[Kim Seong-kon] Waiting for truly great leaders

The whole world is now watching the political leaders who are dividing the world into “us” and “them”; who pretend that they are saviors who can deliver the people from the miseries inflicted upon them by the privileged or the establishment. Populists in essence, those politicians are posing as messiahs who can bring back the good old days to the disappointed, nostalgic people. Their slogan is invariably a variation of “Make our country glorious again,” whether they be from the far left or far right.

Some of them wage war with other countries over territorial disputes, dividing the world irrevocably into authoritarian countries and the free world. Others instigate civil war, splitting their own country irreparably into “us” and “them,” or the underprivileged and the privileged. Either way, their ultimate purpose is to deceive the people with the illusion of winning a war with their adversaries and restoring the lost glory of their country.

Those nefarious political leaders are likely to be dictators, but it does not matter to them and their ardent supporters, because they believe that dictatorship is necessary in order to fight their "tyrannical" foes, whom they perceive as the established, the corrupt or the advantaged.

They antagonize capitalists, Marxists or globalists, depending on their political ideology. Pretending they are the champion of workers, those politicians also blame foreigners, immigrants and ethnic minorities for the people’s unemployment and poverty.

Often, these demagogues are prosecuted felons, either in their own country or at the international court. However, this does not matter to them.

Stephen Reicher, a professor of psychology at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and co-author of “The New Psychology of Leadership,” insightfully points out that, for a dictator, being a “felon becomes a badge of honor.”

Those politicians use their criminal charges to pretend that they are antiestablishment political dissidents unjustly persecuted by the state. According to Reicher, “the breaking of the rules of the establishment affirms their identity” as stout political nonconformists.

Recently, I watched “The Adjustment Bureau,” the 2011 film adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s short story, “Adjustment Team.” Both the film and the original story make us ponder the qualifications of a political leader. New York Democratic Congressman David Norris runs for the US Senate unsuccessfully. While rehearsing his speech in the men’s room, he briefly encounters a charming woman. They kiss passionately, but depart without exchanging names or phone numbers.

A month later, David happens to see the woman again on the bus -- and this time he secures her name and phone number. Elise Sellas turns out to be a ballet dancer at Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. David falls in love with her and she keeps inspiring him. Before parting, he promises to call her.

Suddenly, strange men from the “Adjustment Bureau” appear. They force David to give up his love for Elise and take away Elise’s phone number. They say that people’s lives must proceed according to the plan of the "Chairman" and their job is to adjust it when and if something goes wrong. They strongly advise David not to date Elise because it is against the plan of the Chairman. Somehow, they invoke the image of angels and God.

Later, a senior bureau man, Thompson, tells David that if he forgets Elise, he will become a senator and then president of the US, while Elise will become an internationally acclaimed choreographer. Thompson also warns that if David marries Elise, he cannot become president and Elise will end up being a children’s dance teacher at best. Davis has to choose between the two.

Finally, David chooses his love for Elise, giving up his chance to become president, which is not an easy thing to do for a politician like him. Then, another bureau man, Harry, appears and tells David and Elise that the Chairman has changed his plan and thus they can marry. Harry also mentions that perhaps the Chairman’s real plan is for people to choose their own destinies at free will.

We wish our political leaders, too, had the capacity of giving up their political ambitions for more precious, humane things, just as David did. Then, they could become truly great leaders who would lead the country in the right direction. Such an esteemed leader would never try to start war, divide the nation by factions and ideologies or deceive the people by posing as a messiah.

We can find such noble politicians in our dreams only. It is a dream so desperate and so hopelessly romantic that we do not want to wake up. Alas! In our harsh and nightmarish reality, we see only avaricious charlatans who do not hesitate to tear our country apart and annihilate human civilization in order to seize power.

We intensely miss the truly great leaders we used to have, such as Winston Churchill or John F. Kennedy.

Kim Seong-kon

Kim Seong-kon is a professor emeritus of English at Seoul National University and a visiting scholar at Dartmouth College. The views expressed here are the writer’s own. -- Ed.