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Thoughts On Power, Money And The Loss Of A Compassionate Society

Apr 17, 2019
by Caroline Miller
F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hassanal Bolkiah, Shira Law, Sultan of Brunei, The Great Gatsby
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Sultan of Brunei courtesy of google.com

The Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, has reinstituted Shira law in his largely Muslim country.  Now, the likelihood a child could lose a hand for stealing an apple is real.  Sex without a marriage license will carry the death penalty as will homosexual behavior.  The weight of this law falls equally upon Muslims and non-Muslims and may ensnare a passing tourist.   

I’m baffled that a man who has never known an ordinary life and whose position is an accident of birth, should be obeyed by anyone.  Absent his money, he is a person like any other, except his privilege is unearned and allowed by people who are afraid or unwilling to question tradition.  Wrap that tradition in the raiment  of religion and the person’s  power becomes exponentially unimpeachable.  No one has the right to question god. 

Naturally, rulers of countries and churches have long asserted their divine right.  Those who accept that authority empty their minds and place themselves in a room with no exit. They will be told how to dress, what to eat, with whom to associate and what to think.  Eventually, the pious lose all memory of freedom, a gift enjoyed by a lion, a mouse or a flatworm. 

That the rich and powerful insist upon allegiance is mind-boggling enough.  The greater wonder is that we common folk acquiesce.   Centuries of history have taught us that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts, absolutely.  In the end, those whom we allow to stand upon our shoulders  presume they are better than us and act accordingly, often with unfathomable cruelty.  

The rich and powerful are different from  the rest of us.  F.Scott Fitzgerald told us as much in his novel, The Great Gatsby.  Science, following art’s lead, has proven this assertion to be true.   Privileged people lose empathy, and their  feelings of entitlement grow beyond normal proportion.  Witness the recent college admission scandal, for example.

So, in the absence of death threats or fear of the loss of a hand, I ask again: why do common folk listen to the rich and famous or imagine they care a jot about the rest of us?  Could it be we dream to become like them?   

 

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Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published four novels

  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

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