For the longest time, one quote from the movie “Gladiator” keeps coming back to me again and again. But until recently I haven’t figured how it applies in todays environment. The quote is this,
“Today I saw a slave become more powerful
than the emperor of Rome.The gods have spared me?
I am at their mercy,
with the power only to amuse the mob.That is power.
The mob is Rome, and while Commodus
controls them, he controls everything.”
We are public servants, and our power is realized when we like General Maximus Decimus Meridius gain the respect and trust of the public, as well as our peers, friends, and coworkers. The thing that I recently realized is that we are surrounded by these Generals. They are all around us. Everyone with a facebook account, a twitter account, a linkedIn account, a GovLoop account. These social network are in a sense place where we have relationships of trust. So how can the Governments of the world harness the power of these Generals to achieve the best outcomes for citizens?
The dream that is worldwide cooperation can be realized. One gladiator at a time.
Perhaps the slaves are not the public servants…although the name servant captures that idea of someone who is bound to provide for others. Maybe it’s not the public servants who become the gladiators.
Maybe the slaves have been the citizens who until now have not had the tools (I hesitate to use the word ‘weapons’ with all of the anger and threats of violence that are being hurled lately by members of the public, pundits and provocateurs) to get unshackled and more effectively engage with their governments.
Or maybe I’m trying to stretch the metaphor too much….
In any case, It’s a great movie 🙂