The cult of the “strong man”

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I’ve been musing about the cult of the “strong man” and how we think of masculinity. Two examples, a personal anecdote, and some thoughts on the subject of what it is to be a man.

In Gujarat, history textbooks that praise Hitler were re-issued this year:

A Jesuit priest and social activist, Cedric Prakash, says the books contain more than 300 factual errors and make little mention of the holocaust. In the chapter entitled “Internal achievements of Nazism,” one textbook quoted by AFP states: “Hitler lent dignity and prestige to the German government within a short time, establishing a strong administrative set-up.”

The Gujarat government has dismissed the charges as baseless. [BBC]

Similarly, in Kanpur, a Hindu manager at ICICI-Prudential decided to use OBL to motivate his employees to sell more insurance:

A branch manager and staff of ICICI-Prudential in the city of Kanpur allegedly dreamed up the scheme to sell 275 policies in three days. Staff were told of Osama Bin Laden’s “focused determination” and would be rewarded glass tumblers for “kills”. A police official in Kanpur, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, said the staff organised a sales promotion meeting last week, putting up banners and posters on the wall. A flag of Pakistan was also allegedly used in the show. The promotion was called “Mission Jihad”.

But as the initiative attracted media publicity, staff panicked and tried to burn the publicity material. Police searching the company’s premises say they found a half burned banner and a few posters containing slogans such as “Mission Jihad: kill one enemy and take home a beautiful crystal glass. Kill more, take more.”  [BBC]

As Americans, we are often puzzled by the way in which America’s enemies often show up as folk heroes abroad, even in countries that love the US. Osama T-shirts sold well in Thailand, a hedonistic paradise that idolizes America. Despite our head scratching, it’s not all that hard to understand. Everybody wants to be a badass; everyone wants to emulate the alpha-male.

In 1999, I was travelling in a very pro-American Third World country and would get incensed when locals would call out to me “Hey, Gaddafi! Hey Bin Laden!” The sister of a close friend had died in Lockerbie, and OBL had already attacked the WTC once and killed many in Tanzania and Kenya. I was not amused.

To paraphrase Cool Hand Luke, what we had here was a failure to communicate. The guys on the street thought they were complimenting me. To them, Gaddafi and Bin Laden were strong men, and that was good in and of itself. Might makes right, after all.

I didn’t see it the same way.  For me, being a man is best summed up in the Yiddish word Mensch: “a decent human being, a good person who always takes the high road. Being called a mensch is the ultimate compliment.” Mensch literally means man. It’s not like “nice guy” because “nice guys finish last.” Instead it’s says that being a man means doing what is right. It’s better to be good than to be dominant. It’s more manly to be nice than to be a bully.

In other words, masculinity is as masculinity does. It’s not context free. Strength means nothing without looking at how it is used.

In all fairness, this is easy to say when you’re on equal footing with others. When you’re weak, you start to value strength for itself. Growing up in America, going to the “right schools” and getting the “right jobs” meant that I was privileged. I didn’t have to associate masculinity with ruthlessness. I wonder how much longer I will be able to live in this bubble, or if it has already popped. I worry about young British Asians, especially young British of Pakistani origin. The terrorists are trying to drive a wedge between them and the dominant society; to make them feel that they can never live in the UK as equals. When they start feeling weak, they’ll start to value strength for its own sake, and stop thinking about how that strength is used.

I’m not suggesting, in simplistic fashion, that discrimination will make them into terrorists. I’m just musing about how frail our sense of moral judgement is, and thinking it would be a shame if the terrorist strategy worked, even a little bit. It would be a travesty if terrorism made some people feel weak enough that they, like others in India, could see a bloodstained murderer and think “I want to be strong like him.”

30 thoughts on “The cult of the “strong man””

  1. Manmohan singh saw ‘good’ things in evil british empire. So, it sounds like an indian trait to see ‘good’ things in all things evil.

  2. Rather amusing how OBL himself, by all accounts, is a rather effeminate and softly-spoken ‘hard’ man.

    Your last point ennis is one that’s been getting a lot of discussion in media circles here in London, terrorist chic. Sometimes the not-so-serious, like MIA’s latest video to the very-serious-indeed, like young British Muslims seeing the machismo and martyrdom of fanaticism as a more attractive alternative to daily life in the UK. None of this would have been the case if it had not been for the intifada. Everyone roots for the underdog. Hell even white non-Muslim Westerners have publicly stated sympathy for Palestinian suicide bombers.

  3. Rather amusing how OBL himself, by all accounts, is a rather effeminate and softly-spoken ‘hard’ man.

    The same was true for Hitler as well. It’s not inconsistent with his ability to whip the Germans into a frenzy. Not all alpha-males are like Ahnold. To the Germans, in small groups and large, Hitler was a charismatic leader. Maybe I’m trying to say that some leaders are macho, even if they aren’t actually butch.

  4. Oh, this started long before the intafada. In his autobiography, G. Gordon Liddy talks about how Hitler was his childhood hero who inspired him to become who is is today:

    The Fuhrer was G Gordon Liddy’s first political hero. Liddy was a sickly, asthmatic child when he grew up in Hoboken, New Jersey, in the 1930s. The town was full of ethnic Germans who idolized Hitler. Liddy was made to salute the Stars and Stripes Nazi-style by the nuns at his school; even now, he admits, “at assemblies where the national anthem is played, I must suppress the urge to snap out my right arm.” His beloved German nanny taught him that Hitler had — through sheer will-power — “dragged Germany from weakness to strength.” This gave Liddy hope “for the first time in my life” that he too could overcome weakness. When he listened to Hitler on the radio, it “made me feel a strength inside I had never known before,” he explains. “Hitler’s sheer animal confidence and power of will [entranced me]. He sent an electric current through my body.” He describes seeing the Nazis’ doomed technological marvel the Hindenberg flying over New Jersey as an almost religious experience. “Ecstatic, I drank in its colossal power and felt myself grow. Fear evaporated and in its place came a sense of personal might and power.” “If any one component of man ought to be exercised, cultivated and strengthened above all others, it is the will; and that must have one objective — to win.” He used to take his kids to see Leni Reifenstahl’s Nazi propaganda movie ‘The Triumph of the Will.’ When he was a kid himself, he went to insane ends to test his will-power. He stood in front of approaching trains, telling himself he would not die because “I am a machine too.” During lightning storms, in order to demonstrate to himself to power of his will, he would climb onto tall trees and yell, “Kill me! Kill me!” He even trained himself to kill animals in anticipation of becoming a brutal soldier. He describes beheading chickens with glee: “I killed and killed and killed, and finally I could kill efficiently and without emotion or thought. I was satisfied; when it came my turn to go to war, I would be ready. I could kill as I could run — like a machine.” [cite]

    While the quote above comes from people who despise Liddy, I’ve read the book and they’re accurately quoting him.

    I happen to think Liddy is invoking Hitler for shock value, but it still underlines the general point I’m trying to make. Long before the intafada, people looked at horrible figures like Hitler and admired their strength, their gumption, their cohones, their balls. They thought of these things as having inherent worth, rather than means to an end.

  5. Manmohan singh saw ‘good’ things in evil british empire. So, it sounds like an indian trait to see ‘good’ things in all things evil.

    MMS did not say he admired the power and strength of the British Empire, but one cannot objectively say certain good things did not come out of it. Where this stands in overall balance is a different issue.

    But your point where Indians admire powerful figures is something that I’ve scratched my head about. As an Indian-American kid growing up in India, it amused me at times how people thought all powerful men were great and could make things better, only if they decided to do so.

    The anecdotes about being called Osama or Gaddafi ring a bell from the past. In one hiking camp in Dadra Nagar and Haveli (Union Terriotry), right after the time the first Gulf War had concluded, I had a woodland pattern patrol cap that I used to block the intense May heat out. For some reason, everyone called me Saddam Hussain. They thought it was cool. I just rolled with it, but looking back, I kinda cringe.

    Another incident happened when I was partcipating in an All Indian National Science Fair in Baroda. The lines in our student expo area were getting too long, so I asked my friend to cover my project while I regulated and got people moving. Everyone appreciated the gesture and I got the nickname “Atankvadi”, which means Terrorist. Yes, my strong stance in herding the masses into an orderly line that moved at a decent pace got me the vaunted title. People loved it. Hell, they started calling me to other areas for help too.

    Man, those were some interesting moments.

  6. The lines in our student expo area were getting too long, so I asked my friend to cover my project while I regulated and got people moving. Everyone appreciated the gesture and I got the nickname “Atankvadi”, which means Terrorist.

    Thanks for sharing this. That is quite fascinating to me.

  7. The textbooks in question in Gujarat were issued by the Congress govt. there more than a decade ago. While poorly worded, there is no glorification of Hitler or the Nazis in there. (Large excerpts of the textbooks used to be available on the web.)

    Narendra Modi’s govt.’s main fault is to blindly reissue the textbooks. However, if he changed the textbooks, there would no doubt be complaints as well.

    Father Cedric Prakash is merely an agent provocateur.

  8. This is a great post, Ennish.

    A good analogue for the strong-man movement in a desi context was the glorification of Japan’s militarism in the early part of the 20th century among desi nationalists, particularly after they defeated Russia in a war in, I think, 1905. Although I can’t trace the links, I wouldn’t be surprised if this notion continued for the remaining duration of British rule, extending all the way to Subhash Chandra Bose and the INA (who also visited with Hitler). I don’t know when, exactly, this cultural sentiment disappeared as a mainstream phenomenon, people looked to the only other nonWhite country to have “made it.” For all their flaws, we should probably be thankful that the INC, Jinnah, and others chose a different model of rule.

  9. Thanks for sharing this. That is quite fascinating to me.

    Getting out of school for a week, putting your project up for display among others, eating goodies, and studying all the mature projects (ONGC, IPCL, Military, Water distribution, Space, etc) was a riot.

    Hell, I even got to meet Yash Pal, a famous Indian scientist who came by our student exhibits and explained why some students had problems maintaining the integrity of the structure of their projects. After elaborate student answers (improper materials blah blah blah), he mentioned “Center of Gravity” and you could see light bulbs going off. The simplicity of the answer and its delivery goaded young minds to think differently. And call me a terrorist too.

  10. Narendra Modi’s govt.’s main fault is to blindly reissue the textbooks. However, if he changed the textbooks, there would no doubt be complaints as well.

    I normally wouldn’t respond to insinuations that Congress is trying to indoctrinate the youth, while BJP is compacently being led along, because it’s so far from my understanding of what the reality is. However, this is just too much.

    Based on the preponderance of evidence, BJP systematically actively promoted the rewriting of history textbooks, and thereby attempting to indoctrinate an entire generation of students.

    Here are some specific examples on Gujarat. The second source I cited has this lede:

    Gandhi is not so great, but Hitler is. Welcome to high school education in Narendra Modi’s Gujarat, where authors of social studies textbooks published by the Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks have found faults with the freedom movement and glorified Fascism and Nazism.

  11. “one cannot objectively say certain good things did not come out of it”

    Let’s see how morally bankrupt your reasoning is:

    Rape can sometime lead to babies. Babies are always good. You’re saying certain good things can come out of rape.

    To me, rape is evil, period.

  12. “As Americans, we are often puzzled by the way in which AmericaÂ’s enemies often show up as folk heroes abroad, even in countries that love the US.”

    OBL is India’s enemy too. Its just that Indians lives are not as valuable as you Americans’ lives. Indian courts have convicted an Al Qaeda operative who was planning a 9/11 style attack in India.

    “MMS did not say he admired the power and strength of the British Empire, but one cannot objectively say certain good things did not come out of it. Where this stands in overall balance is a different issue.”

    No MMS did say it in an admiring fashion. TOI had a great Op-Ed titled In awe of the white man’s burden A paragraph from it :

    ” What is this myth of “the beneficial consequences” of British rule? The PM spoke at Oxford of “good governance”, mentioning, in particular, the rule of law, constitutional government, a free press, a professional civil service, modern universities and research laboratories. He forgot to add, however, that each of these elements of modern governance was introduced into India not in the form in which it was practised in Britain but always with crucial exceptions. Thus, the British in India resisted the jury system or even habeas corpus outside the Presidency towns, resisted the trial of Europeans by Indian judges and, at every whiff of “sedition”, enacted emergency laws that would have been unthinkable in Britain. Constitutional government was introduced, but even in the last elections held before Independence, less than 10% of Indian adults were eligible to vote. Elected provincial ministries were allowed, but British governors had virtually unlimited powers to accept or dismiss ministers, and civil servants were required to send confidential reports directly to the governor without the knowledge of elected ministers. A free press? Yes, but only in the English language. Everywhere in India, until the last days of the Raj, the vernacular press lived under severe censorship laws.”

  13. Siddharth, I totally agree with your reasoning. The same way I am sure OBL’s activity is doing some GOOD to USA and UK.

  14. Saurav, as I said, the material was available on the web, including dates of publication.

    Whatever else the BJP may have done with other textbooks elsewhere, and with other things elsewhere, the textbooks in Gujarat are not of their making. Research it for yourself without relying on secondary sources.

  15. I’ll further say, Saurav, that what happened in Gujarat in 2002 was horrific; and that it has given license to a lot of people who believe any lies that they say are in a good cause – namely to get rid of Modi – and they utter all kinds of tripe. Anyway, I’ve said my piece, you are free to be part of the reality-based or faith-based community, however you please.

  16. Whatever else the BJP may have done with other textbooks elsewhere, and with other things elsewhere, the textbooks in Gujarat are not of their making. Research it for yourself without relying on secondary sources.

    Arun, I’m happy to do so, but it would be helfpul if you could provide a link or even a search term that would help find the primary sources you’re citing. While I have a fair amount of skepticism towards some of the reporting in the Indian media, given that we both agree that the overall trend in that the BJP had a general policy of rewriting textbooks nationwide, I would take 100 secondary sources over one–which, in fairness to me, is what you are right now.

  17. The so-called offensive chapter Some excerpts:

    The dictators of some countries became crazy and their minds were possesed by thoughts of barbaric wars.. They(Nazis) performed the gruesome and inhuman act of suffocating 60 lakh jews in gas chambers. From the Exercise section: explain why narrow minded nationalism grew in Germany

    All in all, the tone seems to suggest that Hitler was a great (as in talented) leader and orator who lead Germany into WW2 and genocide against the Jews and while he was to blame for WW2 the Western nations were responsible for appeasing him initially. The Holocaust isn’t discussed in the chapter that was posted. It deals with the period between the world wars.

    Dunno wht’s in the next chapter.

  18. Umm, read a little further:

    Under the section entitled “Internal Achievements of Naziism”:

    “Hitler lent dignity and prestige to the German government within a short time by establishing a strong administrative set-up. He created the vast state of Greater Germany. He adopted the policy of opposition towards the Jewish people and advocated the supremacy of the German race.”

    Here’s a story today from the Times of India and another about the response from Modi’s government.

    Thank you for the link, anon–I appreciate it. I’d note it’s only for the class 10 textbook–the class 9 one is the one report to mention of the Holocaust according to the TOI articles.

    In any case, I don’t want this thread to devolve any further since there are more interesting issues raised in Ennis’s post, so I’m going to stop responding here.

  19. Let’s see how morally bankrupt your reasoning is: Rape can sometime lead to babies. Babies are always good. You’re saying certain good things can come out of rape. To me, rape is evil, period.

    Woah dude, I don’t get this rape and baby analogy. So, if anything AND everything residual from the British era is so bad, then why doesn’t India go ahead and remove every trace of it?

    Like I said before, weighing the cost/benefit in scales of blind lady justice is a larger issue. From articles I read, it seemed MMS was buttering up the crowd. That’s the feeling I got. Politicans may be more prudent in calling it “Lessons learned” than benefit.

    Abhi, re-reading your post, I really don’t know if that was a jab or actual interest (I’m pretty bad at picking up sarcasm). I was simply rehashing few anecdotal stories from the past, which this thoughtful post stirred up, thats all. Oh, whatever, it’s the comments section.

  20. Saurav,

    The history books are mainly written by leftists (except during the bjp rule) and it’s full of glorification of mass murders like stalin and mao. I have seen Indians naming their kids after stalin. Like I said before, Indians find ‘goodness’ in everything.

    Gujju,

    Ends cannot justify means. Going back to my analogy, you should be able to celebrate the kid born out of rape without having to give ‘credit’ to the rapist or the rape.

  21. Ends cannot justify means. Going back to my analogy, you should be able to celebrate the kid born out of rape without having to give ‘credit’ to the rapist or the rape.

    Ok, I see what you are saying. I agree, ends do not justify the means. But this is all being discussed in hindsight where all one can really do is learn lessons, take what works, and move on.

    But is it really the kid’s fault that it was born out of a crime? But the truth remains, the kid was a result of the crime. That is an objective fact. No one has to like it, but it is a fact that no one can change. This analogy is too simplistic and doesn’t do justice to the complicated nature and relationship Indians had with the British during colonial rule.

    Indians learned a few things that were useful, learned a few things that they wish they never had, all in all a painful 200 yr experience.

    Back to a strong man issue, there are plenty of arguments people make that Sardar Patel should have been the first PM, not Nehru, for the very fact that he was not only popular, but also known as a stong leader.

  22. I didnÂ’t have to associate masculinity with ruthlessness. I wonder how much longer I will be able to live in this bubble, or if it has already popped.

         Sometimes I wonder success in educational and economic sphere will ever offset the perceived inadequacy in the physical courage.
                 The one reason I dislike RSS strongly is for their slogan "Hindu is no longer a coward".  Perhaps if you do the objective study of Indian history you can see Hindu(I suppose people of the subcontinent who were not muslims) was never a coward. I would say , more than muslim  assertion of their dominance over Hindus it's the self acceptance of torch bearers of Hindutva of our ancestors cowardice that has left many Hindus confused and unclear about their masculinity. I think this has lead to the developments in Gujarat. 
                           However, I suppose muslim men are the worst victims of machismo. And non-muslims are many a times innocent victims in their quest for ultimate bravery. Otherday, I was playing Table Tennis with my muslim colleague. We were in a pathetic position, however, we fought back came to the winning position. My colleague(belonging to educationally and financially successful muslim family) remarked "Oh! we fought like Pakistanis". In another match we went down tamely. This time we were Bangladeshis. No wonder, Bangladeshi muslims want to be Pakistanis. And why Pakistan will find it difficult to unshackle its perceived macho Islamic image.

  23. isn’t it interesting how the standard left and right positions are reversed in india.

    usually the american right-winger will think “uk good,muslims disproportionately terrorists, left bad”. the american left winger will think “uk = bush’s poodle, muslims misunderstood, right bad”.

    the indian right, the bjp, will think “uk BAD”, but share the other two parts of the american right. weird. i guess it’s consistent from a position of nationalism.

  24. Arun, if you look at the phrasing of the post, I don’t take a position on why the history books praise Hitler, I just point out that they were re-issued. Whether the pro-Hitler treatment of history came from the BJP or was in there before, the point remains the same. Hitler is praised, and the current government of Gujarat sees nothing wrong with that.

  25. Ennis writes:>>Hitler is praised, and the current government of Gujarat sees nothing wrong with that.

    Well, Stalin and Mao are praised, and the current government of WestBengal sees nothing wrong with that.

    Madrassas in India praise many despotic muslim rulers, and nobody sees anything wrong with that.

    Wherever you see government involved in education and writing of books, you will see bias. To solve the problem once and for all, you will need to privatise education. If praising Hitler gains more market share, those schools with make more profits. If praising Britney Spears yields more results, schools will adopt that.

    Moreover, history books are such a moot point in these days of the internet, where, for every event “printed” in those books, there will be a hundred websites that counter that information. For eg: Most Indian history books talk about Aryan Invasion Theory, whereas it has been debated and debunked elsewhere on many popular websites.

    M. Nam

  26. On the link that was given by “anom” about the so-called offensive chapter, we are missing the fine details – the book was first printed in 1993 and till date has not been changed much.

    Hitler is praised, and the current government of Gujarat sees nothing wrong with that.

    Poor logic you have, Ennis. Nobody, not even Congress, has any problems with it but Father Cedrik Prakash and other BJP-baiters.

    All those protesting here should also protest against the glorification of Stalin in West Bengal education – not a word has been said against which proves their communist kinship. Why do Saurav and likens have links/documents to Gujarat textbooks and find no reference and objections to WB texts? Salute to these Comrades!

    “Lies, Lies and more Lies” should open your eyes!!

    Also read this to look through the concerted efforts of Indian left to demonize the Right (not political).

  27. “Lies, Lies and more Lies” should open your eyes!!

    I don’t think so, hammer_sickel. An argument based on any article by Francois Gautier is hardly non-partisan. This guy Gautier is like, the best thing that has ever happened to the Hindu right – a gora with a Christian Name, talking up a case for killing all Muslims/Christians. This guy’s writings feature prominently in websites run by VHP and other Hindu fundamentalists. Actually, the dude is just hilarious – his work include fantastic vsions of Hindutva grandeur He takes exception to everything from India having a Muslim president to Columbus being credited with the discovery of America. ( I once read a side-splitting analysis of his which concluded that Incas and Aztecs were, actually, descendants of expert desi seafarers. Can’t find the link now. )Methinks he’s a kook who got too much bhang and “Indian Spirituality” in his sytem at some hippie rave in Goa in the 70s. Google Francois Gautier, and judge for yourselves.

  28. Yo whateva happened to da pan-subcontinentalist spirit on the south asian mutiny.

    Why focus on Gujarat or India when the manipulation of history texts is clearly a South Asian phenomenon from Pakistan to Nepal; Bangladesh to Sri Lanka, the manipulation of history by various Minsitries of Truth is truely a common bond that unites desis.

  29. Why do Saurav and likens have links/documents to Gujarat textbooks and find no reference and objections to WB texts? Salute to these Comrades!

    Do you never tire of red-baiting me? It’s like it’s a fulltime job or something for you 🙂 In any case, I’m glad you’re back. I find you very cute, in your own way. From a safe distance, of course.

  30. An argument based on any article by Francois Gautier is hardly non-partisan.

    That is exactly the point – it is meant to tell the “other part” of the story. And that doesnt mean it is wrong.

    Try refuting claims made in the article (btw, it has very little reference to Francois) with counter arguments rather than about the author.

    And Saurav, it will be an injustice to you, not to call you a comrade. Just by reading a few of your comments, one can figure out you have a soft corner towards ultra-left desis – descendants of WB/Kerala communists. You try to put Indian politics in American context (right-left).

    Once you publicly renounce your communist kinship, I shall disrobe you off Red!