Lawmakers Or Power Holders?

Authoritarian ideals, systems, and people are thought by many with more democratic minds to be detrimental to society, and rightly so. After all, they are largely conflicting ideologies on opposite sides of the government spectrum. While this opinion will likely never dissipate, one may analyze why it is that there is such a great fear for those opposite each other. When there is conflict regarding governing systems, the conflict often stems from fear of those who will abuse the power they are given. To soothe these fears, people create rules and laws. However, the people who create these laws the ones who these very laws serve most. People create rules  primarily so that they can attain more power.

William Golding’s book “Lord Of The Flies” is filled with metaphors about the establishment of our modern government and social structure. One particular boy, Jack, represents the “evil” that all man has. Jack and his hunters are coming back from a failed hunt. They enter a meeting, and Jack quickly assumes authority by slamming a knife into a tree. He picks up a shell and establishes a new rule. “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak.”(33)This is followed by people objecting, but Jack overpowering them, and people soon getting riled up and agreeing with him. At first glance, this may appear to be Jack being thoughtful of the group and attempting to create order, but looking more into detail will show that Jack is looking out for himself, and giving himself more power.

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