THIS is not just about the decision of the president of the United States. That is, however, a good place to begin. On Sunday, President Joe Biden decided to forego competing for elections for a second term. Beyond the political strategising, it is a bizarre decision. Here you have a situation where a man elected to the most powerful position in the world, who commands the world’s largest and most advanced military and the world’s largest economy, has voluntarily relinquished the possibility of doing it again for another four years.

The political particulars of the situation will undoubtedly be discussed at length by any number of analysts and political commentators over the next few weeks. Beyond that, however, is the startling scenario of someone giving up an opportunity or a position that they had worked for all of their lives. As history has long shown, those with the most power are least likely to want to give it up — such is after all the intoxication of great importance that those occupying very high positions began to believe in the myth of their own significance. Those who can separate the office or position from themselves are extraordinary in every way.

There is also the underlying question of knowing when it makes more sense to give something up rather than to hold on to it, when quitting —counter-intuitive as that is — makes more sense........

© Dawn