Where group hysteria is concerned, I tend to run the other way. Experience tells me that mass induced hype, specially hype that is attached to left-brain activation type words, is usually a precursor to disappointment and disillusionment.
The present atmosphere surrounding the soon-to-be-sworn-in President of a state that believes itself to be the ultimate police of world democracy, puts the above into perspective.
Now don’t get me wrong. He might be an upright and honourable person, and all the nice things the media have been sprouting about him but, he remains a politician and a human being. One who has a collective body of others to answer to. Others who collectively have the over-ridding power to make or break any decisions he makes or wants executed. And then, there are national policies to contend with. Thus, although he is the number one citizen of a country, he remains bound to political ideologies which will restrict and mostly impede well-intended initiatives, and human frailties which tends towards self-interest above all else.
Will he remain-true-to-his-word is the question that most observers around the western world are asking themselves right now. Given the rising expectancy surrounding his inauguration, I surmise ‘yes’ to be the answer.
I wish him all the luck for he presents the world with a renewed hope in something better but remain ambivalent where his political promises are concerned.
If there is one thing I’ve learned during my sojourn through life is that one trusts the person, but not the devil inside that person. A lesson that has not only been well tested by history, but also by personal life injuries.
In the words of Logan Pearsall Smith (a writer of historical semantics): “When they come downstairs from their Ivory Towers, Idealists are very apt to walk straight into the gutter.”
