Why we admire Zelensky

Why do we admire Volodymyr Zelensky? The question almost answered itself.

We admire him because, in the face of unequal conditions, the president of Ukraine stands firm. Because it proves the veracity of the adage that a man with courage makes the majority. Because it shows that honor and love for the homeland are virtues that we renounce at our own risk. Because he understands the power of personal example and physical presence. Because he knows how words can inspire deeds - give them shape and purpose - so that deeds can, in turn, claim the meaning of words.

We admire Zelensky because it reminds us how rare these traits have become among our own politicians. Zelensky was an actor who used his fame to become a statesman. Western politics is full of people who act like statesmen to end up becoming celebrities. Zelensky has endeavored to tell Ukrainians the harsh truth that war can get worse, and to make the so-called benefactors see that their words are hollow and their support is insufficient. Our leaders mainly specialize in telling people what they want to hear.

We admire Zelensky for who and what he's up against. Vladimir Putin represents neither a nation nor a cause, only a totalitarian ethos. The Russian dictator defends the idea that truth exists to serve power, not the other way around, and that politics is dedicated to manufacturing propaganda for those who swallow it and imposing terror on those who don't. Ultimately, the aim of this idea is not the mere acquisition of power or territory. It is the eradication of consciousness.

We admire Zelensky because he has returned the idea of the free world to its rightful place. The free world is not a cultural expression, like “the West”; or a concept of security, like NATO; or an economic description, such as “the developed world”. Belonging to the free world corresponds to any country that subscribes to the notion that the power of the State exists first and foremost to protect the rights of the individual. And the responsibility of the free world is to help and defend any of its members threatened by invasion and tyranny. The same thing that happens with Ukraine, will happen with the rest of us.

We admire Zelensky because he embodies two great Jewish archetypes: David versus Goliath and Moses in front of Pharaoh. He is the cunning underdog who, with skill and ingenuity, makes up for what he lacks in recklessness and strength. And he is the prophet who rebels against the decline and imprisonment of his people, and who decides to lead them through trials towards a political culture based on self-determination, freedom and ethics.

We admire Zelensky because he struggles. Struggle is not supposed to be a virtue in civilized societies that value dialogue, diplomacy and commitment. But the world is not always civilized: There are things that civilized people and nations must be prepared to fight for if they don't want to perish. Zelensky and the Ukrainian people have reminded the rest of the free world that a liberal and democratic heritage that its citizens take for granted risks being taken as they please by their enemies.

We admire Zelensky because he awakens the best angels of our nature. His leadership has made Joe Biden a better president, Germany a better country, NATO a better alliance. It has lifted much of the United States out of the isolationist stupor into which it was gradually falling. It has forced Europe's political and commercial classes to stop looking the other way to Russia's descent into fascism. Remind free societies that there can still be a vital center in politics, at least when it comes to important things.

We admire Zelensky because he maintains a sense of human proportion typical of a democratically elected leader. Note the contrast between his public encounters with journalists, cabinet members, foreign leaders and ordinary citizens, and the Stalinist antics of Putin's court. In the ostentatious ornaments of Russian power we see the smallness of the man who wields it: the paranoia and insecurity of a despot who knows that one day he will have to sell his kingdom for a horse.

We admire Zelensky because he is a model of what a man should be: impressive without being imposing; self-confident without being conceited; intelligent without pretending to be infallible; sincere rather than cynical; courageous not because he is not afraid but because he moves forward with a clear conscience. American children, in particular, raised with absurd notions of what manhood entails, should follow suit.

We admire Zelensky because he remains hopeful that our own troubled democracies can elect leaders who can inspire, ennoble and even save us. Perhaps we can do it when the hour is not as late as it is now for the people of Ukraine and their indomitable leader.

(C) The New York Times.-

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