When the Mascot Believes He Is King

A stylised illustration of a human brain outlined on a white brick wall, with a wooden ladder leaning into the brain, symbolising ambition, cognition, institutional power and the psychological climb toward authority.

There is, apparently, a magical point in every corporate career when appearing beside important people becomes equivalent to being important. Attend enough panels, join enough committees, smile beside enough executives and, eventually, the mascot discovers his true destiny: not merely carrying the king's banner, but explaining to the king where he went wrong.

The Self-Destruction of Idiocy

Idiots are not an anomaly within civilization. They are one of its products. Every successful society eventually creates enough comfort to shield people from consequences, and once consequences disappear, incompetence begins to breed unchecked. The danger is not that idiots exist. The danger is that prosperity allows them to rise, multiply, and institutionalize themselves before reality finally returns.