Every song is essential to the overall idea, but each one encapsulates a different facet of the idea. The fourth song is the equivalent of the American Constitution, a foundational set of rules for the crafting of all other rules. The fourth song is a series of rules regarding how to avoid the Path of the Locust.
The Fourth Song consists of the following rules: no kings, no conquests, no dogma or doctrine, and live seven generations out. No kings means that the adherent does not worship nor bow before kings. No conquests means that the adherent refuses to endorse, engage in or act as an accomplice to any war of conquest. No dogma or doctrine means that the adherent does not accept any ideology as infallible or inerrant. Live seven generations out, means that the adherent considers the effects of their actions on the next seven generations before enacting them.
No kings means that the adherent accepts no ruler, and bows to no hierarchy. The adherent considers all hierarchies to be invalid. There are no kings that are not false kings. Any declaration of power over others is usurpation and corruption. The accepting of superior above us or inferiors below us is the Path of the Locust. No kings does not require the adherent to make a principled stand and die for their beliefs. The adherent is allowed to lie to would be kings, and offer false submission. The adherent is allowed to bow with their body and defy in their hearts. The Hungry Empire demands worship and enforces hierarchies as a core of their ideology.
No conquests means that the adherent does not engage is wars meant to claim territory or resources from others. No conquests means that the adherent does not condone, or endorse, or sanction an wars to claim territory or resources from others. No conquests means that the adherent will not act as an accomplice or facilitator for any wars to claim territory or resources from others. No conquests does not mean that the adherent cannot defend themselves. No conquests does not mean that the adherent may not engage in any wars, but that they may not engage in wars of conquest. The Hungry Empire exists due to conquest and expands by conquest. The Hungry Empire is a history of a ten thousand year war of conquest.
No dogma or doctrine means that the adherent considers all ideologies to be works in progress, including this one. The adherent considers no system or ideology as complete and unassailable. The adherent has no bible. The adherent considers no documents sacred, and no sermons untouchable- including this one. Cook your sacred cows. Test your prophets. Burn your gods and kill your kings. The Hungry Empire demands that citizens accept their doctrine purely on their authority. Because the Hungry Empire lives in defiance of natural laws, and so they can only enforce their ideology by brute force.
Live seven generations out means that the adherent doesn’t consider the impact of their actions only upon their own lives. They instead also consider the impact of their actions on future generations. The choice of seven generations is taken from indigenous nations of North America, and is arbitrary to a certain degree. However, seven generations is roughly one hundred and seventy-five years. And thus the adherent is being asked to consider the impact ahead nearly two hundred years, a time when they will be dead and their children will be dead, and their grandchildren will be dead. And this is the key, the adherent is being asked to consider the impact of their actions beyond their own lifespan. But the Hungry Empire looks no further than instant gratification. If they did, the horror of the mutual suicide pact upon which they have built their empire would break their brains.
Recommended Reading
- The Story of B, by Daniel Quinn
- On Killing, by Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman
- Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches: The Riddles of Culture, by Marvin Harris
- Don’t Sleep, There are Snakes, by Daniel L. Everett
Professor Harbinger's School for Villains 