Kings or Gangsters

A random thought just drifted into my mind… something that I’ve been toying for almost two decades, and have debated till kingdom come with many people… never losing the debate, by the way. I write on that today – “Kings or Gangsters”.

“Blue blood in their veins… that’s what royalty is made of.”

Really? Then, in my opinion, the colour of blood running inside the biggest gangsters in the world must also be myriad shades of blue!

Surprised? Let me take you down history lane to explain this rather bizarre thought.

What made Kings? Where did they come from originally? And when I say originally, I mean how did the very first king come about thousands of years ago? What would make people follow them blindly, and be ready to kill for them and to be killed for them? What wins such loyalty?

There are only two things in this world that bring such devotion. One, is the love of family and the very dearest of friends, who will do anything for someone they love so much. Two, is the position of power that binds people together – they may love each other or loathe each other, but the power of being in control and of gaining hugely by such an alliance – is what earns such allegiance.

It is my hunch that the first kings came about the same time civilization was coming into existence. The very necessity of the people to fulfill their basic needs – food, shelter, protection from wild animals – made them form groups. These groups needed a leader – like all groups – who could envision the dangers they faced, come up with solutions for the same, and guide them in times of need. This task would have invariably been entrusted to the wisest (or the most cunning) and the bravest (or the toughest) person in the group. The cleverest person became the holy man (who could talk to God and foresee everything), and the cruelest man became the king (the most powerful protector & provider). Together, they formed rules for the group to follow and bade them to obey them by fear of the Almighty or by power of the muscle.

Soon, these groups had a need to go farther than where they were born, to seek out new places for food and shelter. In doing so, they came into contact with other groups, who were pretty obviously hostile to theirs. Conflict of territory arose (much like it arises in wild beasts), and they had to fight and kill each other. If the leader was killed in the battle, the next most powerful living man would take the mantle. If the leader survived, he would be eulogized by the surviving few. These leaders were the rulers of the entire land now. And as they grew their territories and their population, they became bigger and slowly formed their kingdoms and became kings. To keep the large flock together, these kings needed a common belief (or fear), and an instant solution came in the form of spreading the word of God. I am not an atheist, this merely is an attempt to understand how man first learnt about his Creator and how he came to fear His wrath so much. One can clearly see why so much affinity existed between the King and the High Priest of yester-years. I think this is the only plausible explanation, and you can correct me if you have a different thought on the same.

So, the first kings were nothing but largely feared gangsters. Their sons automatically inherited their legacy, and may or may not have been as cruel. But they were also driven to expand (or protect) their territories, and so they stepped out of their comfort zones. You may call them bravehearts; I prefer to call them ganglords. What, for example, made millions of people leave their homes in Macedonia and trek all the way to India to win lands for Alexander the Great? And why did Alexander need to win over the world by killing so many people – I am sure the right religious teachings would not have permitted him to do so; and he was not threatened by anybody & fighting in defence. It was the lust of demonstrating himself as the most powerful man in the world (propelled by wrong religious backing) that drove him and his troops so far.

Isn’t this the very thing that we see around us today? How different are the kings from present day gangsters or terrorists, who follow the same route to riches? And how different are they from the heads of various nations (the present day kings) that wish to subjugate other states by sheer demonstration of their wild, merciless power?