dominance over a herd, The Mechanics of Virtue, aphorism 216

216

By Power, I mean dominance over a herd by the manipulation of mechanical forces.
By Righteousness, I mean the overthrow of this power by identifying oneself and one's herd with “higher” icons or standards, the justification of which either constitute a reversal in rank or a demotion of the powerful to an equal status.

Power, when overthrown ... stampeded in this manner, still seeks to preserve a degree of mechanical force, and so power itself must now work with these very cattle-prods ... these icons, symbols, arguments, and standards.


When righteousness and power equilibrate, we find two compatible dominance hierarchies ... and where each believes it is incompatible precisely where its existence is dependent.  It is as if a bucket were swung around by a rope and the opposing centripetal and centrifugal forces were said to be incompatible with the aim of a stable cycle.


A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism



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