THE FAILURE AND CHALLENGE OF LEADERSHIP

I have been thinking about the issue of political leadership for several years and decided that this week I would attempt to put a few thoughts down for my Sons of Issachar readers. Yesterday, I watched the Republican Party candidate presidential debate, which highlighted leadership and was notable because the main frontrunner did not appear. Donald Trump is so far ahead that the other candidates are struggling to make it into double figures polling and fundraising. The graph below from The Times in the UK is enlightening.

Figure 1. From The Times (UK) article on the Republican presidential debate

I devoted a chapter to wisdom in leadership in my book Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times. My favourite quotes about leadership is from John C. Maxwell: “Everything rises and falls on leadership” and “Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less”.

I have included below the opening paragraph of this chapter of the book, which I believe is relevant for every reader.

“Understanding leadership is at the very heart of wisdom. We all have leadership roles and influence, even if it is learning how to lead ourselves. Learning how to lead and understanding the keys to leadership are essential components of the journey into wisdom. I believe that understanding leadership is a foundational area for wisdom in the day-to-day areas of life. About twenty years ago, I attended a seminar by U.S. leadership guru Pat Murray,[1] who taught a few simple but profound concepts.

At the heart of leadership are two questions: Who am I? What price am I willing to pay to be that person?

Many issues lie behind these two questions, but at the start of the road to wisdom is self-knowledge and a commitment to live your life from a place of bedrock principles. There is a price to be paid to become your authentic self rather than someone who wants to please others. You need to be prepared to say no when you need to and not deviate from your “non-negotiables”—those areas where you will not compromise.” (From Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times, R.J. Rose, 2023)

At the moment in the West, everything is falling, and so it tells us that our system is not producing capable leaders.  These leaders seem to be little more than puppets of globalists who have a demonic agenda to enslave the world in a “One World” dystopian nightmare. In this week’s newsletter, I am going to put down a few of my thoughs concerning the leadership challenge in some countries of the West and ask the question: what then can we do?

Leadership in Australia

Here in Australia, we are caught in a leadership vacuum. This is not something that is recent but has been a long-term issue. Political parties on the left and right have changed leaders with regularity, and of course, the same situation has been seen in the UK in the last few years, with one recent UK Prime Minister lasting just 49 days.

The changes in leadership that we have seen here in Australia have resulted from internal party coups that mostly were the result of individual ambition and plotting to destabilize leaders. However, what is missing from the leadership arena is any attempt to promote policies based on a fundamental vision for the country.

My wife and I attended a political dinner here locally in the Snowy Mountains about 5 years ago. The conservative party was widely anticipated to be defeated by the left-wing Labor Party in the elections that were then imminent. We went to hear a speech by the local conservative candidate and a senior conservative politician. What was evident was that there was no bigger philosophical vision that the party had in promoting freedom, individual enterprise and less government intrusion - core conservative values. The main pitch was that the conservative government would be better economic managers and so we should vote for them.

I challenged both politicians that evening and contended that the Party would never be successful without being able to clearly articulate an overarching vision for the country. Both the politicians floundered to provide any idea of a vision but resorted to what handouts could be given to the local community. It was a depressing evening because I realized that there was little difference between the two political options. The main difference was that one party pledged to spend slightly less than the other. In the end, the “conservative” party won the election unexpectedly, mainly because the socialist party clearly stated their intention to steal the savings of retirees.

In our last election around 18 months ago, the socialists did not make the same mistake again and merely provided bland promises to make everyone better off. However, they are now enacting collectivist policies and strong-arming a green energy nightmare that is now proceeding to destroy the Australian way of life. Australia has a negligible contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions but nonetheless we are trying to destroy our country and economy despite our abundant coal reserves. There is also government intrusion into every area with profligate spending and bureaucratic regulation, that will necessitate higher taxes. Cost of living issues are impacting every Australian family, and interest rate increases have dramatically impacted home loan repayments. The government also is introducing digital ID and censorship laws to prevent “misinformation”.

Meanwhile, the hapless Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, has been on a relentless round of international trips. Most recent figures show that he has visited 30 countries in his short tenure on the job. He has even acquired a new nickname – “Airbus Albo”. Several times a month, Airbus Albo travels on some international junket to ingratiate himself with world leaders and most recently, to kowtow to the Chinese President. The Chinese government has repeatedly played Australian leaders like an expert trout fisherman seeking to hook its prey.

In a shocking attempt to divide Australians, Airbus Albo and his socialist colleagues tried to force a racist constitutional change on Australians via emotive language in a referendum titled “The Voice”. Despite strong-arming the media, Big Tech, Big Business, Big Education and Big Entertainment, Australians smelled a rat.

The referendum would have divided Australians on the basis of race. However, a permanent constitutional change was soundly defeated, with 61% of Australians voting NO and only 39% voting YES. This result has heartened me and emphasized the truth of the saying: “You can fool some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time”.

Australians are known for their individualism and happy-go-lucky approach to life. I believe that they would support a political party that clearly articulated an agenda of smaller government and increased freedom. The last Western leader to do this effectively was Margaret Thatcher in 1979, but there seem to be no modern-day Thatchers waiting in the wings.

Despite claiming to be rugged individualists, an astonishing 95% of Australians over the age of 16 years, succumbed to government propaganda (or threats) and received at least one dose of the experimental COVID-19 vaccines, as of early 2022 (see this link). Many are now paying the cost with a range of adverse health complications, including death. Australians showed themselves to be extremely trusting of their governments and we seem to have forgotten our rebellious convict roots.

Leadership in the United Kingdom

The referendum result in Australia was a remarkable one, given the array of forces promoting a YES vote. It reminded me of the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom seven years ago, when the British people were told that the sky would fall if they voted for Brexit. Dire economic forecasts were promoted by globalist figures like Mark Carney, then the Governor of the Bank of England. These dire predictions have not come to pass but the UK government is confused, has no clear plan and are heading for electoral disaster.

I hadn’t properly understood many of the issues and how the EU worked, until I viewed the wonderful film – Brexit the Movie

This 70 min film is worthwhile taking the time to see because most of those outside the UK (and many in it) have no understanding of the extent of regulation and government overreach within the EU. Not only that, it is an organization with not even a pretense of democratic government but rather control by the elite.

Britons may have voted for Brexit, but the country has had a big challenge disentangling itself from the EU and sinister judicial bodies like the European Court of Human Rights.

Boris Johnson was one of the leading advocates for Brexit but his personal drama, disorganization, lack of discipline and diligence, brought about his downfall over “Partygate”. The UK may have formally exited the EU, but the country is still being played like puppets over the Northern Ireland border issue, trade and politics because the EU bureaucrats are masters of rules and regulations.

A Conservative government has been in power for 13 years, in various forms. However, it has failed at almost every turn because of a lack of clear vision and policy direction. The government has overseen an “invasion” by illegal migrants by boat and has been unable to stem the tide as left-wing lawyers and judges have prevented any effective policy response. Taxation is at its highest point in 50 years – see this link - and an article in the Economist from April this year outlines how a Conservative government has overseen growth in taxation revenue to be one the highest taxing governments in recent history.

Interestingly, the much-vaunted National Health System (NHS), is propped up with a 12% tax on everyone’s salaries, which is the required national insurance contribution (NICS). The NHS, a centralized black hole begun in 1945 by the post-war socialist government, is beloved by many Britons who turned out in their millions to “clap the NHS” from their doorsteps, during COVID-19. The NHS is, however, an unmitigated disaster that supports bureaucratic overreach, disastrous health care, a waiting list stretching forward years involving at least 7 million patients, an inability to respond to routine emergencies and catastrophic outcomes in maternity care. All of this should have been forecastable, with all the inefficiencies of a mammoth healthcare monolith. The NHS will continue to lead the UK into a health disaster and now politicians and bureaucrats are reaching for AI as well as digital and technocratic solutions - see this link.

The wonderful BBC series Yes Prime Minister made 35 years ago, captured the folly of the NHS hospital system, in the “empty hospital episode”. In the 2 min clip below, the Prime Minister talks to the executive in charge of the hospital, which has 500 staff but no patients:

The UK Conservative Party, like the Australian conservatives, has been unable to articulate and implement a conservative vision or agenda. Globalists like current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the new Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton (the former UK PM, “call me Dave”) are in charge of the country and steering it into a globalist ditch. Waiting in the wings are the real socialists in the Labour Party, gleefully rubbing their hands together about a return to power in 2024 when the Conservatives will be routed with perhaps less than 100 members in the UK Parliament of 650 representatives.

Sir Keir Starmer, the globalist Labour Party leader and former Trilateral Commission member, is trying to hold together a Hamas-supporting front-bench and a party further to the left than Chairman Mao. However, the lack of vision, incompetence and moving of deckchairs within the Conservative Party will distract the British public from understanding the danger of a socialist government coming to power. Most are asking, could it be any worse than what we have currently? (The answer is Yes!)

A general election in the UK will be held during 2024 so the five-year term for UK governments will result in Labour being in power until around 2030, with resultant destruction of the British economy and a worsening of health care and security. 2030 is an important year because the UN, the World Economic Forum and assorted global groups have targeted that year as one where we will “own nothing and be happy” and governments are moving toward a surveillance state and digital future.

Leadership in the United States

About 15 years ago, I started studying the US Constitution to understand how the country became great. The Founding Fathers were far-sighted visionaries who understood the importance of freedom and the likelihood of power corrupting. They designed a constitutional republic that had a powerful executive arm but was balanced by Congress (the House of Representatives and the Senate) and the judiciary.

The checks and balances in the constitution have served the country well, up until more recent years. In his second term as President from 2013-2017, Barrack Obama faced a hostile Congress, but he famously said, “I’ve got a pen, and I’ve got a phone” - and was able to issue myriad executive orders that bypassed Congress.

This policy of governing by executive order and also unelected agency bureaucrats, which was never anticipated by the Founding Fathers, has gained momentum in Joe Biden’s three years as President. Biden issued an extraordinary 60 executive orders in his first 100 days in office. Ballotpedia reports that: “As of November 30, 2023, President Joe Biden (D) had signed 125 executive orders, 163 presidential memoranda, 535 proclamations, and 107 notices.” -

Of course, it is likely that Biden never understood any of these myriad orders, memoranda and proclamations. I have calculated that this works out to almost one per day over the period of his presidency. No wonder they are trying to keep Biden. He will sign anything placed in front of him, and his minions can implement their cunning plans to destroy the US and turn it into a global immigrant processing centre.

The US Presidential Election Process

The US presidential electoral process is unique and difficult for those outside the country to comprehend. It is possible to gain some understanding if we examine the timeline to run for President, which commences almost 2 years out from the election. Let’s consider the timeline for Donald Trump becoming president in 2017.

President Trump came down the golden escalator in Trump Tower on 16^th June 2015. I have the clip below to show the scene of what we all thought was a publicity stunt that would never lead to him becoming President. We were wrong!

From that time in mid-2015, Trump was relentless and beat 16 other candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, including: “low energy” Jeb Bush, “lyin’ Ted” Cruise and “little Marco” Rubio.

After 7 months on the campaign trail, Trump eventually gathered enough votes in the Republican primary elections to be the only candidate remaining by early May 2016. At that stage, he had been campaigning for almost 12 months.

Donald Trump was officially nominated as the Republican presidential candidate on 19^th July 2016 and still had a further 3 ½ months of campaigning until the 3^rd November election. Being a presidential candidate requires extraordinary staying power.

Trump found great nicknames for his Democratic opponents: “Crazy Bernie” Sanders and “Crooked Hilary” Clinton. Trump is nothing if not entertaining, but it seemed impossible that he would win the presidential election. However, Trump was able to tap into a populist vein of the concerns of everyday Americans and also was blessed with “Crooked Hilary” as his opponent.

The cost of the presidential election was around US$7 billion in 2020 dollars, and the 2020 election cost US$11 billion. The US election system is fuelled by extraordinary sums of money, with various political action committees (PACs) spending like drunken sailors but operating in the background to the official campaigns.

The 2017-21 period was a new era in American politics, and there was policy announcement by “tweet” (until Trump was banned from Twitter). President Trump achieved many good things during his period in power but also activated the “deep state” and the entire political and judicial system against him. His greatest policy failure was overseeing “Operation Warp Speed” to hasten the development and implementation of the devastating and damaging mRNA vaccines that have now killed or injured tens of millions worldwide.

The contested election in 2020 was the biggest voter turnout ever, aided by postal ballots and vote harvesting, which included US$350m support from Mark Zuckerberg’s foundation used mainly to gather Democrat party votes. Because of COVID-19, Joe Biden was able to hide away in his basement and did not have to face the rigours of the election trail.

Now we are inside the last 12 months of the 2024 presidential election campaign. Whatever way things go, the outcome looks bad for the US. Many observers have asked the question: how is it that the US presidential election system can only throw up either Trump or Biden as the best presidential alternatives? Latest polls have indicated that more than 70% of voters want neither Trump nor Biden – see this link.

The answer to the question seems to be that the system is itself the problem. Despite the resilience of the US, one wonders if there is the will, and indeed the goodwill, to reconfigure the whole system without a major revolution.

Some Conclusions About the US System

As you have reached this stage of the newsletter, you can see that the process for running for president is extraordinarily long and expensive. It is likely that the overall bill for the 2024 election round will exceed US$15 billion.

So, to be a candidate you have to have a public profile, you need to be an exceptional fundraiser, and you need to have endurance to come through an almost two-year campaign process. You also open yourself to scrutiny and legal action, as is evident from the many legal charges this year against President Trump. The whole US presidential election process seems to rule out the most able candidates. This may explain why between 33 and 50% of eligible US voters do not turn out to vote - see this link.

How did the greatest democracy in the world get to this stage?

Ultimately it seems that despite the Founding Fathers' best intentions, the education system has placed collectivists in all parts of the Deep State, and they control much of day-to-day government. Additionally, the enormous sums of money required to run for office in the US means that whoever is elected is indebted to the industrial-pharmaceutical-technological-military complex. Perhaps the whole election system is a ruse?

Are All the Leaders Puppets?

I have written at length about political leadership in Australia, the UK and the US and up until the last few years, I felt as though we citizens of each country had a real choice and our votes could make a difference. However, after reading Patrick Wood and Anthony Sutton’s books, I have come to the realization that, in most cases, key leaders are selected in advance by groups like the Trilateral Commission, big donors and Big Pharma/Tech and perhaps even more sinister individuals and groups who lurk in the shadows armed with enormous bags of cash.

It is clear that as each of the Western leaders espoused “build back better” during the pandemic, and Prince Charles launched “The Great Reset” in May 2020 - there is an elite group with real power who really control our national destinies.

It is evident that Sir Keir Starmer has been selected to be the next British Prime Minister and you wonder how Donald Trump can jump through all the legal and political hoops to make it through to a January 2025 inauguration. Sinister billion-dollar tax-exempt foundations are at work behind the scenes maneuvering us all toward the outcome that they want: the new global order or “One World” where we will all own nothing and be happy.

There are, however, some signs that (while elections have some validity) citizens can push back against the future being proposed for them. Geert Wilders, a freedom-loving anti-Islamist has received the most votes in the recent Dutch elections. Javier Milei, an “anarcho-capitalist”, had an unlikely victory in the Argentinian presidential elections.

Readers may have seen video clips of this larger-than-life character who has brought libertarian ideas to a country devastated by the collectivists over the last 70 years. The chainsaw-wielding economist has shaken up the Argentinian political order, and he has taken the fight to the collectivists. In case readers haven’t seen some of his “greatest hits”, I have included a short pot pourri below.

These recent conservative successes plus that of Giogia Meloni in Italy, provide some hope that people may be waking up and are prepared to elect political leaders who have the strength and tenacity to stand against the New World Order.

50-in-5 Program

Meanwhile, the New World Order is active behind the scenes and now has come up with the amazing 50-in-5 program – see this link, launched on 8^th November. This is all about digital public infrastructure (DPI) and is frightening in its implications. The group, which is advocating for 50 countries to join this program within five years, is promoting that we all enter a digital future world. Their promotional material says about DPI:

“Digital public infrastructure (DPI) – which refers to a secure and interoperable network of components that include digital payments, ID, and data exchange systems – is essential for participation in markets and society in a digital era. DPI is needed for all countries to build resilient and innovative economies, and for the well-being of people.”

Claiming to be for our “well-being”, the program will require a digital ID, digital surveillance, a digital economy (the removal of cash) and central bank digital currencies. In other words, we will all be living life in a digital cage, where nothing we do will be out of the reach of government. Curtis Bowers has highlighted the dangers of this in a recent video - see this link.

You can get a glimpse of what is ahead of us from a German documentary made two years ago about the city of Shanghai. The technology and AI will have moved ahead significantly in the last few years and you can scarcely imagine what the Shanghai Surveillance Centre  can do today.

The surveillance state is coming toward us at light speed, and we all seem to be willingly walking into its grasp.

The 50-in-5 program is being funded by those great agents of human well-being – The United Nations, the Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP)  (another of the myriad UN agencies) is overseeing this, and at the launch on 8^th November this year, they said:

“Global leaders and high-level representatives from 11 ‘First-Mover’ countries gathered yesterday for the official launch of the 50-in-5 campaign. This ambitious, country-led campaign heralds a new chapter in the global momentum around digital public infrastructure (DPI) – an underlying network of components such as digital payments, ID, and data exchange systems, which is a critical accelerator of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

The 11 First-Mover countries span different geographies and income levels: Bangladesh, Estonia, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Moldova, Norway, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Togo. These countries serve as beacons of progress and inspiration for countries to build their own digital foundations and improve their economies and the well-being of people. “

It was pleasing to see that Australia was not a “first-mover” country, but Airbus Albo will soon have us signed up. I wonder what incentives these mostly obscure countries were offered to sign up to the 50-in-5 program? Watch out! Our countries will soon have digital processing sites like the Shanghai Surveillance Centre.

What Then Should We Do

There is a common theme in the stories of political leadership that I have cited in my newsletter this week. Despite we citizens of Western countries having apparent “freedom”, sinister forces are operating out of our sight to maneuver us into a future where we are all controlled by the state. This future was just a dystopian dream (or rather, nightmare) a few years ago. However, technological advances and AI have made total government control available with just a few clicks of a mouse.

It will be difficult to opt-out of the system. Citizens will be forced to acquire a digital ID so that they can access government benefits and healthcare. Misinformation and disinformation laws will permit the identification of disruptors and “domestic terrorists”. Bank accounts will be easy to shut down in response to a government directive and because cash has been removed, every transaction will be monitored and potentially blocked because of central bank digital currencies.

These ideas can seem far-fetched and a “conspiracy theory”. However, the 50-in-5 program is rolling out a lightning speed and we may unwittingly sign ourselves into digital cages. A recent survey demonstrated that almost 30% of Generation Z supports the government installing surveillance cameras in homes.

Few Millenials or Generation Z ever heard the famous quote of President Reagan about the danger of government. Reagan said “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government, and I’m here to help” . He said this at a press conference on 12^th August, 1986. The statement is as true today as it was in 1986.

If I am offered “help” by the government – free dine out vouches, an identity card, free health checks, free digital health ID, “free” vaccinations etc – I simply remember Reagan’s advice and say “NO”.

Unless we are vigilant, we will find ourselves corralled into a digital surveillance state, outlined 2,000 years ago in the Book of Revelation. In Chapter 13, the apostle John wrote: “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” (Revelation 13:16-17).

This seemed a fanciful idea until the last few years. Governments had a trial run with vaccine passports and discovered that there was a high level of population compliance. We can expect other “pandemics” or events to force us into the digital future that they have planned for us and we need to take steps to operate outside the digital system.

This brings me back to my opening paragraph in relation to leadership. It’s evident that we cannot trust any political leader. In fact, most leaders in every area have been afflicted by the virus of conformity to the technocratic, transhumanist, sustainable agenda being promoted by the various globalist groups. Therefore we have to take personal action. As Pat Murray stated:

“At the heart of leadership are two questions: Who am I? What price am I willing to pay to be that person?”

This is a period when we have to know who we are – our strengths and our weaknesses – and be prepared to stand for what is right and true. If we seek the approval of others, we will surely be trapped into a future where our lives are lived at the behest of others.

We also have to be willing to pay a price for resisting the plans of the New World Order. If we don’t want to be digital slaves under a surveillance state, this may require drastic changes to our lifestyle. Please send me any of your best tips!

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[1] http://www.billdotson.com/2012/06/interview-questions-from-pat-murray/