Should the job of court jester be reinstated? What is the role of humor in politics? Is the jester the only one who can criticize the powerful and still be listened to? Is it so lonely at the top that presidents and prime ministers need such confidantes?
Only now and maybe also after seeing Alice in Wonderland, I realized how important the role of a jester actually was. Probably like most other people, I haven’t thought the world of them (until now). I considered them to be just fools whose role was to entertain the nobles and most importantly, the king. I had no idea that they actually served as confidants and advisors. As the article says, court jesters were well-known for their wit and shrewd remarks with a secret message addressed only for the right ears to pick up. They seem to have been really essential in the past and were always ready to spin the actions towards a better direction.
ReplyDeleteIn the article the author depicts jesters only in the positive light, how they didn’t have any personal interest in the politics of the kingdom and therefore they wanted only the best for their king. I don’t know how relevant this information is but it is hard even for a dreamer and optimist like me to believe that at some point in the world’s history existed people who were so loyal and helpful that they didn’t take the advantage of their position close to the king. Maybe at that time it was enough for them that they were basically a member of the court with the benefits of good food and care and didn’t long for more power.
If I were to imagine such situation today, that there would exist such jesters or maybe just loyal advisors of presidents, I would have to laugh bitterly. First of all, I remain skeptical that someone would so willingly help somebody else to make important decisions which “that someone” wouldn’t benefit from in any way. Second, I don’t suppose that any person nowadays would voluntarily put themselves into a position where they would make fools out of themselves meanwhile having a very low social status like jesters did in the past. Even more if the person had to be intelligent, which he/she would eventually have to be as they would be constantly talking in riddles and witty songs where they would hide a secret advice. I don’t think that a stupid person could take the job and be accepted. On the other hand, a person that smart would probably not agree on all these conditions. Therefore I think that no matter how badly presidents need jesters even now (and they DO), they won’t be that lucky to find a faithful, honest, shrewd and unbiased fool who would devote their life along with social status to helping their political needs.
I guess that with more power or money or popularity a person has, less true friends he/she has either. Therefore it is quite hard for presidents to find someone trustworthy who wouldn’t like to cheat them for his/her own benefit and who would be at the same time their confidante. So in my opinion, each president would do with a jester of their own.