“When there is chaos at the bottom
there is order at the top.
When there is order at the bottom
there is chaos at the top.”
someone pointed out one of many articles about degenerating race relations in America today. Along with severe economic shocks, it’s looking like things are somewhat grim for America entering election year 2008. Foreclosures of homes skyrocketing, tainted imports, collapsing pension funds, pick your poison. What does it all mean?
A piece of wisdom from one of my teachers’ teachers, Stephen K. Hayes, started off this blog post. Simply translated, when the general population of a country is struggling to just get by, living paycheck to paycheck and making no progress, dealing with spikes in crime and a feeling of general malaise, it’s much harder for them to revolt or even realize what’s happening in the true power centers of a nation. Sate their minds with pointless entertainment, get them to care about things that are completely irrelevant (celebrity news comes to mind), and with the skill of a sleight of hand illusionist, you as someone in power get to do pretty much whatever you want to do, because no one’s paying attention. Chaos at the bottom means order at the top.
Reverse the situation. When the people of a nation unify, when the people of a nation have their basic needs met and have access to good information, at the very least they’ll push for progressive change and for overall improvements in their society’s health, wealth, and condition. The downside is that it’s much harder for a few select individuals to consolidate power and wealth in an open, democratic society because the general population will call bullshit on them, and possibly run them out of town. Order at the bottom means chaos at the top.
When you step back and take a look at the many influences acting on society at large, ask yourself which strategy is being pursued by the people of your nation and by its leaders and influencers. Who’s running the show, and who’s benefitting from it?
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