As a kid, I read a lot of Greek and Roman Mythology. I learned some great lessons from the fates, the fabled battles, and the historical interweaving with the fictional. One of the lessons keeps recircling, “Those whom the gods would destroy first they make proud.” Except, the gods/God do not make men proud; men choose pride, then comes vanity, all feeding ego, until that penultimate moment when “Hubris Ante Nemesis” occurs and the bottom is pulled out from under you.
The fates are three goddesses by the name of Clotho (the spinner), Lachesis (the allotter), and Atropos (the inflexible), possibly the children of Ananke (Necessity); these fates spun out the woven lives of men and women on the tapestry of a grand design. Out of necessity, the fates weave, and what is woven cannot be undone. I can understand the mental comfort people might take from thinking that these weavers hold men’s destiny; thus, all success or failure is the fault of the weavers of fate.
Hubris, in Greek Mythology, is the god of arrogance. Full of wanton violence, insolence, arrogance, and who actively chooses never to exercise restraint. Hubris remains a classic example of extremes. Nemesis is the goddess of fate and revenge. Roughly translating Latin Hubris brings Nemesis to balance the scales. Nemesis is the humbler of men who Hubris have enticed into taking their lives to extremes.
In Judaism, the saying goes, “Pride goeth before the fall.” Or put another way, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” In all cultures of men, this same semaphore is flashing across the minds of philosophers and religious leaders, beware the tides of extremes, choose humility, and caution against arrogance, pride, sloth, vanity, lust, gluttony, and ego. When did we stop heeding this call? Why have these calls been classified as religious and minimized in all societies?
Consider the political leaders of the day, those who think they are beyond the reach of law merely because they think they are the keystone in a democracy and deserve to live better than those who elected them to power. Recent examples of this pride are witnessed in Speaker Pelosi’s husband making stock choices when the company is about to get a massive windfall from the US Government. Al Gore compared climate deniers to the police in the Uvalde, Texas school shooting while jet-setting around the globe. He is preaching moderation and reduced lifestyles while he lives in excess. The list is never-ending, where extreme lifestyles are flashed wantonly, and suffering continues to expand exponentially.
Marie Antoinette was made famous for the starving and suffering by losing her head after supposedly claiming, “Let them eat cake.” Hubris snuffed out by Nemesis in a well-deserved act of humiliation. Yet, one of the things that set Greek and Roman mythology apart from Judaism and Christianity was the ability to repent, achieve forgiveness, and change one’s life being in the hands of the individual, not the destiny of the Fate’s.
Being called to repentance is primarily the realm of religious leaders, and I would not want anyone to think I am making a call for others to repent. Not my job, no authority, no power. Merely, I hope to help raise the perception of those suffering from the hubris of others. I also want to improve how I live. I am not the example to hold up to anyone, except as a warning, but I strive to improve. The poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley rings ever truer, “I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.”
Our world, right now, is suffering greatly. Crime is skyrocketing; theft is out of control; violence, aggression, murder, rape, and so much more are occurring at levels not ever recorded and growing. Yet, Thomas S. Monson authored a book based on a concept of power, “The future is only as bright as your faith.” Consider this for a moment; we can have hope and happiness in whatever circumstances we face as a choice reflecting our personal religious beliefs. Yes, the consequences of crime hurt physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, etc., but the hubris of others can be healed. Victor E. Frankl’s book, “Man’s Search for Meaning,” signals the same semaphore, your choices can heal the hubristic consequences suffered, and the future is bright!
Those who have indulged in hubristic actions can find peace, joy, happiness, and forgiveness. Those hurt by the hubris of others do not have to stay hurt, or hurt others, to find the same joy, peace, happiness, and forgiveness. Want to know an exciting thought? I am not preaching religion! Your religious choices are your own, and I respect your religious preferences, provided they do not infringe upon anyone else’s rights to freedom of religion.
I am talking about living without extremes, not religion. How big of a house do you need? Due to my violent sleeping and crazy sleep patterns, my wife and I sleep in different rooms. Because I am a proud person who, after cleaning latrines and heads for the US Army and Navy, hates cleaning bathrooms, we also have separate bathrooms. As a married couple, these changes to the “traditional” style of a man living with a woman have led us to live in a slightly larger home, but this fits our needs. Please note that my bathroom is not a filthy mess, but it is not the surgical clean of a military bathroom either. Nor is my bathroom one step higher in cleanliness above the military than my spouse’s.
How many cars and vehicles does a person need? I don’t know. I have friends who have four-wheelers, tractors, motorcycles, and a host of other vehicular conveyances. I am not here to tell anyone how much of anything they need. I merely postulate that you can make better choices and exercise less hubris through careful consideration and thoughtful discussion. The same goes for food, clothing, entertainment, and every other vice humans invent to fall into. I am not condemning anyone! I suggest that we can live well without the extremes and expect our political leaders and bureaucrats to do similarly.
How expensive is the government because those who claim to be public servants practice hubris with our tax dollars? How complicated a process does a government become when government becomes a jobs program instead of a government? How big does a government become when hubris is practiced against the citizens?
As free-thinking humans, we do not need to be ruled with a brick stick to make better living choices. We do need a moral code to live by, and how you choose your moral code is your business. The moral code should include things like living within our means, not being violent to others, promoting good where we see it, and disdaining socially what should be kept privately, among other things. I cannot stress this enough choosing what you believe is your business. However, hubris hurts others to make oneself inflated, and that is everyone’s business!
Consider for a moment the store clerk who had to take a life to defend himself in a bodega in NYC. That man will be forever haunted by the violence perpetrated upon him, leading to the perpetrator’s death. The hubris of the attacker led to his humiliation but had consequences for society at large. The thieves in San Francisco, Chicago, and other places do not hurt just the business and local communities, they hurt everyone in American society, and their hubris is morally, ethically, and legally wrong!
The murderer’s hubris affects society just as wholly as the hubris of a political leader who lives in excess; I see no difference between the two. Some may complain that murder and living in excess are two different moral choices, but those hurt do not differentiate the wound, so why should I? Is not a life lost in murder? Is not a life lost when the excesses of others lead them to use the power of government to steal, cheat, and lie in the name of government business?
Consider illegal immigration as the theft it is, and we can see how hubris negatively influences the originating country, pushing the poor out and the host country where the poor want to reside illegally. Does this mean immigration is wrong; absolutely not! Immigration includes assimilation, illegal immigration does not, and those practicing illegal immigration, promoting, and facilitating are all practicing hubris for personal power, wealth, and gain. Are there those in the illegal immigration classes who are the “Sons of Mary;” indeed. But the majority are merely perpetuating hubris with the resulting consequences in increased drug trafficking, sex trafficking, disease spread, and a host of other social ills.
I admit the murders of millions in Nazi Germany under Hitler were terrible, but how is this any different from Mao using government powers to kill millions by withholding food, clothing, and housing from those who disagreed politically, religiously, or personally? Or any different than Xi Jinping doing similarly to the Uyghur populations? What is different between Marie Antoinette and Marx or Stalin? How are these actions any other than what the government has done under the excuse of Covid? Did not millions die while political leaders lived in excess, flaunted their hubris, and stole from those who put them in power?
Under communism in the USSR, the people lived in abject misery, while those who considered themselves elite grew fat and lazy, all in the name of helping, providing, caring, and progress. Communist Cuba and the disaster called Venezuela are additional examples of what occurs when hubris corrupts governments and society is left to suffer while the leaders live lives of excess. America used to be a capitalistic country but is now a mix of socialism and communism under the guise of capitalism. The hubristic lifestyles of those in power, their lackeys, flunkeys, and bureaucrats, are all at the taxpayers’ expense. What is the difference between hubris in the communist USSR and America?
I am not claiming that anyone is doing anything inherently wrong. Our choices to live an extreme lifestyle breed pride, vanity, ego, narcissism, and a host of other social ills; these social ills breed expanses to government, creating red tape, tax increases, and socialism/communism as measures to improve equality. What happens when the hubris grows too big, war, revolutionary governments, and destruction. The mythological Greeks would call this the coming of Nemesis to cull the acts of Hubris. Judaism and Christianity would discuss balancing the scales of justice with mercy. Other religions would discuss balance, choice, and compounding accountability for choices. All truths flashed from an eternal semaphore, where man tries to explain the loss, putting morales to the stories and trying to pass along a truth grasped at, that men make choices, and when those choices include extremes, the consequence is death.
Is the future really as bright as our faith; YES! What we choose to believe in, how we choose to exercise belief, and the need for freedom of religion to keep men on equal grounds, are all pillars to helping man live life without extremes. Extremes breed death; living without extremes creates life; can we at least learn this lesson? I hope so.
© Copyright 2022 – M. Dave Salisbury
The author holds no claims for the art used herein, the pictures were obtained in the public domain, and the intellectual property belongs to those who created the images. Quoted materials remain the property of the original author.
The Virginia Declaration of Rights prefixed the Virginia Colony’s constitution and was written by a reluctant statesman and largest landowner, George Mason. In sixteen statements on government and the rights of man, we find the consent of the governed and the need for controls on government pertinent to our day and time. For this article, we are focused upon the first three articles in the Declaration of Rights and the fundamental principles of liberty that must be refreshed and revisited often to maintain a government of the people, by the people, for the people, and where the consent of the governed is respected.
The Eagles sing a song called “Lyin’ Eyes,” in which truth is revealed:
I weep for Venezuela, Cuba, Brazil, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and so many other countries where the people’s voice was twisted, distorted, stolen, or outright silenced to implant a government that does not represent the people. But, the principles remain the same; your consent to be governed remains the tinder upon which your money is exchanged. Your consent to be governed remains the trust used to keep unjust regimes and totalitarian officers in office. Your consent to be governed is the straw that will break the camels back and force changes to government. If the last century has taught us anything, when the people have had enough, collectively stand, and refuse their consent to be governed, blessed change will come, and governments crumble and blow away like dust in heavy winds!
Representative Deb Haaland (D) sent out an email while a US House of Representatives member claimed America is a “Constitutional Democracy.” I will endeavor to correct this confusion using simple terms; for Representative Haaland’s benefit, please allow me to elaborate. Along the way, let us explore a few connected topics, including the plasticization of words and how that breeds tyranny.
Starting in the 1930s, during the “Great Depression,” changes were made to America’s methods of governance by the President, a willing media, and sycophants in the Senate and House. Establishing the Federal and State Government’s ability to rule by largess; picking winners and losers based upon obeisance to a bureaucrat’s whims, wishes, and will. Reich lays out this history, walks the reader through the laws, and makes the case that because of democratic rule America’s Republic has been reduced to a feudal system where the government decides who gets the largess and who does not. With the Federal and State Governments making these decisions, businesses do not compete fairly upon their own merits but upon how much taxpayer money they can bamboozle from Uncle Sam. Unfortunately, the entire system hinges upon reducing private property ownership and the freedoms private property allow to feed the ever-hungry beast of Government consumption.
Thus, America needs to demand change through the ballot box, insist that freedom and private property are returned to the people. Those representatives who have no moral center, or cannot serve their constituents from both parties equally, are removed from politics; indefinitely! Since America is a Republic and not a democracy (yet!), the problems in representation can be solved.
Shakespeare (2016) used Hamlet to relate a line that frequently applies, especially when communicating online, “… thou doth protest too much, methinks.” Too often, those intent on misusing words are protesting too much about something. On social media, every communication, every interaction, and every person is a threat to the intellect of the one protesting and must be lorded over, trolled, and publicly shamed. A recent example of this the world witnessed during Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation process, where the judge’s children were physically and verbally assaulted—using a warping of legal rights, guaranteed justification for the assault. A careful review of any newspaper, news broadcast, and many politicians speaking will evidence the plasticization of words to justify actions, e.g., President Clinton, “Depends on what your definition of “is” is.” Words to couch a threat while seeming to be helpful and friendly, or worst of all hide abuses of others through twisted logic. Every time words become disconnected from standard meanings, society crumbles, language becomes useless, and the consequences are multi-generational, which is precisely what transpired in recovering Germany after Hitler’s demise.
I had the great personal pleasure of speaking to a senior citizen from Germany who lived through Hitler’s oppression and the recovery of Germany post-WWII, and the person I spoke with affirmed the most challenging social problem was relearning words and definitions to communicate without the taint of Hitler’s Germanic Language. Hence, we can draw several lessons from this experience; language is trained. It can be retrained; relearning language is a social problem fixed through social interactions and personal knowledge, and personal responsibility and accountability remain pre-eminent in communicating correctly. Another lesson from my experience, history repeats itself, and those with dastardly designs will always corrupt language to gain the advantage before showing their true colors as tyrants. Every single despot in recorded history has employed plastic language to lull the population into acquiescence before demanding loyalty and destroying that civilization, society, or culture.
Padmé in “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith” makes a powerful statement about the galactic war being fought, “This war represents a failure to listen.” While Padmé insists that diplomacy is required, this is incorrect. Diplomacy is the political game of charades, with smoke and mirrors of intelligence games. Diplomacy fails because each sides agenda is more important than the words being spoken, which is why so much of the work done in diplomatic circles is done in “informal settings.” Diplomacy fails to listen.
The Russians thought diplomacy was the appropriate approach to Nazi Germany; and Nazi Germany made the Russians pay in blood for the failure of the government to listen. Even though history has regularly taught the Russians not to engage in diplomatic solutions with Germans. This was hardly the first fight between Germany and Russian troops and governments. Failure to listen, and the citizens suffered tremendously to overthrow both Nazi Germany and then the chains of Communism.
How many families cannot have a meal without choices of lifestyle and hostility ending conversation over a failure to listen? Can a Chicago Bears Family survive long with a fan from Minnesota or Wisconsin? What about the other choices people make in their lives, religious flavor versus another religious flavor; this simple line has been destroying nations since history began being recorded. What do we see in the Old Testament; governments repeatedly failing because they stopped listening.
Why did Anakin stop being a Jedi; he stopped listening, then he selectively listened, he began acting as a terrorist, and then he became Darth Vader. This plot line of refusing to listen is so prevalent and obvious because humans continue to make the same mistake. When we stop listening to each other, we stop talking; when we stop talking, we become overwhelmed by our own echo-chambers, and create the chaos that ultimately destroys our lives, our dreams, and our futures until we begin to lay aside petty differences and listen to each other again.
Listening appreciatively is reflective listening, where we commit to listening with the intent to achieve mutual understanding. Essentially, to improve government we must listen first with the intent to reach mutual understanding, before we ever open our mouths to speak.
Listening is a choice. Listening is hard. Yet, many people have pointed out that we have two ears and one mouth so we can listen twice as often as we speak. Choose to reflectively listen, choose to reach a mutual understanding, watch society change. It has been said that the US Constitution will hang by a thread, rule of law and the American Republic hang upon our decisions to listen appreciatively to each other and to stop allowing petty divisions to destroy ourselves, our families, and our American society.
DNC-Consulting 