The free online dictionary gives definition for tyranny as:
“1. A government in which a single ruler is vested with absolute power.
“2. The office, authority, or jurisdiction of an absolute ruler.
“3. Absolute power, especially when exercised unjustly or cruelly”
There is no power in fear. It seems to me that when a ruler exercises power in a tyrannical manner he is afraid of something. Maybe the overwhelming responsibility of that power. Maybe others who might try to take it away. Maybe s/he becomes heady with it and uses it irrationally, simply because s/he can. Maybe s/he becomes afraid of him/herself. Whatever the case, Kim Jong Un did not exercise power fairly when he chose to take the life of an uncle who had helped him achieve the power he has. Or even if the uncle had not been of help or use to him, he still had the right to live.
There is no freedom in tyranny. There must be complete control- of actions, of what is said, but how can one have that power? The tyrant cannot rule thought. Sometimes even individuals can’t control their own thoughts. With the control of actions and words ideas, aspirations and hope of change is killed.
It often begins in what seems innocent and harmless- someone crying out for defense of a real or imagined hurt against someone or something else. The tiny pea-sized ball begins rolling. It picks up others who join the fray against what- or whomever caused the “pain”… organizations, associations hear the hue and cry and decide it is good publicity or in their best interest to join in the argument. Pretty soon this marble is a boulder, rolling down and crushing even those who live in neutrality, seeking only peace but they got in the way.
We can’t speak our minds? How about our hearts? Someone feels crowded out? Is there no one who can hear and sort out these dilemmas with fairness, not just to the offended and the offender but in light of what is true? What is the standard by which we measure to determine who is right and what is not? What is acceptable now was not acceptable a generation ago, and what does that portend? To determine truth or fairness in light of legal precedent merely purports to advance rules based on man’s previous determinations.
Is that truly fair?
(c) The Freedictionary by Farlex. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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