I remember the closing scene in the movie Camelot, in which a sad King Arthur rests his hand on old comrade Sir Pellinore’s shoulder, looks upon his burning kingdom being destroyed by lust and greed, and says, “You know, Pelli – the Roundtable was ahead of its time. Perhaps in a thousand years, people will learn that it should be ‘Might FOR Right,’ and not ‘Might IS Right.’”
Well, I have news for that honourable king who believed in democracy. They (we) have NOT learned in the intervening thousand years. I’d like to sing the closing line from the mournful Pete Seeger song, “When will we ever learn, when will we ever…learn?”
What got me started on this track was the recent ruling by the Supreme Court in the USA that deemed the country needed to return to the rule of a king who was above the law, after it had waged a bloody battle of Independence 250 years ago to be free of one. Didn’t they know that every king is not as benevolent as King Arthur? That the present rulers wield mighty tools of coercion such as social media and fake news to keep the plebes ignorantly waving the flag while siphoning off of their meagre earnings and freedoms? That these “kings” have fingers poised over red buttons that can unleash havoc to make Camelot look like a tea party? That these mighty kings are older and more senile than even dear Sir Pellinore and would be better off in a seniors’ residence playing skittles rather than fiddling nukes or nubile women?
Somewhere during the last 50 years, the post-WWII Roundtable, created by western nations who suffered untold damage from that global conflict and gained wisdom in return, started to unravel. A new post-war generation forgot their parents’ horrible past because they hadn’t been touched by it. All they saw were untold possibilities of “growth for growth’s sake” in the reconstruction that followed – heck, the post-war global economic system was premised on growth, even though a planet with finite resources could sustain only so much of it. “Don’t worry, we’ll find alternatives to our polluted planet,” they said, unfazed when climate change reared its ugly head, “we’ll even take growth into space and to planets beyond, build productivity gains through AI, harness renewable energy, and not cramp the indomitable human spirit.” How do you argue with that proposition when there are gazillionnaires who have made ridiculous wealth from the “growth imperative,” trail-blazers such as Bezos, Musk, Zuckerberg, and Gates?
Unbridled growth is greatly protected and fostered by placing a one-dimensional political leader at the helm who sees growth as the only driver, and who reserves a personal and private payoff from the bonanza for themselves. Unlike in the past, this “king” does not come from a royal lineage or arrive as a conqueror from outside, but is generated from within, often by popular vote, to ensure profits gush upward to a few and not trickle down to the masses. Once in place, this leader brooks no opposition from those who hold alternate views such as sustainability, equity, or equality. To succeed, one-dimensional leaders in turn need laws that support their singular vision, or no laws at all like in Orwell’s 1984; in either case, they need the judges in their pockets.
China, Russia, India, Brazil, Turkey and Iran, all populous nations, have generated their strong-man kings already, along with compliant courts that do not say boo to the incumbent ruler. The USA is the latest country in this “large country class” to fall in line – but they did it differently, they had the courts first clear the way for the next infallible leader – now all they have to do is elect one; and strong contenders are chomping at the bit.
Are we destined for another dark period in this Age of Kings? Americans who have had it good in post-war memory, and only count external threats such as Pearl Harbour being bombed far from the mainland and the towers falling inside a contained area of Manhattan, will shrug off any dark age as unlikely and cloak themselves in American Exceptionalism as the armour to get them through all calamities. But Exceptionalism is visible only when there are ground rules for right and wrong, identifiable measures of success, and clear distinctions between good and bad behaviour. In our present climate, when everyone claims to be “good.” thanks to social media, when the courts are puppets, and when a leader is made infallible and supreme, the lines of good and bad blur. Morality clouds up. We become either delusional or depressed.
If it had been my shoulder old King Arthur rested his hand on, I would have told him, “Your Majesty, do not despair. They have still not learned. More generations will need the Camelot Experience before traces of enlightenment stick to our DNA. Might is still Right – today, we call it Leverage. The Meek may still inherit the earth one day, but they—and not the rich and powerful—will have to get through the eye of the needle to do so. And be flattered, Your Majesty – they still need a king.”
