June 2022

On Emperors and Clothes

Eighteen months into President Biden’s term, I’m being forced to ask a couple of questions that I ask routinely at work. What is the plan? Who is doing what? It’s been two years since George Floyd and no meaningful police reform legislation has emerged. Biden, Pelosi and Schumer have failed to deliver on a robust voting rights bill. “Build back better” has flopped utterly. It appears that Biden has given up on any meaningful progress at home, and instead has chosen to fan the flames of a war five thousand miles away unmindful of the fact that such a war is escalating inflation at home.

Three men are responsible for the horrific war and atrocities in Ukraine. First of course is Putin, whose paranoia and narcissism seem to know no bounds. Next is Zelensky, the leader of Ukraine, whose reckless posturing did nothing to help his people in any way whatsoever. Last but not the least, Biden bears a good chunk of responsibility and blame for escalating the conflict. There was no honest attempt made to negotiate. There are lots of bad guys in this world at any given time but there is a time and a place to fix these said bad guys. Now is not the time. When your house has caught fire, it is unwise to be distracted with problems in other homes. Instead, Biden escalated, presumably in an attempt to revive his sinking popularity at home. All three men must be shown the door. Enough is enough.

I can’t say how disappointed I am with Biden till date. He is at best a decent man. I never thought he was an honorable one. Memories of the Anita Hill harassment rankle to this day. He is undoubtedly incompetent, marginally better than Trump in this regard, but largely in the same league of bunglers. He was rehabilitated when anointed VeeP by one of America’s brightest Presidents. It was enough to carry him over the line in 2020. I voted for this man because all we wanted was to keep Trump out and appoint someone who’d do little or no more damage. I had no other choice. Instead, we seem to have gotten a version of a warmongering George W. Bush who’s been wreaking harm and sowing the seeds of American decline. I believe that a lot of Americans who vote Democrat feel the same way as I do. Mark my words, the Democrats are about to suffer catastrophic consequences in the mid-term elections in November.

“The responsibility is all yours; no one can stop you from being honest or straightforward,” said Marcus Aurelius, the Emperor of Rome during the 2nd century AD. He was the last in a line of what came to be known as “the five good emperors” known to have ruled Rome with authority, humanity, and competence. We know Marcus Aurelius today as one of the great Stoic philosophers. He is one of the few reminders that the old adage that “absolute power corrupts absolutely” isn’t always true. His reign was marked by incessant wars, a plague that wiped out 5-10m citizens of the Empire, and the rising threat of Christianity. It was also known for the Emperor’s own wisdom and the clarity with which he ruled.

Today we are left with his journal, his Meditations, a landmark of Stoic philosophy that has guided both powerful and common people for thousands of years. It shows the most powerful man on the planet going through the same problems that we deal with today; the same problems we will be grappling with tomorrow.

The Democratic leaders in America today, starting with President Biden, Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Schumer, would do well to take a leaf out of Marcus Aurelius’s book. That the great problems of America are not to be solved by grandstanding, dishonesty and demagoguery, but with purpose, intent and resolve. We have yet another shooting in America in which children were murdered. The time to say enough is enough is long, long past. Are we going to place the onus for passing gun laws solely on Mitch McConnell and the Republicans? Is that the plan? What then is the plan? Who is doing what?

Sadly, the Democrats seem to be failing us as much as the Republicans. It gives me no pleasure to say this. But it must be said: The Emperor isn't wearing any clothes.

Be safe. Have a wonderful week and month ahead. I’ll see you in September.