The dangers of hero worship
And how it harms democracies
All great achievements come from a privilege — the right to fail. Extraordinary feats involve great risks, and notwithstanding prudence, they eventually boil down to a leap of faith. It is the inability to afford failure that traps families in perennial poverty.
The easiest way to curb someone is to deny them the right to failure. Once someone is put up on a pedestal, their personal freedoms become obsolete. They are compelled to always be right. Humans can err; heroes cannot.
We have done our leaders a disservice by making them into living heroes.
Erdogan in Turkey, Netanyahu in Israel, Modi in India, and, previously, Trump in the USA — all heads of democratic nations. Except for a personality cult that turns them into demigods, scrupulously hammering their ability to govern rationally.
Look, no politician rejects cult worship if it puts them into office. It is the most pragmatic route to power when policy ideas fail to earn traction. But even as the practice works for campaigning, it significantly hinders governance.
Why do politicians never admit to mistakes? Because we’ve burdened them with a halo of heroism. Why don’t news outlets question their governments anymore? Because their audience ceaselessly refuses to admit any imperfections in their leaders.
That plays out horribly for democracies. Without credible voices to challenge them, the ruling establishment suffers from a lack of perspectives. And often the only way to retain power is to feed the knight-in-shining-armor fantasies of the voter base.
Point is, it is our notions that are nursed, our ideas that are validated, and our vote that is sought. Politicians would talk about economics and policy if that was what we wanted. Instead we seek reels with KGF music in the background.
It’s easy to call politicians dishonest, or to term news anchors spineless. But do we not vote on rhetoric? And do we not consume the primetime garbage?
Narratives start in the society, grow to take a political form, and eventually shape business and media. The mannerisms of the government mirror the expections of the public. And the expections of the public are misplaced.
It is probably time we humanized our leaders in our own minds.
. . .
Thanks for reading! If you’re not into politics, you could go read why my father wants me to do a 9-to-5.
