess.

That concludes this Sunday's sermon. Thank you all for coming. Refreshments will now be served in the south annex.

ebear