As Gordon Brown has already discovered, authority is not something that comes with the job but is much more amorphous than that. God (Tony Blair) given or the result of a consensus in society over its values and aspirations or even just the roll of the dice, but what is authority and how is it really bestowed on our leaders?
During the English Civil War, the Commonwealth and Restoration that followed, a huge and very public debate began between two great philosophers of their time: Locke and Hobbes. Their argument was over whether authority was given or acquired. Hobbes in The Leviathan described the world without authority: a place of violence where our natural instinct was to raid others for scarce resources, and where leadership was bestowed by God to bring peace.
The trouble with his views were that they never could be impirically tested ... where would we find a world without social order in conflict for resources and then be able to test how authority came into being? Or so I thought ... until now.
In my search for the mysterious Rachel of my last blog, I came across a web based game called Travian - it gets a bad press because it is very addictive and seen to promote conflict. It is however Hobbes' world before authority writ large and provides a fascinating insight into how humanity would develop authority if the existing governmental structures of the world collapsed in the wake of some major natural disaster or self-inflicted holocaust.
I have wandered the world of Travian briefly and to my amazement found order and discipline, great literature and poetry, and many who hope to promote a peaceful co-existence within this world of conflict. The leaders in Travian are those who are prepared to be the most committed, loyal and resilient ... and that is a good model for all leaders: a lesson perhaps for us also and a reason to respect Gordon Brown more than we have to date?
The leaders in Travian are measured by their peers and by how they motivate and encourage others in times of difficulty. Some choose to do this through leading by example, others through the motivation of words, poetry and song, some through attentiveness, and yet others through incentives. But all of the leaders I found were young, at a critical stage in their education or careers, and destined in my view to be the bright leaders of the future.
It is clear to me that Hobbes got it very wrong. That humanity is better than a savage conflict even when stripped bare of the trappings of authority, and that we are blessed with many capable of great leadership and inspiration in our society.
And there, on one of the many Forums in Travian, I found a story that encapsulates for me why we must have more hope in our leaders and in our youth. I reproduce the vision of one player as she sets out to establish her alliance in the face of opposition and derision from her enemy:
"In my visions, I realise that the world of travian strips us bare of our belongings, the trappings of wealth and poverty, our station in life, our work, our beliefs and our knowledge – it leaves me, a young girl, naked and yet clothed with the cloak of anonymity, born into a world of equality, where I must survive on the strength of my character alone.
Within this world, we are all set the challenge to defeat the natars and build the wonder of the world … for me this is no longer enough! Indeed it is a quite dull ambition in this otherwise exciting world. The vision of the natars is limited … they would pit us against each other for their vision of a wonder, but I have seen much more wonderful things in this world of travian, greater than any 100 level tall tower.
I have seen kindness, goodwill, strength and courage, resilience, generosity of spirit, self sacrifice and selflessness. In each case, I have glimpsed the real character of the people who make travian wonderous. And I have also discovered that travian can mould my character in the other world – I am more temperate and less arrogant, more inclined to listen to the ideas of others … and above all, I value the peace of the other world I live in.
And last night, as I wandered through the hallowed halls of my fallen and looked into the empty eyes of the eviscerated spectres of those I have slain, I dreamt of a way to defeat the natars without bloodshed … a way to defeat them morally and spiritually. I dream of a travian where nobility and integrity is valued and rewarded above the death march of the damned and that we ignore those who favour conflict over peace."
I offer this challenge to our political leaders today:
Discover the vision of leadership that the young admire - see it in action in games such as Travian. Meet the leaders of the future. And if you can capture their hearts and minds as the heroes in Travian do for thousands of our youth every day, then you will be genuinely fit to govern with authority - not God-given, but earned and respected.
Michael di A
08 Oct 2008
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