To begin, I want to apoligize for being gone so long. Its been a busy few months. Right into it, though.
There is kind of coward that exists, and is universally hated among men. The Wormtongues. You remember Grima Wormtongue. The servant of Saruman who's visage was physically blackened by the corruption he had within him. I want to explore this kind of coward, as they seem to thrive on modern conventions. They are littered amongst the power structure, and persist, demanding that we adopt their ways. This kind of coward can be made, and oft-times, I believe they are made.
Most Cowards are straightforward in their cowardous, in an almost admirable way. Some cowards have no physical prowess, and shrink from any fight. Some have no emotional fortitude, and compromise themselves because they will not resist manipulation. Some have no mental fortitude, and do not engage and challenge ideas. The key factor in each of these is the mark of a coward. They relent under pressure of a certain kind. They fall to the coercion of others, and offer little resistance, if any at all. Those who are brave may be either passive or active in any given situation. The active will fight back, and the passive will not but will equally not relent. One absorbs the assault, the other reciprocates. The coward accepts the view of the aggressor for no reason other than the aggression.
The Wormtongues, however, are the king of cowards. They inculcate the mental cowards, they manipulate the emotional cowards, and use the collective power from society to coerce the rest. But, if you take away this power structure, they will shrink instantly from any kind of assault. Their immediate response is announce their victim status. Take, for instance the encounter Wormtongue had with Eomer. He had no response to Eomer's challenge. At least not until the guards showed up, that is. He was stripped of all power until the ones who he had paid or manipulated into doing his bidding.
The thing is, the people of the city didn't really like Wormtongue. The soldiers didn't but they accepted his position. The citizenry didn't like him, but they never responded in kind. The king didn't like him, but accepted his counsel. Each in their own way were cowards.
Here, Im going to try to give a basic outline as to how they operate.
The first element of these kinds of cowards is that they actually do not produce anything. Their niche is solely using power structures to gain. They have no particular skill, except some form of manipulation. They arent particularly intelligent.
Second, Wormtongues are cowards by nature. If aggression is applied to them properly, they relent. Their entire visage of strength is only derived from their power structure. If they have no power structure, they have no spine. This is not to say they are not ambitious. They are indeed, but they have no sense of strength of self.
Third, they are moral busybodies. This is also a mask, but it is also their greatest weapon. The thing here is that they will use your own system against you, no matter what that thing is. If your morality is your highest principle, they will use it. If your reason is your highest principle, they will use that. If your relationships are your highest principle, they will use that. WHat they use is not so much the issue as to how they use it. They are masters at manipulating your own principles through slight of hand and binding you to whatever conclusions they squeeze out of it.
Fourth, if there is a power structure, they will infest it. This plays off the previous point, but is most apropos, since power structures are how they accumulate power. They infest business hierarchies, law, families, or communities. What ever is in those systems, they will twist to suit their end goals, control over others.
Fifth, Wormtongues are complete hypocrites. They do not actually believe the principles by which they twist your arm, it is simply a means to an end.
Sixth, and most important, they have no desire to actually enforce any of their edicts. Others are used, who either cannot or will not argue with their position, no matter how unjust. Others will be the means to enforce the law. When confronted with a situation wherein they will have enforce the law themselves, they will either differ to others, or delay and act as though they are merciful. Whatever will keep them from getting their hands dirty.
Unfortunately, in the current political climate in the West, this is the most encouraged kind of personality, and these are the people that rise to the highest Echelons of society. This whole ordeal with the #metoo revelations? The biggest virtue signalers and angry feminists have made up the majority of the people being accused, and nearly all of the people actually exposed. The ones crying the loudest have been the ones most guilty. They will talk as though they are for the state intervening in assault, and will call out someone who disagrees with them as a sexist or racist, when in fact, they are the ones most guilty of these actions.
And that's not all. The ones who talk most about the attacks on liberty or security have contributed most to the undermining of both. They will manipulate the law, your fears and hesitations, your principles, and your family to exercise control over you.
You can fight back, and take back what they manipulate by calling them out for what they are: detestable manipulative cowards that seek nothing but control. The greatest threat to their plans is that we would not be cowards.