The man who lives in the midst of thirty servants is like an insect in a glass box under the magnifying glass of a naturalist. Not one of his acts escapes their notice: he can scarcely have a secret of his own; and, if they cannot divine what it is, they at least know that he has one. From morn till night he is the point of observation for thirty pairs of eyes, interested in studying the slightest changes in his countenance. Émile Gaboriau - The Widow Lerouge (1866)
It's a strange ambition which has hold of those two coves, especially as their glass boxes are scrutinised by rather more than thirty pairs of eyes.
Presumably the role attracts natural glass box dwellers which possibly explains a good deal about them and why they throw stones at each other. One box is their ambition.
2 comments:
The glass box is far more revealing than it was 150 years ago. We've got video and electronic versions of everything these guys have ever said or done.
"One box" is quite a scary thought in one respect. There are signs now that these guys are beginning to see that they are basically the same underneath the bluster and kayfabe quarrelling. They are realising they are what Marx called a "class for themselves", a group with a distinct identity and political interests.
"We are the ambitious aggressive types who want to run other people's lives. That's just how we are, as if we were a distinct racial or sexual group. So let's make the best of it by cooperating to sort everyone else out..."
Sam - yes they are a group with a distinct identity and political interests. The permanent administration, media and vested interests they have to work with are much the same too, as is the range of possible "initiatives" available to them. Cooperation seems inevitable unless a genuine political party upsets it all.
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