FLYING HIGH OF AGE AND EGO Whenever I climb I am followed by a dog called Ego. - Friedrich Nietzsche In Shakespearian irony while on a plane one ought to be guided by the Greek mythology story of Icarus. The legend goes that Icarus and his father attempt to escape from an island by means of wings that his father constructed from feathers and wax. Icarus father warns to control his new power of flight asking him not to fly too high because the suns heat would melt his wings. Icarus ignored this advice flew high and the melting wax caused him to fall into the sea where he drowned. Such is the danger of flying high. There are those who have climbed to the top of their respective professional ladders by years of consistent determination, discipline and hard work. True prodigies are rare but that does not prevent those that have a good start to believe that they are special. In the early rungs the requisite confidence that boosts a career climber can quickly turn into an inflated ego once one is surrounded by those who only benefit from indiscriminate praise that normally results in a big balloon head. However it is often the case that those whose successes have been earned through years of dedication with the accompanying respect of the public and their peers, do not fall victim to the dangerous pitbull that is the ego. In the legal profession those tireless trial attorneys who have been through the weathered storms of successes and failures spanning hundreds of trials and scores of practice normally earn the right to be excusably vain, acceptably egotistical and can command well deserved respect. On the contrary there are those young professionals who through fortunate circumstances combined no doubt with their skill have attained levels of power more overwhelming than their youth can handle. The seduction that is the wand of power is more mesmerizing on young men who have not even lived half their lives and who no less than two decades ago were in high school. I remember I once heard that a high school teacher of mine who was neither well liked nor well respected said that he loved the feeling when he walked into the class room and all the students had to stand. No doubt his love of this fleeting power had its genesis in the insecurities fueled resulting from the realization that some of these same students in the not so far future would be in such a station of society that his authority over them would be a distant memory. It is clear that those new to power oft are quicker to feel disrespected and flex their muscles. I have been in court and witnessed a young Judge become livid and lash out when a cell phone unforgivingly rang in the Judges courtroom as if sounding a personal disrespect of authority. On the other side I witnessed the maturity and patience of The Honourable Chief Justice Mr. Ivor Archie when a phone rang off and disturbed a five Judge panel in the Court of Appeal simply pause, give no more than a two second stern stare at the offender and said confidently but firmly “You need to go outside with that” although it was clear he was extremely peeved. While these differences in reaction may be a reflection of temperament, they also indicate the maturity developed from an age that can handle and is comfortable with the “privileges” of authority. . As Sting said in the classic Police song ‘Englishman in New York’ – “If manners maketh man as someone said, Then hes the hero of the day. It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile.” It is therefore not so alarming that young men can sometime become so drunk with authority that they refuse to take a Breathalyzer test or are so high up on power that they refuse instructions on a plane. As the noble gentleman Abraham Lincoln said “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a mans character, give him power.” No doubt in everyday life there will be a clash of authority and a requirement of compromise of someone. In Trinidad these clashes boil down to the short unspoken (we pray unspoken) conversations of the humbling rhetorical question of “Who you feel you is?” responded with the menacing egoistical response of “You ent know who I is?” and then a flexing of respectful muscles. Unless someone pops down these confrontations often end with causalities. The consequences of giving young men power is that they often do not possess the sufficient age to withstand its allure and always wish to have their power recognized. That danger is lessened when power is earned by an individual by virtue of their character and not by virtue of a position bestowed on them. Most fittingly in the words of Tywin Lannister “Any man who must say, “I AM THE KING” is no true king” We young men therefore have the unenviable task of learning to control our inevitable large egos and we “must display a sound character of public integrity, fairness, humility, compassion and human dignity” Thrust into the public eye that watches our every move “There must be no compromise on integrity, no allowance for arrogance, no room for violation of mutual respect; there will be no sacrifice of our values.” Sadly it appears that this young man has breathed old death into Dr. Eric Williams’ prophecy to the youth that you carry the future of Trinidad and Tobago in your school bags.” However this young man’s future now lays neatly packed in a suitcase he refused to remove and like the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, we most likely will not see him again.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 18:40:06 +0000