Of Hope and Fear!

Hunger Games (Based on Novel Trilogy by Suzanne Collins) 
Film Series, 2012, 2013, 2014. 2015, 2023

There is a thin line between having hope and fear about things happening our way. To quote Baruch Spinoza, there is neither Hope without Fear nor Fear without Hope. This applies at an individual level when one wants to pull himself up with his bootstrap. He may tell himself not to fear the unknown but to hope for a better future.

Hope is not a bad thing when things look hopeless. To hope and not strive is foolhardy. That must be the reason why 'hope' was one of the reasons it was found to be one of the contents still lingering in the Pandora Box when it opened. Perhaps it was the lesser of the evils, as all others had escaped. 

To rule over a group of people, politicians create fear among their subjects. The goal is to create so much fear that the subjects will succumb to the pressures and submit to the demands of the oppressors. At the same time, to avert retaliation, the subject must be given a little hope—just a little, not much. Give a little rope at a time, just enough until it is long enough for them to hang themselves. The oppressors will then continue reigning over their subjects. Just a nice set-up. This must have been in Michiavelli's cookbook 'The Prince.'

'Hunger Games' is a trilogy of movies based on a novel about a dystopian future where a country named Panem is ruled by a cruel regime. Each district must send a representative to its annual non-holds-barred blood sports game. The winner kills all the other opponents for the sheer entertainment of the ruling class. While the rest of the country lives in abject poverty, there is lavishness and opulence in the Capitol.

As the film took to a cult-like following, the moviemakers decided to produce a prequel to the whole thing. The last offering is about how the evil President, Snow, came about to be the person he is. Starting as a poor citizen, he worked his way through rank and file as a soldier to seize the opportunity to survive and climb the ladder of opportunities. The question is, at which point does chasing the elusive dream filled with overtaking and suppressing others turn to evil?

(P.S. The interplay of hope and fear is the pathognomonic of Malaysian politics. On the one hand, the optimists have been seeing a glimmer of hope that things will improve and soon see his nation with its head held high. The politicians also see this. They frequently fan the fear of one group overpowering the other. They sell themselves as the saviours of the status quo. The leaders paint a dystopian future where the majority would be oppressed and homeless. The realists have no time for all these. They merely seek greener pastures.)

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Machiavelli is child's play, meet Chanakya!

Chanakya
Amar Chitra Katha Classics

Thanks, Aman, for the suggestion.

Forget the 16th century Niccolo Machiavelli and his devious Machiavellian tactics in 'The Prince' to usurp power and defeat your enemies. Forget Adam Smith as the 18th century Father of modern economics and his treatise 'Wealth of Nation.

Before the modern world knew about science, politics and economics, Indian civilisation had already delved deep into the above subject. Chanakya, who lived around the 300CE, was a master political advisor exemplaire. A Brahmana, a scholar knowledgable of various sciences, is said to have been instrumental in masterminding Chandragupta to establish the Maurya Empire. 

It was about 2,500 years ago when Alexander (questionable whether he was Great) from Macedonia was creating a ruckus in Northern India. Maghada was the largest kingdom in India then. Hence, most people thought that it was natural for its ruler to chase away foreign aggressors from their land. 

It started with a minister in the Maghada kingdom, Shakhtar, getting insulted by the ruler. The minister deviously got Chanakya to get an audience with King Nanda, the Maghada monarch. In a stuprous state, the drunken king ridiculed scholar Chanakya.

An incensed Chanakya vowed to strip the King and his sons of their powers. Shakhtar and Chanakya sneaked a cunning plan to instigate Nanda's eldest son, the most intelligent and the strongest of his sons, Chandragupta, to snatch the rein of power. They also induced a pact of convenience with a greedy king Parvathak for his army.

Nanda was defeated and poisoned by Chanakya's spies. Forget 'House of Cards', Chanakya was a master planner. He engineered who should be in and who should be out in Chandragupta's newly established reign. Royal hidden manoeuvres, quick sleigh hand tactics, backstabbing and attempted poisoning of Chandragupta, all were nipped in the bud by the maverick Chanakya in the course of his illustrious career in the courtyard.

Chandragupta Maurya

It is said after organising a solid army, Chandragupta went on to build an Empire. Even this story in Amar Chitra Katha simplifies and perhaps, romanticises Chandragupta to have warded off Alexander away from India, the timeline is a bit off. History tells us that King Porus is credited for defeating Alexander. But the Macedonians fought many wars over the Indian frontier. In one such clash with the Nanda Empire (remember the early part of the story!) and Gangaridai, Alexander's army mutinied because the raving elephant army was too intimidating. Their morale declined, and the military had to retreat.

That event essentially marked the end of the Alexander warrior days. He died on the way back, the cause of which remains speculative. It ranged from malaria to depression after the demise of his male companion to poisoning.

Chanakya, also known as Kautilya, authored 'Kautilya Arthsashtra' in the 3rd century BCE. He is a pioneer in the fields of political sciences and economics. His work is the basis of classical economics.

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What it takes to lead?

The Prince
Author: Niccolò Machiavelli (1532)

Think Machiavellian politics and what comes to mind are Robert Mugabe and even Dr Mahathir. Many miniseries addicts, especially of 'House of Cards' would recall the Kevin Spacey character of Senator Francis Underwood and his modus operandi which are similar to one propagated by the Master himself, Niccolò Machiavelli.

At a time when altruism and fear of God were the order of the day, Machiavelli's writing must have been a controversial one. It remains a pioneer scripture in the field called political philosophy.

What Machiavelli propagates may not appear just or 'Christian-like', but a leader to stay in power, it must be the divine. A true leader who is convinced is the best one for the nation, whether elected by force or popular demand, has to follow rules laid out by the man himself. He has to remember that he is alone. The only people that he can depend on are general citizens. He must always keep the general public contented and be on your side. He cannot trust the noblemen (in modern terms it would be fellow politicians) as they would be just waiting for an opportune time to grab power. The leader has to ensure that he controls the army and the generals as they found the backbone to safeguard his interest. For soldiers, he has to have people from his own kingdom. They would be more committed to defending the nation. Foreign mercenaries would not do as their loyalty is always suspect.

A good republican society depends on the interplay between the monarchy, the aristocracy and a populist government.

A leader must appear parsimonious, appearing thrifty to defend the coffers with burdening the people. He cannot, however, also profess goodness as it may fail in the end. In order to assure his political survival, a leader is justified to use whatever means deemed essential. A leader must be respected but fear cannot be used as a way to gain respect. Machiavelli's idea of a great leader is one with the regality of a lion and the ruthlessness of a wolf.

An interesting thing mention in the book is Machiavelli's comparison of Moses to that of a politician. He posits that Moses developed his own codes and arms to destroy his enemies.

Over the years, this book has had many critiques but, nevertheless, it remains a reading material to students of political sciences. What do you know, way back between 2BCE and 3BCE, Kautilya, wrote an even more comprehensive and refined treatise on statecraft, economics and military strategy. Kautilya was Emperor Chandragupta Maurya's teacher.