Monarchy or Democracy?

Pick your poison

Last week in Athens, I visited two stores in my neighborhood, and struck up conversations with the proprietors, both of whom had been missing-in-action for several months. After some pleasantries and requests for service, I inquired where they had gone missing, and both of their replies made me think of our days pregnant with talk of Democracy.?

For some 20 years, Mohamed has owned a store that services mobile telephones.? Originally from Tunisia, he told me with some delight he had just returned from ‘home,’ after almost five years away from family.? I asked him about his trip, and he was effusive, downright giddy over his experience back in his hometown just outside of Tunis.

“Of course, you know, Tunisia is authoritarian, a dictatorship,” he piped in before I could respond. He knew I was an American, and suggested he was expecting a standard Western dissertation about Freedom and Democracy. “Not much freedom,” he continued,” but everything works like a clock.”? He seemed amazed with this revelation. His two hands separated at his side like he was surfing, and then joined together horizontally, offering a signal of two realities melding smoothly into a horizontal plateau. ?

In Tunisia Mohamed had been 'hanging ten,' and was reluctantly back at work in his adopted country of Greece.? Clearly he was delighted with the progress back home, while his eyes suggested all was not well at his store in Athens, where the economic chaos is growing, inflation is high, and “For Rent” signs abound.

But before I could muse on this topic, I was headed to another of my way-stations—a favorite antique store not far from the Acropolis--to sniff out some cheap glassware.? Khaled is the proprietor and host, a gracious young man with an eye for beautiful young women. His Neo Classical three-story mansion from the turn of the (last) century is full of items from Greece and his home town of Cairo, Egypt.? From Cairo he ships in containers of old kitchenware, several times during the year, to fill his inventory.

Khaled had also just returned from ‘home,’ after a long summer visiting his family.? Like Mohamed, it was Khaled’s first visit in many years. ??“So what changes did you notice in Cairo?”? I asked him. "Has the country shifted since your last visit?"

With a wide, toothy smile, he informed me the women were prettier than he had remembered, and the chaos of the city and countryside was muted; in fact, things were in much better shape than the last time he had visited.? “Of course,” he explained in a voice that sounded almost apologetic, “the military runs the country, so there isn’t much Democracy.”? There was that word again. I could tell he was having second thoughts as he compared the evolution of his life in Athens, to what he saw in Cairo, a city that works better today than when he visited more than a decade ago. ?

With all the talk in the West today about Ukraine, Russia, Freedom and Democracy—and the downright silly comparisons of Zelensky to leaders like Winston Churchill—the divide between the un-apologetically controlled countries like Tunisia and Egypt, and Europe and the West, is growing by the day.?

Traveling to the UAE in the 1980s, when Camels were more common than Ferraris.

These observations were keener as I compared my own experience in the West with my first foray to the Middle East, back in 1979.?

Before he died in the early 1990s, Arthur, a dear old friend in Zurich, Switzerland, and a father-figure who spurred my interests in international business, contributing greatly to my understanding of how the world works, Arthur invited me to fly through Zurich to join him for ten days of meetings in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, where he was to be meeting with members of the royal family on matters of business.?

I took him up on his offer, and we flew together from Zurich, taking the last flight to Dubai, landing over the vast oil fields strewn across the GCC by night, as he pointed out below from the airplane window that the flashes of sunlight were really oil wells burning off natural gas, enough burn-off, he explained, to run the electric grid of Europe.?

This trip proved to be an eye opener for an emerging 30-ish junior member of the world, looking to expand his knowledge of business outside the USA; Arthur was a mentor, and I miss him dearly.? He taught me enough to ensure my return to Europe permanently, an experience that continues to this day.?

By the end of this 10 day adventure—one that found me exploring what was then a desert-in-progress in the Emirates—my mind was spinning with lessons and possibilities. As we wrapped our trip the last evening in Dubai by strolling along the Corniche by our hotel, I told Arthur I was in shock at the contented nature of the people, the happiness they displayed. After all, we Westerners grow up learning about the value of Democracies, not dictatorships or monarchies.?

Clearly the Emirates was a country whose citizens had thrived under the leadership of benevolent authoritarians who ran the show.? No Democracy was on the horizon, no voting rights existed, and yet the locals were noticeably happier than my colleagues back home in Chicago.? Arthur chimed in with some wisdom and laughter about things not always as they appear…..a glimpse of reality I carry with me everywhere today.

In a moment of levity I remember telling Arthur: “I’ll take a benevolent monarchy like that on display in the Emirates, over a Democracy, any day of the week.” Arthur smiled and nodded his head in agreement. ??He realized I had learned something important to carry home.

It was the ancient Greeks--most notably Socrates—who was skeptical of the value of Democracy. ??He feared the voting public lacked wisdom and knowledge and might elect Demagogues instead of Benevolent Leaders.? He believed majority rule could be problematic, just as he was skeptical of leaders using their positions for personal gain rather than the public good.

In light of what we witness today, all around us in the West, Socrates sounds downright current, not ancient.? We may be heading to an impasse where citizens of the world ignore politics altogether and start looking instead to benevolent leaders who can provide value and solutions, patrons who care for their people.?

For many of us, such a change cannot happen soon enough.