Absolute power? OFF TANGENT
It was in my freshman year in Law school when Robert Ludlum published his work “Scarlatti Inheritance”. That was in the early ‘70s. Then Ludlum followed up with another thriller entitled “Matlock Papers” and I got so hooked to his genre of fiction that I always looked out for his paperbacks to hit the market. Jason Bourne (David Webb), his hero in the later years, made me more alert on Intelligence issues than Ian Fleming’s James Bond. There were also Frederick Forsythe and John D. MacDonald who dwelt on similar exciting plots. Then I realized that their collective works took away a huge amount of man hours from my Law books. To fight such creeping diversion, I started organizing my school notes to serve as the eventual framework of some college textbooks.
Even if only for today’s column, and true to my off-tangent characterization, I will veer away from my usual topics on government and social order and attempt to put to print a fiction of my thought.
In the Kingdom of Malagiztan reigns King Herodrig. His rise to power was populist based. The people felt that for a long time, the oligarchs controlled the government. To be sure, there wasn’t just one family like the Romanovs who ruled in abundance, but the few who lorded it over had a taste of power one after another in a never-ending rigodon. There were blessings sprinkled now and then by the privileged class, but generosity wasn’t the agendum. Rather, it was done to keep the steam in manageable levels. The sight of the powers-that-be was limited to their immediate environs, they forgot that hungry people in the countryside were their vassals too.
Such was the condition when Herodrig, a relative unknown coming from a seemingly godforsaken back country stuck his neck out for the impoverished. On his promise to turn the tables on the rich, he etched change in the hearts of many. He nurtured the citizenry long dismayed by the ineptitude of the governors into an unrelenting horde of blind cadres.
Herodrig is the Bobby Fisher of international diplomacy. Remember how the chess genius used a reported telekinetic practitioner to unnerve Boris Spassky? The latitude given him by his country’s fundamental law is wide enough for his fanciful maneuvers. Theoretically, it is couched in such rubric as self-determination. With such a constitutional elbow room to maneuver, he is unafraid to try innovations. Of course, the real objective of his posturing is not the supreme interest of the state. His placing his chessmen is only to keep power.
Herodrig knows he is playing footsie with his country’s neighbor. It’s important to his reign. This is tactical. He does so to keep a long-time ally at bay. With his newfound comrade throwing all kinds of supportive mantle, the familiar interventions of a former friend are of no persuasive effect. For instance when he wields his sword like Pol Pot, the supposed righteous indignation of his erstwhile friend finds no persuasive force or practical application.
In his country, Herodrig is but a part of a triangular rule. Supposedly, the leg he has is as necessary as the two other legs of power such that if one is removed the entire structure falls. Yet, early in his reign, he scuttled the jurists by removing their heads. It was the weakest leg of government after all. When he beheaded the top judge, the others cowered in fear.
Of late, Herodrig showed why he is lord of all. All nations around the world witnessed how he bamboozled his vassals into making the third leg of power a harem of his stooges. There was a complete shut out in the field called “election”. His domination having become well-nigh absolute, we can just hope absolute power does not corrupt absolutely.
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