EDITORIAL: The politics of long knives
In Germany, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler ordered a bloody purge of his own political party, assassinating hundreds of members he believed had the potential to become his rivals in the future.
To draw comparisons between Swapo and the Nazi Party would be excessive, but there are lessons that can be learnt on how not to deal with perceived intra-party rivals.
In his prime, Hitler was an all-powerful and all-conquering leader who, in his naivety and bloated sense of self-importance, did not think he would ever lose grip of that power.
Yet in politics - not least Swapo’s - dominance is not cast in a stone. You lose it and you gain it. Those you harassed because they were at the bottom of the spectrum become your bosses as wheels continue to turn – and will often pay you in your own coin by reciprocating revenge.
Hitler too, even after his near-global conquest, lost every grain of his power and ended up committing suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head.
This vindicates Michel de Montaigne who famously said: “On the highest throne in the world, we still sit only on our own bottom”.
Margot Barber complemented him by stating: “One day you're cock of the walk, the next a feather duster”.
Contextually, both Barber and De Montaigne remind us of how imperative it is to lead with humility, kindness and restraint.
To draw comparisons between Swapo and the Nazi Party would be excessive, but there are lessons that can be learnt on how not to deal with perceived intra-party rivals.
In his prime, Hitler was an all-powerful and all-conquering leader who, in his naivety and bloated sense of self-importance, did not think he would ever lose grip of that power.
Yet in politics - not least Swapo’s - dominance is not cast in a stone. You lose it and you gain it. Those you harassed because they were at the bottom of the spectrum become your bosses as wheels continue to turn – and will often pay you in your own coin by reciprocating revenge.
Hitler too, even after his near-global conquest, lost every grain of his power and ended up committing suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head.
This vindicates Michel de Montaigne who famously said: “On the highest throne in the world, we still sit only on our own bottom”.
Margot Barber complemented him by stating: “One day you're cock of the walk, the next a feather duster”.
Contextually, both Barber and De Montaigne remind us of how imperative it is to lead with humility, kindness and restraint.
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