Changing fortunes, changing minds (Editorial) The Independent <http://www.qanet.gm/Independent/independent.html> (Banjul) June 26, 2000 Banjul - We glossed over an authoritative article recently that seemed to suggest that people change from year to year, or even from month to month. That Mr. X in 1999 could not possibly be the same Mr. X in 2000. Well certainly, there could be an element of truth in such a hypothesis. However, there is no doubt that a great aspect of any single person, at some stage in their lives, remains unaffected and unchanged to the end of their lives. This is particularly true of people who attain the stage referred to by psychologists as 'self-actualisation': when a person, through continuous study and self-examination, attains that level of mental maturity that qualifies them as a full human being. Such a stage is attained through positive engagement and growth, and not through the negation of self and the forceful adoption of a pseudo-personality and pseudo-self esteem. Often though, people give an appearance of having attained self- actualisation while in reality, they have not. Such people would give an impression of being highly principled, highly honest, highly humble and uncompromisingly opposed to all forms of injustice. They could operate as individuals, but in most cases, they are among the most outspoken members of a human rights or justice movement, fighting tooth, nail and claw to bring about the end of injustice and the emergence of a free society characterised by everything positive in life. This, needless to say, is the way self-actualised persons behave. They are principled and are ready to suffer for their principles. They would rather chew the dust than compromise the ideals they stand for. What we seem to be noticing though, is that changing fortunes can show all pretenders to self-actualisation in their true colours. We have seen people in our society whom, until now, we had held in high esteem because we believed that they were the principled and justice- loving people they seemed to be. When such people were elevated to high positions of power and authority, we literally jubilated because we thought they could use their positions to propagate their proclaimed gospels of truth, justice and fair play. Unfortunately however, such people are proving a great disappointment to us, and needless to say, to many other people who had known them before. They are proving by their words and actions, that their declared principles were all a case of beautiful feathers; that all that formerly glittered in their words and actions was, after all, not gold. It was brass hidden behind a thin veneer of gold, which quickly vanished at the first taste of power. These people have proven to us that indeed, power corrupts. But power can only corrupt unformed minds and pseudo-personalities pretending to be principled. Once a person attains true self- actualisation, that person can never be corrupted by power. Instead, if such persons find themselves in positions of power, they would harness that power for the progressive advancement of mankind. Unfortunately though, only few people prove an exception to the general rule of people who prove the exact opposite of what they professed to be, once fortune smiles on them. What a pity. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------