I have a confession to make.
I'm a former "politician basher". Like many, it has been typical of me to"hate the oppressor". And not too long ago, I have been a part of organizations (by supporting them) that spend much of their time bashing corrupt politicians, demanding accountability and "justice" for their crimes.
Let's take for instance an easy target...George W Bush. No doubt this man has done awful things with his power, and as a result of his foreign wars and expanding military industrial complex and "war on terror", he has doneimmense harmto many, and has left countless dead and wounded.
And no doubt that Bush is justa pawnin a much bigger game of elite power hungry bankers and oligarchs. No doubt he has been used (and now Obama just the same) to advance the interests of the elite few who rule the world bystealth and proxy.
Yes, I have no trouble whatsoever believing thata few corrupt men have a stranglehold on major world powers, and seek to serve their interests only.
But indeed how I have gone about thingsbackwards. And now I see clearly the truth of the statement:
"What you resist, persists."
I understand now that when we "whine and revile" about corruption in any leadership position (be it moderate scandal or complete despotism), we are directing our energies at thewrong target, not understanding thepre-conditionswhich brought us to a place where such corruption could come to bein the first place.
I now see that the key is understanding the difference between currentconditions, andpre-conditions.
Thanks to people like James Allen, I now see that when we rage against corrupt officials, we actually are ensuring that such corruptioncontinues(if not in the same person, eventually in another). Why? Simply because of the universal principle that:"What you resist, persists."
If we were all truly concerned about the state of our world and the corruption that cripples authorities, corporations, and institutions of every kind (including religious), we would do well to consider thepre-conditionsthat allowed the corruption toflourish.
And what are those pre-conditions?
Well, specifically (as far as I can tell) the pre-conditions for corruption in any leadership position, in any given society, would be the following:
A lack ofvigilance in emphasizing over and over againthe need for distrust ofALLof those in power. The problem is that we do not emphasizeenoughthe tendency to corruption ofALLhumans who are givenANY sort of power.
A lack of such vigilance is the "pre-condition" that serves for greater corruption to come to life later on.
Let's consider one of the most popular examples of dictatorship and corruption in government:Adolf Hitler. No doubt he was definitely "evil" byanymeasurement. He was directly and indirectly responsible for countless atrocities. Now it would be natural for us to "whine and revile" and to "rage" against his regime (just as we would any present dictator).
But here's my point. I have recently learned that to "hate the oppressor" is not to resolvethe root of the problem. It is to attack thepresent conditions, without proper regard forthe pre-conditions.
And what were the "pre-conditions" to Adolf Hitler's madness?
The pre-conditions were the same for Adolf as they are for any corrupt leader: a lack of understanding andvigilant emphasisof the tendency of ALL humans (regardless of race, creed, or ethnicity) to succumb to corruption when given power ofanykind. Just a casual read of "Mein Kempf" will reveal that Hitler was no doubt deluded and harbored grave ignorance on the tendency ofALLmen tosuccumbto corruption (including those of the "aryan" race).
Indeed when you speak to those alive still today who were involved in "Hitler's youth" rallies, they would probably admit that, especially during the emotionally powerful and engaging rallies, they didn'tWANTto believe that the "dear leader" could in fact becorrupt and self-serving.
And it was this"tendency to willful ignorance"on the part of the masses that are thepre-conditionsto corruption in government.
So what of more current leaders like Bush and Obama? And what of other despots like Kim Jong Il and Ahmadinejad?
Let's be clear.They are ALL corrupt.
Why?
Because their societies were notvigilant enoughahead of time to over-emphasizethe fundamental truth of human nature: that when given power, humans areNEVERto be trusted, and must CONSTANTLY be monitored.
As James Allen would say, both oppressor and oppressed are"co-operators in ignorance".
To quote him directly:
"It has been usual for men to think and to say, "Many men are slaves because one is an oppressor; let us hate the oppressor." Now, however, there is among an increasing few a tendency to reverse this judgment, and to say, "One man is an oppressor because many are slaves; let us despise the slaves."The truth is that oppressor and slave are cooperators in ignorance, and, while seeming to afflict each other,are in reality afflicting themselves.A perfect Knowledge perceives the action of law in theweakness of the oppressedand themisapplied power of the oppressor.A perfect Love, seeing the sufferingwhich both states entail,condemnsneither. A perfect Compassion embraces both oppressor and oppressed.
He who has conquered weakness, and has put away all selfish thoughts, belongs neither to oppressor nor oppressed.He is free"(As a Man Thinketh).
And therein lies another great point:All oppressors, regardless of the extent of their corruption, by their corruption are "inflicting themselves". And what a better society we would live in if we, instead of growing inbitternesstowards corrupt officials, saw thepre-conditionsthat allowed their weakness to thrivein the first place.
No doubt here the words of the Nazarene are directly relevant:
"Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do."
