If everything collapses, including the legal system that enforces payment of debt, he who controls the debt controls nothing.
In such a situation, power reverts to its original and inherent form: Power grows out of the barrel of a gun.
History’s greatest mass murderer, Mao Zedong, said that “power grows out of the barrel of a gun”.
But he was wrong. There is a force greater than violence, and that force is the true source of human power. The force is love — the love of a leader. God gives some men the power to compel this love in others. This power is charisma, and it, not mere brute force, is the true source of power.
Consider a collapse of social order. At first, it’s a war of all against all, of every man for himself. But soon enough, gangs form, each one centered upon a leader. What compels the members of a gang to obey that leader? Any one of them could theoretically kill him and take his place. Collectively, the gang could overpower him. Yet they don’t in most cases — and when they do, the only real result is that some other gangster takes his place. “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”
The reason gangsters obey their leader is love — a personal dedication to him. And that kind of love can only be inspired by the force of charisma. A person with charisma can order men to die, and they will do so happily. We call such men “born leaders”. When gangs become larger, we call them “chieftains”; still larger, “dukes” (which just means “leader” in Latin); and, when the gang becomes a nation, we call them “princes” and “kings”. Ultimately, a man with sufficient charisma can control the known world, commanding the personal loyalty of its inhabitants. Such men are known simply as “he who commands” — in Latin, “imperator”. Thus are emperors made; thus are empires created.
Charisma is the only real “superpower” that exists. It is far more powerful than any gun. For the love of a leader, a man will gladly face any numbe of guns, reducing the power of the gun (and its wielder) to zero. But, like any form of power, charisma can be used for good or for evil. Our task at present is to survive the efforts of the charisma-haunted minions of the current Leader and his evil puppet-masters until a charismatic Champion arises — a leader who will rally the forces of good to battle evil and save the world for another season.
May the Emperor come soon!
He who controls the debt ends up holding the empty bag when the music stops