The Costs of Desire

"I was within a hair's breadth of the last opportunity for pronouncement, and I found with humiliation that probably I would have nothing to say. This is the reason why I affirm that Kurtz was a remarkable man. He had something to say. He said it. Since I had peeped over the edge myself, I understand better the meaning of his stare, that could not see the flame of the candle, but was wide enough to embrace the whole universe, piercing enough to penetrate all the hearts that beat in the darkness. He had summed up -- he had judged. 'The horror!'"

-- Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

Those with a penchant for the dramatic or those who are given to emotional railings, refer to 'evil empires' while those who are a little more collected in their expressions of thoughts talk about 'imperial ambitions.' One could say that the desires of a nation can cause more devastation than the wants of a simple human being. One might also say that the desires of simple men and women come to be the collective desire of the country they call home.

Us and them. The little people and the giants. The oppressed and the oppressors. The ninety-nine percent and the one percent...

Me.

You.