Amerika

Something went wrong with the modern world. Instead of liberating us from power, it dedicated us to fighting over power, and warnings quickly went out that most people cannot handle power and in fact will turn it into horrors. When power forgets its purpose, which is to increase the well-being of its people, it becomes toxic.

Our writers have given us several metaphors. Plato gave us the ring that made people invisible; the Nibelungenlied and later Tolkien expanded upon this. Frankenstein showed us a monster without purpose made by arrogant scientists. Jurassic Park explored the pathology of the desire to dominate nature.

Ancient Jewish lore gave us another exemplar, the golem. Formed of clay, stamped with a magic symbol on his forehead, the golem is a magical servant of its creator and knows nothing but his will. This corresponds to how humankind appeared from animated clay:

The imagination of the ancient Israelites frequently turned to the birth of the first man, who was formed of dust and not born of woman.

The warning of this symbolism takes a slightly esoteric turn. If humans are made of clay, this means the process is safe for the divine to engage in; however, humans trying to replicate their own creation means that they take the risk of whatever follows, made obvious by the amorality of the golem:

In early golem tales the golem was usually a perfect servant, his only fault being a too literal or mechanical fulfillment of his master’s orders.

As we look at how democracy has turned out, it becomes clear that our technology and political power are golems raging beyond our control. We tried to improve upon what nature gave us, the kings, and instead have created a mixed-race mixed-class cultureless kleptocratic dystopia, yet almost no one will admit this in public.

Tags: frankenstein, golem, one ring