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When a State begins terrorizing its own citizens, how can one expect greatness from its rulers? Can regressive, dogmatic and dictatorial mindsets make a nation great, or, a world guru?
By Ramsharan Joshi
This happened almost a decade ago. I was traveling by road with my family from Minneapolis (USA) to Edmonton (Canada). Along the way, we came across Mount Rushmore.
On the mountain peak, four gigantic figures gleamed in the sunlight. Hundreds of tourists, both domestic and foreign, had their eyes fixed on these four sculptures. They were admiring the stone-carved figures with great pride.
As far as memory serves, the tourists would generally say: the first figure freed America from British slavery and instilled a sense of independence among Americans; the second showed the way to governance and democracy; the third emphasized the rights of ordinary workers; and the fourth inspired freedom from slavery, equality, liberty, and government by the people. Yes, these four sculptures are of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.
These figures are seen as lighthouses in the historical journey of America, born as an independent nation on July 4, 1776. It is through their invaluable contributions in different domains that America became ‘great’. If, even one of these figures is removed from its history, America’s greatness would crack.
These sculptures, located in the dusky hills of South Dakota, raise fundamental questions: How and when do societies, countries, and nations become great? Is greatness achieved through unprecedented capital, inexhaustible State power, vast weapon stockpiles, relentless wars and violence inflected on other countries, impregnable white supremacy and racism, power-driven terror, fearful citizens, and boundless technology?
These very questions are stirring contemporary America; under Donald Trump’s second term, the chant of MAGA echoes loudly. MAGA stands for Make America Great Again, a slogan crafted by the Trump camp that has engulfed both public and media discourse. There is hardly any household unaware of this slogan. Both white and black communities express either support or opposition to it. In fact, people even mock it.
The truth is, there is a lot of confusion about what a Great America really means.
Will collecting tariffs make America great?
Will maintaining an atmosphere of fear and terror do it?
Will shutting down the education department, cutting funds for prestigious universities, research, museums and libraries, increasing Elon Musk’s wealth and political power, curbing university autonomy and detaining students and dissenters, facilitating the ongoing Genocide in Gaza by backing Israel with vast amounts of money and weapons, forcible deportations, and the false persistence of unipolar power structures—will all this make America great again?
Will America be recognized as great after establishing permanent dominance over Greenland?
Interestingly, a parallel political scenario seems to have unfolded in India with the campaign of becoming a Vishwaguru (World Guru) led by the RSS and the prime minister, while Trump leads the MAGA campaign. Both enjoy unwavering support from the corporate power structures and their die-hard, fanatic loyalists, with their stooge media toeing the line.
The polarising and divisive trends, including the sell-out to multi-billionaires, visible in Trump’s America, have been sequentially emerging in India over the past ten years. The Indian populace seems to be growing accustomed to bearing the brunt of such trends. However, a key difference remains: in America, people have been quick to protest Trump-induced developments.
Just last Saturday, massive protests in thousands erupted across all 50 states, and cities like New York saw main roads overflowing with demonstrators. Slogans against Trump and fascism echoed off Manhattan’s skyscrapers, including against the genocide in Gaza, and the arbitrary arrests of students and dissenters who led the ‘Free Palestine’ campaign.
In contrast, such national-level protests seem to have become rare in India. Although farmers led a massive and protracted struggle against the three pro-corporate farm bills, winning it finally, the academia, intellectuals, youth and students in urban areas, and the complacent middle classes, remain largely indifferent to Modi-Shah induced trends. The reason? The regime has used Hindutva as a shield, polarizing society through this ideological weapon. Meanwhile, in America, the youth have hit the streets, and even the middle class is stirred, including a section of those who supported Trump.
People are, indeed, confused about the MAGA slogan. Can Trump’s tariff war make America great? So far, the American society is not fully convinced of the success of this war, including against trusted allies and neighbours; stock markets are falling, chaos reigns in both developed and developing countries, inflation might rise further, and India is no exception.
Warnings of economic emergency are on the horizon. Even American citizens are unsure about the potential outcome of this tariff war, which will hit them hard. In such confusion, can America become great? No one can confidently say so.
The fundamental question remains: What have been the basic criteria throughout history for calling a country great?
If grandeur of State power is the criterion, then empires like the Mauryan, Roman, Ottoman, British, and French should be considered great. If continuous victory and valour are the standards, who was greater than Alexander the Great of Greece? This title has also been conferred on Roman ruler Julius Caesar and Napolean Bonaparte. Did they really deserve it?
Should invaders and looters like Genghis Khan, Hulagu Khan, Kublai Khan, Mahmood Ghazni, or Mohammad Ghori be considered great? Among the Mughal rulers in India from 1526 to 1857, which one can be deemed truly great? Indian history recognizes only Ashoka and Akbar as great rulers, while Chandragupta Vikramaditya’s era is remembered as a ‘golden age’.
Should Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini be considered great? Can Germany and Italy, ruled by the Nazis, be called great nations? The Holocaust, and their tragic end, are well known.
Were Saddam Hussein of Iraq and Muammar Gaddafi of Libya great leaders? Can the theocratic and totalitarian State of Iran be defined as a great nation? The same question applies to Ayatollah Khomeini, the architect of Islamic Iran.
Israel continues to unleash mass murder and mass displacement of innocents in Gaza. Over 50,000 people are killed, including a huge number of women and children — and this is a conservative estimate. The Muslim nations of West Asia, including the lackeys of the US, appear helpless before it. So, should Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu be called a great leader?
In this backdrop, it’s necessary—and worrisome—to reflect on the future relevance and effectiveness of the MAGA slogan.
In India, the Vishwaguru slogan, and in the US, the Make America Great Again campaign, both give rise to modern myths. These slogans entangle citizens in webs of delusion and irrationality. Neither Trump nor Modi has ever clearly defined the criteria for national greatness. Instead, a psychological illusion has been woven—glorifying the past, its heroes and myths—presented to the masses via hi-tech methods. This manipulates public consciousness.
Does leader-worship or ruler-glorification make a nation great? In today’s Far-Right wave, including in India and the US, the focus is entirely on praising heads of state. Billions of dollars and rupees are spent on this, and the media is largely co-opted.
Can electoral victories of Narendra Modi and Donald Trump make their nations great? Modi has been PM for over a decade, and before that, Gujarat’s CM for more 12 years. Has Gujarat or India become a world guru? The much-touted Gujarat development model is now defunct.
Similarly, Trump held office from 2016 to 2020. Did America appear great during his first term? His departure saw an attack on Capitol Hill, unprecedented in the history of the US. Trump is entangled in multiple criminal cases. His presidency shields him from punishment, for now. Can America become great in the shadow of Trump’s controversial legacy? Will historians rank him alongside Lincoln, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Kennedy?
Even as president, Trump is seen more as a real-estate capitalist and an eccentric politician, with a foul tongue, not really a statesman. He is viewed as a narcissistic, corporate-backed ruler. Modi fits a similar mold—a man who sees himself as a God-sent icon with a non-biological, divine mission. What kind of greatness can be expected from such a figure?
If a leader becomes great, does the nation automatically become great?
For argument’s sake, if Modi and Trump are considered great, does that make India and the US great as well? Are these two men synonymous with their countries?
In 1975, Indira Gandhi was portrayed as synonymous with India by a Congress politician from Assam. The slogan was: ‘India is Indira, Indira is India’. We all know what happened next—voters ousted her and the Congress from power.
Surely Modi and Amit Shah are not unaware of this historical precedent.
Efforts to project an image of Great America were also made under presidents like Richard Nixon and George Bush Jr. But what was the result?
Iraq and Saddam were destroyed, but no chemical or biological weapons of mass destruction were ever found. The country was ravaged. America suffered global disgrace; it was reduced to a ‘nation of lies’. Before that, Nixon had to resign after the Watergate scandal.
The true measure of a great nation lies in the relationship and dialogue between the people and the ruling power. What is the nature of the State, and what is the state of democracy, social justice and freedom? How does the State treat the last citizen in society? Are its institutions dedicated to universal justice and welfare, or do they only serve the interests of a select, privileged and powerful class?
In India, experience shows that corporate wealth has soared for a handful, while the majority in the urban and rural margins are just about able to survive, despite back-breaking daily labour. India ranks poor in poverty, human rights, and Press freedom. The secular fabric has been decisively torn. The secular country has been thrown into a meaningless division between temples and mosques, crematoriums and graveyards. History’s corpses are being exhumed.
A tragic coincidence is that both Modi’s India and Trump’s America are afflicted by Islamophobia. Neither country can freely protest against the genocide in Gaza—doing so makes one a target of the State.
When a State begins terrorizing its own citizens, how can one expect greatness from its rulers?
Can regressive, dogmatic and dictatorial mindsets make a nation great, or, a world guru?
Ramsharan Joshi is a veteran journalist, and a distinguished academic and author based in Delhi.