Citizens Point

Malcador the Sigillite, a man with enough clarity and extreme devotion to cause, says in the game Warhammer 40,000:

“We shall remember the tools of enlightenment so we will never forget how close we skirted the barbarity of despotism.”

The context in the game is also inspired from the age of enlightenment or renaissance following the dark middle ages. It can be said that Thomas Hobbes’ book “Leviathan” and his central idea that state is accepted as a Necessary Evil with Ultimate Rights for the well-being of citizens- is the underlying logic followed in the Warhammer 40k game.

In 2026, the quote can be used for various contexts in humanity. One can say that AI is a tool of enlightenment but can be used to create alternate realities that disregard truth. One can use the quote for countries or people who still court religious ideas over humanity. Similarly, the Leviathan that some autocratic countries have become can be questioned over their wielding of barbarity in a fit of despair of losing control. There are large regions in non-democratic countries, where humble people live soulless due to oppression, but global population doesn’t care! We used to see more empathy in the wee days of the internet actually.

Here is the quote again, “We shall remember the tools of enlightenment so we will never forget how close we skirted the barbarity of despotism.”

Long Live Enlightenment!