THE DOWNFALL OF FALSE MEN:
STORIES OF LEADERS, TYRANTS, AND PEOPLE
In this time, in every corner of the streets and walls of buildings, we could see that many faces of our future leaders. They struggle against each other, either in legitimate or illegitimate ways; Pledging their promises, either true or false, for the opulence of people lives; Blaming each other for their foolish acts and their weaknesses, which only made fool of themselves; And flashing or showing off their pride and glory when they were triumphant without any trace of remembering and fulfilling their pledges and promises for the people they ruled; While the ones who lose conspired for the winners’ downfall by any means necessary even if they hurted the nation’s aspirations. What’s with this people? What are their true motives to rule? To gain wealth? Glory? Pride? Where are the souls and callings to serve the people in their mind? And, finally what do they leave in their waking and in the end? More conflicts and disturbances? More suffering people and dead ones? More cryings in despair than laughters of joy?
Leaders, in ancient times, are believed to be the heaven-sent, the head of all, the hero of people ,and the leading figure for others. Socrates and Plato voiced their ideas about leaders, which they said in the perfect idealistic country (known as the “Utopia), the perfect leading figure is what they called as The “hilosophers King”. Karl Frederich Nietzche stated that the leading figure is in resemblance of what he called as the “Ubermensch” or known as the “Superman”. Their ideas, even different in avowal, shared the same characteristic of the ideal leaders, which are the perfect and leading figure for the people, who possessed the calling and the right to serve and lead those people. Even Nicollo Machiavelli, in his book “The Prince”, believed that the true leaders, though they may be ruthless and merciless, also had a heart and soul to serve and lead the people to their pinnacle of their dynasties.
Those theories aren’t without examples. In fact, the examples of those kind of leaders had already manifested in the real world. Those examples are: The ancient Egypt was believed to be one of the powerful nation of ancient times, which in those times, it was ruled under the might of Pharaoh Tutankhamen, Son Of Ra; The Roman empire had reached its height of brilliance because of the leadership of The glorious Julius Caesar; China enjoyed its long lasting prosperity in Tang dynasty because of the shrewd guidance of emperor Tang Taizong; Japan entered its era of thousand victories because of insightful direction of Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa; Macedonia and greek was once known as invincible nation and land of gods because of the conquest and management of the Great Alexander; And French, under the leadership of the fearless Napoleon Bonaparte, was one of the formidable power to be contended with. These ancient great leaders, with other unmentioned powerful conquerors, are believed to be men with unlimited talents, whose birth had created bizzare things, and men who were connected in flesh and blood with divinely beings. That’s why these leaders once praised as god-kings, and immortals. But the question are should the leaders in the future times also men without flaws? Should leaders in the future be immortals, too?
As everyone should already knew, men are never be able to be immortals or gods, because men are creations, not the creator. As the result, men are flawed and imperfect, only God (The Almighty Creator) is perfect. So, how can leaders, which also are men, be perfect leading figures of the people? How could they be praised as immortals? True, leaders are never be immortals or the perfect figures of others, and those ancient leaders, how about them? They also never in the first place men with extraordinary talents or mights, they also were never immortals, gods, and other divine beings. So, what is the difference between these ancient leaders and the future leaders? In what way they are better than future leaders?
These ancient leaders, in fact, were just normal humans; Some even were from lowly birth and status, without any glory, pride, wealth and superhuman strength. Yet, they were able to overcome those obstacles and rised to the top. Indeed, these ancient leaders were just the same humans as the future leaders. But still, there is something that differentiate these ancient leaders and future leaders. Even they are seperated by vast land and ocean, these leaders share the same resemblance that showed their brilliance: The calling to serve and to lead. This is the only factor that proved that the ancient leaders were better than the future leaders. They didn’t seek for wealth, pride and glory for their own names; They didn’t dwell on empty talks, nor did they pledge over false promises. These people, even after they attained hegemony and power, still mantained their charisma, yet at all time ready and opened to all views and opinions that had been selected carefully. They didn’t rely or trust only on their own might and talents, but also manage to utilize other sources and ideas; Thus, efectively and efficiently executed their plans in the right momentum, which resulted in the rise of those nations. These leaders also had fully given their trust to the people they led, which in return, the people trust their leader wholeheartedly. Because of these leaders, the nations prospered, and people were grateful to them, praised them, and immortalized them in legends and histories.
Leaders, in reality, don’t even need to possess inhuman and supernatural abilities to lead their people. Leaders, either in ancient or future times, are just humans, not a perfect beings. But, because of the souls and spirits to serve and to lead, they take those callings and fulfill their role as leaders. The factor of calling to serve and to lead is the most essential element that is missing in this present and future leaders. They only take the role of leaders, so they could fulfill their own secret agendas and their subjective needs. They seek only to gain personal wealth, glory and pride for their own names. By dwelling on small and empty talks, they show off their limited and petty knowledge and views of the world. Also, by pledging phony oaths, they encouraged people to vote for them in hope those people trust them in fulfilling their promises. They are also coward, shielding themselves behind their own wealth and fame to defend their positions and utilize them to control the people. Ultimately, they bicker among themselves, conspiring against each other, scheming for others’ downfall and creating havoc and disturbances throughout the country; Leaving only destruction, decadence, pain, sorrow, and orphans, as well as dead men and women in their path. Is this what the people yearn for? More pain than joy? More orphans and broken people crying over their loss of their loves ones? More death than the life itself?
How could people believe their future leaders, if those leaders never give any single thought to the people that one day they would led? How could people loved their future leader if they just engaged in petty and empty talks, while others (people) lived in insecurity, slavery, lacking and pain? No, these people have had enough. They are already sick living under the yoke of false pretenses and fictitious promises. They are tired to be pushed over and wronged for things they never done before. They are already fed up to the reign of those false men over their heads, and they are showing their anger and bitterness in their action: No voting. Yes, this is one of the manifestation of their anger and bitterness; By voting no one of those leaders, so they could show their disbelief and their already blacken-heart to those future leaders. In retaliation, those leaders declared that the act of no voting is an unnationalistic and unloyal act, and those people who sided with this no voting movement are foolish and dumb. How sad this predicament is; To be doubted by their own fellow countrymen, yet declared those who doubted them as fools. Those declarations are desperate, unthoughtful and selfish acts, used by those false leaders to defend themselves. Do they even aware that the people who doubted them and who these leaders declared as fools are the people that they will lead one day? Even so, they still dwell on their sinful acts and keep on proclaiming to be the greatest by showing of their wealth, pride and glory.
Napoleon Bonaparte, The French Emperor, once said in his battle,”Glory is fleeting, but obscurity lives forever.”. How lost those who are shielding behind their wealth, glory and pride, and utilizing them in hopes for manipulating others, as well as showing them off for the sake of thir position! Can’t they see that the time has changed in the direction they never knew? And those possession they owned, like others, will turn to dust and into the void. Leaders, in reality, don’t even need to possess inhuman and supernatural abilities to lead their people, as well as pride and glory, since they’re fleeting as well. What they lacked is the calling to serve and to lead people. By having that, the future leaders won’t be tyrants as they are now. Instead, they will understand the noble duty as leaders of people, which are to serve and to lead people and nations to their heights of prosperity, as well as to perpetuate the existence and heritage of the nation and humankind of the world