Alas time and time again I have lamented at the return of divine right monarchy which is discussed at the intellectual coffeehouses. But there is a step before this that is perhaps more troubling and even darker- the romanticization of a superhero so to speak to rise above the rest and save us.
Now lets rewind past the crown and the splendor. Lets see what steps happen before an usurper places a crown upon his (or her) head and declares themselves the "king with all divinely invested powers bestowed upon me."
It may not be as obvious as this, but as the new candidates line up on the debate platform I'm seeing too many people nitpicking looking for their "Prince Charming" candidate to come in and save the day. Now, I'm completely for the idea of a president riding on a white horse. Horses are beautiful, and it would be much kinder to the environment to ride horses. However, "Prince Charming" whether he is on a horse or in a limo is a dangerous idea.
In the anarchy of the White Terror and Thermidorian Reaction after the French Revolution, the French people were desperate looking for a great man to save them and put an end to these troubles. There arose a charming soldier with a Corsican accent named Napoleon Bonaparte. Bonaparte promised reform and a better future. Gradually, France was transformed into a dictatorship due to this personality cult. Bonapartism can happen to any nation at any time, when the people start elevating the idea of a superhero to save them from their troubles and turn to one man or one woman to save them from the pits of despair this is where the problems begin.
What was the step before Napoleon placed the crown upon his head? Alas Napoleon captured the hearts of the people with his charm!
My heart sunk in despair as I heard the people trying to find the one perfect candidate or president to solve their lives problems. My gentle readers, no one politician can solve your problems. Investing so much hope and power in the hands of one will lead to an inflation of their ego, and eventually complete usurpation of power and despotism as he will use his charm to get his heart's desires.
Now lets say our President Charming is actually a great person with no intent on gaining absolute power. Investing this much power and hope in him being "superman" places him in an awkward position. An inflation and debt problem as serious as the United States can't be fixed with the wave of a hand! Poor Charming the moment he makes a mistake the people will tear him down and hate everything he does. There is no winning in this scenario, the first leads to usurpation and the second leads to hate and we as a society would have learned nothing. The people in turn will choose another strong populist "superman" to solve all of their problems without putting into account our checks and balances on power which are much needed. A simple system of only the people and the president will never work and only result in endless cycles of the tyranny of an usurper verses the tyranny of the mob.
Citizens of the world, as the old phrase goes "there is no position more pitied than the man who holds too much power!" We need to keep and improve our checks and balances. We cannot place all of our hopes and dreams in the hands of one person. Superman is fine for entertainment, but in reality we must acknowledge nobody on earth is a superman. We should all be inspired to do good deeds and help others. As president (or any politician, or a citizen) we must all pledge to earth other, to the world, and to humanity that we shall work in the best of our abilities to make the world a better place. We must take the spotlight off of the one, and bring the spotlight to show the big picture of the world.
My friends, putting all the hopes into this "superman" to solve all of your problems will not lead to liberty. It will lead to usurpation of power and misery. The hopes should be invested in you and I, between us all working together to make the world a better place. Nobody is superman, but we all have within us talents to improve and ears to learn. The world is ours, and the checks and balances hold democracies together as though they are the flying buttresses of a grand cathedral. All balance the weight of power off of each other lest one buttress takes upon itself all of the weight and the cathedral crumbles!
Liberty is real, and liberty lives in us all. But we must realize what true liberty is, and no fall prey to the traps and temptations of populism.
