Struggle: Grip of steel - стр. 3

This reality of controlling your environment. Near and far. And now, if the inner circle was relatively controlled by the pressure of his well-deserved authority, the outer circle, the people, were very loose. The people knew the Mountain, understood his nature of action and his rigidity in making decisions and enforcing them. But all the advantages ended there. After all, he was not feared, as once the plagues were feared.

Yes, he was the sole owner of the power of several production facilities and even a certain portion of the surface over them. Yes, his orders were unquestionable and the only thing to be obeyed was execution. Yes, everyone was confident in his strategic thinking and firmness of will. Yes, everyone was afraid to interfere or even pretend that they did not like something      But no one

was afraid of him anymore. And they weren't afraid of losing him because of it either.

The security the prefect had given them was already taken for granted. A given that could be and would be without him. And it was that message that began to give rise to wrong thoughts.

Wrong thoughts. Dangerous thoughts. The ones that shouldn't have been there by definition, but which were formed because they had to fill the vacuum of fear with something. And since there was no other fear, that vacuum would be filled by thoughtlessness.

Yeah, that's what happens. When people are afraid of something for a long time. That something disappears, stops weighing on them, and they start to think they've done it. By

themselves. And if they did it themselves, they will be able to cope with it again, if it arises. So they relax. This is the very levity that arises in the place of the vacuum where fear used to be.

This is it. Where this and the last assassination attempt came from. None of the people were afraid of losing their leader. They weren't afraid of being left alone to face what the chief used to face. Because they'd come to think of it as nothing. A worthless trifle, handled by a worthless chief, whom nobody fears      It is very common for people to mistake kindness for weakness, and it is this

attitude that causes the need to become a terrible ruthless despot who does not value their lives, their attitudes, or their needs. Because now their needs and their life will become the iron necessity to keep the leader alive. And their attitude will become so insignificant in its importance that it will simply be forgotten.....

Now it's simply not possible to be kind and caring while still alive. Either you have to sacrifice your life or these qualities. And people themselves do not realize how important it is to sacrifice the latter in order to preserve their lives. Nothing requires security as much as the need to preserve life first of all. And nothing demands fear as much as security itself, which without fear is simply not appreciated. They do not see that it is there. They do not want to realize that it is the life they have.