The Detail is in the Devil

[Post from Warren] I HAVE a compulsion of explaining how it came to be that I located the file presented here. For those who always suspected there was something devilish about the modern world of finance, it should come as no surprise to find that Screwtape is back and well entrenched in his nefarious schemes. I am generally surprised at the lack of computer literacy – i.e. how entities engaging to deceive an entire global population should be dumb as to leave a files directory open to the internet without password protection. I suppose it demonstrates the new pressures in modern spiritual warfare, the apparently new time-stresses which let things fall through the cracks.

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From: Screwtape Srs. (SSDF);
Sent: Monday, 14 February 2011 9:02 AM
To: wormwood;
CC: Internal Recruitment (SSDF);
Subject: Welcome Aboard!

MY DEAR WORMWOOD,
The news of your promotion is mixed with feelings of intrepidation. On one hand the recognition of your recent achievements for Our Father is impressive yet at the same time my disgust is kindled by memories of the failure of your namesake. Should you fail in your mission as he did, you will undoubtedly suffer the same fate. Those fragments of the former wormwood I kept for my own amusement, should you ever need a reminder of the price of failure.

I must now divert your attention to the new ways in which matters are conducted here. Bringing these matters directly to hand, it can scarcely escape your attention the huge quantities of the human race. This is both a blessing and a curse to our kind, for at once the bountiful chorus of suffering and misery which we harvest, gives way to the massive task of administering this hapless rabble. There is now but one demon for every hundred souls, a fact hidden from you in your earlier duties. This deception was deliberate and necessary lest your focus stray from the task at hand but now is the time to step up to your new responsibilities.

The techniques by which we in our department manage the affairs of men must now be taught to you, a privilege which I Screwtape have been tasked with. You will know the very terms of any failure in stark relief. As I report directly to my superior, he reports directly to Our Father himself. For this instruction you must pay close attention. The human race have come to spend their energies pooling together their collective thought and as this intensifies so do we lose much ground. Quite simply, they must be kept in the shackles of their own ignorance, which for the most part is abundant.

I shall boast of our advances in the techniques of oppression through the means of tainting their very lifeblood; by this I mean the interference with what the humans use as money. We have – by means of various agreements – made much progress in this area. And how beautiful a thing it is; for a human may now spend his entire amphibian existence in ignorance, his productivity being bled without his knowledge, by his fellow man. How we thrive on the hopelessness this generates, while all the while collecting the avarice of those who do the exploiting. For if a man is kept busy to simply put food in his mouth, it becomes entirely possible for us to guide him from the cradle to the grave without so much as an afterthought into what may lie beyond that point. For an entire century we have tuned the efficiency of this system that we reach a very large percentage of the populace with very little effort. We have nearly perfected these methods in our orchestra of agony. Fear and greed grease the way for the hierarchy to exploit his fellow man and he may do so at a distance, not personally subject to the pain felt by another of his kind. The experience serves to numb his consciousness so that when he presented again with the same opportunity he can be easily led to continue the instincts of his primal nature above any other thought. From this foundation stems much constructive opportunity. At a hundred paces it is possible to destroy a wholesome and productive small business, tear a family to shreds, plant the seeds of depression, cause a woman to rent her body for no other reason than she feels she has no choice, and above all, to encourage all manner of malinvestments. This wasted capital snares the soul in its own perverted way and causes further delicious spiralling repercussions. The present system runs remarkably well — finely tuned to our benefit and we have no desire to see it lost.

This of course, brings us to your assignments, which you have been briefed on but possibly do not comprehend the gravity of. Put simply, these advocates and their ideas must be silenced, either through ridicule or direct attack. For humans to have possession of a true store of wealth will simply undo much of our work. Once a man feels secure and confident in his financial matters he naturally starts to explore his origins and nature and that is where so often the Enemy lies in wait, stoking the fires of his curiosity ready to divert him from the plan our Master would have for them (such is the despicable design by the Enemy and our only recourse is to pervert and distract).

So my dear wormwood, you see the stakes in this operation. Your failure would be as dear and delicious to me but you must not disappoint – to that end I look forward with grisly anticipation to your field updates. I will send to you as much information about our global operations as I am permitted to divulge and in the meantime I expect your initial instructions are already underway.

Your affectionate uncle
SCREWTAPE