{"id":2824,"date":"2024-09-03T22:41:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T20:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.popularbeethoven.com\/?p=2824"},"modified":"2024-09-03T22:41:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-03T20:41:00","slug":"i-think-therefore-i-am-arrested","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.popularbeethoven.com\/i-think-therefore-i-am-arrested\/","title":{"rendered":"I think, therefore I am… arrested"},"content":{"rendered":"
The overreach of power today and in Beethoven\u2019s days<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n If not from history, from Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings<\/em> one can easily observe and learn the true nature of power. Gollum’s character is the perfect example how this force<\/em> can take hold of, change and disfigure anybody not careful enough.<\/p>\n It always wants more! George Washington, a wise man, knew it. That is why he chose not to be elected for life, but retired after his second term, making a precedent among the presidents to follow.<\/p>\n Nowadays, the dark side of power finds other ways to expand. Governments are getting more and more hungry all over the world, getting bigger and fatter by the day, constantly spending more than they have in the pockets. Casting an ever growing burden of debt on the next generations. The idea of small government is over, even in the \u201ccapitalist\u201d<\/em> US.<\/p>\n Today it is not about emperors and kings, aristocracy or religious institutions loosing their way. Our freedoms, even in liberal Western democracies, are taken away by our own elected officials, step by step, and the whole process is even sugarcoated for us. It is always for a “just cause”<\/em>, some social initiative, protection of the populous or minorities. The result? Dare think or say something not aligned with the government policies and you get canceled, fired from your job, forced to participate in \u201cre-education\u201d<\/em> or even put in jail.<\/p>\n