IS HYPOCRISY ACCEPTED IN 2020?

It seems President Trump is good at seeing into the future.

On November 16th, 2011, he said in a video – since deleted from his YouTube channel:

“Our President will start a war with Iran because he has absolutely no ability to negotiate. He’s weak and he’s ineffective. So the only way he figures he’s going to be re-elected – and as sure as you’re sitting there – is to start a war with Iran.”

Based on the US air strike on Baghdad Airport at 1 am, local time, on January 3rd 2020, his prediction came true. The only thing he got wrong in fact, was he was talking about President Obama – not himself.

As we enter an election year, could Trump have committed the exact same act that he ridiculed Obama for hypothetically considering?

Looking at the current polls, it seems Trump’s fight to save his Presidency in 2020 may be a tough one. He’s clearly concerned about his most likely opponent, Joe Biden. The Ukraine debacle, for which he was impeached by Congress, proved that he’s wiling to do whatever he can to stop Biden – this is the definition of desperation.

Yet, the point of interest here isn’t American Politics or the upcoming election – though I will be watching with fascination. The point here is hypocrisy.

How can the leader of the most powerful nation in the world, say that one action committed (hypothetically) by one president is ‘pathetic’ and then defend it when he actually commits that act himself?

Isn’t this blind hypocrisy?

I would say yes.

This isn’t saved purely for American politics either. I can look on my front pages and regularly see another very powerful hypocrite – Boris Johnson. This is the man who lambasted Theresa May’s Brexit deal as publicly as he could. He even voted against the deal twice. Then, when he attained power, and members of his party voted against his deal, he kicked them out of the party.

Isn’t this blind hypocrisy?

I would say yes.

So, it seems hypocrisy is in vogue, especially at the highest level of office, but should this really surprise us?

Is Hypocrisy so bad?

Maybe we could look at hypocrisy as a sign of the times. As we stumble into 2020, aren’t we surrounded by a world that is constantly changing? In 2020, aren’t flexibility, agility and dynamism key attributes to any person or organisation?

How can we expect the leaders of the world to maintain solid opinions throughout their careers, when we want them to navigate the ever-changing world for us?

Maybe we can’t. Maybe, we must accept that in 2020, things change, and they change fast.

Take public transportation. 10 years ago, if you wanted to book a taxi, you booked in advance, or by phone. Or, if you were in a major city, you could hail one of the city taxis. Today, what do you do? You Uber.

Uber’s rise has been so dramatic that it has almost transformed itself into a verb. Plus, Uber hasn’t just transformed inner-city travel, it’s taken on world domination. I’m currently travelling around India and have taken Uber twice to travel from one city to another.

The impact Uber has had is huge, and this impact travels. Uber has even been banned in certain countries – Denmark, Hungary, Bulgaria and China have all imposed bans on the app.

So with technologies emerging which change the way we live our lives, how can we expect our leaders to maintain their previous views and policies?

Plus, what about us, maybe we’re not so clean either.

Aren’t we all hypocrites?

How many of us live a perfect life, completely in line with all of our views on the world around us?

I certainly don’t.

I love animals, and completely believe that animal farming is a large contributor to global warming. And although I maintain a largely vegetarian diet, am I sometimes tempted by a bowl of ramen when in Tokyo? Yes I am.

Even Time’s Person of the Year, Greta Thunberg isn’t free from criticism. She received plenty of flack from critics who found out that during her 2-week voyage from the UK to the US on an eco-yacht, 2 people actually had to fly to New York, to bring the yacht back after. What’s the point if people have to fly anyway? The critics said.

This isn’t an attack on Greta, by the way, I happen to be a huge fan.

This is to prove that maybe we’re all culpable sometimes, and maybe we should cut our hypocritical world leaders some slack?

What’s the difference?

So the world’s changing rapidly, and it turns out we’re all hypocrites.

Does that excuse Trump and Johnson for their blatant double standards?

I would say no, and here’s why.

Firstly, 99.9% of us are not on the world stage. Yes, we have a responsibility to set an example of our friends, families and loved ones, but we don’t carry the burden to lead a nation.

What about Greta then?

She certainly is on the world stage. However, I can point to a difference here too.

Greta’s message is clear, and her mission even clearer. She wants to wake up the world’s leaders to climate change and inspire governmental action. In no way is she doing any of this to promote herself – as she rightly told the UN “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words.”

Maybe a couple of people have to take a flight to bring her eco-yacht back to Europe, but her point was still made, and it was made for the good of the world.

When it comes to Trump and Johnson, who is the beneficiary of their hypocrisy?

None other than them.

The most dangerous thing about their blatant use of hypocrisy is when it is deployed from the highest office. This combination threatens the creation of Super-Human status.

I can vote your deal down as long as I want, but you can never vote mine down.

Obama can’t bomb Iran, that would be a huge mistake, but I can, because I’m President Trump.

This rhetoric portrays an image of a person – often a white male person – as above the law and above everyone else. Maybe some of us can see through this, but I’m certain that many don’t. And these many tend to be those that decide elections.

What do we do?

Is it realistic to write about this, and then hope that everyone rallies together to end hypocritical and selfish leadership of the countries of the world?

I would say no.

So, what happens next?

The important thing is to notice these vagrant, self-serving incidents of hypocrisy. Once we notice them, we can begin to see how frequent they are. From that point, we can decide to call them out – this is if you’re comfortable with being vocal on social media or in your circle of influence.

If not, what we can all do is a little bit of research. When we see political leaders manipulating the public with things we suspect to be lies, or complete changes of opinion, we can search for the truth.

The idea here is to call out self-serving political leaders who are more interested in their own success than the well being of the people their ‘serve’.

Because at the end of the day, Trump, Johnson and many others are doing everything in their power to secure and promote their own interests, while pretending to be the leader of the people.

Is that hypocrisy?

I would say yes.