Tito John Tong
Africa-Press – South-Sudan. Bad rulers harm more by example than by the wrong they commit.
First, some context: Let the leader be a role model to others. If this maxim is observed, all will go well. For as an entire South Sudan is infected by the licentious passions and vices of great men, so it is often reformed by their virtue and moderation. For the mischief immediately attending the vices of the great, though that must be allowed to be very considerable, it is small compared with the ills, which arise from the multitude of those who will certainly follow their example.
Were you to consider history, you might see that the manners of the people were always regulated by those of the leading men of a state; and that whatever change took place in the latter, always happened in the former. My opinion is that the manners of mankind change with those of their leaders. Hence, great men of a vicious life are doubly pernicious to the state, as being not only guilty of immoral practices, but of spreading them far and wide among their fellow citizens. The mischief they do is owing not only to their being debauched themselves, but also to their debauching a crowd of their foolish imitators. In a word, they do more harm by their example than by the crimes they commit.
I believe that leaders who care nothing for the laws make no secret of their contempt for them or for the people. They treat everyone and everything with callous disregard, and the people are shocked that these leaders would behave in this way. Everyone looked to their leaders for moral behavior and decorum that set the tone for the life of the nation. The political stability of the state depends on the character and example of the leaders.
Parents would be especially concerned not only that these leaders would behave in such scandalous ways, but, more importantly, that this public behavior would corrupt their children, either because they didn’t seem to understand the effect their example was having on the young who would begin to act in a similar fashion, or that they didn’t care. They would be shocked that such individuals could ever be elected or appointed to public office and ashamed of their government and their nation for allowing such persons to disgrace their office.
Public office reveals a man’s character. Give a man power and he will show his true colors. Will he use it wisely or let it destroy himself? Power can do strange things to a person. Some become unhinged by it, believing that they have become a god. Power separates them from the rest of humanity, and seeing everyone quake and grovel in their presence can become a drug.
A wise person, however, will use power wisely. He understands that, even in office, he is still a human being. He knows that people want to be governed fairly and are willing to make sacrifices for the common good if everyone else is making them. He also realizes that he will be criticized, no matter what he says or does.
Such bilious critics are against everyone and everything because it aids their digestion, and a level-headed politician accepts this as a fact. In fact, he expects it and when he doesn’t get it, he wonders what he’s doing wrong. If you have thin skin, don’t apply for the job! As a leader, you must get used to being laughed at and being able to laugh at yourself. If you don’t, you will lose the respect of the people. Life is too important to be taken too seriously. Former US President Harry Truman once said: “If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen!”
Now, some leaders, if they’re smart, will hire an in house devil’s advocate. It’s his job to be his boss’s nay sayer by providing him with a running commentary on why everything he intends to do won’t work. He’s his wet blanket, his critic from hell, his Banquo at the feast, and his safety net, all rolled up into one. If the boss listens to him, he will be able to handle any criticism that comes his way.
Most leaders fear criticism like leprosy and want only yes men around them. It’s their job to tell their leader how wonderful he is, laugh at his jokes, be his echo chamber, and authenticate him in his fantasy about himself. But a wise boss doesn’t want to be a prima donna. He pays this in house critic to tell him only the negative, so he won’t get high on himself. He knows that he’s always on stage and never knows who may be lying in wait around the corner to blindside him.
There are other politicians who aren’t quite there yet. They don’t want honest feedback; they just want to be loved and flattered. They’re in the wrong profession and won’t last long. Their yes men lay it on thick, but you can’t really blame these sycophants since it’s job security.
Now, if a politician needs constant validation, he’s in trouble. But if he’s smart, he will want to know what people are saying outside the palace. The people are his North Star. If they’re happy with what he’s doing, he’s doing the right thing. If they’re not, he’s becoming crooked by catering to special interests and ignoring the people. It’s really that simple.
The people chose him after all as their leader to help them to a better life. That’s the only thing that matters. He’s in office for their sakes, certainly not his own. If his handlers protest, telling him he’s becoming naïve or that what he’s suggesting is political suicide, he should fire them.
The people come first! Listening to them and helping them will make him a better and more humane person. If he’s a good person and well informed, being a good leader will take care of itself. Who knows, he may even earn their trust and goodwill! Bottom line is that a leader is there for the people, not the people for him.
Then you have the tyrants, who don’t care about the people. They didn’t take this job to be serious. They’re in office to enrich themselves and their cronies. Politics is reciprocity, as they used to say in the old Tammany Hall days, so a tyrant is always on the phone with his buddies “consulting,” especially with those who dispose of the bodies. Today we have the Dawn newspaper and the Panluel Wel that take on these tyrants. Their investigative reporters are warriors tangling with these movie politicians. They carry the fight to whoever they suspect is abusing his office. They’re relentless, taking no prisoners, no matter the cost.
Many newspapers and other social media, however, won’t go after these tyrants because they’re complicit, and those that aren’t are controlled by their advertisers, who are usually these tyrants’ cronies, who will yank their advertising so that the paper folds. So, some reporters may stop submitting their hard-hitting stories that will never be published.
In those days, the Greeks didn’t have newspapers, but they did have comic playwrights, who were ferocious toward anyone they thought deserved it even philosopher Socrates. No one was sacred to these dramatists. Aristophanes, the greatest of all Greek comic playwrights, ridiculed him and his policies to such an extent that had him prosecuted for treason and fined.
Undeterred, Aristophanes came roaring back and skewered him as wanting to prolong the Peloponnesian War with Sparta to avoid his being prosecuted for war profiteering; manipulating the legal and political systems; stealing from the state; tampering with state audits and census lists; and other shady dealings. As Hamlet said to Polonius in so many words: “You don’t want to get on the wrong side of playwrights and actors, or they will rip you to pieces!”
Some sources claim that, although coarse, ill-bred, abusive of speech, and bullying in manner, did have a way of connecting with some of the people in a demagogic way. He was an old Tammany Hall-type holdover, who had all the old political instincts but, like dinosaurs, hadn’t yet realized that his time had passed.
So, politicians like them needed comic playwrights like Aristophanes to expose them for what they were. These old style politicos didn’t understand that they were dealing with a new kind of citizen, grown used to democracy for a few generations after resisting.
So, they had to be constantly reminded that they were only temporarily presiding over the people’s democracy. It was the people who controlled the government, not a swarm of complicit carpetbaggers who had descended on it to burn it to the ground. This generation wasn’t about to suffer the depredations of tin-pot wannabe dictators.
Aristophanes would write one merciless after another that leaders and every play was the talk of Athens. For the thousands of spectators watching each play, it was like attending a championship soccer match as the crowd roared its approval of the over-the-top derision of those on stage. His language, staging, and comedic invention flayed his victims alive, so that no one was in doubt about how corrupt the government was.
Perception is all-important in politics, and Aristophanes made sure that this perception of leader as a scheming politician was hammered home. His comedies brought Athenians together in their deep seated anger against this leader who was chipping away at their democracy.
There is nothing more threatening to politicians than live theatre in inflaming an audience to fight for its freedom. No wonder politicians are always eager to defund the arts as the most dangerous form of free speech and dissent, the DNA of a vibrant democracy! Live theatre makes people think, and, more to the point. It makes people feel, and it’s feeling and outrage that ignite revolutions!
Aristophanes and his plays empowered the Athenians to resist a government that would turn Athens into a Gestapo state. These comedies embodied the public conscience that held a leader’s crass venality and debasement of office to public account. They were the salvation of Athens when little men sought to reduce democracy to their own sordid vulgarity. They served notice to politicians that the people were in charge, and hadn’t voted them into office to have their democracy become the personal plaything of corrupt politicians.
One must put public and permanent benefits before private and short-term gain. I cannot do better than quote Pliny’s letter to convey the measure of this man and public servant. His fundamental decency, his civic mindedness and generosity; his concern for posterity, the education of children and promoting the public good as opposed to pursuing private gain; his hard-headed business sense and insights of a practical and ethical nature are all on display in this man for all seasons.
However, we ought to prefer public interests to private ones, and interests which will go in perpetuity to those which perish with us, and we should give much more careful consideration to our benefactions than to merely growing rich.
It’s all about the common good, thinking of posterity, giving back to the community, helping others, not thinking about “me,” but “us,” human solidarity, taking care of the less fortunate, paying one’s taxes, paying one’s employees a decent wage, social justice, doing unto others as you would have them do unto you, loving thy neighbor as thyself. Everything is interconnected.
A ruler’s greatest virtue is knowing his people. A good politician makes every effort to get to know the people he serves. This would include their needs, priorities, values, attitudes, and expectations, talking to reporters, business people, and the clergy and reading the newspapers to get a rounded view of the community. The more you know about the people you serve, the better you can help them. If you have regional offices where people can seek help, make sure you’re kept informed of what they’re thinking, the concerns they have, and whatever suggestions these offices can give you. Check in occasionally for feedback about how people are responding to your efforts and whether there is anything else you might do to improve their lives. This is vital. Avoid being stranded on a bureaucratic island.
To be a good listener is worth a fortune. Sitting across a table from those in need, listening intently to what they are saying, and then telling them that you will do everything in your power to help them, is what government is all about. Everyone needs to be listened to and acknowledged by someone in authority.
When you’re finished, ask them any final questions you might have and tell them you will be getting back to them as soon as possible. This kind of personal contact is especially important if you live in Juba or in any state capital, where the danger exists of losing contact with the people.
Source: Radio Tamazuj
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