Russell Brand, Pope Francis, Elizabeth Warren
despite their human flaws, get my vote as the top 3 global leaders today
They all speak it like it is before millions of listeners. The Pope just said “Christian Ideology” is “ a serious illness”. No joke.
We live in desperate times, when ruthless men (yeah, men) would rather render Earth uninhabitable than surrender one iota of their power. People cry out in agony as world leaders fail to act, to achieve any accords, or make meaningful progress, on addressing carbon emissions and mitigating climate change, or on any issue of significance to the sustainability of life on Earth.
How can we have a voice in shaping our destiny? Who is steering this ship of state? Fire up the Bat Signal, we need a superhero.
In previous times of chaos and despair leaders appeared, and we got Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi, Martin Luther King J.r., and Nelson Mandela. Where are our visionary leaders today? Who is rising to the challenge of our times and speaking truth to power?
Elizabeth Warren is kinda inspiring, and seems to be chipping away at the establishment power of Wall Street. Supposedly she played a large role in causing Obama to step away from Larry Summers as Fed Chairman, and instead appoint Janet Yellen — who said “the huge rise in income inequality” is “a very serious problem”. No joke. While pointing at a systemic problem, Yellen falls short of really speaking the truth to power. Not so Warren, who walks the corridors of power to wage battle.
What is inspiring about her style of leadership is how she picks her fights, manages her message, and outspokenly aims her sites on the biggest institution of power in the US empire: Wall Street Bankers, their lobbyists and henchmen in Congress, and all who aid and abet them. Her life embodies her struggle, and her approach is having an impact — she might be the right woman for our times.
The Pope is another style of leadership, operating from a supreme position of authority in one of the most centralized operations of all time. Still, some Popes have accidently been fed poison or otherwise offed, as is wont to happen to those authority figures who fail to do what their constituents authorized them to do. Yitzhak Rabin is an example of an authority figure pushing too hard and too fast toward peace, and as a result was assissanted by extremist reactionary elements among his people. So what the Pope is doing is daring, for sure.
He is speaking mainly and purposefully to the millions of Catholics who listen and value his role the most, i.e., his constituents, and he is preaching a gospel of love and action toward the poor. This is a radical and brave thing for an authority figure to do, and helpful for the rest of us because he is explicitly saying that Christian activists should drop the fixation with birth control, gay marriage, and shift focus to service and love. May his message prevail.
But why is one of my top leaders-for-our-times a comedian? Because again millions of young people around the World are listening to him, and he is impacting our culture, fueling our outrage, and making it sexy to talk about socialism again. It says something about our narcissistic culture of celebrity worship that you have to be on the Screen to have any rhetorical impact.
In the category of fast talkers playing the fool, I think Russell Brand is possibly the most interesting. Unlike Colbert, he is playing himself, not a sarcastic version of himself; nor is he a pretense character-act like Ali G. In fact, being real, vulnerable and present is his shtick, and he’s really good at it and fast on his toes.
Some folks think he should be shunned for being sexist — by which they seem to mean he arrogantly indicates lustful desires toward colleagues on TV. Which, definitely sexist in the way 97% of men are but don’t publicly voice, is also consistent with him constantly, openly, and narcissistically, sharing his rapid fire brain. And unlike John Stewart, he is not only cute and really hug-able, but also edgy and “cool.” Coolness being the most important factor influencing how millions of young people want to be, who they want to emulate, and what thoughts are fashionable and fun to share.
Comedians are often thought to be foolish jesters, court clowns, making light. Brand plays off this innocent charm, even as he is an extremely intelligent social commentator, whose speedy wit far exceeds that of his close-minded prey. It is impressive, and entertaining, to watch him run circles around his guests.
The archetype of the fool — illustrated in the Tarot deck as a young man with his knapsack, dog nipping at his heel, blithely walking off a cliff — can be interpreted as someone who is unwilling to avoid risks. The person who came into this world with unbridled enthusiasm, bringing all they got to this one lifetime, jumping in head first. The Fool holds nothing back.This type of Foolish leadership is what our time demands: decidedly uncool in the sincerity of their cause.
All three, the Pope, the Senator, and the Comedian reach a global audience with their own authentic life story, one which embodies their message.
Irony is so last century. The ironic stance is not worshiped by youth culture as it was in my generation. Rather people thrill to the call of waking up, together, united and acting for change. This is the best antidote to the despair, numbness, and shock a young person must experience as they educate themselves about their world. Irony no longer protects you.
The naive plea of the fool, to believe in yourself and love the world, is the voice that we are now hearing because when millions of people long for the same message, the messengers appear.
