With Great Power Comes Great Irresponsibility!?!

Dear Readers,

An aspect that stands out during current times, which will also go on to leave an indelible mark (or should we say blotch?) on the history of mankind, in addition to the pandemic – is the abject collapse of leadership. At all levels – nationally, globally… or, even more closer to home – within our community. 

As the human race struggles to survive its deadliest ever phase, world leaders should have been setting the precedent for solidarity and recovery. Unfortunately, their priorities and actions couldn’t be further from this. They’ve been making headlines for all the wrong reasons! 

While not-so-supreme dictators like Kim Jong Un, Putin and Xi Jinping continue to force and terrorize their North Korean, Russian and Chinese citizens, respectively, Brazilian President Bolsonaro’s reckless and impudent leadership has proven deadly disastrous during covid. Belarusian President Lukashenko’s skewed political policies have culminated into civil unrest – the largest ever anti-governmental protests in history; while Israel’s PM Netanyahu took it to the extreme, going into a devastating and bloody, 11-day-war with Palestine, in the midst of the pandemic! 

Other prominent world leaders like US President Biden, French President Macron and Canadian PM Trudeau are in apology mode – taking responsibility for their respective nations’ erstwhile heinous crimes, like genocides and racism. Bank home, India is still reeling under the brutal and disastrous second wave of the pandemic – the government’s mega-blunder, which exposed the absolute inadequacy and hopelessness, that is our ‘health system’. This critical juncture calls for strong and resolute leadership, bereft of all the atrocity, failure or apology.

Even our own little community is undergoing its own leadership crisis. An increasing number of community members are writing in about their  unfair and prejudiced treatment by the BPP, and their loss of faith in the institution and its Trustees. 

In Voltaire’s classic quote, “With great power comes great responsibility”, power was intended to be directly proportional to responsibility. We seem to have reversed the equation, making it inversely proportional – ‘With great power comes great Irresponsibility!’

But not all is lost. As we work our way through the pandemic, looking forward to embrace a better world order, we are lucky to belong to a nation and a community that upholds democracy as the system of governance. Which means, we get to choose our leaders, and therefore, bring in a more responsible and just leadership. It all boils down to our choices!

In ancient Greece, the word ‘idiot’ denoted the person who did not exercise his right to vote. In our nation’s and community’s foreseeable future, if there would be one thing sadder than the idiot who did not vote, it will be the idiot who did! This time around, let us choose leaders who will justify Voltaire’s original quote. 

Have a good weekend!

– Anahita