Hollow Bricks

 

Saturday, May 10, 2014

 

We live with the idiotic concept of truth as if anybody truly believes it.

We are a ruthless race, not withstanding the changing generations: Freud pointing out that humanity hasn’t changed fundamentally from our days in the caves except with a moderation in how we treat our kids.

Individuals sometimes carry nobility on their shoulders, but not people – we are a rat pack of greed and ambition, even those who allegedly claim modesty. It is always a cover for some deeper desire to feel superior, to stand out from the crowd, to be different, more important, more successful, more significant, and ultimately, more powerful.

So all the smaller we feel when denied.

What makes privilege is also confusing – since even corrupt people seeking power have to have real talent for it.

But attaining anything is a matter of talent, patience, opportunity, and good fortune, and a certain sense of ruthlessness.

Each must balance the other so that impatience doesn’t outpace ability, and thus destroy the effort before it starts.

Fair play isn’t for suckers, the way some more ruthless people might think, but a strategy, an investment in the future, a seeding of ground so that people come trust during those times when everybody else is scamming them.

But scam or real, power is a pyramid with only the most adept reaching the top. But they do not get there alone, and know it, their power rests on the backs of those just below, and those on others below them in an ever widening base.

Powerful people do not leave gaps in their base, useless people who do not contribute to their strength. So in the end, they shed those who contribute nothing, especially the nearer to the top.

All must serve a purpose. Some at the bottom of the pyramid might do little or have small parts in the overall structure, and might even get away with doing nothing because they are so insignificant. But up top, nearer the most powerful of this elite, their ineptitude shows, and leaves them vulnerable to expulsion because they had no place to hide.

Some structures are rotten top to bottom. Usually these institutions started out strong with some strong leader, who moved on, leaving a legacy of success to lesser competent people, who do not see the wisdom of having strong people, and often mistake those with nothing to offer for people who do, and so brick by brick the pyramid becomes a hollow shell full of pointless people, who rely on other pointless people, until the whole thing collapses.

Real power like strong pyramids knows good bricks from bad and never lets a hollow brick get too close to the top.