Something is Rotten in the State of America
The evolution of power - and how we've come full circle
1. GOD HAS POWER
Though invisible, because “God made man in His image” He was portrayed as a powerful man.
God operated on the Carrot and Stick method: “Be good and you can go to heaven. Be bad and you’ll wind up in hell”
Upside – life is probably better if you’re nice.
Downside – you have to die before you get anywhere near that carrot.
Creativity – was limited to making babies - as long as you raised them to be ‘God-fearing’ citizens. God likes followers.
2. KINGS HAVE POWER
Then came Kings – men who convinced everyone God had slipped them a bit of divine DNA, making them His official earthly reps. This meant their offspring could also rule, no matter how mad, bad, or colossally dim they were. Immense power was conferred purely by virtue of the particular vagina one happened to emerge from. Slightly random, but most people went along with it.
Kings also borrowed God’s Carrot and Stick method, with a few edits:
“You can have the carrot in THIS life (hooray!)… if you agree with everything I say and do, no matter how crazy things get.”
Upside – With royal favour, you could be given a title like Duke or Earl and play at being a mini-King.
Downside – If the King had one of his ‘turns’, you could be beheaded for the smallest crime - like having an opinion different to the King.
Creativity – If you had a title, you could wage war against your enemies and have sex with their wives and daughters. If you were poor, you could still make babies – as long as you raised them to grow food for the King’s table and die in wars for the King’s ego.
Enter Louis XIV, ultimate overachiever in the power-dressing department. He didn’t just believe he was divinely chosen – he believed he was France. “L’état, c’est moi,” he declared. “The State? It’s me!”
To prove it, he built Versailles – a 700-room hallucination in marble and mirrors. It wasn’t just a palace. It was a stage set designed to dazzle visiting nobles into such a state of awe they forgot they were being politically neutered.
3. GOVERNMENTS HAVE POWER
Eventually, countries realised the King thing was a spectacularly stupid idea and formed governments.
Governments took up the Carrot and Stick baton:
“You can have the carrot in THIS life if you work really hard and follow ALL the laws.”
Smart poor people, exhausted from working 18-hour days, started noticing a pattern: the system mostly rewarded lying, cheating and stealing rather than following all the laws.
4. THE MEDIA HAS POWER
The Media arrived, promising to hold power accountable. But it also cribbed from the same Carrot and Stick manual.
Do or say something outrageous and you’ll be rewarded with likes, shares, and influencer status, thereby achieving the ultimate modern dream of making “money while you sleep”.
Upside – The Media could appeal to people’s better natures and unite them across divides of country, creed, and class.
Downside – Most of the Media is owned by billionaires who prefer keeping people in a state of fear while occasionally tossing out a glittery carrot. “Buy this and you might WIN A CAR!”
Creativity – The billionaires were having a field day, inventing “brands”, cryptocurrency and other things that don’t actually exist. They still waged (digital) war on their enemies, had sex with just about anybody regardless of age or consent, and turned the internet into Porn Central (as a free streaming carrot for poor people).
5. TRUMP HAS POWER
Out of sheer desperation, the cynical and disillusioned, turned to Trump (a man who looked like he’d eaten ALL the carrots), who claimed to wield a big stick (which he promised to use on their behalf). They’d already forgotten about the “lying, cheating, stealing” part essential to his rise to power.
Trump struts onto the stage like Louis XIV’s tacky reincarnation. Instead of Versailles - Mar-a-Lago. Instead of gold leaf and frescoes - gold-plated toilets and rooms that resemble the inside of a Ferrero Rocher wrapper. Instead of powdered wigs - MAGA hats.
And just like Louis, Trump assembles an inner circle – not dukes and marquesses but oil barons, and tech billionaires. His inauguration looked like a gathering of courtiers shuffling into position to pledge fealty to their orange Sun King.
And talking about billionaires, consider Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s wedding as the ultimate Versailles cosplay. Helicopters hovering over yachts, champagne towers taller than children, and a guest list so packed with power players it felt like watching a live auction for the future of humanity. Even Louis would have applauded the sheer audacity.
6. MEANWHILE (to complete the circle)… A WORD FROM GOD
“When I said ‘made in My image,’ I meant energy… I’m energy, and so are you. Just ask anyone who understands physics.
I’m called ‘the Creator,’ and so are you (you don’t need a degree, a black turtleneck or a tortured artist persona).
I don’t have a gender. Or an agenda. You do.
I have all the time in the world. You don’t.
So what are you waiting for?
Create something better than this.”
(PS If this feels familiar I blogged it nine years ago just before Trump was elected for the first time - I just updated the end of it, which hopefully isn’t the end of it!)
(PPS My next one day workshop in Central London is on 20th September. Tickets available here
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/from-fear-to-flow-tickets-1405509208879?aff=oddtdtcreator