Vol. 41, No. 17
11/01/2025
Wolverton’s Warning | The Fool’s Masquerade: How Charlatans Climb and Men of Sense Kneel
In our age — as in every age before it — there are men who rise not by merit, but by masquerade. They wield the appearance of intelligence like a sword, and the world, ever eager to be duped, hands them a crown. Incredibly, men become “important” not because they are wise, but because they are assumed to be so. And once granted the illusion of greatness, they wield it like a club, smashing liberty, truth, and common sense to prove how they are elected not by the people, but by Providence.
Some swindle Heaven to gain Earth. They parade piety to plunder the people. They use religion as a costume, and tyranny as a liturgy. Others rise through the ranks of the court by boasting influence over the people, and vice versa, pretending to be the voice of the people to gain favor at court. These men lie to both king and crowd, and receive double wages for their deceit.
Deception, it seems, is the easiest craft on Earth. No matter how dull or brainless the schemer, if he puts on the right mask, the mob will kneel. Murderers are mistaken for martyrs, clowns for geniuses, and dunces for sages. This, brothers, is the fault not of the deceivers — but of the deceived.
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