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Publius the Younger
Thoughts upon power
by
Matt Giwer (c) 1996 <3/3>
It came to me in my long
rise to power that even those compelled to service for the good
of the Republic could not survive against men driven solely by
the pursuit of personal power unless they too pursued personal
power. Thus to do what good I could I accumulated the personal
power needed to win over my opposition. In the end, those I
needed to crush greatly outnumbered my goals for the Republic. I
had no time left for the Republic.
When I governed a small
province I spoke my anger privately against the power I now hold.
When I came to hold my present power I spoke my anger publically
against the lesser rulers. Then I was not the army. Now I am the
army. May the lesser rulers follow my lead and live to aspire to
my power. One does not speak ill of that which from power flows.
No power stands alone but comes from agreements as to the
boundaries of power.
It is the way of men that
they will long suffer an ill rather than use violence to correct
that ill. The wise ruler watches carefully the length of that
suffering and corrects it regularly; replacing it with a new
suffering. Thus he achieves great praise of the moment and a
pause in rebellion while the new suffering grows. Thus the ruler
may collect his taxes and live to spend them.
The power of the ruler
comes from his own power in combination with the power of his
supporters. Together it is possible to rule. Whether his
supporters are in the Senate or among the people does not matter
save the one that does not support him will be his enemy.
A ruler will always have
his enemies. He must use the dignity of his office as ruler to
quell public dissent. The ruler may be powerless but as long and
he hides that from the people they will lend him their power. A
ruler must never give his enemy public recognition as that is
sharing his power with his enemy.
The people will cheer the
ruler for the same reason they will cheer the victorious athlete,
they share in his success by so doing. The ruler must realize
that people want to cheer and that the use of the ceremony of
cheering works even if there is nothing to cheer about. A war
that was a foregone conclusion must be celebrated as greatly as
that which nearly brings the republic to surrender.
Our Republic is saved
from the evils of democracy by limiting the voice of the people
to that of their representatives. Thus our Republic is based
upon the whims of the representatives rather than the whims of
the people. The whims of the few are easier to understand than
the whims of the many.
Only an absolute
constitution can preserve either a republic or a democracy. When
the body deciding the constitution is chosen based upon agreement
with the appointing person or body it is preserving that person
or body and not the constitution. When the determining court
holds that white is black, yes is no, up is down, and right is
wrong it is not deciding the constitution but rather repaying the
person or group that provided the well paying job.
Power is not only
accumulation but preservation. The struggle to preserve is as
important as the struggle to increase. All expansions of power
must be fought for as dearly as all dimunishions of power are
fought against. Power is the only thing a ruler has. Without
power he is not the ruler.
Power that does not
increase is winnowed away by the enemies of the ruler. A static
target is one that eventually loses. Power must be dynamic, a
growing thing as a rose, as if it stops growing, weeds will
destroy it. Power must constantly expand else it will no longer
be power but impotence.
Power is increase only.
There is no way to decrease power save by agreement of the power
holder or inattention to the duty to increase power. Power is
used to maintain the hierarchy of power. Those who seek power
seek the top of the hierarchy. It is as a game of the powerful to
become more powerful than the others with power.
To be a ruler one must
lead. Even in the best of times a great ruler will founder if he
can not invent a cause to lead. A ruler can not continue to rule
in quiet times save by his own invention of goals. Goals must
always be set even in the absence of objectives. If a great need
of the people can not be met then a goal that can be attained can
be substituted by a leader and the people will support him.
Both the Senate and the
people have many, many goals in common. Many of those goals
conflict. A ruler is truly blessed if he can galvanize a
majority goal of both to his goal. To have the support of both
the Senate and the people is to be remembered in history as a
wise leader. None will forget for decades after his death the
leader who succeeded in keeping ahead of his followers. Leading
is finding the goal that leads to power.
To be remembered in
history, by the people, for good or for ill is more than the
common man can dream of. To be remembered after the ashes of
death is the greatest accomplishment of a man who comes to this
world with nothing and leaves it with nothing. Before that all
pales save the dream of knowing after death that it happened and
with acclaim in the afterworld for one's deeds in this.
When I began to
accumulate personal power in the provinces and later in the
Senate I traded a power here in exchange for a power there in
hopes of a net gain to myself. At first I thought of it as what
it would do to the people. In the end it was as though I was
trading a stud for a stud in hopes of improving my herd over that
of my trade partner's hope of improving his herd. I cared only of
its benefits to me. In the end, when I had the power everyone
wanted, I refused any agreement that resulted in any power
accruing to another.
As a Senator I could only
recommend and promote for office at whatever price the ruler set.
As ruler I created office and filled it at whatever price I set.
As ruler I had direct control and I no longer have to share the
price of office. It is good to be the ruler.
The power of rulers
suffers increase and decrease. Senators of note come and go.
The people always have power and they are always with us. The
people are awakened to their power when they desire change. If
the ruler and the senate are to continue the people must not come
to desire change.
As I in my youth admired
the decisive use of power so now I am admired for using power
with the appearance of decisiveness as now I know decisiveness is
only an appearance that is admired. I cultivate the appearance
of decisiveness. If all else should fail me, confidence will
yield a following for decisiveness alone be I right or wrong. My
followers will then achieve my objectives and credit success to
me. I need only give them what is within themselves.
And now I am in the
winter of my years and see the spring as youthful folly, the
summer as growth in knowledge and the autumn as wisdom. And in
the winter I impart what I have learned not that others may
imitate me but that one day they may say I am one of those upon
whose shoulders they stood.
I leave you.
Publius the Younger
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