Rule the world? Bah! A petty idea for petty minds. Suitable for the Hitlers, Stalins, and Kennedeys perhaps, but not for me. I have a much grander plan. Besides being the ruler of the world would be a tad tedious, no one would dare think for themselves, afraid of your ultimate might, that your whim might destroy them. No, I seek not stifle creativity, nor to snuff the spark of intellect under a totalitarian rulership. Again, this ultimate ruler, the Supreme Leader, would have more 'responsibility' than a mere human can handle - aside from having to make every decision for every living being on the planet, he would have to be constantly on his guard, always aware that he is in the forefront, and as such always susceptible to danger. Should a subject become dissatisfied and agitated, he may cause the populace to rise up against him. There is only so far that fear can maintain control. And he would also have to beware of his advisors, or his bodyguards, any one of them can be a mighty threat to him, a hidden advocate of the popular revolt, or just another loony with delusions of grandeur.

No, I seek not to rule the world, for I am wise enough to know my limitations - and I want neither the enmity of the people, nor, as I've already said, the stifling of free thought.

What I seek is a power of a different sort. Influence. I seek to change the world, but not to rule it. I may set myself upon a pedestal, but it will not be a throne. Hear ye, and understand that power concealed is power magnified. Power displayed is power spent.

Nay, the government that governs best is the government that governs least. And to this I add - that the government that governs least is a government that doesn't govern, thus a government that exists not is the government that governs best. I seek not a 'one-world government', but a one-world ungovernment.

Aye, some may term it 'anarchy' or 'chaos', and claim that nothing would get done - and for a while they will be right. Many people will not know what to do without 'Big Brother' calling the shots. Change, new life, is always painful, and while it is happening people will curse, they will moan, they will desire 'the good old days'. However, after the pangs of birth have faded, the wonderment of new life, of possibility, of the future is upon them, and they will be stronger for the experience. No longer will they curse their lives, and the brief moments of pain that were wrought upon them, instead they will remember the times before - when they were shackled to the government, to industry, to money, to the institution - and they will curse them as times of ignorance, of a policy harmful to the race of mankind. They will remember them as we remember feudal periods, the 'Dark Ages'. The Inquisition of the Census bureau, the Robber Barons of the Tax Administration, the Plague of Government will all be recalled in a dim light. The people of these times will be though as primitive as the mythological Neanderthals and Cro Magnums, compared to the enlightened and free minds of this future I wish to bring.

All men are created equal, we claim - but some seem to be created more equal than others. Democracy is a sham, it is not a rule of the people, but it is a rule of the wealthy, of the 'learned', of the high-borne. Democracy is nothing more than a monarchy of many - an oligarchy if you will.

Communism - the belief not that everyone is equal, but that everyone is rewarded equally, with the 'Party' being more equal then the rest. Again, it is the same as Democracy - a sham of the worst sort. Instead of 'Big Brother', you have the 'Bolshoj Brother'. One and the same. The 'war' between Communism and Democracy is the greatest Travesty that has been played out upon this theatre of life, for why should one fight with himself?

Theocracy is perhaps the most frightening of all 'governments', for what Communism and Democracy hide behind a veil of deceit it openly displays. In a Theocracy, they make no claims that everyone is created equal. There are always some that are 'better', 'holier', 'closer to God' than the commoners are. Why do I say it is more frightening when it openly spends its power? After all, power concealed is power magnified - and thus Democracy and Communism should be more frightening, correct? Because it is not power that they display, but the truth. And while truth does grant power, it is miniscule in comparison to the scale of the world. What makes it frightening is that those shadows that are hidden behind the veils of Communism and Democracy are in the open, leaving room for yet more sinister truths to be concealed.

Perhaps the most sinister truth concealed behind the veils of Theocracy is the desire of the 'leadership' to keep their 'flock' as ignorant and trusting as the sheep they are compared to. New ideas are labeled as evil, and blasphemous. Change is described as contrary to the will of God; it is an instrument of 'The Evil One'. They rule by fear, but it is fear concealed. If you do not do exactly as the holy ones preach, then you are doomed to an eternal damnation - eternal fire, eternal ice, eternal darkness - whatever preys upon the frailties of the mind. Innovators are excommunicated - thrown out of the 'church' as heretics, or murdered - so that their 'evil and impure' concepts do not taint the 'innocence and faith' of the true believers. In short, they require automatons, robots with no free will, programmed to follow their paths of destruction - ignorance and apathy.

It is also a shame that many of the adherents truly do believe the lies of the government. In a 'Democratic' or 'Communistic' society, you will always find dissidents; though they are not tolerated in either. Dissidents in a Theocracy are rare, for most have already been eliminated.

Like I began, I do not wish to rule the world. I wish to change it, to influence it, for that is true power indeed. Hopefully I have sparked in you a glimmer of understanding, a curiosity, a shimmering of a new idea. If you have read this, and not closed your mind to the ideas within, then I have influenced you - and have come a step closer to the ultimate goal.

I now challenge you to go forth and seek true power. Seek to influence the world. Seek to bring about change. Seek to make the world better. Seek to shine light into the dark corners of closed minds. Become that flame of free thought, become the light that shows others the way, and become the harbinger of change. Set yourself upon a pedestal if you like, but do not forget the ultimate goal. Don't dismiss ideas out of hand that conflict with your own, don't conspire to force others to truth, for then you shall be no better than the Great Deceivers of this world - the governments, Communists, Democrats, Theocrats, and the like.

Show others the light of truth, and help them along their path, but let them take the steps themselves. Their path may be a different one than your own, but the ultimate destination should be the same.