The New Nation - Internet Edition

Tom Plate

THE practice of sincere humility, especially by the high-flying, is not particularly in fashion these days. But it is precisely during economic and political tension that more frequent and fervent expressions of it might serve to smooth over some tough spots.

After all, being truly humble can serve to downsize egos that otherwise would upsize minor molehills into major mountain ranges; egomania may be the cause of as much crisis escalation as the root cause itself. "Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues; hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance."

That insight came from St. Augustine more than 1,500 years ago, but the thought applies with a vice-like grip today to men and women who act as if they are inherently more important than the rest of us earthlings - or who feel entitled to living their life out as royalty when so many people all over the world are fortunate to have even a simple un-leaky roof over their serf-like heads. Prime example number one: I give you Pervez Musharraf.

As an announced Muslim, Pakistan's president isn't about to sink his teeth very deeply into his St. Augustine. But he can look to the Quran for guidance on humility. And I quote one thought from Holy Quran: (25:64): "The true servants of the Gracious God are those who walk on the earth humbly and when the ignorant address them, they avoid them gracefully by saying, 'Peace'!"

But this career military man seized the presidency in 1999 and doesn't want to give it back, no matter what anyone says, including the Pakistani people. Two main reasons lie behind this arrogance. One is that Musharraf believes his wisdom as president is essential to Pakistan's future stability. The second reason is that US President George W. Bush believes that Musharraf is essential in terms of American interests.

This latter assessment ought to be enough to shake everyone's belief, even Musharraf's! In fact, fewer and fewer Pakistanis agree with Bush; they want their president to go. This puts them greatly at odds with the US, which once again publicly prefers a strong-man in a foreign country to what the people there prefer. But Washington always knows what's best for others, right?

Example number two: I give you Lee Myung-bak. As a Presbyterian, the new president of South Korea can dip into the New Testament for all anyone could want on the humility issue. He urgently needs to review such teachings: Before taking office earlier this year, he was known in the private sector as "the bulldozer" for his 'my-way-or-highway' style. Those who worked with him report that this tractor-moniker accurately captures Lee's bull-headed traits. But what works in the industrialised private sector - especially in the rough-and-tumble environment of a gigantic Korean chaebol - doesn't always fly in the public arena. Just months after his landslide victory, Mr. Bulldozer has hit the brick wall of negative public opinion. South Koreans want policies explained, not rammed; their beef is that they want a humbler leader, not the second coming of an old-style dictator common to Korea prior to 1987. Mr. President, read your Christian Bible - and study your Korean history.

Now here's prime example number three: Americans who are foreclosing on multi-million-dollar homes because they can't meet the mortgage payments anymore. This is even happening to a famous former late-night American TV talk show host, who has been in the news with much moaning and groaning about his fate.

He's not the only American who looks to be in over his head and is about to lose his home, of course. The root of all evil, as they say, is money, and now some Americans who once appeared to have plenty of it before seem to have not enough of it. § But the culprit here is not so much a low economy as a lack of humility. Many Americans forgot all about humility for years as they enjoyed a life of leveraged luxury. Now those Americans are finding themselves in trouble.

Like a Musharraf who equates himself with Pakistan itself, or a Lee who thinks he can push Korean voters around like intimidated corporate underlings, the American consumer has been committing the sin of happy hubris that now looks to be turning, for many of them at least, into unhappy humiliation. The antidote to humiliation is this: self-imposed humility. And it is a life-long virtue that can work for all of us, not just for heads of state.

(Prof. Tom Plate is a veteran American journalist and founder of the Asia Pacific Media Network)