It does sound like the start of a joke, doesn't it? A politican, a parent, an academic, a philosopher and a high tech dude walk into a World Leadership Conference and....
Please feel free to finish that joke in the comments. I'll upvote that! This is what @ecotrain posed for the question of the week:
Who are the best people to lead or guide our world ...Politicians, Parents, Academics, Philosophers, High Tech.. Or someone else?
Well, If we're to map a new world and we need leaders or guides to do that, I don't believe it's what they do or what they identify with that's important, really, but the kind of person they are. A philosopher could be an unempathetic dictator and a parent a proselytising ignorant money hungry asshole. You know, I had an Aunt once (I still have an Aunt actually, I just don't see her much) who was a teacher and she always knew best, because she was a teacher. Ugh. And then there's the academics, so well studied they don't know how to communicate with layfolk. Of course, I've met very intelligent, uber kind and empathetic teachers who are high tech geeks and good politicians too.
Perhaps we need to start first with how our world needs guidance from effective leaders. I'm not sure anyone is every happy with the leaders we have, and there's little wonder we distrust the majority of politicians. Sometimes, it just seems that the world is run by heartless fools playing with our lives like cats play with baubles, jesters play with juggling balls. We need better compasses. More well built ships. People who can look up and see the stars rather than count their pennies in their counting houses with locked doors and a fear of the open sea.
“For in the whole universe the earth is nothing else and this is the substance of our glory, this is its habitation, here it is that we fill positions of power and covet wealth, and throw mankind into an uproar, and launch wars, even civil ones.” - the Latin quote above the Fool's Cap Map of the World is written by Pliny the Elder
In fact we don't even trust many of our the ships that are meant to support and lead us through these troubled waters. We certainly don't trust the leading institutions as they stand. The 2017 Trust Baromoter by Edelman, the world's largest PR outfit found that one in two countries believe the entire system is failing. In Australia in 2017, trust in the government fell drastically, one of the sharpest drops any country measured - little wonder, given the shuffling going on in Australian politics. Government is distrusted in 75 percent of countries! It's the same story with CEO's too - big banks and so on, as well as non-government organisations such as charities (consider Oxfam, for example, with the allegations of sexploitation in Haiti). Travel rorts, sexual abuse in the church, corruption in trade unions and bank misbehaviours clearly all have a part to play in why we're so distrustful of these institutional leaders.
Power corrupts, everywhere. The ships appear to be sinking, with maps half drawn.
It doesn't matter if you're a politician, or a teacher, an academic or a philosopher - you have to be trustworthy. You have to say what you're going to do and do it and be transparent about it. Why where in a situation where dishonesty is rife is beyond me. Yet perhaps all this distrust is actually a good thing. Perhaps we're more likely to trust a layperson - someone like you or me - and see them as just as valid or credible or worthy as tech experts or academics, if not more so. If you're trustworthy, you're respected, and there's more engagement with what you do as you inspire them with your vision. Maybe the old world order is slowly toppling.
Philosopher Descartes magnetic field of the Earth and his theory of magnetism.
The Ipsos research also found that most people wanted a leader who could take the country or world back from the elites, believing they act in their own self interest to the disadvantage of everyone else. They also found that they - we - wanted a leader who was willing to break the rules. We all know that Obama was a 'good guy' but his 'hands were tied' - it's not just one man leading the free world. And this is true for most - all - politicians.
###How they regain trust is anyone's guess, but they could start with a few basics.
One, life experience matters. I think a good leader needs to know what it's like to be a human being, and to have compassion and understanding for the people they profess to serve. I'll never forget the proposal of a co-payment here for people to go to their GP. $7 was floated for all. Now $7 for me was nothing, but for many people, it mean putting food on the table. One politician was famed for saying on talk back radio that it was hardly a big ask and was ONLY $7, much to the outrage of many who believed he had no concept of what it was like to live below the poverty line. There's a million examples that suggest that compassion makes for good leadership. Mandela himself said that 'our human compassion binds us the one to the other - not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future'. Leaders need to recognise themselves as being part of that wheel of dukkha, suffering, too, not above it with their massive paychecks and little regard for the little folk so long as their power is intact.
Mandela's belief and declaration that people can live together despite their differences was visionary at a time where South Africa was reeling from apartheid. Had he not been imprisoned for 27 years, many lives may have been better, rather than poverty, crime and other problems that were the result of oppressive politics. He had a spirit of courage that believed in reconciliation and through leading through example with commitment, inspiration and vision, he became a hero not just for South Africa, but for us all. He showed us that rising above political oppression was possible. So I don't think politicians have an excuse. It's not as if a precedent hasn't been set - by him, and others too.
How the world can change! A medieval map where God is creator. Yet it's us now who must maketh the world...
So if it's not the politicians that are doing what needs to be done to 'lead or guide' the world, then it's others that must take responsibility. Yet there's flaws in this too.
I can't help but say it's the parents that must instil moral values in children and teach them to be respectful of the earth and all in it. Yet, 1-in-28 American children have an incarcerated parent. Children of indigenous parents in Australia are 6 times more likely to end up in jail. More than one in 14 Australians have tried ice and parents of addicts pass health problems onto children who often end up with grandparents. I could go on. These are social issues that need to change before we can expect parents to be the ones who can solely help guide the world to a better future through instiling the new generations with the skills needed to be better. If we're to write a new map of the the world, we've got to help people the damage created by the old one.
Mapping the New World: a 500 year old map of America
Academics, philosophers - sure, useful. I think people who are trained to think are useful people. Mandela studied everything he could about white history and his oppressor in order to forgive them and move on. Flexible thinking and the ability to step outside the box and traditional, conventional roles is important. Plato described philosopher kings who dedicated themselves to ethical rule with no expectation of fame, wealth or dictatorship. Sounds awesome in theory. Great thinkers are often well versed in philosophy.
Give me a thinker. Give me a poet. Give me a teacher. Give me someone inspirational and visionary that can think outside the box. Give me someone honest, with integrity and passion. Give me someone that lasts the distance. Give me rule breakers. Give me the world shakers. Give me someone compassionate and generous and kind. Give me someone empathetic.
In 1650 Australia wasn't even on the map
Hang on a minute. Aren't we the best people to lead and guide the world? Aren't we all capable of that? Because surely it starts in the microcosm, and extends outwards. If we all adopt qualities we expect in our leaders, doesn't that count for something?
What if you were leader for a day? What if you could make a difference? What if you could show the world a way forward? What would YOU do, teacher, philosopher, artist, academic, techie, herbalist, yogi, gardener, mechanic, doctor, sound engineer, mother, lover, beautician, chef, lawyer, painter, cartographer?
What if with every action and every word you use, you are guiding the world in some way? Leading us all into some kind of future? What would you do? What would your tenets be? What map would you draw of the world for us to navigate?
If you're a supporter of all things natural healing, you might like to read our introductory post here. We'd also love to welcome you on Discord here!!
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