‽istis reclaims leadership (weekending October 3rd 2020)
‽istis, head in hands, listening to the US Presidential
election debate this week and ‽istis,
head in hands, listening to this (and perhaps every) week’s UK Prime
Minister’s Questions – wonders how it might look or sound if it were happening
in another country (in the words of a phrase that perhaps helps us begin to see
our ‘norm’, our ‘taken-for-granteds’ through others’ eyes[i])…
And ‽istis pondered leadership and leaders:
‽ perhaps, somehow, we get the leaders we need?
‽ possibly
in a democracy we somehow get the leaders we deserve
(however indirect the voting system of electoral
colleges or constituency-elections etc.; whether we vote or don’t)
‽ maybe somehow
we get the leaders that, through the mystical wisdom of crowds, really do
represent ‘us’ (though whether that is the best of us, the worst of us or
something in-between may be hard to say)
‽ perhaps we somehow get the leaders that we
are willing to pay for[ii]
- or that someone else is willing to pay for[iii]
- directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind (the social media kind), near or
far?
‽ possibly
the cream does rise to the top…?
‽ maybe the
Spencer/Darwin imperative of ‘the survival of the fittest’ wins out again (though
our definition of ‘fittest’ could perhaps bear some rethinking)?
And ‽istis wonders whether just because it
is as it is[iv],
it has to always be like this? Just imagine if a leader thought, for example:
·
more globally than
nationally
·
as much about the 48%
as the 52% - the minority as the majority - in a democracy
·
beyond the
election-cycle
·
that a unilateral
move could be made
·
systemically and structurally
·
causally as well as
symptomologically
·
that money spent on
peace-building and green jobs was a better option than money spent on defence
and arms manufacturing
·
that none of us are
safe and well unless we are all safe and well, everyone
·
that ‘rights’
matter in a hierarchy - with life as the primary right before others can be
claimed – and human rights linking to rights of other living things
·
that ‘what unites
us is greater than what divides us’[v]
·
that knowledge of
the value of everything was more important than the cost of everything
·
that addressing inequality
required radical reparation and redistribution
·
that… and you
might add your own best wishes, hopes and dreams, perhaps?
and acted
accordingly…
Well, would they ever be elected or allowed
anywhere near the reins of power? But can we just imagine how different the
world could be…
© Pistis
NB: further reflections and comments linked to this
week’s theme and past blog
entries to be found on Twitter: replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily
indicate approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders
Please do consider following on Twitter and engaging or commenting positively whether you agree or disagree!
[i]
Apparently a running feature of the Slate group online magazine https://slate.com/tag/if-it-happened-there
though earlier and other uses of the phrase may be traced, perhaps
[ii]
With many ‘public servants’ apparently paid more than the Prime Minister in the
UK https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5750310/council-bosses-pay-rise-tax/
, with the current Prime Minister apparently ‘strapped for cash’ https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/letters/boris-johnson-nanny-salary-coronavirus-lockdown-fine-nhs-nurses-b506706.html
and with
[iii] For
further reading: data available on the Federal Election Commission website, for
example https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/letters/boris-johnson-nanny-salary-coronavirus-lockdown-fine-nhs-nurses-b506706.html
or see, for example, Peter Geoghegan’s article from The Guardian Dec 2019 https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/letters/boris-johnson-nanny-salary-coronavirus-lockdown-fine-nhs-nurses-b506706.html
[iv] (reflecting
what may have been one of the most profound comments on the current state of
things and on leadership from the US election debate: ‘It is what it is,
because you are who you are’ https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/09/29/it-is-what-it-is-because-you-are-who-you-are-biden-hits-trump-on-covid/#71ed4db66adf
)
[v] https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/easton-pa-19571030
JFKennedy and many others – probably before as well as since
