The might of the pen not in question, its relative the pencil is no less influential. Gripped between digits and with a mere flick of the wrist, it leaves a mark which despite its impermanence, opens the gilded doors allowing the chosen few to walk through and into the corridors of power.
The permanence that simple action bestows however, must be questioned, as its beneficiaries are loath to relinquish their grip on that very dominance they then become drunk upon.