The Inner Voice

James!

Did you really think anyone would believe you?

Would join you?

Would admire you?

Wake up! Grow up!

We have bound you and all the rest of our descendants to our goal – our destiny. There is no escape short of total alienation from mankind – madness. You will be forced to accept what we have done for you, not only by those who share in its profit, but even by those upon whose suffering it depends.

"Why?" you ask.

Because, as you have noted in your writings, as you yourself have argued, "One cannot have it both ways: one cannot share in the profit without also sharing in the guilt of its achievement." The Christian religion has taught us that lesson for thousands of years. Original sin, James. That is the key concept. If your ancestors sinned in placing you in your present circumstances, then you share in that sin, not only by your need to honor them, but by your mere existence. For, if your present circumstances are defined broadly enough – and we have defined them to include your humanity, itself – how can you escape? You will not succeed in redefining those circumstances for anyone but yourself. And, what are the consequences of doing that?

Self-alienation. Everyone else will see you – not us – as the seducer to corruption – as the true racist. No one else will want to share the conditions you will create for yourself on such a course, and we have seen to it that those conditions will be particularly harsh.

We have seen to it that each of your attempts to expose us will result in the loss of the very conditions we have assured to those who keep their eyes – and mouths – shut, and accept without question the privileges we have gained for ourselves, and therefore for them.

We have seen to it that you, yourself, were raised to desire only those privileges – were conditioned to see them as the only imaginable conditions of a healthy, sane life.

We have seen to it that even those whose lives and labor we rob to give us those conditions are given the hope – ignorant fools – that they, too, may someday share with us.

It was so easy. You really should try to appreciate the beauty of its simplicity. Give us our due. See what we have done for ourselves and therefore for you. And know that if we could have foreseen that you would someday betray us, we would have seen to it that you were never born; or, better still, that you were born one of "them."

Because you are intent on betraying us, we will see to it that you cannot be either "us" or "them." We, and "they", banish you from our midst. We need not even interrupt our pleasures to laugh at you, James. "They" are laughing for us.

You have read such books as The Lord of the Rings, A Christmas Carol, Les Miserables and Nineteen-Eighty-Four thinking they were exposures of our secret. But, think: Frodo, Sam, Strider, and especially Gandalf became richer, more powerful, not more equal. Scrouge, Bob Cratchet and Tiny Tim did not take their fellow poor with them as they escaped the lot of the many. They left them behind, and joined us; the few. The same for our beautiful couple in Les Miserables – no one will notice how we rewarded them, not the miserable; for, in truth, Hugo was one of us, too. And, what of our hero in Nineteen-Eighty-Four?

You cannot even remember his name.

That is our message to you.

It is no secret.

You see, James, we do not openly declare individual supremacy. We have learned that each time one of us does that, we lose the game. Why? Because it is not being the "one" that is important. The only thing that really matters is being one of the "few."

Mine is the voice of the "few." You will never hear my voice in your ear; only in your mind. You are writing down what I am saying to you, believing someone will hear it. But, we are discrete. This voice is only in our mind, too. We know better than to ever speak these truths out loud. We leave the actual voicing of them to the lone madman. We will label a madman, anyone who dares to utter them aloud. We merely act on what that voice says:

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them....

We put those words in the mouth of that person among us who would stand alone. We are the few, not the one. We are the few, not the many. For us, either direction – becoming the one or becoming the many – leads to nothingness. We have seen to it that that can never happen, again. You cannot make it happen, James. We will see to it that you are perceived as a person who wishes to be "the one," and that you will share "his" fate.

You see,of course, what has happened to you over the last few years. You have had to lose your family, your income, your dignity, your health, your safety, your self-respect, your ability to attract women...

James, James, James. Don't you know that everyone is weak? Everyone has faults that can be used against them. If you did not have the ones you have, we could invent some for you. But, we have the power to submerge all faults – even yours – in the glory of being one of us. You have the one quality which is necessary: You are our descendant. You are one of us – the few – not one of the them – the many.

Act in accordance with the traditions we have taught you and you can have anything you want – everything we have taught you to crave. You can even indulge your own, secret, personal desire.

Oh, James, many of us have that same desire. We are simply discrete. We have arranged it so that because we are successful members of the "few," no one would dare imagine we are not, therefore, virtuous. And after all, who among our few – or even among the many who want to be like us – begrudges us our occasional romp? Our little pinch of spice, eh? We can afford it. We have paid them for their silence. We have shared our abundance with the few. We have promised hope to the many. All would be lost without us.

But, you must pay for that privilege, James.

What is the price?

Join us, James. Play our game. It is the only game in town.

Unless you take back the "ring," you will die penniless – unknown – unheard – unhappy. We have the power to do that to you – or to let you do it to yourself. It takes no effort on our part. The mechanism has been in place for eons.

Say it, James. You know the formula.

Write it for me:

• Are there no poor houses?
• The poor will always be with us.
• They have food stamps, what more do they want?
• God is with us.
• If they are equal to us, why didn't they conquer Europe, instead of us conquering them?
• We are the pinnacle of creation.
• God gave us the Earth and all that is in it to exploit as we see fit.
• God shows his favor by showering us with riches.
• God shows his disfavor by inflicting poverty and subjugation.
• Greed is good.
• Wealth is next to Godliness.
• Only those who lose say winning is not everything.
• Only trouble-makers speak out.
• I'm no martyr.
• Muckrakers would have us dishonor our ancestors.
• What's in it for me?
• We owe it to our children.
• The masses are there to serve us.
• Increase and multiply.
• There's nothing I can do about it, anyway....
• That's the way it is....

Good, James, good.

Now you're writing.

Now, you'll be published.

Oh, by the way, who was it you wanted to see, again, James....?