4.5 The strongman is a moral weakling
Who’s at the top of an authoritarian government?
The strongman.
Why do we call him strong? I think the answer’s in the storyline of such a leader.
When he first comes on the scene…
He promises salvation.
He says he’s going to fix everything that’s wrong with his country, and he’s going to do it quickly because he won’t tolerate any interference. He’s going to take charge and take names and kick butt and get things done and that’s that.
So in the beginning with an authoritarian government there’s a burst of hope. Of course, not everyone is hopeful. People who have read even a little history know what’s coming. The strongman promises salvation, but…
He delivers damnation.
Let’s look for example at three iconic strongmen. What were their legacies?
Hitler caused the death of tens of millions.
Stalin caused the death of tens of millions.
Mao caused the death of tens of millions.
Why do we call such leaders strong? Because they’re strongly committed to using force. Actually “committed” is the wrong word…
They’re dependent on using force.
What is the strongman good at?
Demanding obedience.
Threatening punishment.
Exacting punishment.
Locking people up.
Executing them.
Starting wars.
Committing mass murder.
What is he not good at?
Nurturance.
He has no interest it and so never learned how to do it.
Empathy.
He’s unable to really care for anyone but himself. Actually he doesn’t even have empathy for himself. He only cares about his power and his glory.
Inner work.
He never looks inside himself and has no self-awareness and wouldn’t dream of doing personal self-development.
Relationships.
He doesn’t know how to make relationships deeper and richer.
Negotiation.
He doesn’t know how to work through conflicts to get to a win–win resolution and doesn’t want to learn.
Breaking the destructive spell of tribalism.
He is a fierce tribal fundamentalist. He has no interest in trans–tribalists, except to find them and do away with them.
When it comes to the strongman, brutality is his métier. It’s the core of his character…
It’s the love of his life.
And he doesn’t have any other option, because his entire repertoire is based on just that one thing, brutality.
Add this all up and it means the so–called strongman is…
Morally bankrupt.
He can’t bring nurturance to individuals or to his country.
So how about if we stop using that phrase strongman, because…
These men don’t have inner strength.
Inner compulsions which drive them hard, that for sure. But not inner moral strength.
Any really good mom, a mom who’s there for her child year after year, and steadfast in her nurturance through all the ups and downs, has magnitudes more inner strength than any strongman.
I want to equate strength with nurturance not brutality. And nurturance is what we need most in our current era, because when it comes to saving our species, we can’t murder our way to salvation.
So how about if we call the authoritarian leader what he really is…
A moral weakling.
