Where's the king?

I was at a journalistic conference recently, and part of the programme included breakout roundtable discussions, where about 15-20 people gather to share thoughts on the issues of the day.

One common sentiment was that after decades of what has been a pretty much unipolar arrangement of world power under Pax Americana, things seem to be creeping towards a more multipolar global order. One catalyst is the perceived deterioration in the reliability of America as global military policeman, free trade protagonist, and financial safe haven. 

The question was asked, however, that if there is indeed such a marked deterioration, are businesses materially shifting away from America? And the general consensus was that, while some shifts are happening, there's much less and much slower shifting away than one might expect, given the loud and widespread handwringing over America's current state of affairs.

Why this dissonance? 

One might argue that businessmen and entrepreneurs are typically optimists (otherwise they wouldn't have gone into business!), and that they somehow believe that things will all work out in the end. This too shall pass!

Another possibility is that no one likes change, and it's really hard to overcome the inertia of operating under American norms and all its attendant institutions for all these past decades. 

Possessing the world's reserve currency, operating the world's largest economy, being the centre of technological innovation, inspiring global culture... these are things that are hard to walk away from. Look at Japan - even after decades of stagnation and demographic greying, it's still the 4th/5th largest economy in the world. 

And it's not just inertia. Because apart from inertia, people like stability. Imagine a seesaw in a playground. Which is more stable - when the seesaw is decisively overweighted on one end, or when it is carefully set at equilibrium in the middle? 

The former of course. 

We might or might not like who's in charge. But when a big kid occupies the seesaw on one side, everybody knows where they stand. We know how to navigate the playground. We don't have to worry about being brained by the seesaw even if we walk adventurously under the suspended portion. 

In the same way, many businesses would prefer a unipolar world in which they conduct their global activities, where the risks are evident, and the rules of engagement are clear, unequivocal and persistent. Though social media has amplified complaints, the fact is that the largely stable and unipolar arrangement of world power over the last several decades has seen far greater peace, stability and prosperity than most of the rest of human history. 

On a smaller country-scale, it's why Singapore is such a great place to do business. Businesses do like our policies, because they are mostly business friendly. But just as importantly, even if they don't like some policies, they know they can count on them, and so they can make considered business decisions.

But this doesn't explain why people would (it would seem, irrationally) still prefer a unipolar situation where the person in charge is himself unreliable. 

Maybe there's a big kid on one end of the seesaw, but he's a wild card, and you can't tell when he's going to leap off the seesaw and let the other end of the plank clobber you just as you walk past. This unipolar situation doesn't grant stability or certainty.

And yet, we often still prefer it. Perhaps because of misplaced optimism (nah, maybe he'll behave), perhaps because of inertia (nah, it's too much trouble to change).

But I think it's also because, somewhere deep in our hearts, we actually want a king, and are wired to desire one. 

We obviously want a benevolent king. But absent that, the circuitry of our human souls still yearns for a king. There's a king-shaped hole in our hearts that we want to fill, and that somehow needs to be filled, even it's imperfectly so, by other kings.

It's why it's well established that parents play an important role in setting boundaries for children. Children deprived of boundaries yearn for it, and act out badly when they don't have it.

It's why superstar CEOs are put on a pedestal, given all-encompassing executive powers, and loyally followed by their employees and the public, from Steve Jobs to Jamie Dimon to Jensen Huang and many others.

And it's not just modern times. Think Alexander the Great. Genghis Khan. Mao Zedong. Even Hitler!

The Bible records in 1 Samuel 8 that the Israelites went to the prophet Samuel and told him - hey, we want a king, just like all the other nations around us. Samuel replies - guys, we already have a king. It's God. But the people refuse to listen, and insist that they want a king. 

Samuel warns them - OK, but this king is gonna take your sons and make them soldiers. He's gonna take your daughters to work for him as servants. He's gonna take the best of your fields and vineyards, grain and oil.

But the people insist - we want a king, just like all the other nations, and he's gonna lead us, and fight for us. And Samuel says, alright then, you asked for it.

And of course, that's exactly what happens. 

Somehow, deep in our hearts, we're wired to want a king. We need a benevolent King. But if we don't choose a benevolent King, we invariably end up filling the hole in our hearts with a real jerk of a king, that makes all sorts of demands of our time, attention, energy and life.

The benevolent King is not like that. 

You know that rulers lord over their people, and high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave - just as the Son of Man (Jesus) did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Matthew 20:25-28

The kings of the world demand that they rule. The benevolent King comes to serve. 

The kings of the world demand our lives. The benevolent King gave His life. 

The kings of the world rise and fall. The benevolent King rose from death to reign. 

The kings of the world will abandon us. The benevolent King will never leave or forsake us. 

The benevolent King is King. And we owe Him obedience. But He asks for it with love. And He rewards it with His perfect purposes for us. 

I want a king. I need a king. I choose the King!