DJ3

Dear Journal, 10/27
I told my dad about these thoughts of mine about Bill Gates and Bono, and he characterized me as a cynic. He asked me if I really thought that everyone acted always with the ulterior motive of personal gain, and that if I did, did I really think that even the pope sought personal gain? Upon reflection, I have come to the conclusion that yes, I do think that everyone, even the pope, acts for personal gain whether they know they do or not. With the pope, there is an obvious ambition in the pope. He is the pope; no one is born the pope. There is a hierarchy that one has to climb in order to become the pope. He had to start as a deacon, and then be ordained as a priest. From there he had to become a bishop, and then an archbishop. Then, he had to become a cardinal in order to vote on who should be the pope and to be voted on to become pope. I don’t know exactly how the decision process works when the cardinals decide who the pope will be, but I think there must be some sort of speech making involved, else they wouldn’t know who to vote for amongst them and the decision making would be haphazard. So the pope must have ambition to get to be the pope, and he must want the power, fame, and influence that the pope possesses. So yes, even the pope works for himself in his actions, and is as inherently hypocritical as both Bill Gates and Bono.