I was reading the latest issue of Forbes magazine this morning, which in a section entitled, Thoughts: On The Business of Life, quotes involving a theme are featured. Also included every month is a bible verse selected by a reader. This month's selection came from the book of Ecclesiastes. I pulled out one of my bibles to look up the quote and examine the context in which it appears. That's when I found this:
"There is an evil that I have observed here under the sun, an error for which rulers are responsible: fools are given high office, while the rich occupy humble positions. I have seen slaves on horseback and men of high rank going on foot like slaves." -- Ecclesiastes 10.5-7
This is us. In the republic that is ours, we are the rulers, and we are responsible for the fools that we keep putting in power. Where we should be rich in liberty, we instead allow fools to rob us of that and make us poor slaves instead. Meanwhile, they enjoy what they deny to us (and we pay their way, too).
How did we get to this? Did we really choose it, or is this a stage in a repetitive cycle, one that the world has seen before? Is humanity condemned to experience it again and again? Is it totally inevitable that we will vacillate between liberty and tyranny, or is the latter only able to manifest if we become lazy and indifferent in regard to the former?
For everything its season, and for every activity under heaven its time...
0 comments:
Post a Comment