Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
– William Blake
William Blake wondered what kind of God created the tiger. Was it the same god that created the lamb? The lamb has no design on the tiger, but the tiger desires the lamb fiercely. The tiger will chase down the lamb and kill it. The tiger will consume the lamb, eating parts of the lamb and leaving the rest for the scavengers and worms. Yet, we do not judge the tiger. We see it as natural, useful, and even beautiful. So, why do we judge a man for killing another man to take from him his precious resources? What belief or morality are we imposing to make this be wrong?
Machiavelli argued that power is amoral. Whatever the tiger can take, he can take. Whatever a person can conquer, they can conquer. Machiavelli advised kings that power is the ability to command others and get what you want by any means necessary. In The Prince, he wrote, “None who is wise will ever blame any action, however extraordinary and irregular, which serves to lay the foundation of a kingdom or to establish a republic.” In other words, when the end is glory, any means are justified.
But tigers eat monkeys too, and sometimes the monkeys get away. The reason they get away is because other monkeys come to the rescue and help save the one that is under attack. Together, they deny the will of the tiger. And in doing so, they become more powerful in that moment than the fiercest and most capable beast. So, what makes the monkeys choose to help one another? Why don’t they scatter in self-interest and let the weak monkey get eaten? They must have some connection to the monkey facing the jaws of a tiger. They must be emotionally motivated to risk their own lives in protecting him. Are they family? Are they friends? Maybe. But it turns out that monkeys will defend other monkeys even when they have never encountered one another before. Monkeys will rally to defend strangers from harm. Apparently, the monkeys share a belief that it’s just not acceptable for a predator to attack and kill another monkey. This is both a principle and a compassion being put forward collectively by the monkeys.
In forming society, humans put forward certain principles and compassions as dear. We acknowledge that we are affected by a man killing another man for his resources, and that we do judge that killer as immoral. We put forward rules and systems that will disallow such a killing. We band together to form power as a group to enforce the best interest of the many and the protection of each. This is the purpose of government, to control collective power in the interest of our society’s principles and compassions. What are those principles and compassions for us today? And how true are we in honoring them in our government and our economic systems?
Over two thousand years ago, Thucydides said power was the ability to compel others to act in accordance with your will. Max Weber added that power is the ability to enforce one’s will, even against great resistance.
So, what if the tiger had responded to the monkey resistance by slaughtering them all? That would be a grand show of power for sure. Yet, it would seem tragic and sad and terribly violent, as opposed to a natural fact of life. We would see the tiger differently after that. The tiger would seem dark in a way that it didn’t before. But the tiger doesn’t do that. The beast is not driven to that level of destruction. The fierce desire in the cat wanes after several frustrating minutes of the chaos and hassle of all the monkeys. Eventually, the tiger seeks sustenance elsewhere. But what if the tiger did persist? The monkeys would need even more monkeys to leverage even greater power over the now desperate beast. The monkeys would have to muster the will to force the attacker to retreat at any cost.
Our government is a system we create to perpetuate our society. Our government is our tool by which we can control and maintain power in line with our society’s principles and compassions. Let us proclaim that no monkey shall be harmed on our watch. Let us be a democratic economy to ensure that the government is of, by, and for the people.
Today, we face a serious and coordinated threat to our democracy. It’s not a tiger this time, but a monkey king. We must rally to the aid of each other for what is good and moral. We must ensure that our government is democratic in nature, representing our principles and compassions, representing those it governs. With great power comes great responsibility, so said Voltaire and Uncle Ben, and we must claim that power and exercise that responsibility before we see our democracy evaporate completely.