The Ruler in His Own Right
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Legends of different times and peoples tell us what the ideal rules must be like. We can dwell on Vedantic exhortations, dialogues of Plato or Machiavelli and the scholars who carried on polemics with him. But not here; there are textbooks and original sources to do it.
I am going to be extremely subjective in my own right of a columnist.
You must know how to manage big systems (and a country is a big system in terms of the system approach). You cannot learn it at further education courses when you are almost ready to retire; it is inborn-cum-bred. That is why the ideal ruler inherits their power, has the necessary personal traits, and is brought up correctly to understand that the power is not a pleasure but a churlish round-the-clock job he/she has to do conscientiously and clear-sightedly in honor and blood bound. Unfortunately, all the modern monarchies of the states that are culturally close to this country have decayed into a tourist or a business species. And for the Ukrainian mentality of anarchy-cum-individualism, they are a kind of curiosity which lies an ocean away.
Thus, in the current settings, God grant our ruler not to be greedy, not to be “attached to the fruit of daily activities” at least. And to value good fame more than a pretty penny. Strictly speaking, in the Vedic system of varnas, the proper Kshatriya (the ruler, the warrior) is to be a highly-skilled manager but not an entrepreneur. Unfortunately, there is lack of Kshatriya in the age of decadence – both the public officials and the top-managers of business corporations live according to the principle “we are what we are”. Though there still can be exceptions and the fact reconciles us with the reality. And, generally speaking, that is not the main thing. The main thing is to be sincere when recognizing your duty and to have true motivation for your political activities. Whatever car a Ukrainian politician might drive, whatever village he or she might graze cows in front of photo- and TV-cameras in, or whatever diner he or she might fraternize with long-haul truckers in, his/her carefully tended appearance and fastidious look give away his/her real way of life and thinking. And his/her real acts form the level of trust.
It refers to both the power and the opposition. Yet, first of all to the opposition. Because it claims the status of a collective spokesman of people’s hopes and of a justice fighter. So, there is much to do in the poor country that is still looking for its new identity besides stressing their own democratic nature.
You can wear pseudonational shoes and drive a pseudoparty people’s car, but you cannot convince the voters of your honesty and decency, you cannot win their trust. For Ukrainians, all politicians are as like as two peas because they come from – literally or mentally – the soviet government establishment. And in real life they act not by the western political management books but by the special courses that used to be offered by the Communist Party’s Leadership Academy (the alma mater of the USSR Communist officials) and by the very Machiavelli’s teachings.
That is why ordinary people do not see much difference between different political actors, and the Internet together with some traditional media provides them with exhaustive information on which of the oligarchs has which of the “oppositionists” on their payroll. And if any of the Ukrainian political elite’s members would really like to move aside from their colleagues in the consciousness of the voting public, they will have to stop imitating frenzied activity. And do something not only bright but heartfelt and convincing. Ukrainians, like all the other inhabitants of the former totalitarian empire, are capable of living a “multilayer life”: saying one thing, meaning another thing and doing something else. But they can identify dishonesty perfectly. Probably, they won’t do it the very first time and not all of them will do it at once. Yet, even the longest day has an end – as the proverb says.
That is why there is still no real opposition in Ukraine, despite the latest developments, and its frontmen cannot be inherently considered by the public the leaders of the nation. The politicians going after the status prefer to “seem to be” rather than “to be”. And no trendy technologies and political strategies – both foreign and home-made – can help them come to the whole new level until their internal motivation for participating in the political life changes.
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