The song title from which this quote comes, Everybody Wants To Rule
The World, isn't quite as bang on the
money
as the showcased quote however. Nonetheless, although it's only a rock
song title, it's worth commenting on what it asserts. Setting aside the
fact that what it asserts may actually be true, it plain doesn't
work,
yes? That's no criticism of
Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith,
by the way. It may even be exactly what they're pointing at: that
everybody does want to rule the world - and it doesn't
work.
We've tried this paradigm for quite a while now, for most of recorded
history - and earlier, in fact. Isn't it clear by now it doesn't
work?
Isn't it clear it's neverworked?
Isn't it clear it never willwork?
This
un-workability,
this failure, by the way, is a failure of the politics of
leadership.
But it's not only a failure of the politics of
leadership.
It's not only a failure of politicians. It's a failure of
each and every one of us as well.
Here's what I mean by that:
We elect people to lead us. We love them ... to start
with. Then slowly, inevitably,
inexorably
we lop them down (like tall poppies) and crucify them. We take equal
pride and joy in both processes: election, and crucifixion. Then, once
we've lopped down and crucified our leaders (notice it's the very same
leaders we once deemed to be perfect for the job whom we then crucify),
we start the process all over again: electing new replacements to lead
us ... then slowly, inevitably,
inexorably
lopping them down and crucifying them over and over and
over ... and we've been doing this for centuries.
We just don't get it doesn't
work.
We just don't get there's
no cheese down that
tunnel.
This
business as
usual
way we do the politics of
leadership
is true insanity - insanity that is, in the way Rita Mae
Brown defines insanity: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over
again and expecting different results.".
The problem is twofold. Firstly, the leaders we elect are no more
special than you and me, no more able, no more insightful, no less
corrupt, and no more qualified than you and me to lead us to
workability,
satisfaction, wholeness, sustainability, and freedom. And
secondly, by abdicating our responsibility for generating
our ownworkability,
satisfaction, wholeness, sustainability, and freedom to our leaders, we
ensure we'll never experience them for
ourselves. This is because
workability,
satisfaction, wholeness, sustainability, and freedom can only be
generated by each of us. We can never be led to
them - leaders can't generate them for us. They can never be legislated
into existence by any political team, no matter how much of the well
being of the populace such a team stands for or says it stands
for.
Now, if a team could generate
workability,
satisfaction, wholeness, sustainability, and freedom for each of us,
then on this team, there wouldn't only be one elected
leader voted into power to get the job done for all of us. No, on
this team everyone's the leader - and
each one of us are on this team.
Here's a thought: what could
work
a lot better than everybody wanting (and fighting) to rule
the world, is everybody ruling not the world but rather
theirown world. It's more than that really.
It's what could
work
a lot better than everybody wanting (and fighting) to rule the world,
is everybody ruling their own world, and also supporting everybody
else ruling their own world.
Gee! I hope you get that ...
It's an entirely new way of looking at almost
everything about the way we live Life on
our planet.
This is an entirely new possibility for
leadership.
It's an entirely new possibility for humanity.
