Recently, a nine year boy floored the most powerful person
of the world, the President of United States—Barack Obama, when he asked him–‘Why
do people hate you?’ The president was caught off guard and did not know what
to say. He, however, replied –‘First of all, I did get elected, so not
everybody hates me now. I got a whole lot of votes.’ He admitted: ‘If you’re
watching TV lately, it seems like everybody’s just getting mad all the time.’
But he said: ‘You’ve got to take it with a grain of salt. Some of it is just
what’s called politics.’
The incident reminds us of an old story ‘The Emperor’s New
Clothe’ by Hans Christian Andersen (1805-75) which is summarized as:
Many years ago there
lived an Emperor who was so exceedingly fond of fine new clothes that he spent
vast sums of money on dress. One fine day two swindlers, calling themselves
weavers, arrived. They declared that they could make the most magnificent cloth
that one could imagine. Further, the clothes made by them had the special power
of being invisible to everyone who was stupid or not fit for his post.
‘What a splendid idea’–
thought the Emperor. ‘What useful clothes to have. If I had such a suit of clothes
I could know at once who of my people is stupid or unfit for his post.’
So the Emperor gave
the swindlers large sums of money and the two weavers set up their looms in the
palace. They demanded the finest thread of the best silk and the finest gold and
they pretended to work at their looms. But they put nothing on the looms. The
frames stood empty. The silk and gold thread they stuffed into their bags. So
they sat pretending to weave, and continued to work at the empty loom till late
into the night.
The king sent one minister after another to confirm making of
the new cloth and all confirmed that the cloths were splendid as they did not
want the king to know that they were stupid or not fit for their posts . When
the king himself could not see the cloth, he thought: ‘This is terrible. Am I
so stupid? Am I not fit to be Emperor? This is disastrous. So he too said–‘Oh! the cloth is perfectly wonderful. It has a
splendid pattern and such charming colors!’
Finally, the Emperor
laid aside his clothes and the swindlers pretended to help him piece by piece
into the new ones they were supposed to have made. The courtiers who were to
carry the train knelt about on the ground pretending to lift it: they walked on
solemnly pretending to be carrying it. Nothing would have persuaded them to
admit they could not see the clothes, for fear they would be thought stupid or
unfit for their posts.
And so the Emperor set
off under the high canopy, at the head of the great procession. It was a great
success. All the people standing by and at the windows cheered and cried–‘Oh,
how splendid are the Emperor’s new clothes. What a magnificent train! How well
the clothes fit!’ No one dared to admit that he couldn’t see anything, for who
would want it to be known that he was either stupid or unfit for his post?
But among the crowds a
little child suddenly gasped out–‘But he hasn’t got anything on.’
And the people began
to whisper to one another what the child had said.
‘He hasn’t got
anything on.’ There’s a little child saying he hasn’t got anything on. Till
everyone was saying–‘But he hasn’t got anything on.’ The Emperor himself had
the uncomfortable feeling that what they were whispering was only too true.
‘But I will have to go through with the procession’–he said to himself.
So he drew himself up
and walked boldly on holding his head higher than before, and the courtiers
held on to the train that wasn’t there at all.
In this case also, a boy alone could have the courage to ask
what everyone already knew but dared not ask. Not only Barak Obama, but any
American President, has to be the most hated person of the world simply because
he is the most powerful person of the world. The people in power are not
necessarily bad people, but they have to suffer the curse of hatred. The only
problem is the people, who surround the powerful, can’t dare to say that the
President is hated.
The Paradigm of Power
Power is the biggest intoxicant that elevates the mind of
the person to the highest level. All powerful people have the illusion of being
God—who can do anything. The more is the power, the higher is the intoxication.
The people in power think that they are the smartest and cleverest without
actually realizing that they have actually been duped. They are so intoxicated
by the illusion of power that they kill their soul for the sake of their
masters or for those who have granted or elected them to power, giving them the
authority to rule. They have actually underestimated the cleverness of the people,
who have used them rather than being used.
In reality, a
powerful man is not a master but the greatest and meanest servant, who has been
elected by millions of people to serve them. His burden is far more than the
burden of an ordinary domestic servant who has to serve only a few people of
the family. The people cleverly elect a person as their leader called President
or Prime Minister and expect him or her to solve their entire problem, while
they do what they want to do. They think that their responsibility is over just
by electing a faithful servant whose duty is to solve their entire problem,
without questioning their way of thinking and doing.
While the elected
leaders think that they have become masters of their people, in reality, the
people expect them to be their servants. They curse and abuse these leaders when
they try to exercise their authority, or fail to deliver their promises.
The elected
servants—leaders - are supposed to fight against all their enemies without
causing any harm to them. For example, when 9/11 happened in USA, there was an overwhelming opinion in USA that the
terrorists must be fought and defeated. George Bush only followed the wish of
the people, when he launched attack on Afghanistan
and Iraq.
He made the entire Muslim world his personal enemy without even pleasing his
own countrymen. After a few years of war, Americans were extremely unhappy with
him—his popularity was reduced to the lowest level, and his party’s
representative was defeated in the next Presidential election. Mr. George Bush,
a devout Christian, has now to suffer the burden of the sin of the murder of
thousands of people, which he did as the President of America—not for his own
sake but for the sake of the same American people who have now discarded him
and dissociated themselves with his decisions, which was actually their own calling.
Barack Obama was elected as President in the time of
economic meltdown and amid the negative perception of USA as a bully.
He ideally suited the change of image of the country as he was the first
African American President who also had Muslim parentage and upbringing. He was
elected as President with huge margin. However, his ratings have already
declined to less than 45% despite getting Nobel Peace Prize recently.
The Curse of Power
Obama is not alone in suffering hatred from the people, whom
they chose to lead or to serve. All powerful people have met with the same fate
in the history of mankind. In the recent past, Hitler, the most powerful person
of the twentieth century, is undoubtedly the most hated person of the world. He
is hated even by the same German people for whom he sacrificed his life. Stalin
and Mussolini too suffered the hatred of their own people for whom they fought
all their lives.
Nothing in this world
creates as much hatred as power which allows a man to rule over others. We all
know this simple truth, since none of us wishes to be ruled by any one. We all
wish to live the life in our own way, and anyone who tells us to live in any
other way becomes our enemy and we hate him. Yet we elect the leaders for the
very business of ruling the people—except us. When they do their job
effectively, we hate them as soon as their decisions adversely affect us. When
they don’t do anything; we curse them for not doing their duty.
Exercise of power needs ruthlessness, which numb the senses
and kills the soul. Soon the leaders lose their capacity to connect with the
soul of the powerless people. It is only by shunning power and wealth that a man
can rise spiritually as said by Jesus Christ in his sermon:
‘Blessed are
the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be
comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Power Produces Hatred
The inevitable truth of life is – power always produces
hatred. There has been no powerful person in the history of mankind, who has
been loved either during his lifetime or after his death, by all people.
Therefore, only if one is prepared to suffer a great deal of hatred from
millions of known and unknown people, one should think of acquiring power. All
powerful people must know the answer when someone asks–‘Why people hate you?’
The right answer is always the same–‘Because I am powerful’.
References
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