Essay Iii Richard

They are drawn irresistibly to normalize what is not normal.

They do not realize quickly enough that what seemed impossible is actually happening.

They have relied on a structure that proves unexpectedly fragile.

“I like you, lads.” It is not necessary to look around to find people who embody this category of collaborators.

They are we, the audience, charmed again and again by the villain’s jaunty outrageousness, by his indifference to the ordinary norms of human decency, by the lies that seem to be effective even though no one believes them, by the seductive power of sheer ugliness.

Fourth, there are those who persuade themselves that they can take advantage of Richard’s rise to power.

They see perfectly well how destructive he is, but they are confident that they will stay safely ahead of the tide of evil or manage to seize some profit from it.

“I’ll make a corpse of him that disobeys,” Richard threatens, and the opposition to his outrageous commands somehow shrivels away.

It helps that he is an immensely wealthy and privileged man, accustomed to having his way, even when his way is in violation of every moral norm.

We have long looked to him, in times of perplexity and risk, for the most fundamental human truths. Do not think it cannot happen, and do not stay silent or waste your vote.

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