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By Muhammad Natsir Tahar
The ancient Greek poet Hesidos arrogantly said, not a single
leaf fell on Athens without Zeus knowing. But what, the big boss of the gods
from Mount Olympus was finally impeached. Once the Romans massacred the Greeks,
Zeus' crown was stripped, replacing it with Jupiter. Even the entire oligarchy
of the Greek sky regime was overthrown. Except for Apollo.
For instance, the god of love Aphrodite was exchanged for
Venus, the god of war Ares became Mars. There were 12 Greek gods who had to
retire young, including Hera, Artemis, Demeter, Hephaistos, Hermes, Athene, and
Dionysos.
Automatically the son of Zeus, Heracles immediately dismissed
and replaced with Hercules. Roman glorification was so strong that the whole
world only remembered Hercules, even though he was another Heracles. Although
the most epic, Hercules was only a demigod, his mother an earth girl named
Alkmene.
Unlike Apollo. He is another son of Zeus from the goddess
Leto. Of all the members of Zeus' cabinet, Roman left only Apollo. The diva of
art, medicine, and poets had no equivalent in Rome, so he was still worshiped.
Apollo also became a symbol of the peak of human civilization
when he managed to step on the moon. His name is embedded in NASA's gingatis
project, the Apollo program in the 1960s, and a crater on the southern part of
the moon also called Apollo.
The fall of Zeus' regime is analogous. Every single regime
will end in time even if they have god-level powers. We have seen many examples
of strong regimes under a shattered atmosphere in the middle of the road. The
result of being in power for too long by force.
Nothing is fine with an absolute regime. Power tends to
corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, said John Edward Dalberg aka
Lord Acton.
For that democracy is important, so that there is a shift of
power. But what, But what, the rulers see themselves as Zeus, wanting to rule
as long as they could. The oligarchs surrounding his palace, prefer the same
thing.
"I'm not interested in maintaining the status quo, I
want to overthrow it," warns Niccolò Machiavelli.
Democracy is run by hitting logic, ethics, and aesthetics at
the same time. As Zeus on earth, they prepared Apollo the crown prince, in case
his or her power was undermined by Spartan politicians. Zeus may fall, but
Apollo will continue the dynasty or at least a slice of power.
As the father of the gods, Zeus wanted the best for his crown
prince, not to mislead him. Power is very hedonistic, a father (even by a
mother for her daughter) understands very well the ecstasy of power he has ever
felt, so it must also be felt by his biological child.
So feudal-style democracy and dynastic politics strolled
above the sacred altar of democracy without any guilt, even shame.
Dynastic politics is an often-forgivable classic way of
robbing others of opportunities in democratic contests. There is no argument
that can justify this behavior both logically, ethically, and aesthetically in
the domain of democracy.
Democracy is translated banally as mere contestation and
orchestration. Democracy was born to overturn the monarchy, not disguise it.
And whoever claims to uphold democracy today, they have lied, or never even
knew they were.
State conditions everywhere are always weak. Without being
disturbed by oligarchy and feudalism, democracy itself has a weak point.
Democracy seems moderate because it prioritizes
representation (the people) but it ignores expertise. There is always empty
space for naivety to enter the system as a ridiculous outcome of the electoral
process.
Meanwhile, the aristocracy or republicans, who are
conservative and wise, prioritize expertise but ignore representation. They
close the gap for the inferior class to enter the realm of power.
If both democracy and aristocracy are in the right mix by
removing their minor elements, we are entering a true ideal condition. But
what? While Apollo will re-establish the regime for the next Apollo. ~
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