Allegory of the Mirror, the Mask, and the Mob

“Wise one, what is the true nature of politicians and the masses?”

Sure. Thanks for asking. Imagine if you will a remote planet in a distant galaxy that went extinct long ago. Marginally intelligent beings once lived there for many millennia. Their many accomplishments were impressive even by our standards. So were their defects. They went extinct long before their planet fell into its life-giving star. Compared to us these beings had crude even barbaric ways. They had ways of killing each other frequently. Some of these ways were called, ''accidents'. Some were called 'murder'. Some were called 'war'. None of these ways were thought to be very healthy, but they did them anyway being a covetous breed. They even had something called ‘execution’ where whole groups decided to kill a single individual being for a wide variety of reasons thought to be healthy for the whole group. They called themselves 'humans'.

“It seems these beings were not at all intelligent.”

You are wise for your young age. Now, imagine further that from time to time these beings appointed certain individuals called ‘politicians’ to administer the desires of the collective. It was the process of creating these politicians that finally led to the extinction of the whole species on that planet. The process went something like this.

“Pray, do tell me in detail, oh wise one.”

Every morning, these individuals would start their daily routine by looking in something called a ‘mirror’. This was a device where their reflection was visible on a smooth surface. Mirrors were found everywhere in their society both in public and in private. Homes, schools, factories, churches, courthouses, banks, hotels, theaters, even toilets all had mirrors intended to reflect the image of those who looked into them.

“It seems they had an exalted regard for their own reflections.”

Just so. These beings could even ‘catch their reflection’ in the smooth surface of their favorite mode of transport, something called a ‘car’. They even delighted in their reflection while gazing into still waters. Yes, these beings loved to see their own reflection. This was their undoing because seldom did they approve of the reflection they saw in these mirrors. In fact, more often than not, they hated what they saw in these mirrors. Only the very young and immature individuals gloried in their own reflection. As they aged, more drastic steps were taken to ‘improve’ their reflection, but all for naught. The Law of Entropy eventually ensnared all of these beings in a spiral of decadence, decay, self-loathing, fear, disgust, and anxiety as they celebrated annual reminders of their ultimate demise called ‘birthdays’.

“Surely, as a mob they were intelligent enough to figure this out?”

Not so, my young friend. Politicians were created to provide ‘better reflections’ of these poor wretches. Since the reflection in the mirror of these beings penetrated their very soul they, needed a way to overcome the realities of the mirror. Politics was that way. And so, politicians became a temporary mask these beings could put on from time to time in an effort to improve their self-image, or rather their image of ‘self’, the image of the mob in the mirror.

“What was the result?”

As you might suppose. Bad things. These politicians then, were skilled mask makers for the masses, the mob. If the mob wanted to see itself as conquering war makers, they put on the mask of a warrior politician and gave that individual power over the group. They did this when the mob wanted to steal stuff from other mobs. Mobs were organized into groups called ‘families’, ‘nations’ or ‘states’ or ‘kingdoms’. Whatever the word, the way was the same. In its fickleness, the mob would find the mask of a politician who reflected what the mob wanted; war, peace, security, isolation, justice, pride, hegemony. The mask changed with the impulse of the mob.

For many millennia, this worked well. Every so often the mob would don the mask of a ‘Monarch’, so they could see themselves as royalty. After a while, they would rip it off and stomp it in the dust because not everyone could be king. Then, they would craft a ‘President’ mask and wear it for a while so they could see themselves as fair-minded defenders of democracy, only to rip that one off because anyone could be a president as the quality of presidents diminished over time. Then, the mob would make a mask of ‘the masses’ so everyone had everything equally by confiscating what everyone had and redistributing it all. Soon, nobody had anything because there was nothing to take from others. When one of these nations was attacked by another, the mob quickly put on a warrior mask and appointed a military dictator to run things. After the war, the dictator was usually killed because the mob did not want to wear that mask anymore.

“But this could not go on indefinitely could it?”

Well, all of this went on rather smoothly without the mob ever figuring out what was really going on. You’re correct about that. Then, towards the beginning of the end for their extinction these marginally intelligent beings messed with their common language, common principles, common values and common ideas. Regardless of the various languages to express these realities, there was common agreement that words meant what they meant and did not mean whatever anyone wanted to make it mean to them subjectively. That all changed with the creation of places called ‘colleges’ and ‘universities’. Here, aspiring but failed, politicians began to take revenge for being overlooked by the mob. Not too many of the masses wanted to see an ‘academic’ mask when they looked into the mirror each morning. The reason for this is because academics, called ‘professors’ that ran the colleges and universities didn’t create anything except strife, confusion, and disorder. They agreed on nothing except to disagree until that became disagreeable because everyone was offended by someone else who disagreed. They constantly squabbled with each other over basic principles, values, language, and ideas. Sometimes this ‘educated cast’ stirred up the mob to revolution and war. Sometimes they actually came up with advances in medicine and science. But even these technical advances were eventually overwhelmed cultural relativism of the mob. Over time, these ‘academics’ became the chief mask makers for the mob.

“Did the mob abandon their souls?

Precisely. While these beings were ascending in consciousness they put great store in spiritual things such as reality, truth, goodness, and beauty. But as their science and especially their technology afforded them more three-dimensional objects, they became less interested in these spiritual things; the very things that brought about their conscious evolution.

True, they had holy books to warn them of the catastrophic effects of attachment to temporal and material things. In one such book, there was even a story about these beings in antiquity that tried to build a material tower so they could simply walk into their spiritual heaven. Absurd of course, but such was their infantile thinking. And while they were working, their arrogance was so high that each individual began speaking in a different language. Each individual had become a language god in their own mirror. There was no longer any common meaning to once-familiar words. Work came to a halt. Unable to communicate they could only babble at each other.

“So, their extinction was assured from putting on masks to avoid their true reflection in the mirror?

Yes, and in this way, these beings went extinct. So taken were they by their own image they fashioned masks to replace their soul. Everyone’s mask was thought to be equal. Everyone’s language became a private meaning. Everyone’s goal was to have every material thing all at once. Not only did they die without ever having lived, their species went extinct replaced by digital devices that no longer needed them. All this, and more, because the mob stared at masks and forgot who they were in the mirror.

“Those poor devils…they were almost intelligent then weren’t they?”

Almost.

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