History lesson

Once upon a time, a woman thought that she was better than anyone else. She was wealthy and lived in the city. She knew how to brag and put on airs. Nobody else spoke up, so it was her. Meanwhile, poor people in the country never stopped suffering and being poor. The poor didn’t really have a say. The politicians said, “Tell us,” but they listened to only those with money. The nobility were given large estates, and bought serfs to do the work on them. If anyone didn’t like that, well, those were whipped and scorned and starved. If that wasn’t good enough, then they got the sword. The nobility thought that they were perfect. Even more, that they were like our mothers, loving and caring and nothing wrong with beating dirty stupid people. It’s just teaching children how to behave. Meanwhile their administrators learned to be cruel, cruel like their masters. They learned to count only the taxes. As for suffering, they professed ignorance; they said, “I see nothing. I see nothing!” Eventually, we forgot that we were stupid. We forgot that we had no noble bloodline. Maybe we were confused, or crazed by misery. We washed ourselves and taught our children how to love and respect themselves. Meanwhile, the church taught the Bible. It taught that honest labor meant that you didn’t complain. It said it’s OK if another man owns your body because the Lord owns your soul. When the army suppressed the rebellion, homes were burned; children were mutilated. The lords and ladies praised the slaughter, and the church consecrated the knives.