Ruling the world is a bit like playing “truth or dare.” When I was a child, I always thought that the “dare” part was the whole point of the game, like when you dare a friend to kiss someone they don’t like. When I grew up, I realised that the “truth” part is far more interesting. I guess most people, given dominion over the world, would similarly start by trying to force people to act in a particular way but, just as in truth or dare, we shouldn’t underestimate the “truth.”
So maybe I would start by opening the secret safes in the White House, the Kremlin, the Vatican and 10 Downing Street, to finally discover who murdered John F Kennedy, whether Adolf Hitler really died in that Berlin bunker and what happened in Roswell in 1947. I would require telephone companies to tell me what they are hiding with regards to the harmful effects of cellular radiation; and I would oblige food giants to disclose what they are doing to billions of animals in the meat, dairy and egg industries. With the world’s resources at my call, I would then try to tackle the big riddles of human existence, such as what is consciousness, and what is the root cause of suffering?
However, I doubt whether I could get the answers because great power inevitably distorts the truth. Power is all about changing reality rather than seeing it for what it is. When you have a hammer in your hand, everything looks like a nail; and when you have great power in your hand, everything looks like an invitation to meddle. Even if you somehow overcome this urge, the people surrounding you will never forget the giant hammer you are holding. Anybody who talks with you will have a conscious or unconscious agenda, hence you could never have full faith in what they tell you. No sultan should trust his courtiers.
Great power thus acts like a black hole that warps the very space around it. The closer you get, the more twisted everything becomes. Each person you see tries to flatter you, appease you, or get something from you. They know you cannot spare them more than a minute a two, and they are fearful of saying something improper, so they end up saying empty slogans or clichés.
Last year I was invited to dinner with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister. Friends warned me not to go, but I couldn’t resist the temptation. I thought I could finally hear some important truths that are divulged only to imperial ears behind closed doors. What a disappointment it was! There were about 30 people there, and everyone tried to grab his attention, impress him with their wit, curry favour, or get something out of him. I have rarely attended such a stultifying and empty occasion. If anyone there knew any big secret, they did an extremely good job of keeping it to themselves.
According to Buddhist tradition, when Siddhartha Gautama—who later became the Buddha—was born, a seer foretold that he would become either an enlightened person or a universal monarch. Clearly the two are mutually exclusive. Siddhartha’s father promptly locked the boy in the palace to make sure he would follow the path of power. It was only when he finally ventured out and encountered a corpse that he began seeking the truth. Alas, so many people who dream of ruling the world encounter so many corpses on the way there—and walk over them.
So maybe I would start by opening the secret safes in the White House, the Kremlin, the Vatican and 10 Downing Street, to finally discover who murdered John F Kennedy, whether Adolf Hitler really died in that Berlin bunker and what happened in Roswell in 1947. I would require telephone companies to tell me what they are hiding with regards to the harmful effects of cellular radiation; and I would oblige food giants to disclose what they are doing to billions of animals in the meat, dairy and egg industries. With the world’s resources at my call, I would then try to tackle the big riddles of human existence, such as what is consciousness, and what is the root cause of suffering?
However, I doubt whether I could get the answers because great power inevitably distorts the truth. Power is all about changing reality rather than seeing it for what it is. When you have a hammer in your hand, everything looks like a nail; and when you have great power in your hand, everything looks like an invitation to meddle. Even if you somehow overcome this urge, the people surrounding you will never forget the giant hammer you are holding. Anybody who talks with you will have a conscious or unconscious agenda, hence you could never have full faith in what they tell you. No sultan should trust his courtiers.
Great power thus acts like a black hole that warps the very space around it. The closer you get, the more twisted everything becomes. Each person you see tries to flatter you, appease you, or get something from you. They know you cannot spare them more than a minute a two, and they are fearful of saying something improper, so they end up saying empty slogans or clichés.
Last year I was invited to dinner with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister. Friends warned me not to go, but I couldn’t resist the temptation. I thought I could finally hear some important truths that are divulged only to imperial ears behind closed doors. What a disappointment it was! There were about 30 people there, and everyone tried to grab his attention, impress him with their wit, curry favour, or get something out of him. I have rarely attended such a stultifying and empty occasion. If anyone there knew any big secret, they did an extremely good job of keeping it to themselves.
According to Buddhist tradition, when Siddhartha Gautama—who later became the Buddha—was born, a seer foretold that he would become either an enlightened person or a universal monarch. Clearly the two are mutually exclusive. Siddhartha’s father promptly locked the boy in the palace to make sure he would follow the path of power. It was only when he finally ventured out and encountered a corpse that he began seeking the truth. Alas, so many people who dream of ruling the world encounter so many corpses on the way there—and walk over them.
