“It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience.”
-Julius Caesar
With a growing population, and a shrinking world it is becoming impossible to gratify every person or group of people. One opinion is in natural contrast with another: the nature of faith flies in the face of fact, those who consume meat are in contrast to those who cannot keep their conscience clean with a carnivorous attitude. Put simply, those who do are automatically at odds with those who do not, and vice versa. Since humans discovered this complication they have split into two factions, those who frivolously appeal to the majority, and those loyal enough to stick to their convictions. A prime example of this can be found in the savage realm of politics. This theater of war comes down to a glorified popularity contest that decides the immediate fate of a nation. In its nature it is simple, there are multiple groups of people, each of whom has their own vision for the future and the group that garners the most acolytes emerges victorious, until another group surpasses them and takes the throne. It is a war won by conviction
It is this loyalty to one’s conviction that solidifies a belief enough for it to strengthen and mature. Although the nature of belief is subjective, people follow those who believe wholeheartedly in their convictions and are willing to stick by them until they see them become a reality. One cannot sway a nation with half measures. Anyone who has gone down in history as a statesman/woman has displayed this exact characteristic; they may not be the best moral examples, nor the type of people that I want leading my country, but people like Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Thatcher and Julius Caesar lived for their country and truly had their states best interests in mind. This honest loyalty, coupled with an unforgiving drive to see their plans turned into reality is what makes one strong enough to beat their opponents.
Recently, the United Kingdom held a vote to decide the fate of the nation for the next five years. Going into the may 7th (my birthday) vote the atmosphere was predictably tense, with almost everyone becoming a self-proclaimed expert on the U.K’s political status and each party passively aggressively trying to put down their competition. In the previous coalition government the leading party (conservatives) held 302 seats, the runners up (labour) held 256 seats, these two parties have views that are in stark contrast to one another and have been locked in a battle for supremacy without much serious competition from other parties. The closest runners up were the Liberal-Democrats (56 seats) and the Scottish National Party (6 seats). That was the scene going into the elections, no one knew who was going to come out victorious, experts came out with new predictions every other day, and the leaders of each party were belligerently pleading their case to the sliver of the population that had not yet made up their mind, or simply did not care. On may 7th, as the saints came marching in, millions of eyes turned religiously to the electoral results. The nation held it’s breath as county after county declared their allegiance. Once the dust settled, the shift was huge. Conservatives now hold 330 seats, with labour only at 232 and the runners up seemed to have swapped spots with the Scottish National Party taking 56 seats and the Liberal-Democrats are left with 8 seats.
This election resulted in Conservatives holding a majority house. Cameron is obviously more pleased with this result than his Labour counterpart, however the subsequent actions of Ed Miliband were nothing short of disgraceful. Barely hours after the final vote was counted, he gave a short, two-minute press conference informing the world of his resignation. As he did not resign to fill another post; he simply left the party that he himself had carried on his shoulders for the past few years, leaving the leadership up to whoever was available, not even holding an internal election. Politics is not a selfish game, the point of a democracy is to better the situation of the people, not that of ones self. No great in any arena became immortal by fleeing from the scene of their loss, they challenged their betters and won through a fundamental belief in their views. So when I see this recreant who make a hasty retreat from the political world, I am glad victory was not his, for if that is how strong his volition in what he stood for, I can only ask how effective he would be as a statesman. This election does not mean that conservative rule is now irreparable, in five years (or less) there will be another election, with the same rules, and the strongest party will again be elected. One cannot win the hearts of the people by fleeing the scene and forcing their own team members to clean up their mess. True power comes from inner determination and loyalty to a cause. In this way statesmen/woman are forged, they cannot gain mastery over anything if they cannot master their own loyalty towards the identity which they represent.
-Julius Caesar
With a growing population, and a shrinking world it is becoming impossible to gratify every person or group of people. One opinion is in natural contrast with another: the nature of faith flies in the face of fact, those who consume meat are in contrast to those who cannot keep their conscience clean with a carnivorous attitude. Put simply, those who do are automatically at odds with those who do not, and vice versa. Since humans discovered this complication they have split into two factions, those who frivolously appeal to the majority, and those loyal enough to stick to their convictions. A prime example of this can be found in the savage realm of politics. This theater of war comes down to a glorified popularity contest that decides the immediate fate of a nation. In its nature it is simple, there are multiple groups of people, each of whom has their own vision for the future and the group that garners the most acolytes emerges victorious, until another group surpasses them and takes the throne. It is a war won by conviction
It is this loyalty to one’s conviction that solidifies a belief enough for it to strengthen and mature. Although the nature of belief is subjective, people follow those who believe wholeheartedly in their convictions and are willing to stick by them until they see them become a reality. One cannot sway a nation with half measures. Anyone who has gone down in history as a statesman/woman has displayed this exact characteristic; they may not be the best moral examples, nor the type of people that I want leading my country, but people like Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Thatcher and Julius Caesar lived for their country and truly had their states best interests in mind. This honest loyalty, coupled with an unforgiving drive to see their plans turned into reality is what makes one strong enough to beat their opponents.
Recently, the United Kingdom held a vote to decide the fate of the nation for the next five years. Going into the may 7th (my birthday) vote the atmosphere was predictably tense, with almost everyone becoming a self-proclaimed expert on the U.K’s political status and each party passively aggressively trying to put down their competition. In the previous coalition government the leading party (conservatives) held 302 seats, the runners up (labour) held 256 seats, these two parties have views that are in stark contrast to one another and have been locked in a battle for supremacy without much serious competition from other parties. The closest runners up were the Liberal-Democrats (56 seats) and the Scottish National Party (6 seats). That was the scene going into the elections, no one knew who was going to come out victorious, experts came out with new predictions every other day, and the leaders of each party were belligerently pleading their case to the sliver of the population that had not yet made up their mind, or simply did not care. On may 7th, as the saints came marching in, millions of eyes turned religiously to the electoral results. The nation held it’s breath as county after county declared their allegiance. Once the dust settled, the shift was huge. Conservatives now hold 330 seats, with labour only at 232 and the runners up seemed to have swapped spots with the Scottish National Party taking 56 seats and the Liberal-Democrats are left with 8 seats.
This election resulted in Conservatives holding a majority house. Cameron is obviously more pleased with this result than his Labour counterpart, however the subsequent actions of Ed Miliband were nothing short of disgraceful. Barely hours after the final vote was counted, he gave a short, two-minute press conference informing the world of his resignation. As he did not resign to fill another post; he simply left the party that he himself had carried on his shoulders for the past few years, leaving the leadership up to whoever was available, not even holding an internal election. Politics is not a selfish game, the point of a democracy is to better the situation of the people, not that of ones self. No great in any arena became immortal by fleeing from the scene of their loss, they challenged their betters and won through a fundamental belief in their views. So when I see this recreant who make a hasty retreat from the political world, I am glad victory was not his, for if that is how strong his volition in what he stood for, I can only ask how effective he would be as a statesman. This election does not mean that conservative rule is now irreparable, in five years (or less) there will be another election, with the same rules, and the strongest party will again be elected. One cannot win the hearts of the people by fleeing the scene and forcing their own team members to clean up their mess. True power comes from inner determination and loyalty to a cause. In this way statesmen/woman are forged, they cannot gain mastery over anything if they cannot master their own loyalty towards the identity which they represent.