Fatal attraction of sycophancy over hard work

Kim Hyun-ki
The author is an editorial writer of the JoongAng Ilbo.

Napoleon Bonaparte bore disdain for sycophants as he believed that flattery was synonymous with incompetency. The French emperor also said, “He who knows how to flatter also knows how to slander.” With his self-confidence at its highest after conquests across Europe, Napoleon gave strict orders to his generals to talk to him only honestly, without pretentiousness or bootlicking. His aide later praised him for his excellent speech against sycophancy, to which he gloated. “Really? Was it really?”

Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by a fanatic southerner at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. on the evening of April 14, 1865. Among the items the president carried in his overcoat pocket were eight newspaper clippings with some parts of them underlined to mark their praise for his achievements.

Mike Pompeo — the first Secretary of State under President Donald Trump — tweeted, “I am humbled to serve under your leadership on behalf of our nation.” His worship of Trump to the extent of recommending the former president for a Noble Peace Prize also made the little-known businessman-turned-congressman from Kansas earn the post of the Central Intelligence Agency chief. American author and philosopher Ralph Emerson famously said, “We love flattery, even though we are not deceived by it, because it shows that we are of importance enough to be courted.”

Those who buttered up Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung became majority party candidates to run in the April 10 parliamentary elections. Kim Jun-hyuck, a Hanshin University professor, beat former DP floor leader Park Kwang-on to earn a DP candidacy in the election. In a YouTube video three years ago, Kim recalled his visit to the birthplace of the party leader, where he discovered a giant pine tree more than 200 years old. “I think the spirit of the ancient pine tree seeped into Lee,” he said.

The former professor of Korean history published a book titled “King Jeongjo’s Letter to Lee Jae-myung,” in which he unashamedly imagined the revered king’s surprise and joy after reading Lee’s declaration of his presidential bid. The great king, who had ruled Joseon with modesty in the 18th century, would turn in his grave for the shameful comparison to Lee who faces 10 charges on seven criminal counts.

Ahn Gui-ryeong — a former YTN anchorwoman who became a deputy spokesperson after joining the DP — chose Lee over Cha Eun-woo, a popular actor and singer famous for his good looks, as her ideal man based on appearance. She was nominated as the single candidate to run in a northern district in Seoul, where she could not even answer the name of a town she was visiting for her campaign.

Former DP Rep. Park Kyung-mee, who extolled former President Moon Jae-in by likening him to the “Moonlight Sonata” while playing the piano piece from Beethoven, also gained a single candidacy to run in a posh Gangnam district in Seoul. In “The Complete Essays,” French Renaissance philosopher Michel de Montaigne wrote, “Rhetoric flourished in Rome when their affairs were in their worst state and when they were shattered by the storms of civil war, just as a field left untamed bears the most flourishing weeds.”

Opportunistic flatteries flourish just like weeds during times of uncertainties. Still, it goes beyond uncanniness to extract some resemblance with a pine tree, King Jeongjo and Beethoven.

Political aspirants score points with their leaders thanks to their ingenuity in flattery instead of hard work. A 12-category evaluation by The Good Law — a consumer group monitoring lawmakers — on lawmakers of the 21st National Assembly over their legislative activities for the last four years, only a half of the DP legislators who ranked in the top 10 could win their candidacy this time. Most of the nominees were pushed out through a contest with Lee loyalists.

DP lawmaker Lee Yong-woo, who fought for stronger investor protection through the revision of the Capital Market Act, was crossed out for voting for a motion for the arrest of Lee on criminal charges. Choi Hye-young, the first female quadriplegic member, also had to surrender her next term to a follower of Lee despite her hard working to legislate telemedicine for remote and disabled patients.

Reps. Park Yong-jin, Park Kwang-on and other DP lawmakers were all cut off due to their lack of sweet talk. Even if flattery is a temptation great men like Napoleon and Lincoln couldn’t resist, it must not overwhelm someone’s achievements and rank. Otherwise, the future generation cannot bear any hope in our society.

Opportunistic flatteries flourish just like weeds during times of uncertainties.