by Randy Vaughan

Created on: September 07, 2008

[the following is from my book "The Maniacal Laughter of the Damned..."]

I don't know how long it's been around, but the first time I heard "He who has the gold, rules" was while working for the same corporate zombie who lectured me about "make more, spend less." Since those having wealth and the pretense of power have seen fit to take poetic license with wisdom that predates us all and try to make it sound "cute," it's only fitting the two notions be compared to see who really gets the last laugh.

The real "Golden Rule" is an adage the proverbial "everyone" knows and quotes, and that it comes from the Bible. But as a gentleman once told me regarding the Bible, "Everyone knows what it says but few know what it means."

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" really does sound like good, solid advice. That's because it is. But what if there's more to it? Why must it be limited to just that? Here's what I mean, and it's just basic grammar.

"Read the book." That's a simple imperative sentence. The understood subject is "You." I'm talking to you and I'm telling you to "read the book." The emphasis is on the verb, the action: Read.

Hear how differently it sounds this way:

"You read the book." The emphasis immediately shifts from the verb, the desired action of having you "read" the book, to you, the person whom I want to do the reading.

"Do unto others" is also a simple imperative sentence and as such, the focus is on the verb, the action, the do of "Do unto others." At this point, it's about not only the what, the action, but also the person's motive for doing whatever the action is. The admonition is to consciously consider the consequences of your actions before doing anything. If you don't like people lying to
you, for example, then don't lie to them. On the other hand, if you don't mind having people pour lighter fluid on your testicles and set them on fire, then please, by all means, go right ahead and do that to others.

But now read it again, this time with the subject "You" actually stated. "You do unto others as you would have them do unto you." It no longer sounds like "friendly advice," does it? So not only can it be read this way, quite frankly there's no reason not to since we're all just playing by the "rules," in this case, the rules of grammar, and we all know how important it is to "obey the rules," right?

When expressed that way, it becomes a simple declarative sentence and as such, the sole result of actions taken is to conveyinformation about

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