One obvious avenue of power over others is convincing them that morality is obedience and obligation to some external authority, with either direct or indirect assumption of that authority. For some, this turns morality into a tie and a fetter to be resisted, instead of an avenue for satisfaction of some of their own preferences—their moral preferences.
But some others are looking for an external authority, and relieved and grateful when they find one.
Amusing scene from The Avengers: Loki: [to crowd]
Kneel before me. I said… KNEEL! Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It’s the unspoken truth of humanity that you crave subjugation.
Compare to George Bush, West Point Speech 2002
No people on earth yearn to be oppressed, aspire to servitude,...
My money is on Loki.
The real funny part is that in searching for this quote, I got it from a Christian blog:
Jesus doesn’t rule like that. His yoke is gentle. His ruling activity in our lives is like nothing else we’ve ever experienced. Being Jesus’ servant really is freedom …
We really were made to be ruled — but not by Loki. Not by men like him. We were created to be ruled by God — and his leadership is unlike any we’ve ever experienced on this earth. It’s a good thing. His leadership truly is freedom.
And I will bow to that!
Arbeit macht frei! Which apparently ties in quite nicely.
La Wik:
In “The Kingdom of Auschwitz”, Otto Friedrich wrote regarding Höss [ed. Commandant of Auschwitz]: He seems not to have intended it as a mockery, nor even to have intended it literally, as a false promise that those who worked to exhaustion would eventually be released, but rather as a kind of mystical declaration that self-sacrifice in the form of endless labour does in itself bring a kind of spiritual freedom.
For some more than others.
One obvious avenue of power over others is convincing them that morality is obedience and obligation to some external authority, with either direct or indirect assumption of that authority. For some, this turns morality into a tie and a fetter to be resisted, instead of an avenue for satisfaction of some of their own preferences—their moral preferences.
But some others are looking for an external authority, and relieved and grateful when they find one.
Amusing scene from The Avengers:
Loki: [to crowd]
Compare to George Bush, West Point Speech 2002
My money is on Loki.
The real funny part is that in searching for this quote, I got it from a Christian blog:
Arbeit macht frei! Which apparently ties in quite nicely.
La Wik: