WHAT IS LUST?

     On Gary's blog there is a posting which accuses David Israel or interprets David Israel as one who has a lust for power. Lust is a powerful emotion which drives the thoughts and actions of the person who is filled with lust. But lust can be positive or negative  and depends on its object, that which is lusted for.
     We have the famous "lust for life" that enveloped Van Gogh, the driving need to create, to push the envelope in the world of art and painting. It is the lust, the need to get that need out, a need, that most true artists have, be it to write, to compose, to create poetry, or dance movements or new institutions in society that will raise that society to new heights, help better it and the people within. That lust is good, positive and leads to goals and accomplishments that will help society.
     There is personal lust as well. That  could be a lust for one's partner in life, or for the good things in life that can enrich one's soul or one's environment. It is the lust to better society, such as the driving actions of Clara Barton, Florence Nightingale, Jane Addams, Thomas Paine, Peter Zenger and other big and small people throughout history. The object of their lust was good, was creative, positive, so their lust was approved - at least by history, if not by the time they lived in.
     There is also the negative lust and its negative objectives. A lust for riches and wealth, to own objects d'art for oneself, hidden away, a lust to own people body and soul, and a lust for power. These people are small people who will in time be crushed by the weight of their lust and by the power of history.
     So what we have here in the Village is a case of the negative side of lust, for a lust for power, for control, is never good unless there is a need for control such as in a dangerous situation, but this is not the case here. David Israel apparently, admittedly, spent his working years in situations where either orders had to be obeyed or the work ethic meant one had to snoop, to pry, to go where one was not wanted. Obviously all countries have intelligence services and there have been spies since time immemorial - just check the Bible on that- but it appears that our services have gone overboard, forgetting their original purpose and just gathering info for its own sake, lost their way.
     In retirement, evidently this lust for power ethic overtook David Israel and he gathered around him a coterie of souls who also had lost their way or been fooled by him. He began to gather the reins of power in his hands, his hot little hands, and slowly, slowly, began to close the doorways and windows of democracy as practiced in the USA. He took as his role models all the dictators of society that can be found today and in history, forgetting that the end of most dictators is a nasty one. Now while we will not advocate hanging him upside down as was done to Mussolini, he needs to be aware of the growing anger at and about him, even with members of his coterie falling off. No dictator comes to a good end, no dictator with a lust for power leaves behind a positive and constructive legacy, but does leave behind a bad taste and a map of how not to do things.
     Lust for power. A negative lust. A harmful lust. One that must be aborted, stopped in its tracks and the harm already done to the Village subjected to reconstruction and repair. Power must be shared to be truly powerful, to be creative, to be worthwhile. It is the power of a society that works for mankind and the lust for power of the individual that brings it down. We here in the Village have to know that there is nothing to be frightened of from and by this man. So what if one is not a chair? So what if ones loses his little fiefdom. The next president of UCO will share, will delegate, will include all with positive ideas for the Village and not those who think only of themselves. It is never too late to use that lust for power for the positive and transform it into a lust for the betterment of society. You will even feel better about your own self.
     So now that I have discussed this idea of lust and its various forms and uses, did I sound pedantic enough for you, David. That appears to be the best that you can come up with, sadly so.     But it seems to be what you need, a careful explication of motivations of behavior, good or bad for evidently it never was internalized by you. Perhaps it was that your instructors were not pedantic, teaching and explaining, enough and you were left behind. Sad, but evidently true, much to the detriment of the Village. Perhaps if you were to politely approach Stew he might have the patience to instruct you in history and its values that left you behind. Couldn't hurt. And he is a great teacher, not a spy, but a teacher, one who builds society and its future, something apparently alien to you.