The Rule of the State

The Rule of the State

By José Lourenço

1.  Fear the State.

2.  Subordinate your will to the will of the State.

3.  Be obedient to the superior assigned to you by the State.

4.  Be patient amid hardships caused by the repressive acts of the State.

5.  Confess your deeds and reveal all your activities to the State.

6.  Accept the meanest of tasks, and hold yourself as a worthless workman.

7.  Consider yourself inferior to all in the State.

8.  Follow examples set by superiors, do only as prescribed by the State

9.  Do not speak until spoken to.

10.  Do not readily laugh. And never laugh at the State.

11.  Speak simply and modestly. Keep your head bowed.

12.  Express your inward humility through bodily posture. Stay bowed.

These twelve rules have been standard tools in the hands of any self-respecting (!) authoritarian state ever since Man threw another man down and placed his foot on the fallen man’s head.

China is a classic example. The flattening of all men as humble, lowly equals controlled by a powerful leader or leaders is wearily familiar. Why does Man seek to oppress his fellow man and woman so much, for that matter, oppress all the men and women around him and preferably in the neighbouring countries too? Isn’t there enough food for everyone on this bountiful earth?

We could turn to God and spiritual guidance for answers. We could ask the saints of old, how can we live as brothers in a community? We could ask Saint Benedict, who wrote his famous The Rule of St. Benedict, a guide to monastic community living. St. Benedict was disgusted by the corrupt secular culture of Italy and wrote the 73-chapter-long rule book, 15 centuries ago, to advise monks on how to live peacefully together.            

Chapter 7 dwells on humility, and details it further into twelve degrees, or steps in the ladder that leads to heaven. In brief, here are the twelve rules:

Fear God, Subordinate one's will to the will of God, Be obedient to one's superior, Be patient amid hardships, Confess one's sins, Accept the meanest of tasks, and hold oneself as a "worthless workman", Consider oneself "inferior to all", Follow examples set by superiors, Do not speak until spoken to, Do not readily laugh, Speak simply and modestly, Express one's inward humility through bodily posture.

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