Might and Right - An Essay

 On Might vs Right

“Might is Right” is the law that governs the world, whether we like it or not. I’ve often sat and pondered on the many injustices in the world, those suffered by minorities, the poor, victims of genocide. Being of Armenian descent forces one to try to make sense of the cruelty of the world. I think when Azerbaijan conquered the Armenian territory of Artsakh in 2020, it was finally the moment I realized that no higher power is going to step in and establish karma and justice. No one is coming to save you. A lot of people have yet to have this illusion broken for them. You have people across religions and even the political spectrum all operating under this false assumption, that we live in a just world. The fallacy of a “just world” only makes the world worse; under that assumption, one believes that everyone gets what they deserve, and if someone is struggling or being victimized it is strictly their own fault. 

I’ve been on another philosophy kick in an effort to overcome my burnout and mental fatigue, and while I’ll get back into the ancient Egyptian philosophy, I’ve been in the mood for pessimistic German philosophers. Perhaps I will tie this into Egyptian mythology. I came across a passage in Arthur Schopenhauer’s essays on human nature. I’ll link it at the end of this post. 

—

Right in itself is powerless; in nature it is Might that rules. To enlist might on the side of right, so that by means of it right may rule, is the problem of statesmanship. And it is indeed a hard problem, as will be obvious if we remember that almost every human breast is the seat of an egoism which has no limits, and is usually associated with an accumulated store of hatred and malice; so that at the very start feelings of enmity largely prevail over those of friendship.

—

I think it helps to see “Might” and “Right” as two different forces. Right by itself is powerless, it needs Might in order to enforce itself. This, ideally, is the job of a state, or a hierarchical system in general. And as Schopenhauer points out, it’s doomed to fail anyway due to the egoism and malice in the hearts of a typical person. They say power corrupts, but what it really does is reveal who you always were, the parts of one’s personality that they typically repress. Can Might and Right be on the same side? Perhaps at least temporarily. You’re not going to change the world by being passive. This is why things like peaceful, nonviolent protest, or just voting and hoping for the best, never get you far. It’s often little better than leaving an angry or sad reaction on a Facebook post. With no Might to back it up, Right has nothing, it’s just an idea. Add to that the fact that everyone has a slightly different opinion on what is Right. In order for there to be any Might behind it you need enough people to agree on what Right is. People with power, and weapons. 

I’m about to go after a modern “holy cow”, as it were; democracy itself. Whenever anyone criticizes democracy, they are immediately silenced with assumptions. “Oh, would you prefer a dictatorship?” “Oh, where’s your 500-page manifesto describing a better form of government?” I don’t think I need that. I’m not here to suggest a better alternative. I don’t have one. All I need to do is direct your attention to who is in power now. Can you look at the current US president, as well as every other corrupt politician in power right now, and tell me democracy is working as intended? Just like communism, real democracy has never been put into practice in the real world. Just like communism, it relies too much on impossible-to-reach ideals that put way too much faith in humanity. I would posit that the longer a self-professed “democracy” goes on, the more likely its brainwashed denizens will vote in a tyrant. When the people in power own the media, this is even more inevitable. People fear uncertainty, and a tyrant gives them certainty. The moment things get tough, it becomes like two wolves and a sheep voting on what’s for dinner, and by that point, the wolves have rigged everything with gerrymandering. 

Democratic kemetics fascinate me. So you believe the Egyptians were correct all along about religion, but had it all wrong when it comes to government, even though they were around for 4,000+ years? There were of course periods of chaos and foreign invasion, but for the most part it was a stable monarchy. I’m not even a big fan of monarchy, honestly. I don’t think being born into a “royal” family should automatically qualify one to be in power. But the Egyptians made it work. And in a moneyless society no less, something modern economists want us to believe is impossible, even though it has appeared several times in human history. It was not a classless utopia of course, and there were still rich and poor, but as far as I know there was no major homeless crisis, they didn’t harm the environment. We can imagine if it had stayed in a vacuum of sorts and away from any foreign invaders it could still be functioning today. Might and Right were perhaps as closely  associated with one another as is possible. Perhaps that is the best we can hope for in this flawed world.

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/10739/10739-h/10739-h.htm#link2H_4_0004

May Sutekh rise and A𓌜p𓌜e𓌜p𓌜 fall.  𓇼𓀢𓏛𓃪

𓋹֍֎𓋹

~ Siamanto the Foreigner

 𓋷𓅁𓈖𓏏𓍯𓀭𓈖𓐎𓏺𓈉𓏏𓅂𓌙𓀀 

Սիամանթօ Օտարը