Q&A: You’re the one at the top—so are you to blame, or is the people to blame?
You’re the one at the top—so are you to blame, or is the people to blame?
Question
I was looking at the Koreas.
At the base, it’s the same people: genetics, character, eating habits, learning, thinking—and we’re talking about the same period, generation, etc.
In the south everything is flourishing and successful, an example held up for fame and glory.
In the north: misery, backwardness, suffering, grief, crying, and mourning.
What’s the difference?
The regime.
So seemingly all the blame lies with the government.
On the other hand, the people choose a government.
And even in a dictatorship, we learned from Prof. Agassi that you need a certain measure of consent and cooperation, otherwise it neither arises nor endures.
And even if we don’t listen to Prof. Agassi, still—how and why is it that in one region a dictatorship succeeds, while in another democracy flourishes?
Because the people decided?
So who is to blame when the situation is terrible, and who deserves praise when it succeeds?
The leadership
or the people?
Answer
This is too general a question, and it has no single universal answer.
For our purposes, “you’re the one at the top, so you’re to blame” is part of the struggle. Even if those who chose him are also guilty, that’s still the way to fight in order to get rid of him. Do you expect people not to tell him that he’s to blame and not to demand that he leave just because there were people who voted for him?
Beyond that, the fact that the people are also to blame does not mean there is no blame on the government. In South Korea, maybe they didn’t try to create a dictatorship, and maybe they would have succeeded there too. But as I said, this is a rather theoretical discussion.