Few things are as reliably predictable as the wretched cowardice of those who fear losing their grip on illegitimate power. Real, authentic legitimacy in government comes from delivering on public expectations and maintaining the earned consent of the governed.
■ It’s much the same in other spheres of leadership: Good leaders in business, voluntary associations, and even religion -- even when not democratically chosen -- maintain their legitimacy through an exchange of consent with their employees, members, and followers. It’s not always exactly a matter of giving the people what they want, but over the long term, it generally weighs out whether leaders have given the people the type of service they most need.
■ But illegitimate leaders -- the ones who hold power through force, intimidation, violence, oppression, fraud, or manipulation -- are quick to reveal themselves as cowards when faced with even the slightest challenge.
■ Whatever remains of Hong Kong’s special protections for rights and liberties under Chinese rule has effectively vanished because of this type of cowardice, with a court sentencing three activists to prison terms of five to seven years for organizing candlelight vigils in honor of the massacre at Tiananmen Square in June 1989.
■ Imagine just how weak and unsteady a power structure has to be to take a peaceful commemoration of the massacre of another peaceful commemoration and turn it into a criminal offense. It is cartoonishly unjustifiable. When people holding power reveal themselves to be thin-skinned, short-tempered, or violently overbearing, it’s a telltale sign they are unconcerned with legitimacy and want only to preserve their leverage over others.
■ Those of us who are fortunate enough to live in freedom should be quick to remove those kinds of miscreants from power through our own legal means, and to treat the contemptible ones living beyond our borders as the obstacles to human flourishing that they are. We may not be able to remove them, but we don’t owe them a shred of respect, deference, or regard.
