TYRANTS, dictators and political leaders of all shades have long relied on symbols as the outward manifestation of both their principles and morals.
Grandiose and often futile works litter the planet. From the Great Wall of China, a symbol of the preservation of the perfection of a culture, to the Pyramids and their association with the life the pharaohs sought. Eventually, the Great Wall bankrupted the Celestial Kingdom and invading armies walked round the end of it. Now, tourists lie in once revered sarcophagi and pose for photos. To paraphrase, “look on these works ye mighty and despair.”
So, it was reassuring to learn that a new contender for the title of “World Leader” opts for less grandiose, mercifully less expensive but unfortunately equally ill-considered symbols of his ethics and philosophy. Wisely, he kept them out of sight and under his hat. Well, under his shirt cuff at least, until earlier this week, that is.
One can only speculate on the quality of the advice given to the aspiring statesman, the arrogance and slightly “third remove” humor involved and the crass stupidity and lack of trans-cultural sensitivity that was involved in young Tony Blair revealing, even by accident, the stylized nude woman painted on the inside of his shirt cuff. In a single image, artlessly decorating the pages of tabloid and broadsheet alike, a prime minister already embroiled in a fierce attack on his judgment over the selection of “advisors” and media spin-doctors lost the last shreds of credibility as a serious politician and possibly as an internationally respected figure.
An extreme view? Well perhaps.
However, this is the man who would retail the idea of “war on terrorism” and supposedly out of respect for “the vast majority of peaceful Muslims and their tradition,” take some time to “understand their traditions and beliefs.” This is the man who alleges to understand and respect Islam and the Muslims in Britain and the rest of the world yet wears a deeply offensive image concealed under a cuff.
This is the man who travels to India, dresses in a silk “Nehru suit” in an attempt to “identify” with them and, in a hideous repeat performance, feels no awkwardness or sense of imperial condescension seated at a tribal drum in a tourist African village desperate to do the same.
Given the obsessive predilection of our Western society to focus on image and display, grasping at every photo opportunity rather than addressing often unattractive and difficult core issue, is the behavior of our elected leader anything but a reflection of a more general malaise? Probably not, for image, fantasy and the marketing of the impossible as something instantly achievable has proved to be the most powerful marketing tool ever known. The several National Lotteries howl, “Be an instant millionaire! (No work involved, only the gullible need apply.)” You have about the same chance of being attacked by a shark in Hafr Al Batin.
It’s a fact that not everyone can be rich and famous. Everyone can dream of it, few but the lucky, and frequently the gloriously untalented, ever attain it. That doesn’t stop the cynical exploitation of dreams as a money making exercise. Dreams of musical fame are peddled daily, catalogues of exotic possessions owned by the rich are passed off as news and the extramarital and often-illegal antics of footballers make headlines. It’s all part of “lifestyle,” the phantom bandwagon the public of many a “developed” country are desperate to clamber on to.
This obsession with display and fake status has soaked into the more cynical of employers as well. Give an employee a shiny new title, and you can get away with not giving him a pay rise. “Firms” reported the Daily Telegraph (Thursday, March 7) “are using the so-called ‘up-titling’ to motivate and retain staff when budgets are tight.”
Just pause for reflection on how far someone must have bought into the sham when he can be retained in a job by re-titling the honest job of “window cleaner” as “Optical Illuminator Enhancer” or on a different level, a “Marketing Manager” being happy to be described as “Director of Marketing, Multimedia Products and Promotional Services.” “Half those polled said it improved their happiness.” Said the Telegraph; half don’t realize the title pays no bills.
Tony is the elected leader of this society. Using these not too subtle marketing tactics, he has been elected twice, and currently shows every sign of pulling it off for a third.
The dream-weavers have been at work and prepared the voter to buy into the next fantasy. The emperor has certainly found some new and highly agreeable clothes for the voter to admire and has effectively re-titled and repackaged both himself and his party to the extent that there is now only the packaging. The only thing left to do is “up-title” his job and pay him less.
However, in the very serious business of world politics, his latest media stage, I cannot think of a single Muslim who would not look at both his gleaming Cheshire Cat smile and the proffered right hand extending from the designer-pink shirt cuff and wonder.
