Last Saturday, I read a book called A First-Rate Madness, about the mental illnesses of some major world leaders, including Lincoln, Churchill, Hitler, and Kennedy. It was a revelation, not least because the author, a psychiatrist, suggests that, in times of trouble, such as war and political threat, the last thing a nation needs is a sane, balanced leader. And, most convincingly, the author produces solid scientific evidence of the various, sometimes numerous, mental perturbations besetting these great men, and how these illnesses actually contributed to their brilliance as leaders. For example, Churchill suffered recurrent depressive episodes, and it was this state of mind that gave him a far more realistic understanding of Hitler’s plans than Chamberlain’s compromising and, ultimately, quite illusional, approach. Against the Nazi threat, dear Neville’s decency towards Mr Hitler was, alas, more than dangerous. Further on in the book, the writer cites Dr David Owen’s theory of the Hubris syndrome, something Tony Blair suffered from. Hubris, you will remember, may be defined as “presumption, insolence, pride, excessive self-confidence”. It’s often the characteristic of tragic heroes. For David Owen, however, it typifies politicians (usually less than heroic) and parties who have been in power too long; they become conceited and arrogant, even autocratic, sure of the rightness of their every move and every decision. They become unassailable, a political permanent fixture – or so they presume. Of course, eventually, hubris leads to a cataclysmic downfall. All of this reminded me of glaring parallels with the present situation in South Africa. Grandiosity, a manifestation of a massively inflated ego, seems to be one symptom of hubris. So we need look no further than the vast edifice being built by Julius Malema and the even grander palace for Jacob Zuma to appreciate the pervasiveness of our current hubris. The essential problem remains one of priorities: it is the discharge of responsibility in a lawful and honourable manner that brings entitlement as a consequence. Locally, entitlement comes first, without any sort of responsibility or accountability. In Africa, the cataclysm that hubris inevitably brings is simply called democracy or freedom.
