smug.

In 2016, I had a unique ball. I had a decent relationship with my roommate, my house was great, my health was a little crazy but I was losing weight and playing mobile games. And for the first time, I was in a job that wanted me there. I even got a Christmas bonus at the end. It was a great peak for my time in my hometown and my preparation phase so to speak. I even got to work on a political campaign. A dream opportunity for me.

But the politics of the situation came to a head when the opposing, and the clearly flawed candidate, won. The god touched felt the axis of the world shift in the wrong direction. This “winner” is akin to the fake bread given out to workers during the industry explosion of the 1900s. Yet many who have been taught to value the product and not the process, the world fell for a lazy con artist. And the exiting leader encouraged many not to do this in a way he could come close to begging the population to look beyond the carrot and see the switch.

Rule Number 1. Begging does not work in the long run. It can be a powerful symbolic gesture but if it is not followed up with actions, it will be hollow.

So when I saw this speech of the former commander in chief, I had mixed feelings. In my head, I wanted the leader to gloat a little bit. The opposing candidate was not hiding how bad he would be as a leader. His practices and businesses all were rife with corruption and short-lived monolplies. This candidate left swathes of destruction that took decades to repair or to bear witness to his carelessness. And despite weak measures in place to avoid the popular vote being showing where the battle lines were, the win was given to the wrong one.

Here is what I wanted from the exiting leader:

My fellow individuals. As I exist this leadership role, I am stable. My status as the leader ensures I will always have access to healthcare and security. My family will benefit. So I am good. You won’t be.

I will take this opportunity to gloat gladly. It is a rare opportunity and after being the first leader to make you look at the privilege you put in the color of people’s skin or gender, you have opted to be lazy about it and invite a con artist to win. You want your leader to match your reflection that you choose to ignore if they should lead you in the first place.

You are being ridiculous.

Enjoy it.

That is what I wanted him to say anyway. And laugh while he dropped the mic and walked away. The right people in government would have seen that and maybe doubled down but the existing leader would have had the last laugh.

Until the next essay.