The Legacy Strategy of Dominance

"State capitalism is about more than emergency government spending, implementation of more intelligent regulation, or a stronger social safety net. It's about state dominance of economic activity for political gain." ~ Ian Bremmer

"Iraq is a manufactured conflict for the sake of geopolitical dominance in the area." ~ Janeane Garofalo

"Dominance in an adaptation to anarchy and it serves no purpose in a society that has undergone a civilising process or in an international system regulated by agreements and norms. Anything that deflates the concept of dominance is likely to drive down the frequency of fights between individuals and wars." ~ Steven Pinker

"I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group" ~ Peggy McIntosh

Most powerful politicians and multinational companies CEOs want to be immortal, not through living but what they leave behind. They would not want to be merely remembered; they wanted to be remembered for something huge that time couldn't wear down. A name remembered for centuries in history, a world forever remade in their likeness, this was the ultimate wish of any truly potent leader.

You have to realize that in the chess of history, timid persons are like pawns: carefully moving without risks, willing just to survive rather than win. And what do pawns become? Victims of sacrifice. Fallen, they lie forgotten, as the strong hack their own paths. So states the law of power, unwritten: dominate or else be dominated.

The greatest leaders, those who go down in history, are those who have always understood this. Alexander the Great, who did not hesitate to take Persia; to wait or hesitate was to invite weakness. Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon without doubt in his heart but with a sense of determination because he knew one thing, that power is seized. We all know Napoleon did not rise from obscurity by playing it safe.

The cautious and the timid may try, but it has always been clear that real success requires vision that is nothing short of breathtaking and ambition bordering on reckless arrogant disregard. There are those who are weak, unimaginative, ineffective who protest such ambition and call it foolish, even suicidal. History does not recall the meek or quiet and obedient. Nor does it recall those who remake nations, knowing full well, true greatness implies risk.

Think of politicians and business leaders around the world that did not aim to simply rule but to aggressively expand and conquer. They realize that power cannot be sustained with peace, only assertion, economic conquest, military expansion, and political influence. They knew it well that the powerful nations, businesses are not sustained by the art of diplomacy alone but with strength to implement their will.

Anyone who overlooked this fact, who held onto illusions of safety, was soon overwhelmed by the ones who would not.