| Good morning, my fellow Examiners. Today we shall explore the universal law of human thought. There is only one law that truly governs the consciousness of humanity, underlying all attitudes, motivations and desires. That law is power. Power is the common denominator that can be deduced from any situation. For example: What motivates politicians to do what they do and say what they say? To maintain power. What motivates large corporations to act as they do? To obtain more power. (You may have said money, and this is true, but money is merely an instrument of it; a means of quantifying power.) When looking at most situations, it is usually pretty easy to note that the obvious motive was driven by the desire for power, subconsciously or not. Even consider your crazy ex… what do you think their driving force was? Probably control over you in some way, which can be boiled down to power; power over you. The Ancient Athenians share their thoughts on this when discussing the loyalty of the Melians (a community of people who lived on the island of Melos) to the Athenian empire. The Melians express their desire for freedom; the ability to govern themselves according to their own customs and policies. They want to leave the Athenian Empire because they feel the Athenians to be oppressive and unjust. They state their belief to the Athenians that, because their pursuit is noble, the gods will favour them if their debate with Athens turns into an all-out war. The Athenians laugh at this, pointing out the overwhelming superiority of their army, navy and numbers. Read the dialogue between the Melian and Athenian Diplomats below: Athenians: When you speak of the favour of the gods, we may as fairly hope for that as yourselves; neither our pretensions nor our conduct being in any way contrary to what men believe of the gods, or practise among themselves. Of the gods we believe, and of men we know, that by a necessary law of their nature they rule wherever they can. And it is not as if we were the first to make this law, or to act upon it when made: we found it existing before us, and shall leave it to exist forever after us; all we do is to make use of it, knowing that you and everybody else, having the same power as we have, would do the same as we do. Thus, as far as the gods are concerned, we have no fear and no reason to fear that we shall be at a disadvantage. It is the same now as it was for the Melians and Athenians in the mid 5th century BCE. Power rules all and power motivates all. It has no regard for justice or nobility, just control. What do you search for, Examiner? Are you like the Athenians, only looking for wealth and control? Or are you pursuing something else? For although power governs the mind, it has no sway over the soul. And the soul is governed by no laws; to the soul belongs yearning, passion, curiosity, desire, wisdom and Love. |
| Good day, Examiner, The Golden Scribe |