Vis consilii expers mole ruit sua.
— Horace, Book III, Poem 4, Line 65
Wolfgang in German: Kraft ohne (= expers /nicht teilhabend an etwas) Einsicht (Überlegung, besonnene Klugheit) stürzt durch ihre eigene Schwere (Masse, Größe …).
Norbert in English: Power without introspection is crushed by its own weight.
Today, more than ever before in my lifetime, are we faced with immense power controlled by complete dilettantes and narcissists. Watch and learn: vis consilii expers mole ruit sua!
“If necessity is the stern but respectable mother of invention,
desperation is the derelict father of subterfuge.” Edwin Dobb, Harper’s Mag essay, October 2018
Socrates said democracy cannot be maintained without a well-educated citizenry.
Today, in America, we have the perfect storm. A corrupt, mentally deformed dictator want-a-be, an enabling, corrupt legislature and today, tomorrow…? a corrupted judiciary.
This will not end well. The knife-edge is excruciating…with both sides believing that “gawd is on our side” nonsense. The divide is widening: how long before the big ‘ol tree cracks down the middle…
On the plus side, more citizens are “woke”, more women are running for office (and winning their primaries) and progressives realize the price of freedom is constant vigilance and — just a possibly — realize that friggin’ voting is required at every election cycle…
Now there is a lot of fodder for another post…
Thanks, Barbara!
On the other hand . . . do we want to be controlled by people with immense power who are really good at it? How did they get all that power? We need to take it back.