Everybody Wants To Rule The World

The world is as big as the limits of vision. When the Greeks said 'kosmos', they meant whatever was within the limits of existence. But for some, the world is very small; for some, their grasp is greater than their mind's reach.

On Thursday, I was at a ceremony somewhere in the clement reaches of Atlantis. It was funny to see two people whose exaltations (with all due respect, really) still evoke from my colleagues elsewhere a 'what? really?' response when I speak of them. It was slightly sad to hear people nearby muse about whether those two were lesser servitors or whatever; it was embarrassing to see certain things happen on stage. I guess the 'what? really?' response I got was even sadder.

But the thing is that these people are very different. They don't really want to rule their microcosm, but they are agents of rulership now. One has a big erratic vision, a bit like too much lipstick on lips too thin; the other has a narrow vision, like trying to see the world outside through a keyhole.

The problem back in the high tower of the Inquisition is that some people do indeed want to rule that world, or at least have the power of life and death. It brings to mind the key themes of Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light, itself based partly on Hesse's Siddhartha. The insect has six legs. Some of those legs want to be mandibles.

High above, the boot descends.