Power and Responsibility

"The U.S. has given the world an example of a democracy in which everyone, including the most powerful, is subject to legal restraint. Its current moment of world supremacy gives it a priceless opportunity to entrench the same principles at the global level. "

In his farewell address, delivered in my home state of Missouri, Kofi Annan reminded Americans that power and responsibility cannot be separated. In a democratic society, those who have authority cannot forget their obligations to those who placed them in positions of authority. Or, as this nation's founders wrote:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. . ."

It's a theory as old as the Renaissance--older than that actually because it goes back to Prophet Muhammad (S). Leaders are accountable to the people they rule. Those who forget this are often doomed to failure and a rapid fall from power. If you don't believe me, read your history. Pick an empire--Babylonian, Persian, Roman. American, History students enjoy learning about the inept and the corrupt. It's not much fun, though, when you're living through it.

Annan also quoted from Harry Truman, which I think detracted from his speech. My fellow Missourian remains the only human being to order the dropping of a nuclear weapon upon a civilian population. Twice. That fact tarnishes any appreciation I have for the man's plain speaking. But the blame has to rest somewhere. Even Harry Truman knew that much.