Jack of Spades

Dreamt I was in medieval times…one of the few dreams in which this has ever happened to me. Making it all the more interesting, I was in a castle, though much to my dismay, I wasn’t the king. It appeared, however, that I was quite close with the Queen, and the dream offered me what seemed like a moment’s glimpse into a much broader story…we were all in motion– myself, the Queen, and the Queen’s entourage. She was gripping me by the arm and telling me excitedly and enthusiastically about a tea she was making, giving me complex instructions as to how to continue to cultivate this tea for her while she went away on royal business…her face was a wash of excitement in talking to me, in that blatantly obvious way in which women unknowingly convey attraction. This was of very little comfort to me, unfortunately, as I only noticed it out of the corner of my eye…my real attention was fixed on the King, who was taller than her, and just on the other side of her, glaring at me. Oh fuck, I thought, he’s going to arrest and kill me…and then it was over.

Whoever said "knowledge is power" was absolutely correct, despite the education systems contention that such knowledge lies strictly in their textbooks. The quote that they should be using, which is just as correct as the first, is "money is power," as a complete grip on the education system will generally only reap such a reward. Through certification one is permitted a slightly higher paying slave-to-labor position, but beyond this increase in monetary funds, there is no power to be gained through mastery of the education system. It’s too diluted, abused, and bureaucratically worn down to use to one’s advantage beyond simply playing by the rules in order to get a pat on the head by the system.

Power is never achieved by obeying a system’s rules, as demonstrated presently by the goings on in Iran, but only through extensive knowledge of the system, with the direct intent of cheating it; breaking rules, and rewriting them in your own favor. Knowing what rules can be broken is the knowledge that allows the power to follow…but like all those who rise quickly in rank, there may come a time when reality exceeds one’s knowledge, and the wrong rule is broken, resulting in a swift downfall. Take Anne Boleyn, for example…she convinced the king to buck the system and divorce his legitimate wife, without the foresight that if the king was permitted to do so, there would be nothing stopping him from doing it again…