|
Power is
living in a mansion for 30 years and never really knowing where the
kitchen is.
Power is
walking around with your fly open, and everybody thinking you're a
fashion trend-setter.
Power is the
most sought after, addictive, seductive, abused drug there is.
Compared to Power, crack is Fruitopia.
You know, I
don't want to get off on a rant here:
But I'll
wager that human beings fantasize about power than they do any- thing else.
Wealth, fame,
making the winning play for their favorite team, leg- wrestling Rue
Mclannahan while her strong support stocking calves pressing firmly
against my......I'm sorry...where were we?
Oh right. Power.
Ok. Let's
talk about Power. How to get it, what to do with it, when to use it,
and most importantly where to store it and at what temperature.
because make no mistake my friends, Power is a perishable good.
Now I may
currently appear to have power, but, if you really think about it,
I'm a mindless fuckchimp for HBO. At any moment they could back up a
costume van, pull out the Pillsbury dough boy suit and order me to
get into it. And then what?
Well...nothing
says good lovin' like something from the oven!
heeeeheeee....that's
what!
At the end of
the day I've got all the power of that highway construction worker
who can't be trusted with any moving-part machinery because he took a
crane hook to the temple in 1989, and they changed his name to Slappy
and now he has to stand there all day with a reversible sign that
says stop & go, until the weekend where his friends invite him to
parties and make him dance by shooting pelletguns at his feet.
Little
autobiographical note there....so.....
So while I
obviously don't have power who does? Well, let's define the different
degrations of power.
First,
there's real power. The tornado ripping up 100 year old oak tree and
picking it's teeth with it.
Then there's
real human power. High grade political power. At the top of this heap
it's a pure uncut china Whitehouse jolt right into the arm that has
it's finger on the button.
Do you think
Bill Clinton doesn't like the power of being President? Do you think
he doesn't sit there in the oval office for hours saying to himself:
"This is the finger that could blow up the world, and it's the
same finger I use to scratch my ass?"
Next, you
have midrange corporate power. That flawless cynergistic weaving of
money and clout that allows a select few to meet in smoke filled back
rooms and literally change the course of human history while the rest
of us are waiting in line for a kid to ask: "Do you want fries
with that"?
And Finally
there's pretend power. The supposed ability of a person to lead a
flock of sheep to new heights where there unfortunately usually they
find a shearing pen.
Who has this
power? Jimmy Swagart, Amway, Dionne Warwick, Barney, Rush.
How'd they
get it? Well you gave it to them for Christ's sake! Stop doing that.
Go to Starbuck's, get a quadra'late' and wake the fuck up!
So those are
the different kinds of power. The only other thing you need to know
is that we all crave power. Whether it's heading a major
entertainment company, or just spraying that cockroach in your
kitchen with a steady stream of raid and pretending you're Red Adaire
on a blazing oil platform in the middle of the Caspian Sea.
Face it, we
all get off on power. Even if we only have a little of it. Do you
think that clerk at the DMV doesn't enjoy looking at that serpentine
line and thinking I gotta be here 8 hours...Fuck You...you're here
for 8 hours!
Power is the
nutritional source that feeds the ego and of course we all know that
the ego is the ugly little troll that lives under the bridge between
your mind and you heart. You keep a stranglehold on that fact.
I don't the
that the desire for power is necessarily a bad thing. I'd say it's
encoded into our DNA for a damned good reason.
After all, in
the prehistoric days, when we humans dwelled in caves, and the
neighbor's pet raptor got off it's leash and shit on your yard and
ate your cave-son, you sure as hell needed a big stick. You couldn't
go running to Johnny Rochran or whatever they called the neighborhood
ultra- smooth bullshit artist back then.
So, to all
you out there who are constantly whining about how to get power, you
can start by not giving away any of yours. Don't send 20 bucks to
some porcelain eye liner junkie who claims she can get you into
heaven. That chick can't even get you into Cosco. There's only on guy
who can get you into heaven and that's god, or Buddha, or Eisner, or
whatever the hell he's called himself these days.
|
 |