Incompetence of Nationalists: From Trump to Modi to Oli
Donald Trump, the former president of the United States, started his political campaign in 2014 with the marketing slogan “Make America Great Again.” The slogan epitomizes somewhat regressive form of capitalism (where marketing tactics is used to sell anything from Viagra to French Fries to Weight Loss pill to exotic Marijuana), but as a grassroots voter mobilization strategy, it was a masterstroke. From Apple’s “Think Different” to Nike’s “Just Do It” to Walmart’s “Everyday Low Price”, Trump’s “Make America Great Again” will go in the annals of marketing as a “value proposition” that changed the arc of American politics; a feat which Apple’s founder Steve Jobs-another marketing genius-would have been proud of.
The operative word in the slogan is “Again” which implies America was great once and now it is not because of…… (fill in the blank which the republican party’s base did in an exuberant manner). But the reality of governance caught up with Trump during the pandemic when America was running in chaos with thousands of deaths in a day. At one point, Trump was encouraging people to inject bleach if they have Covid-19. Any shrewd business strategist will agree that the marketing and operation are different aspects of business which I am sure Trump learned in the “Wharton School” which he is so proud of.
Similarly, the charismatic prime minister of India, Narendra Damodardas Modi, came to “rule” India by fanning religious and sectarian grievances supported by the complete failure of the Indian Congress to address the plight of the lower middle class citizens which forms the majority of the electorate. The grotesque nationalistic and religious pandering of Modi can be witnessed when he and his party were encouraging the devotees to participate in the nation’s largest religious festival-Kumbh mela-amidst the second wave of the pandemic. Furthermore, the leader of the “new” India was seen participating in a mass political rallies in some regional elections in hopes of giving his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a majority in multitude of states: another superspreader event.
The result of these negligence and complete lack of planning from the central as well as local levels to curtail the virus are for the world to see. When a patient is dying on the hospital floor begging for oxygen, it does not portray the “New India” which Mr. Modi touts about.
Finally, we have K.P. Sharma Oli, the petulant prime minister of Nepal who was given the two-third mandate by the public to govern for 5 years. He was about to be relegated by his own party by labelling him as incompetent and autocratic. Foreseeing this, he unconstitutionally dissolved the parliament in the middle of the pandemic and ran around the country denigrating his party’s own leaders. Fortunately, the supreme court deemed the oli’s move to be unconstitutional and restored the parliament. Now he is focused on conducting the next election-if the opposition parties cannot form a new government-because the dog and pony show i.e. the vote of confidence for him in the parliament failed. Talk about squandering the mandate.
So what are the similarities between these leaders who lead the nations that are purportedly the “beacon of democracy”, the “largest democracy” and in case of Nepal the “new democracy”. The answer lies on the fact that all of these leaders are more concern about self-aggrandizement than governance. While trump was asking citizens to inject bleach, Mr. Oli was touting the alleged benefit of spices against the virus. And of course, BJP leaders were propagating how devotees who participate in the kumbh mela will be protected from the heaven. Bleach, turmeric and heavenly interference against SARS‑CoV‑2.
Consider this response with the response from the “regressive” communist state: China. The country as of now seems to have the virus under control and is fueling the global economic growth. What does a communist state have that the progressive democratic countries lack? One of the shrewd political commentator’s writes, “Precisely because Chinese leaders are not elected, they wake up every day scared of their own people, and that makes them very focused on performance.” The one thing that we are missing in a serious manner from democracy is accountability. The flag bearers of democracy like to say, “freedom comes with a price”. Agreed. But the price tag does not have to be “senseless” deaths.
