Minister Without Portfolio

Hubris is the word. He would be king, but he’s worried that some will feel he has no capability to rule. They point to his brief career in the public eye. They comment that they cannot discover the things that he has done. Being is fine, but doing is better. He counters by selection, prior to coronation, of a regent—an old man who has been in government for many years. He has not built his own business, nor has he created his own wealth, nor has he managed any distinct projects. He has governed. He has participated with a large committee of others to create systems of words which confuse and confound while creating dependency upon the government. Therefore he can govern, whispering in his ear while the young man who would be king learns the ropes.

One of the things to catch up on is what the rest of the world is like. He has many strongly held positions and some question whether they have any relationship to facts. He embraces the will of the people who want to be liked and they therefore like him because he promises to make others like us. He does what the people, who know little about the situation, tell him they want to do. He calls it democracy and therefore he is a Democrat. The people wish it and he will achieve it. But first, he must gain credibility that he knows what he is talking about. He must go to the mountain and see what can be seen.

That’s when he goes too far. He forgets that he is not yet king. He has no mandate, no authority, no power to talk, to ask, to plead, to cajole, to promise. Yet, he goes and he tells the leader of another government what to do. That’s hubris.

Exceeding His Grasp

He wishes to be king, but he freely explains to a developing nation’s leadership that his kingdom is currently weak, its leader is reviled. He describes his land as restless and unhappy with their current condition. He bargains with someone who has no authority and fails to recognize that he himself has none. Rather than exhibiting the demeanor of a potentially powerful monarch, he whines to the other government that unless he becomes king, they will fail as he wills his own country to fail. They must wait for his ascendency before they act.

But in the process he fails to recognize that even should his elevation to the throne occur, he will not have his advisors immediately available to deal with fulfilling his promises. Maybe he should have taken his regent with him to these discussions to caution him against hubris. They didn’t tell him that just as he might not become king; the people of the other nation might not keep their thrones.

Alas this kingship business is complicated. Why didn’t they tell him about these limitations when he was taking it to the streets of the principality of Daley the Munificent, lord of Chicago?

There is so much to learn. Why couldn’t he have been a mayor or a governor first before becoming an heir apparent?