On 11th September, 2001 Mitchell Hundred — commonly known by his superhero identity, the Great Machine — stopped United Flight 175 moments before it crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center.
Just months later, Hundred was elected Mayor of New York City, succeeding Rudy Giuliani and spending election day in a sensory deprivation tank preventing him from using his power to communicate with machines, to fix the election.
From 2001 to 2005, Hundred went on to usher in gay marriage, enjoy a private audience with the Pope, address the Republican National Convention and save the city from a ricin gas attacks and invaders from an alternate timeline.
Though Hundred went in to serve as the American ambassador to the United Nations and eventually Vice President in the McCain administration, it is his time as Mayor of New York that defined and shaped his political achievements.
Mitchell Hundred channeled his superheroism into civic heroism, to serve and protect the city he loved. Hundred’s glory crusades against supervillainy, became humbling crusades for the poor and against injustice.
Mayors can be heroes. Mayors can be crusaders.
And we venerate our heroes – for better or worse. We don’t write comics about committees, we create legends and myths around extraordinary individuals. We don’t erect statues to administrators, we lionise the iconoclasts.
It’s OK to have heroes… to have kings, queens, presidents and Mayors too.
And its heroes we need in a time of crisis. At the beginnings of a Great Reset, we are fighting dual globally systemic threats we’re unable to resolve — a financial singularity and climate change — both threatening to provide ongoing uncertainty for many decades.
Developments that demand bold and courageous change aren’t served by our current political structures. They’re designed for consensus, not innovation. We need men and women who are rebels, troublemakers; that see things differently… people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. We need institutions and public offices fit for an age of connectedness, where story, myth, brand and celebrity matter as much as substance and ability.
The era of nation-states is coming to an end, unable to control events or finances in a networked civilisation. Federations of city states and city regions appear to be the new loci of power for the 22nd century. Leeds needs to be prepared for this, with political leaders that are iconic, global and elected. Is it really true that Leeds doesn’t want more democracy?
When Leeds has to compete for attention in a networked, global culture, in places like Hangzhou, Stockholm and Louisville, it is icons and heroes that’ll be required. Leeds needs to act like a nation, not a council or a city. Leeds needs embassies in twinned cities, elected officials with global philosophies, entrepreneurs with global ambitions and media with global audiences.
A nation with smaller population than Leeds City Region will be hosting the 2022 World Cup and is home to a planetary TV news network. Icons like Portland’s Sam Adams, Bogota’s Enrique Peñalosa, San Francisco’s Gavin Newsom and New York’s Michael Bloomberg command attention on a global scale, representing their cities as ambassadorial figures.
Can a faceless, grey committee or CEO do the same? Does anyone remember the deeds of Bruce Wayne as CEO? However, we all know what Batman can do…
Leeds can elect a Mayor Scary Spice – recognisable in every corner of the planet – and punch far above its weight, preparing itself for a turbulent age of realtime, networked culture, city states, economic upheaval and climate change or it can leave its future in the hands of those with no vision beyond the boundaries of an LS postcode.
Will Leeds join the The Age of the Supermayor?
Oh grow up.
Maybe if you discard *your* secret identity 🙂
It’s always refreshing to be so brutal in one’s feedback isn’t it? Is this a debating style that works for you? Right or Wrong? Maybe it’s just because I’m a female, but my mind doesn’t work that way. I’d prefer a little more sophistication in the comments box! Maybe you know this comment will be like lobbing a hand grenade to me and therefore you’ll smile as you run off, saying ‘see it made you comment…’
I’d hate to draw a parallel to the way party politics seems to want to reduce all thinking to right/left/right/wrong/quash /spin.
I’d like to see conversation, where the population are trusted to make decisions, to see shades of grey as acceptable. To have patience whilst we work some difficult stuff out together. Not to react, lie, protect, cover up, dig a deeper hole.
Why should anybody give a stuff about voting, when the decisions made, the conversations have seem to be remote to their daily lives? What happens if we really listen to each other and try to understand each other’s hopes and fears? We seem too conditioned to think there’s another way of working out how we want our future to look. We get the politicians we deserve, the papers we deserve. The City we deserve.
So your comment, harks back to the schoolground. We do need superheroes, and dreams. But we also need them to come in a variety of guises. Most of all they should have big ears and little mouths…
I must agree if you disagree or agree with something enough to comment on it then a little passion and or reasoned argument should be applied and if I a person with dyslexia can struggle to write more than the basics and risk ridicule because of spelling to put across my feelings and thoughts on a subject then you would hope that others more elequant and probably better with the written word could make more of an effort, and if all that a little too much then just a full sentance would be better 🙂
No problem..my name is Paul Clarke.
But I should apologise to you as that was a flippant response to your considered points.
The main problem I have with your post is the tired assumption that all our existing elected representatives are somehow boring dronea in grey suits utterly incapable of repesenting the interests of our city. I think we have made good progress under the present system.
The grey suits view is as short sighted as assuming fakes heroes like Galloway or Johnson actually deliver anything to the electors. Just ignoring people like Johnson doesn’t make you a hero…it makes you a dictator. Remember once you have elected one of your ‘heroes’ then we are stuck with them for four years and you talk about not wanting more democracy.
Follwing your comic thoghts do wwe really want a Watchman style world with those sort of heroes?
You are right to point out some mayors might be heroes. But are are seriously suggesting a dullard like Bloomberg is somehow a visionary? He is the ultimate flip-flopping bureaucrat you clearly hate who is only famous because the Mayor of New York is de facto famous. What are your thoughts on David Dinkins?
Of course, you can get other mayors like Boss Daley in Chicago but maybe you want that sort of machine mayor to compete on a global stage. But you also get a mayor who send the troops when people were demonstrating outside the DNC.
Despite my earlier remark which was unfair I respect the fact that you have taken the time to put a yes posotion in what – in retropect – was an entertaining way and it does add to what has been a sterile debate so far.
Of course investing power in individuals is deeply problematic, as the history of Chicago’s local politics shows, indeed early Blair’s presidential style brought rapid reform, but latterly a proto-dictatorial style.
I’ll take a fake hero like Galloway rabble rousing at community centres, over the intellectual dwarves that post flyers through my door then run away at election time. And they *are* grey. My local councillor and local MPs in Bradford are ghosts, existing only in pamphlet form. Galloway’s a jerk, but he also hustled and worked for every vote in every ward.
I have time for Bloomberg – when every national politician in the US was being mealy mouthed about the Ground Zero Mosque. He stood up and called out the bigotry.
If it takes a dull Bloomberg or controversial Dinkins to place NYC into global conversations, that’s a trade I’m willing to make.
I don’t think good progress is enough – I want dramatic and bold progress.
Cities are the most complex and sophisticated thing we make… they’ll be of increasing importance to global developments (see the work of Parag Khanna and Richard Floriday) so its incumbent on us to at least experiment and play with many forms of governing and leading cities.
Emma, see my latest post.
The problem with the whole politics seems so remote to people argument is that excuses laziness. In the age of the net it is ever more easy to access information about the complex political world around us. It’s just many people are too bone idle to do so despite the fact that even something as mundane as the council tax rate has a direct impact on their lives,
I suspect your babysitter who doesn’t vote is moaning about what this govt is doing yet if she had logged on it was clear that what they are doing to us is pretty mcuh what they promised at the last GE.
I’ve been following politics for 30 years since I was a teenager (not in a William Hague) because the decisions they make imapct on my life so I should be informed and over time my views have shifted with the times and my own circumstances.
Shades of grey are ok but I would argue a mayor with no effectve veto could trample all over those nuances/grey areas and impose their will.
Yes, I have strong views and yes I will express them, but my views are no more or less validity than those looking for the grey areas which is also important.
Now that’s so much better whether people agree or not healthy debate is what’s needed here and in politics:-)
Katt, thanks for that. I was dead wrong to be so dismissive and Imran deserved an apology as perhaps I needed to be a bit more grown up..
I’m really sad to hear time and again that smart and informed people like you fell for Galloway and the oldest tricks in the book.
The idea Galloway hustled those votes instaed of just cynically exploiting the existing community voting structures is laughable.
Of course, the people of Bradford West can elect a ‘hero’ like Galloway but let’s see what he has done to reduce youth unemployment in a year or how we has galvnised the local economy. This from man with an appalling voting record in the house and a history of praising mass murderers like Saddam.
My point about Dinkins was that he was useless and supports my point that ‘playing’ with the existing sructure in some sort of intelelctual parlour game is very dangerous. Bloomberg may have called out the anti mosque loons but it was harldy brave as were they clearly Tea Party idiots with no base in NY culture and he is the ultimate ‘grey suit’.
If as seems likely Leeds votes no then have you nay thoughts of how we might revive/change the exisitign struc tures as that is soemthing that clearly needs to be debated…and urgently
Imran,
I agree with your call for ‘dramatic and bold progress’, but such progress comes from having a bold political vision (which is what is lacking at council and national level), and convincing the electorate of that vision. An elected mayor doesn’t guarantee such political dynamism anymore than the current system. A mayoral contest could well be more exciting than council elections (lets face it most things are), but lacking bold ideas it would be little more than the personality contest.
Paul
You can wait a long time for a hero to come.
And then you find out that they are not really heroic at all. Just another person with strengths and weaknesses just like the rest of us. So, why wait for a hero?
I didn’t suggest waiting? And yes, heroes are flawed too.
I guess what I’m getting at is that myth and story and narrative can be as vital as ability and achievement. Those narratives are generally human, personal and individual.
As a Chelsea fan, you of all people should understand… 😉