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Sunday, 21 August 2016

The Queen's Speech

Speaking from a position of power is inherently an effective way to propagate an ideal or perpetuate a belief. There is a general tendency to take as truth the pronouncements of an authority figure. Such ascendancy can either be born of talent by means of persuasion or by the position one holds in society. A queen, by virtue of her position, is able to make pronouncements of an all-encompassing magnitude. Her statements can either inspire creation or instigate destruction. Hence, she is trained in caution when it comes to her speech.

With the advent of the court of public opinion practiced in social media, controversial statements take the limelight and are scrutinized by netizens who feel compelled to air out their take on a specific matter whether it is an informed one or not. Opinions can turn into truths by virtue of how viral it becomes which in effect turns regular people into "experts" just by the number of shares and likes that they have garnered in their social media platform. I will not go into further discussion about this phenomena, however, it is essential to what we are about to discuss.

Yesterday I posited that there are intentions that set out good but drastically turn evil as soon as they are executed and when all pretensions have been stripped away. In the same way that intentions can be deceiving, so is speech. Throughout history we have witnessed proclamations that at first sounded appealing and valid but then turned out to be the exact opposite, some have even led to major world events like the holocaust and the genocides in Armenia (1915), Cambodia (1975), Darfur (2003) and many others. All because there are dissenting opinions to the prevailing social structure as defined by those who are in power.

A queen, or anyone in a position of power for that matter, plays an important role in the construction or destruction of the society the that they belong to. Hence, it is incumbent upon those in power to preserve the dignity of their citizens and promote the betterment of the people not by the politics of division, rather, that of inclusion. Every individual is a stakeholder and shareholder of the society and thus is equally and fundamentally a rightful beneficiary of the social structure. As such, the social structure must cater to the unique and varying degrees of values that its members have by fostering an atmosphere of oneness amid diversity. To those who witness injustice, they are expected to rise up in defense of those who are persecuted. Sadly, that is what doesn't always happen, rather, people are sent into a bullying frenzy when given an opportunity to criticize and air out their opinion in public without regard for due diligence or tact. Just because you have an opinion, doesn't mean you have to share it especially when it is meant to ostracize or attack a particular person or group of people. These days, the realm of public opinion is muddled with the thoughts of internet trolls who have way too much free time of which none is spent to educate oneself before commenting on a specific subject. It's a world of free for all; freedom of speech right?

While action speaks louder than words, it's the latter that has the potency to incite people into action. History has given us the likes of Hitler, who by his own belief, has led an entire nation to act against a group of people whom he has deemed unworthy of this world and must therefore be eradicated. He chose to persecute Jews on the basis of his arbitrary and ambiguous belief that they are beneath him being an "Aryan" and them (Jews) being Untermensch. It is this same abstract aversion to people who are different from you that is currently at the forefront of every conflict in the world. It's always a case of us versus them or everyone else who aren't like us. What is it about diversity that rouse abstract hate in the hearts of people. Is it a necessary ingredient in the progression of civilization? Survival of the fittest perhaps as posited by Darwin?

ff we are to believe that human nature is violent then no civilization will survive. A queen then must embody not just the will of those who share her beliefs, rather, her reign is to be characterized by how she is able to find unity amid diversity - the true test of the extent of her power.



xoxo



QB

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