The Golden Rule

“He who has the gold, makes the rules.” Nothing could be more truthful today than this old adage. Then again, even more so today, it isn’t who has the most gold, but who pulls the purse strings. Money and power. With money, comes a certain degree of power. With power, money is secondary. But, damn, if you have both…imagine the possibilities, or damage…

Obviously, the first impression here is that this is about politics. Nah. Too deep and complex for LaFevre to delve into. Too many issues. Too many speculations, and conspiracies. Not worth the stress. Hell, LaFevre is a liberal arts major, not poli-sci. Although politics is a major playground, for sure. You can play your game wherever, but Capitol Hill is where you aspire to. Definitely the “A” division. Other industries occupying the “A” division would be the military complex and corporate sector. Everywhere else is “minor league”.

I had a difficult time grappling with how to construct the grid that would define the titles in each of the categories. Do I arrange them side-by-side? Top to bottom? Bottom to top? Frustrating. Some can’t even be put aside others. Both feet first, I always say. Here goes…

Government (democracy):

President, Vice-President, Congress, Governor, Mayor, Supervisor/City Council. There are numerous other posts at the federal, state and local levels, such as administrators, directors, and managers. All others are associates and assistants.

Government (monarchy):

King/Queen/Emperor, Prince/Princess, Prime Minister/Premier, Parliament. Ancient honorable mention: Pharoah (gotta love that title). The difference today between the monarchy and democracy is that the kings and emperors are classified as figureheads (although some presidents are, as well). While power remains intact, rule is actually governed by the next in line – the prime minister, premier, and in some cultures, majority rule by a congressional/parliamentary body. This ensures no one person has complete control. More often than not, 2/3 of the majority is enough to override a higher authority. Keeps athe balance of power.

Exceptions exist, though. Certain countries with kings in power, are still ruled by the kings themselves (ie. Arab emirates and some African countries). Then there are the dictators who rule without rules, or the possibility of overrule.

Military:

General, Colonel, Major, Captain, Lieutenant, Corporal, Sergeant, Private. I left out the tweeners because they are obvious and do not need to be listed here (ie. sergeant-major, lieutenant general). Of course, I’m using the US list. It varies in other countries. Other military hierarchies are common in countries where the military rule as a dictatorship. In this case, they are simply whatever their military rank is (usually general). They took over by force rather than by a vote of the people. They don’t deserve an official government title, and are merely referred to as dictators. Not exactly a title to be revered by.

Corporate:

Chairman, board of directors, CEO/President, executive VP/Managing Directors, senior VP/Directors, assistant/associate VP’s. The rest are administrators, managers, supervisors, specialists, and coordinators.

Of the three, it is the corporate title that should be taken with a grain of salt. At least the majority that sit in middle management. Take, for example, Vice President. In the corporate sector, “vice president” don’t mean shit. Everyone is a “vice president”. If you’re a “vice president” as a result of reaching a certain quota or income for the firm, in general, or for tenure, you’re just like everyone else. No voting privileges. No benefit from corporate profits. No stock options. Talk to me when you reach “senior” or “executive” vice president. Until then…

The other title similar in nature but holding more water is “director”. There are two types of “directors”. Members of a “board of directors” that govern a publicly-traded company, and the “directors” of a private company, who hold a stake in that company. The difference: the “board of directors” are elected to that board by a vote of the shareholders. As is often the case, free seats are given to the shareholders with the highest stake in the company. So these “directors” are appointed by the shareholders while the “directors” of a private company “buy in” to the company. Sort of like employee-owned, but not exactly. Not anyone can just do that. You have to be selected to do so. I’m just happy I get a bonus.

Other sectors

Martial Arts:

Chinese Sifu/Japanese Sensei/Korean Shidoshi, instructors, students. Pretty cut & dry in the dojo. There are differences though, but only in color. For example, the martial arts titles are in their colors, representing levels or advancement from beginner, to intermediate, and advanced. Most of the Chinese kung fu styles don’t use a belt system. The top post is sifu. Their theory is you never stop learning. You move from style (or animal) to another. I’ve attended three kung fu schools. Two were traditional, one was contemporary. The difference here is, the traditional ones don’t teach for monetary gain (profit). And gaining acceptance is through an intermediary. The contemporary school is run as a business, and for profit. In order to do so, a belt system is installed, similar to that of Japan and Korea.

My third kung fu school’s belt system was as follows: yellow, yellow w/green stripe, green, green w/red stripe, red, red w/brown stripe, brown, brown w/black stripe, black. That’s eight levels. And four years. Karate, from Japan, only has six – white, yellow, green, blue, brown, black, but takes the same amount of time (each level took longer to attain). Tae Kwon Do (and others) from Korea, had eight – white, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, brown, black. Two extra colors, same amount of time. Some theorize adding extra levels and shortening the duration, kept the students involved and in attendance. I found it was more about the money. You attended a certain number of classes, and advanced, whether you knew the forms and moves or not. Those who excelled at a quicker pace, were not advanced accordingly, to keep others from becoming disenchanted. The more things differ, the more they are the same (LaFevre variation).

Organized crime:

Boss, Under-Boss, Capo (captain), crew. We can’t forget one of the oldest title structures existing today simply because their whole network is based on illegal franchises. Nonetheless, they operate in the same fashion as the top three. And in many cases, in tandem. But for all intent and purposes, for what I know, uh, I’m invoking “omerta”. I know nothing. Fuggettaboutit.

Religion:

Pope, Cardinal, Archbishop, Bishop, Monsignor, Reverend/Father, Brother, Sister (nun). One of the oldest in existence today. Older than OC, in fact. And possibly just as corrupt. As evident by its history. The Catholic Church. No one group has killed more people in the name of God over the last 2000 years than The Catholic Church. But this isn’t a piece on history. It’s about titles. Which brings me to the final level.
Spiritual/Other-Worldly:

Allah, God, Yahweh. I only know three. I put them in alphabetical order to avoid confrontation and offense. You know the first and last would have a problem with this order. Well, if the last one didn’t start with a “Y”, then it wouldn’t be last, would it? So be it. (Besides, who would you rather NOT piss off, the followers of the first, or the followers of the last?)

Of course, gold, for gold’s relation to the golden rule, is manipulated to represent more than it’s actual value. Just like DeBeers does with the world’s diamond supply. It’s been obvious for centuries, the power brokers, the movers and shakers, the ones behind the scenes, are the true puppetmasters pulling all the strings. It is these individuals that put those into power, and subsequently, remove them from power, lending credence to the conspiracy connotations, without actually proving it. We’ll never know if the figurehead is a player in the process, or not. And given the obvious, penultimate excuse called: deniability.


Honorable Mentions:

Head Honcho, Head Cheese, Big Cheese, Big Kahuna, Top Dog, Top Banana, kingpin, Grand Poobah, The Man… (nice how they all just fell in line)

LaFevre’s favorite is this, but more along the lines of someone who thinks they are, but in reality:

“You think you’re hot shit on a silver platter;
but you’re really cool diarrhea on a paper plate.”