By Augustine Anthony
There are those who subscribe to the principle that to live is everything and by this they believe that we are all here to survive and in order to survive we just have to be practical (realism). On the other hand there are others who subscribe to the principle that a life without idealism is devoid of greatness thus such existence means little. Both are acceptable principles depending on the tint of the glass through which we look at things.
Idealism
The greatest of the leaders who have had captivated and captured the imagination of any movement or nation with their idealism are people with an aura of simplicity of life and a complexity of mind. In these leaders idealism manifested in all the greatness and glorious honesty to the point where people were passionately attracted to and magnetically drawn to these leaders to wholeheartedly support their cause even to the point of great cost to the personal well being of people .
But in our country today, what kind of leaders are we blessed or cursed with? Far from the simplicity of life and complexity of mind, these leaders manifest the blemished opposite which is a caustic complexity of life and simplicity of mind where superfluous needs takes center stage.
The fact is, many of these leaders are children in grown up bodies. It is for this reason we can see that they so willingly trade their ideals for bangles, beads and baubles. Throw the cry babies a toy and savor the serenity of their silence, such has become the cynical riposte. Toys remain toys whether it is Barbie dolls and lightsabers for children or the latest and the newest sports cars, limousines, expensive show off watches, private yachts, private jets or the second holiday villa amassed through ill gotten gains.
To maintain these unnecessary needs at the expense of great sufferings to the people, the leaders particularly the politicians (except for a few notable and dedicated ones in service to our nation) , are prepared to be glib tongued imposters, violence inciting mobsters and messengers of hate who do not seem to understand that a nation without common idealism is like a ship that drifts in uncharted waters without continuity of purpose and direction.
These selfish politicians are very “practical” people. They are masters in the art of personal survival albeit a survival without a legacy for the future generations to put on a pedestal. Their existence is without idealism. They rarely ask themselves the personal question of how they wish to be remembered. In death their memories will be instantly forgotten.
Practicality for them provides instant intoxication but conveniently forgetting that idealism is the heartbeat of our soul that breaks new thresholds in every field. An embryo in gestation within the womb of idealism will in birth reveal men/women in grace who will die for a cause.
A national idealism that can draw everyone to a common platform is a must. Every nation and every discovery and every field that had been touched by the force of idealism had propelled all of them to greatness beyond the imagination of most intelligent practical thinkers.
History is witness to every conquest that was only possible through idealism.
Idealism is Sports
For more than a century in the field of athletic prowess, no man could break the record of running below 4 minutes in the one mile race. In fact all practical sports experts, analysts and commentators were of the conclusion that it is humanly impossible to do under 4 minutes in the one mile race.
Roger Bannister an athlete just like any other but with ideals of doing what others could not do. He thought beyond the practicality of just winning the race. He had the idealism of being the first man to do under 4 minutes. In May 1956 Roger Bannister broke the meet record and clocked 3.59.04 and simultaneously broke the human mental block. And within less than 2 months another athlete broke the under 4 minute’s impossibility. Then under 4 minutes was being achieved more frequently the ever. If today an athlete cannot do under 4 minutes, he better not compete because college students are easily achieving it. All it took was one man with ideals to triumph over the mental block brought about by the practicality of a mere winning of the race.
In later life Roger Bannister went on to accomplish many great things in the medicinal field of neurology.
In a video recording, a young and very poor 13 year old boy from a shanty town was asked, what his dreams were and he answered, firstly to play for his country and secondly to carry the Football (FIFA) World Cup. That poor boy with idealism went on, not only to play for his country and carry the Copa Mondial but also became the greatest footballer with the greatest solo goal ever. Diego Armando Maradona! He may die one day but because of his ideals, football will live.
Idealism in Science
Bedtime stories for children of mermaids diving the depths of the Ocean yet able to breathe fresh air by the beach and Peter Pan flying in the sky like a bird yet walk like any other boy were not acceptable thoughts in a real world then and were dismissed by ‘intelligent practical thinkers’ as humanly impossible. They argued that only demented children could entertain such thoughts that existed in story books.
But relentless scientific discovery firmly footed on the foundation of idealism now witness seafaring and ocean floor discoveries of organisms of various species that are changing our understanding of life on this planet. Submarines are cruising under water like giant monsters ever so often and divers with new diving gear are doing better, far better than mermaids.
The story of flying Peter Pan is no longer impossible for those who dare to dream a dream. Planes breaking the speed of sound, skydiving in marvelous and mind boggling formations and paragliding spectacles are now common occurrences and heart stoppers no longer. Only the mediocre practical thinkers with their mental block now remain a stumbling block to what people and a nation can achieve as a whole.
Idealism In Religion
Dead men cannot die again. It is not real and not a practical thought. But perhaps not for the Christians who believe in the idealism spread by Jesus Christ. Christians not only believe that the dead can be brought to life through resurrection but human beings are a creation that could live forever.
This belief is so unshakeable that early Christians were prepared to die for it in the most gruesome ways. Christian women and children were tossed into the Roman Coliseum and while the helpless believers were devoured by hungry lions to the toxic cheers of spectators intoxicated by the madness of entertainment, idealism firmly footed on faith was the only sustenance for these dying ones who believed that there is a second and a more meaningful life that await them. And that idealism was written for future Christians to bear witness in the Gospel of Matthew.
That idealism saw young Christian men and women, giving away their possessions, emptying their pockets for their faith, crossing oceans, trekking mountains and vast lands to spread the message of idealism. In their endeavors many died in the oceans, of deadly diseases and through violence but their deaths were not in vain.
Christians believe that they may not have seen God in visible form but his work is seen all around. One example is the education system through mission schools that was spread around the world by these idealists. Many without educational opportunities were given the most important gift of knowledge through structured education. Knowledge based society based on sound education is the real work of God, some Christians argue.
The successful spread of other religions like Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism are also through idealism.
Idealism In Philosophy
The French Revolution did not attain success just because peasants became hungry and planned the overthrow of the then unworkable system of governance of a medieval absolute and tyrannical monarchy.
The people were convinced and were able to immerse themselves in the idealism of the philosophy of Voltaire, Rousseau and Montesquieu. Within these philosophies they saw an ideal system of good governance. These Philosophies revealed the tyranny of absolute monarchy and offered a viable solution in the relationship between the State and its citizen through a power balance mechanism. Today, the world over people are talking and pursuing the ideal power separation policies. These ideals have not given in to practical survival. Not yet and never will.
Idealism In Politics and Nation Building
Nelson Mandela spent 28 years in prison for what he believed in. In the book “Long Walk To Freedom” it was apparent that the Apartheid Regime incessantly persuaded him to be a practical man and give up his cause. The terrible cruelty he suffered in the hands of his tormentors, one cannot describe in words. That idealism saw his comrades blazed with conviction in pursuit of the noble cause to free their country from unjust minority rule that saw it fit that some were more equal than others.
Walter Sisulu suffered so much for Mandela’s beliefs. Oliver Thambo went into exile for 30 years, so far from his home to rally support from around the world, that apartheid has no place in any principled governance that believed in common decency.
There are other exemplary characters whose pursuits were fueled by nothing other than idealism. Such is the greatness of leaders like Bhagat Singh in India, Dr. Sun Yat Sen in China, Aung Sang Su Kyi in Burma. And in Malaysia, the late Abdul Razak (Tun), whose National Economic Policy if properly implemented would have remarkably reduced the inequality between the poor and the rich but sadly his intentions were hijacked by other competing interests and the political party that he once helmed has now lost its soul.
Idealism in Human Rights/ Civil Rights Movement
The Proclamation of Emancipation that declared freedom for slaves did little to save the Negro slaves held by the curse of captivity until the birth of sons and daughters of Negro slaves who believed in the idealism that free men /women are no man’s slaves. (The word Negro is intentionally used here)
The Negro slaves who believed in the idealism of freemen and freedom suffered terrible consequences. They were imprisoned in tiny boxes for days, tortured and lynched, their daughters raped, their sons starved but as the siren of idealism stayed, the bells of freedom rang across the country.
So when Martin Luther King Jr. said that “I have a dream”, it was not the words of Martin Luther King Jr. alone that reverberated at Lincoln’s Memorial but the Idealism of the sons and daughters of Negro slaves that one day the evils of racial discriminations will evaporate and sons of slaves and sons of slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.
That idealism gave birth to an American dream from entertainment to sports, national defense and politics in the persona of Michael Jackson, Tiger Woods, General Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and now the ultimate realization of that dream in Barack Hussein Obama.
Idealism In War
The Persian Army under Emperor Xerxes I son Darius the Great mounted a campaign to expand its empire to the autonomous Greek city states. The Greeks particularly the Spartans were people who believed in the ideals of free Greeks and were not willing to live in submission to the Persian Empire. In what will go down as the most famous battle of ancient European history, the battle at Thermopylae saw the Spartan King Leonidas leading a small army numbering less than 10 thousand men against Xerxes I who was commanding almost 300 ,000 men (some put the figure beyond a million). Practical war strategy would have seen the necessity of total withdrawal but King Leonidas was not a practical man.
A few days of fighting saw the Greek army losing about 2,500 freemen and the Persian war casualties more than 20,000. But on the last day of battle, King Leonidas having ordered the retreat of rest of the Greek army remained in the battle field with 300 Spartans and a few hundred other Greek soldiers to take on the mighty Persian army.
King Leonidas believing in the ideals of freemen of ancient Greece saw certainty of death with no chance of success but that ideal spread to all corners of Greece and in less than one year in the battle at Plataea, the Greek army numbering 40,000 led by the Spartans won decisively against the Persian army of 120,000 men and effectively ended the Persian threats of Greek invasion.
Doomed heroism of bold King Leonidas and the brave 300 more than 2,400 years ago remains till today as an inspirational theme for freemen.
Conclusion
A national idealism drawn from the inspiration of a common certainty of purpose could conquer the odds of impossibilities against a global threat to enslave our nation but we continue to struggle with basic questions that still bamboozle the nation.
We still wonder why the roads are generously spread with potholes, why buildings collapse, why bridges crack, why the huge financial losses and scandals, why the deepening of racial and religious differences, why our education policies continue to be flipped, see it flop and await another flip in a matter of few years with parents disappointed and children raised with feelings of dejection and many other failings that could be easily avoided.
And to the burning question of why after all these years many politicians still remain con men, incite hatred and sow conflicts amongst the races, we disappointedly go home with an irresistible conclusion that practical survival for a short term gain (an more importantly pecuniary gain) by these selfish people far outweighs shaping a nation on the principle of idealism for a long term greatness.
To these mediocre politicians and leaders, I can only quote that “the glory and memory of men will always belong to the ones who followed their great visions”…….. (Quote from the Movie Alexander)