She once said she could always rely on me in an emergency. I don’t remember which emergency inspired her
to say that, but I do remember thinking it’s easy to rise to an emergency because
we assume it will eventually end, and life will return to normal. But life isn’t normally peaceful and
uneventful. It’s a series of emergencies,
as most people eventually realize if they live long enough, and aren’t
fools. The real test of character is persevering
through all of life’s emergencies, knowing they won’t cease until life ceases.
Some learn to do that when they're young, but most never learn it. Every emergency surprises them. Civilizations fall with monotonous regularity because people keep making the same mistakes, and are always surprised when they have the same results.
If masters are to the body politic what the brain is to the body organic, that explains why our civilizations keep falling, and always for the same reasons. Despite what they like to think, and what their slaves like to think about them, masters are not only delusional, but more delusional than their slaves. Slaves learn to be somewhat realistic because their lives are precarious, but wealth and power protect masters from suffering the consequences of their folly. But what protects masters more than wealth and power is the love of their slaves. Slaves love their masters more than they love themselves—as a mother loves her baby, hoping it will grow to love her in return—but masters never do.
Slaves and masters live together because they must, because they cannot live without each other; and they tell themselves and each other that they love each other. But in an emergency, masters—and those fools who only think they’re masters—think only of saving themselves, and perhaps a few others. Seldom more than a few, and never their slaves, or those they regard as slaves because they love their masters. Not only do they hope to survive while others die, but these fools take joy in seeing others die because they think it proves they alone deserve to live. It was therefore inevitable that if and when we faced an emergency that threatened us all, as we do now, we would not fight it together. We would instead die together.
Some learn to do that when they're young, but most never learn it. Every emergency surprises them. Civilizations fall with monotonous regularity because people keep making the same mistakes, and are always surprised when they have the same results.
If masters are to the body politic what the brain is to the body organic, that explains why our civilizations keep falling, and always for the same reasons. Despite what they like to think, and what their slaves like to think about them, masters are not only delusional, but more delusional than their slaves. Slaves learn to be somewhat realistic because their lives are precarious, but wealth and power protect masters from suffering the consequences of their folly. But what protects masters more than wealth and power is the love of their slaves. Slaves love their masters more than they love themselves—as a mother loves her baby, hoping it will grow to love her in return—but masters never do.
Slaves and masters live together because they must, because they cannot live without each other; and they tell themselves and each other that they love each other. But in an emergency, masters—and those fools who only think they’re masters—think only of saving themselves, and perhaps a few others. Seldom more than a few, and never their slaves, or those they regard as slaves because they love their masters. Not only do they hope to survive while others die, but these fools take joy in seeing others die because they think it proves they alone deserve to live. It was therefore inevitable that if and when we faced an emergency that threatened us all, as we do now, we would not fight it together. We would instead die together.
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