Ego

Dear readers, something for you to read while waiting for Part II of “The Trap”.

I published this more than three years ago on my blog and you know what they say, it’s even more relevant now. It was originally written in French, hence the reference to some typical English terms.

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We all know one.

Or more, since there are so many of them. If you're out of luck, there's one in your family. Or maybe it's you. Now that's really bad luck.

But just who can that be?

People with ego issues. Egomaniacs, if I'm not mistaken. Please forgive my lack of medical accuracy. I haven't researched the official terms, it's just personal observation. As far as I know, this group contains hypochondriacs, narcissistic perverts and other such delicacies of social life.

Whatever you call them, they're easy to spot. They honor you with their existence. When they address you, it's to enlighten you on the only subject that should interest you: themselves. When they graciously listen to you, it's because you're talking to them, and it's to check in passing that you're in tune with their own sense of hierarchy. If you go so far as to point out any problem they may pose, you're judging them - I'm not making this up, it's first-hand experience. When they're not around, it's a wonder the world manages to run at all. They devote virtually all their energy to guarding the barricades of their inflated egos. Most of the time to the detriment of any notion of reality, and if necessary - which is often - to the detriment of others. They've heard of humility, but find that it's only good for morons. When they pretend to have any, it's only to fuel the grandeur of their persona.

Physically too, they're easy to spot. As the saying goes, “You get your first face, you make your second”. These people age very badly. Their ego ferments and ends up distorting them. Their body language betrays them. There's nothing harmonious about them. If they're not ugly, they become so.

English speakers have a much better term for them: “ full of themselves”. It's much more explicit and has the added advantage of not referring to Freudianism, which I consider to be a skeleton key to the human soul.

One evening, my sensei told us a Zen tale. I'll tell it to you in turn.

The master shows his pupil a tiny empty cup and a large filled teapot. He asks him to pour the contents of the teapot into the cup. “But, Master, the cup is too small”, says the pupil. “Do as I say,” replies the Master. Obviously, the cup is immediately full and the tea spills onto the floor - a distressing sight if ever there was one. To the somewhat perplexed pupil, the Master explains: “You're like this cup, there's no room in you for what you need to learn.”

I find this tale quite masterful - which, by the way, is etymologically the case. That's exactly what I see in these “full of themselves” people. Apparently, they came to Earth never to learn anything. Like my sensei, I had to try to teach them something. It's quite a frustrating experience. Especially as I've found that they don't just waste other people's time. They're bored out of their minds. And God, are they a bore. Because - for those who hadn't figured it out yet - the ultimate purpose of life is to learn. If you don't learn, you're not alive. Well, they don't want to learn. English speakers have yet another perfect term for this trait: “useless”. These people are useless. Certainly to others, but even more so to themselves. Their only use is to show others what not to be. That's something, but it's still a bit short.

But, dear readers, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. Or at least, not all of it.

That these people waste their lives here on Earth is certainly distressing, but after all, it's their own business. When they're so full of themselves that they spill over, that’s when we should be concerned. If we're dealing with a low-life who's trying to force the mythology of his little self down our throats, a light slap (verbal or otherwise) is usually enough to calm him down. Where it gets ugly is when these people are in positions of power.

Imagine one of these twisted people is a billionaire. Not just a billionaire, very much a billionaire. And imagine that life has never taught him a single lesson. Only the opposite. Get the picture? If not, you can read this.

You're still with me? Now imagine that not only is there this one, but there are others. Many, with the same kind of rotting ego inside of them. You don't have to believe me, but I'm getting to know them a little. I've been reading about these families for twenty years. A bit of everything - a lot of bullshit and some more robust stuff too. I've had time to sort it all out. I've got their pedigrees and their track records. […]

Now back to our low-life. He has little in the way of resources. He uses his fellow men, people with equal levels of power, to satisfy his ego, and as soon as he's worn them down, he usually throws them away - or gets thrown away himself. He runs the risk of ending up very badly, for lack of an audience and for lack of resources. In the end, life takes its course.

In terms of audience and resources, it makes a huge difference when you're juggling a few tens of billions. And in terms of victims, the source is almost inexhaustible - on the scale of their means. We're talking hundreds of millions. As I was saying, I've got their track record. You have it too, in fact. It's just that they've given them slightly opaque names. They call it world wars. They call it vaccination campaigns. They call it birth control. They call it saving the planet. They call it communist revolution. And many other poetic names. Prettier than “eugenics”, which sounds a bit austere.

They want five hundred million people on the planet. They don't want the rest. They've worn us out. They're throwing us away. And they'll be helped by the egos at the bottom of the food chain, who also think there are too many people on Earth. And that these people have a serious flaw: they're not them.

Finally, ask yourself whether these people are acting on their own behalf, or whether they're all obeying someone else, someone even more evil. That would make that someone the most evil of all, I guess.

Could it be the Evil One, then?