Shezlez the Self-Proclaimed: Preface
Shezlez the Self-Proclaimed came about as a result of frustration with how slow elites react to change in society. While, on the face of it, they are experts in their respective fields, this novella explores what happens to a society in which those same elites care more about keeping their positions intact by resorting to politicking. This inevitably leads to the suffering of the individual.
It also proves the old adage that all power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely. The tale of Shezlez delves into what happens to an individual who finds his way out of misfortune through those same elites, becoming a part of the system himself.
All men are created equal; some are simply more equal than others. Oftentimes this is precisely what moves an individual into action. But, more often than not, he firstly has to be tested by the powers that be in order for them to gauge his suitability for joining the upper echelons of society.
As Goethe said, “There is no greater slave than a man who thinks he is free.” And it is precisely wherein lays the problem—in the waiting. For when we are given a promise, more often than not, we tend to hold on to it in a greater degree of zeal than the ones who made the promise.
Marko Vignjević
Belgrade, Serbia, July 2020