Soldiers and Generals -
The ambiguous relation of soldiers to generals is thus: On the one hand
they are in awe of their general, and love him like a father. On the other they
are terrified of Father's disapproval, and live in constant fear of him.
It is in a human's nature to long for freedom, to create their own ideas
of good and not to have to perform machinate tasks. This unquenchable lust to
be uncaged lurks inside the most drilled and conditioned soldiers. This desire
for freedom conflicts with their utter subjugation to Realm and General. As
such, it leads the soldiers to hate the authority they simultaneously love and
find purpose from. This in turn leads them to confusion, and out of the
confusion they search out a cast-iron cure, an absolute truth. Ironically
enough, the reassurance of their masters is that purpose and thus they continue
the self-fulfilling cycle of searching after purpose, being confused by their
ambiguous feelings, and resolving those feelings in the mindless obeyance of
the powerful.
The soldiers have no means of taking out their frustration upon their
masters, so instead they bully those weaker than themselves. Thus, their hatred
of master and the impotent frustration it fosters is an absolutely essential
element in maintaining the hierarchy between rulers and ruled. To put it
another way, the hidden anger of the obedient soldier at having sold his
freedom is what separates him from the people (the threat of his armed anger
forever hangs over their heads) - if the people were allowed to advise the
soldier, how long would the lofty general last?
Of course you might say the soldier defends his people. Indeed, the
soldiers you salute at a parade may protect you from other soldiers, but those
other soldiers fight for authoritative figures. It doesn't make a difference
where a soldier is from, they belong to the universal category of soldier. And
likewise with a general. Whoever wins whatever war, you as a person lose, for
you are still under a violent authority. Your Realm may be the richest and the
most powerful, yet still you should despair - you are merely a preened slave to
violent authority. We must desire to have all soldiers in the world unite on
one side, fighting against all of the generals on the other side, until we gain
freedom; for what do soldiers do but defend us from, or instigate, the
ambitions of soulless, evil rulers, who may only be marginally worse than our own,
soulless, rulers? i.e. by having generals leading soldiers, we are
perpetuating the very idea of generals and soldiers. Whilst this division
exists, we cannot know freedom.
By Selim 'Selim' Talat
