“I have the same goal I’ve had ever since I was a girl. I want to rule the world.” - Madonna (1959- ). In “The Ten Who Count the Most,” People, 27 July 1992

Don’t we all dream of ruling the world at some point in our lives? I think that most of us give up on this dream eventually, accepting our lot in life and the rules that we have to follow. For me, there appears to be reasons to keep this quote in mind, and to still attempt to rule the world. One of those reasons is that by aiming to rule the world, we are able to take a long view of that same world. We don’t have to accept how the world is, or that the world should be the way it is. We are not the peasants or merchants of the world - we are its rightful king, merely princes in waiting. It is for us to judge all that we see, to come to a viewpoint and form a belief about all that works or does not work, all that is right and wrong, and all that is important or unimportant. If we are to rule the world one day, then we are to be beholden to any particular creed, history, or idea, for those are all of the world, and we are the judges of them, not them of us. We are in fact worthy to rule the world. 

Being worthy to rule the world is a great power, and with that power comes a great duty. A duty to ourselves - would we not be used to rule the world and be terrible at it, or to obtain rule of the world and not be worthy of it? If we are to one day rule the world, then we must work hard, we must beat out the competition, and we must not fail our trials in life. We are not here to give up - we have a duty to win through at all costs. It doesn’t matter if we fail today, but if we fail always - we are here to rule the world one day, not necessarily to rule the world today. It takes work, effort, and time to obtain what we want, and we are prepared to do that. Even if we never do in fact ruel the entire world, that doesn't mean that we should not be prepared for the event. 

What happens if we do rule the world? Then the responsibility for terrible and preventable events falls on us. The responsibility to take care of all the living beings in the world falls on us. The responsibility to take revenge upon the enemies of the world, to punish injustice, and to bring out the best in people also falls to us. We are not just here to rule the world for our own enjoyment - we could do that without ruling the world. We are here to rule the world because we believe that we can do it better than anybody else, or because we cannot bear to be constrained by someone else's rules. If we were as free and powerful as we wanted to be, then we would feel the burn of constraints, so if we do, then the only ways out of this feeling are to either rule the world, or to escape the world entirely. IF we escape the world entirely, we might fall back on our artistic endeavors, and try to, in that way, rule not all the world but a part of the world. This is fine, so long as we are only concerned with that part of the world, and are blind to the rest. If we are not, then the only recourse left is to try and rule the entire world, or at least, to do our best. 

If we want to rule the world, then we cannot live in an idealistic world. We must instead see the world as it is. We cannot afford to have many illusions, because with each lie we tell ourselves, we lose power. With each failure we accept we will never overcome, with each thing that we cannot do, and with every day we have not somehow improved, we are losing our grip on the rule of the world. So, try, try to rule the world. Accept that it is your right, dusty, and heritage, to be the grand emperor of all that you survey, with all the powers and duties inherent in the position. As long as you don't give up, you never know what might happen. This isn’t living in hope of what might be, but with faith in what you can become.