Absolute Power Resolves to Self-Interest - No. 53. The Lion's Share - The Essential Aesop™ - Back to Basics Abridgment Series
Gregg Zegarelli Esq.
Managing Shareholder at Technology & Entrepreneurial Ventures Law Group, PC
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." Leonardo da Vinci. Adopted by Steve Jobs.
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The Lion went hunting along with the Fox, the Jackal, and the Wolf, and they killed a great Stag.
“Quarter me this Stag,” roared the Lion, so the other animals cut it into four parts.
The Lion stood in front and pronounced judgment: “The first quarter is for me in my capacity as King of Beasts; the second is mine as arbiter; another share comes to me for my part in the chase; and as for the fourth quarter, well, as for that, I should like to see which of you will dare to lay a paw upon it.”
Moral of the Story: Power resolves to its own favor. Absolute or unchecked power is the arbiter of its own action and claimed righteousness.
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Introduction - The Essential Aesop - Epilogue
Related Articles: George Washington's 75 Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior - Abridgment Series; When Was America Great? - Stand for America®
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Why We Loved It: We behold Aesop's characters, each a predator. And what a cast it is.
Aesop groups here his in-type villains: the clever Fox, the mean Wolf, and the base Jackal. And what of Aesop's Lion? The Lion is Aesop's "it depends" pivot character, sometimes rising above the circumstances, sometimes succumbing to them, and sometimes victimized by them. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7] (And, the prey Stag? Sometimes a victim is just a victim: thus, the Stag as mcguffin or used to suggest the large prize that attracted this predator conspiracy.)
The difference here from The Two Pots [8] is that, in that fable, Aesop's conditions were hard facts against intentions and known risks, or vulnerability and trust in circumstance. "Oh, well, Clay Pot" said the Brass Pot, "I didn't intend to break you into pieces. I'll just move along now..." [*8]
In this fable, trust itself is not the primary focus of Aesop's lesson, but only a corollary. The Two Pots [*8] was focused on trust and vulnerability, but not necessarily the betrayal or power's choice by tendency. Here, the apex Lion only serves himself. And, in this, Aesop reminds us of the risk of social bindings where the power of one is not checked and balanced by the power of another. Of course, this lesson of human tendencies by Aesop's animals is the source of wisdom used by the American Founding Fathers in framing the U.S. Constitution, for associating a group of human beings.
The rare exception to this general rule of self-serving tendency is true love, which is a form of martyrdom against selfish interest. But, martyrs are rare, and, without a check and balance, the weaker are not in the position to trust in the rare circumstance that power would self-defeat by voluntary choice.
Aesop's lesson for us in this fable is certainly the common lesson; to wit:
Power will tend to serve itself.
But, we perceive that there's a second lesson here. Indeed, an even better lesson.
This fable presents us with a lesson that is deeper, and a lesson that is more pervasive, and a lesson that is far more humanly naturally psychologically insidious:
Power will tend to justify itself.
Aesop could have simply constrained the Lion's reason to the "I'll do it because I have the power to do it," being the first lesson. And, yes, Aesop does give us that reason as the final reason, which might be the Lion's rightful conspiratorial entitlement share in the first place.
Had the Lion given the final reason first, it would have made all the other justifications immaterial, which, in fact, they are. But Aesop makes us to endure through listening the Lion's reasons first, perhaps with some hope that the reasons are correct so that we might voluntarily concede, and only then does Aesop give us the all-subsuming truth: "I'll do it because I have the power to do it."
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Aesop might have given us a lesson on the Lion's majesty to enforce the predatory contract, but that's a different lesson that hopes and trusts, and there's not much lesson in that for Aesop. In this rare human power of self-restraint, we find true selfless majestic nobility. But, this is the exception, not the rule. Aesop's lessons in Wisdom tend to be warnings and expositions on human natural tendencies, where we might otherwise be "fooled." [9]
Therefore, Aesop teaches that every theoretical self-righteous justification is subsumed by the practicalities of power. Hope is only the predator's bait. [10] And, if the oft-majestic Lion will do it, anyone will do it. Thus the adage, "Tu scis quod incipias cognoscere lectionem, cum id scire times." ("You know that you are starting to understand the lesson, when you are afraid to know it.")
"Tu scis quod incipias cognoscere lectionem, cum id scire times." ("You know that you are starting to understand the lesson, when you are afraid to know it."); "Spes esca rapax." ("Hope is a predator's bait.") ~ grz
* Gregg Zegarelli, Esq., earned both his Bachelor of Arts Degree and his Juris Doctorate from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His dual major areas of study were History from the College of Liberal Arts and Accounting from the Business School (qualified to sit for the CPA examination), with dual minors in Philosophy and Political Science. He has enjoyed Adjunct Professorships in the Duquesne University Graduate Leadership Master Degree Program (The Leader as Entrepreneur; Developing Leadership Character Through Adversity) and the University of Pittsburgh Law School (The Anatomy of a Deal). He is admitted to various courts throughout the United States of America.
Gregg Zegarelli, Esq., is Managing Shareholder of Technology & Entrepreneurial Ventures Law Group, PC. Gregg is nationally rated as "superb" and has more than 35 years of experience working with entrepreneurs and companies of all sizes, including startups, INC. 500, and publicly traded companies. He is author of One: The Unified Gospel of Jesus, and The Business of Aesop™ article series, and co-author with his father, Arnold Zegarelli, of The Essential Aesop: For Business, Managers, Writers and Professional Speakers. Gregg is a frequent lecturer, speaker and faculty for a variety of educational and other institutions.
© 2013 Arnold Zegarelli and Gregg Zegarelli, Esq. Gregg can be contacted through LinkedIn. Arnold Zegarelli can be contacted through Facebook.
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