Phillip Adams in his weekly column in The Australian poses a critical question which ought to exercise the minds of us all - as politicians around the world blindly and stupidly go to war, famines continue, global warming is a real issue, diseases remain rampant in many countries and inordinately offensively large sums of money are diverted to manufacturing armaments rather than something valuable such as finding a cure for cancer.
"In a world crying out for leaders who are neither fools nor frauds, cynical nor certifiable - to help deal with minor problems like poverty, AIDS, war and environmental catastrophe, including climate change - it seems timely to consider the profession of national leadership.
We don’t have one. A leader. Our PM’s a follower. He practises followship of George Bush, shock jocks or political polls. The US has a deluded ignoramus who’s been leading his nation into any valley of death on offer. And it’s not merely thin but anorexic pickings in Britain, France, Russia and Germany. Where some countries – Iraq, for example – don’t have leaders at all, others have them stick out from the crowd in uniforms crusted with self-awarded medals.
Irrespective of geography, history, economic model or political system, good leaders (using “good” to suggest competence rather than moral virtue, which clearly is asking too much) are as rare as rocking-horse manure or authenticated sightings of the Perfect Virgin."
"In a world crying out for leaders who are neither fools nor frauds, cynical nor certifiable - to help deal with minor problems like poverty, AIDS, war and environmental catastrophe, including climate change - it seems timely to consider the profession of national leadership.
We don’t have one. A leader. Our PM’s a follower. He practises followship of George Bush, shock jocks or political polls. The US has a deluded ignoramus who’s been leading his nation into any valley of death on offer. And it’s not merely thin but anorexic pickings in Britain, France, Russia and Germany. Where some countries – Iraq, for example – don’t have leaders at all, others have them stick out from the crowd in uniforms crusted with self-awarded medals.
Irrespective of geography, history, economic model or political system, good leaders (using “good” to suggest competence rather than moral virtue, which clearly is asking too much) are as rare as rocking-horse manure or authenticated sightings of the Perfect Virgin."
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