kingtycoon | (no subject)

Okay? I mean. This is a weird exercise just generally - but it's not aided by the material I have to work with here. I guess this anecdote about 'traditional African cultures' (nice and inclusive - you mean Pharonic Egypt or the Malian empire? Maybe you're talking about Bantus?) and how they deal with the crisis of succession is fine? I don't know - I bet this counts as a world-civ lesson for a lot of people. I'm taking it as being a reference to Yoruba cultures, which I think is kind of borne out in literature? I feel like this is addressed in Things Fall Apart maybe? Maybe. I do recall it from The Poisonwood Bible- the requirement for unanimity among people in making decisions. Anyhow! The bible passage mentioned and discussed here refers to the succession following the demise of Solomon. That old plagiarist.

A fun thing is the Proverbs of Solomon. I like a book of aphorisms for whatever reason. My favorite has to be Coleridge's book of aphorisms - his 'wisdom'. I read it long ago and can't tell you what was in it - but somehow it had an inspirational quality that soothed me in my youthful temper. It was at the library in Rio Grande - before the WWW - back when, I lived in that library - read all the books - I think that was the formation of my intellectual identity - when I had nothing to do but read and read some more. Nowadays - it's a miracle I read this every day. Well - most days- I was awful sick yesterday & the balm I chose to apply was the Marc's store brand version of NyQuil - which - I have to tell you, if you're lacking sleep, give that shit a try. Fuck I slept. I slept like none other.

The passage in the bible that they go for here plays up the fallacy of the excluded middle The elders say - "Be gentle with people." The youths say "Be harsh with people." I especially like Rehoboam's pull quotes though: "My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions." "My little finger is thicker than my father's waist!" The latter one - I love that stuff- the untranslatable idioms of antiquity. "You think my old man had a thick waist? Look at my little finger bitches!"

I've occassionally been tasked with leading people - and really this is a matter of circumstances. Some folks - they need to be stepped on because they'll take advantage if you give them anything. Some people can see the project for what it is and want to follow it on their own accord - they only need to be helped along since they're pursuing it on their own. It's a matter of seeing who believes in the project. If their devotion is to you, or to your predecessor instead of the work - well, it's kind of a lost cause, says me - because people - like you - you're going to fuck up and there goes the mission. The project has to come first, in everyone's mind.