Recently, a nine year boy floored the most powerful person of the world, the President of United States, Barack Obama when he asked him, “Why do people hate you?” The president was caught off guard and did not know what to say. He, however, replied “First of all, I did get elected, so not everybody hates me now. I got a whole lot of vote.” He admitted: “If you’re watching TV lately, it seems like everybody’s just getting mad all the time.” But he said: “You’ve got to take it with a grain of salt. Some of it is just what’s called politics.”

The incident reminds us an old story “The Emperor’s New Cloth” by Hans Christian Andersen (1805-75) which is summarized as following.

Many years ago there lived an Emperor who was so exceedingly fond of fine new clothes that he spent vast sums of money on dress. One fine day two swindlers, calling themselves weavers, arrived. They declared that they could make the most magnificent cloth that one could imagine; cloth of most beautiful colours and elaborate patterns. Not only was the material so beautiful, BUT THE CLOTHES MADE FROM IT HAD THE SPECIAL POWER OF BEING INVISIBLE TO EVERYONE WHO WAS STUPID OR NOT FIT FOR HIS POST.

"What a splendid idea," thought the Emperor. "What useful clothes to have. If I had such a suit of clothes I could know at once which of my people is stupid or unfit for his post."

So the Emperor gave the swindlers large sums of money and the two weavers set up their looms in the palace. They demanded the finest thread of the best silk and the finest gold and they pretended to work at their looms. But they put nothing on the looms. The frames stood empty. The silk and gold thread they stuffed into their bags. So they sat pretending to weave, and continued to work at the empty loom till late into the night. 

The king sent one minister after another to confirm making of the new cloth and all conformed that the cloths were splendid as they did not want the king to know that they were stupid or not fit for the post. . When the king himself could not see the cloth, he thought "This is terrible. Am I so stupid? Am I not fit to be Emperor? This is disastrous," So he too said, "Oh, the cloth is perfectly wonderful. It has a splendid pattern and such charming colors."

Finally, the Emperor laid aside his clothes and the swindlers pretended to help him piece by piece into the new ones they were supposed to have made. The courtiers who were to carry the train felt about on the ground pretending to lift it: they walked on solemnly pretending to be carrying it. Nothing would have persuaded them to admit they could not see the clothes, for fear they would be thought stupid or unfit for their posts.

And so the Emperor set off under the high canopy, at the head of the great procession. It was a great success. All the people standing by and at the windows cheered and cried, "Oh, how splendid are the Emperors new clothes. What a magnificent train! How well the clothes fit!" No one dared to admit that he couldnt see anything, for who would want it to be known that he was either stupid or unfit for his post? 

But among the crowds a little child suddenly gasped out,

"But he hasnt got anything on."

And the people began to whisper to one another what the child had said.

"He hasnt got anything on." "Theres a little child saying he hasnt got anything on." Till everyone was saying, "But he hasnt got anything on." The Emperor himself had the uncomfortable feeling that what they were whispering was only too true. "But I will have to go through with the procession," he said to himself.

So he drew himself up and walked boldly on holding his head higher than before, and the courtiers held on to the train that wasnt there at all.

In this case also a boy alone could have the courage to ask what everyone already knew but dared not to ask.

Not only Barack Obama, but any American President has to be the most hated person of the world being the most powerful person, not because they are bad people but because all powerful people have to suffer the curse of hatred.

The Paradigm of Power

It is said that power is biggest intoxicants that elevates the esteem of the person to the highest level. All powerful people have the illusion of being God who can do anything to anybody. The more is the power, the higher is the intoxication. The people in power thinks that they are the smartest and cleverest without knowing that they had actually been duped and only intoxicated by the illusion of wealth and power so that they can kill their soul for the sake of their masters who have granted or elected them to power and  given them the authority to rule. They have actually underestimated the ploy of the people who have used them rather then them using the people.

In reality the powerful man is not a master but the greatest and meanest servant who had been selected by millions of people to serve them. His burden is far more than the burden of an ordinary domestic servant who has to serve only a person or at the most a family. The people cleverly elect a person as their representative called President or Prime Minister and expect him to solve their entire problem. They think that their responsibility is over just by selecting a faithful servant whose duty is to solve their entire problem without questioning their way of thinking and doing.

While the elected people think that they have become masters of their people, in reality the electing people expect them to be their servants. They curse and abuse these servants whenever the servant fails to deliver.

The elected servant is supposed to fight against all their enemies without causing any harm to them. For example, when 9/11 happened to USA, there was an overwhelming opinion in USA that the terrorists must be fought and defected. George Bush only followed the wish of the people when he launched attack on Afghanistan and Iraq. He made the entire Muslim world his enemy without even pleasing even his own countrymen. After few years of war, Americans were so unhappy with him that his popularity was reduced to the lowest level and his party’s representative was defeated in the Presidential election. Mr. George Bush, a devout Christian, has to now suffer the burden of the murder of thousands of people not for his own sake but for the sake of the same American people who have already discarded him.

Barack Obama was elected as President in the time of economic meltdown and amid the negative perception of USA as a bully. He ideally suited the change of image of the country as he was the first African American President who also had Muslim parentage and upbringing. He was elected as President with huge margin. However, his ratings have already declined to less than 45% despite getting Noble Peace Prize recently.

The Curse of Power

Obama is not alone in suffering hatred from the people whom he has chosen to serve. All powerful people have met with the same fate in the history of mankind. In the recent past, Hitler, the most powerful person of the twentieth century, is undoubtedly the most hated person of the world including the German People for whom he sacrificed his life. Stalin, Mussolini too suffered the hatred of their own people for whom they fought all their life.

Nothing in this world creates as much hatred as the acquisition of power which allows a man to rule over others. Power kills the soul as the man as he loses his capacity to feel the soul of the powerless people by treating them like a lifeless matter. It is only by shunning power and wealth; a man can rise spiritually as revealed by Jesus Christ in his sermon (The Beatitudes)

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The people in power have, therefore no hope from God as they hare neither poor, nor do they mourn for the weak, nor can they afford to be meek. They can not follow the path of righteousness as they have to obey the will of their masters(the people who elected them)  which are most often wrong and they can not afford to have any mercy to their enemies whom their masters wants to be decimated. They can not retain purity in their heart as they have to always ploy new strategies and plans for their survival and fulfill the demands of their masters. They can never be seen as peacemakers as the basic philosophy of the ruler is “divide and rule”.

When some people who have acquired power even indirectly, tries to follow the path of righteousness, they are resented by the people whose power is threatened by their act of righteousness. These people are killed and prosecuted like Jesus or Gandhi.

Power Produces Hatred

The inevitable truth is that power always produces hatred. There had been no powerful person on the history of mankind who had been loved either during his lifetime of after his death. Therefore, only if one is prepared to suffer a great deal of hatred from millions of known and unknown people, one should take up power in his hand. All powerful people must know the answer when someone asks, “Why people hate you?” The answer has been always same “Because I am powerful”