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On Thursday night, the entire global news cycle was dominated by the name Donald J. Trump. Every social media platform chattered about the President of the United States of America. While this is normally par for the course, there is was something different about the twaddle this time around, it was more pronounced.
Regrettably, the headlines were laced with the news that the President tested positive for the Covid-19. It was surreal. How could the leader of the free world who receives the highest level of protection, fall prey to this dreaded virus? All politics and venomous critique ought to end with sickness and the subject should receive only commiserations. However, analysis and observations should not take a pause.
THE EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES`
The above title references, in a modified form, the popular phrase: ‘the Emperor has no clothes’, based on the fairy tale called ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’, a literary folktale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. As the story goes, the emperor is a vain man overly concerned with his clothes spending a lot of money on them. Two conmen come to town and offer to make the best clothing ever with special properties that make the clothes invisible to those unfit for their job or those that are stupid. The emperor hires them but they make nothing at all. As advisors come to check on the progress they see no clothes but fear that they may be ruled stupid or unfit for their jobs if they offer criticisms or speak the truth, so they shower it with praise. The emperor finally comes to see the progress and is equally afraid to admit he sees nothing. The entire kingdom eventually praises the clothing and how magnificent it is. Upon its completion and unveiling in the town square, only a child speaks out that the emperor is wearing no clothes. Everyone finally admits they see nothing either including the emperor. The lie is busted. The emperor now is forced to pretend to march around with no clothes parading as if he does. The political principle contained in the story is the phenomenon of authoritarian and dictatorial leaders who make their advisors scared to tell them the truth.
THE EMPEROR HAS NO MASK
From its large scale inception on the world stage, Covid-19 and the pandemic has encountered various forms of leadership and attitudes towards the disease. Some, in their usual iconoclastic styles, have dismissed the disease as just a common cold or a hoax. President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Brazil’s President, Jair Bolsonaro, have exemplified this dismissive approach. Despite clear and considered medical advice, they have rejected the science surrounding this disease. In doing so, they have forced their pliant advisors scared to tell them that they have no clothes. Trump’s leadership style lends itself to such a circumstance, advisors who attempted to speak the truth have been fired, dismissed and publicly shamed. As a consequence, there is an opera silence by those who remain when it is time to tell the emperor that he has no clothes or simply put, wear a mask. No advisor in the inner circle would dare tell the emperor to do this, especially when he has explicitly waged war against this simple maneuver to protect his health.
CONSTRUCTIVE CRITIQUE AND DISSENT
President Trump’s diagnosis, while regrettable is a literal and metaphorical representation of the consequences of this leadership condition and it provides an opportune time to remind that the dictatorial leadership style creates hubris and group think that can lead to the fall of empires and in this case, a complete threat to the leader’s health. It fosters misinformation, denial of reality, rejection of expert advice that does not suit the leader’s narrative or objectives and above all, it is belligerent towards constructive critique that might be life-saving. It simply required the President to wear a mask and follow the advice of medical experts but fascist inclinations led to the belief of being larger than life and being above human frailties.
In these Covid-19 times, who will tell the emperor he is not wearing a mask?
