The Cat and the King
Author: David Duffy
“FOR SOME MEN NOTHING IS WRITTEN UNLESS THEY WRITE IT.” This interesting line was once used in reference to the late T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia).
It is a damn tempting precept to take up and I have often been a disciple when I have creatively jay-walked contrary to traffic regulations and infringed on other municipal by-laws at random – but I value the rule of law none the less.
I am not a hypocrite and certainly not a mini suburban fan of “Laura Norda” with a button down mind – not a bit of it; there must always be room for the occasional white knight of the sands, like the late T.E., who insists on steering his camel across the double yellow lines where he has to.
My conscience is and will remain my last court of appeal in all matters of social duty and creative civil disobedience is sometimes necessary; but a very vital principle underpinning all civilised life is at stake, the idea that the moral high ground is the inalienable possession of all beings whose feet rest upon it and claim allegiance to it regardless of how tall they may stand or how they arrived. Thus the old democratic adage – “the cat can look at the king”.
POSSESSION OF AN AGREED MORAL STANDARD ALLOWS THE LESSER TO JUDGE THE GREATER PROVIDED THE GREATER PERSON IS KNOWN TO ACCEPT THE SAME STANDARD.
This is our ultimate backstop against arbitrary or totalitarian rule by a dictator or an elite. But the morality invoked must be mutually accepted if we are to bring Caesar to heel. If, for instance, we were invaded by extra-terrestrial aliens who chose to use us as a filling for their sandwiches and therefore totally denied our worth, then we would have no recourse but to seek their destruction.
That which is moral binds the conscience and behaviour of all of us who are a moral sense, and this is the bottom line in the social contract which separates us from beasts, savages and psychopaths.
Political power may grow out of the barrel of a gun momentarily, but in the long run the moral authority of those who have the courage of their convictions will prevail, even if only posthumously. The blood of the martyrs is the most powerful “elixir” in history.
The situationist ethics emerging in modern society. “If it feels good to do it” etc – are an “open sesame” to the emergence of a new power elite, as LACK OF A MUTUALLY AGREED MORAL CRITERIA PREVENTS THOSE OF US WITH LESS “CLOUT” FROM CALLING THE MOVERS AND SHAKERS TO ACCOUNT.
The bully in history and all the way down to the schoolyard is someone who creates his own rules to serve his own ends and then enlists “running dogs” who are usually misfits to carry them out in return for prestige, a share of the spoils and immunity from prosecution. Hitler, Stalin Idi Amin and Pol Pot were classic examples.
This is what makes the vital distinction between the bullies of this world and those people with true moral authority – such as the late Mahatma Gandhi, Solzhenitsyn, Lech Walesa etc. – those who follow them do so freely and a commonwealth of kindred souls will always win over brute force.
ALL TRUE CIVILISATION IS BASED ON A HERITAGE OF SHARED MORAL VALUES.
