Public persona

Ever notice how communist countries almost never call themselves communist or even socialist? Instead, they’ll all either “the democratic republic of…” or the “people’s democratic republic of…”.

But before we start brandishing “them” as deceivers and so forth, perhaps we should also take a good look at ourselves and the way we too, play such games when it comes to putting on our public persona.

We hide behind grand sounding titles and put on masks that allows us to make unending references of how they don’t really matter to us. “Oh, it’s just a big title that means nothing…” – Sounds familiar? Yes, it’s known simply as false modesty. We’d really like to be addressed like royalties, yet try to display some form of humility just to ensure that we’re highly regarded as “really big shots”, yet possessing such humility akin to that as monks.

That’s why too, when we give two cents to charity, the whole world must know about it by ways of , “Oh yeah, I help out often with this or that charity…” or “Oh yeah, I spent a little time with this or that charity…” and then the story goes on and on and on, just in case the audience didn’t get the full extend of their “sacrifice”.

Going further, how about the countless times when we “casually” drop names – “Oh yeah, I know this and that person…” or even dropping big terms just to impress others without actually knowing the full extend of these terms like “Six Sigma, S.W.O.T., public relations advisories” and so on. I have seen how such foolish references led to people regarding themselves as specialists overnight, without realising the full extend of its dangers. They figured that if they talk the talk long enough, it might just become reality.

The realisation of how real will always show itself in crucial times, that is,when shit hits the fence. There you’ll see these so-called specialists cowering from responsibility or even upping the ante of their pretense and thereby further compounding the problems. When they do not have the expertise to deal with the problems at hand, they can either make it worse or leave a whole trail of umm… shit for others to clean up.

So, don’t you think its time that we honour those that ask questions and who are not afraid to let you know that they don’t know? Or would you rather have someone telling you that they know the whole world but in reality, knows nuts? It’s up to you, but remember this one thing – your choice of people will eventually cause you to either make it or break at times when shit hits the fence.