Nelson at Trafalgar

On October 21^st, 1805, HMS Victory, Admiral Nelson’s flagship, sent out to its fleet the most famous naval message in history: “England expects that everyman will do its duty”.  Unfortunately for us French they did, and we lost the battle of Trafalgar.

The British navy was better trained and, at that time, enjoyed better command.  Nelson’s fleet was also under unified command while its adversary was a mix of French and Spanish task forces.  Nevertheless, the French and Spanish ships had huge firepower, and the British knew that they had to go all out to win.

Suppose however, that Nelson’s message had been different, such as:

-          “I know some of you men haven’t slept well these last few days.  Those who want to take the day off are excused from combat”, or

-          “Officers, because you receive a higher pay, I expect you to fight real hard.  As for you men, you can duck any time you feel like it”, or

-          “I have decided that one man on each battery will act as an observer in order to spot areas warranting future improvement”, or

-          “I have a plan to win this one without suffering any casualty”.

With less than an all out effort from all of his crews, Nelson could very well have lost the battle, and for sure British casualties would have been far higher.  Instead, he won everlasting fame, yet his example seems to have been lost of most future politicians.

Consider the cases of France and the US, where enormous adjustments must be made to correct structural economic and financial imbalances that threaten the future of these countries;  one would think that their political leaders would call for an all out effort, where every man and woman would be expected to contribute to national revival.  Not really.

What we have seen instead is a reluctance to acknowledge the gravity of the challenge and the inevitability of sacrifices and hardship in order to prevail.  We have also seen an effort to divide society, between rich and poor, young and old, entrepreneurs and salaried workers. 

 There is no question that the rich will need to pay more taxes, but there is also no question that almost half of the active population can’t continue paying no income taxes.  As Prime Minister Monti declared early in his mandate, the burden needs to be fairly shared among all.  Politicians should stress solidarity and fairness, not privilege or clientelism.  It is human nature that if Peter is asked to make an effort from which Paul is exempted, Peter will look for every way to wiggle out. 

We are at a time of crisis; the economies of most of the world are unstable, growth is negative to anemic, debts are ballooning while money is printed with abandon; trust in politicians, and therefore implicitly in democracy, is at an all time low; in the eyes of many, capitalism has failed to provide progress and stability for all (even when its critics have had a hand in its excesses).  Put it another way, we are in a state of unstable equilibrium the consequences of which could be very dire.  As at Trafalgar, it is time for a call, expressed succinctly and clearly, for each one of us to take our fair share of pain and to do our best to pull the country through.