Libyans once used the phrase ‘reckless boy’ to describe anyone who loudly cheered Muammar Gaddafi at the height of his power. It was a popular mocking expression aimed at the clowns and opportunists who had lost their sense — or pretended to. It was a simple piece of folk wisdom: don’t waste time arguing with reckless boys. Any conversation with them would lead nowhere. Not to politics. Not to statehood. Only more noise that resembled Gaddafi’s own.

Libyans learned something lasting from their encounter with Gaddafi’s admirers. Anyone who went overboard in praising the ‘Leader’ knew deep down that their loyalty was opportunistic, not genuine. This had little to do with patriotism and everything to do with how Libyans viewed Gaddafi’s absurdity. They could appreciate some of his Arab policies while simultaneously mocking his lies, repression and failed attempts to reinvent himself in Africa. It was a confusing mixture that only a country accustomed to contradictions could endure.

A few days after the regime collapsed, before Gaddafi met his brutal end, I called a friend who had held a senior political post. I wanted to check on him. Surprisingly, he seemed more committed to the ‘Jamahiriya’ system than he had been during its heyday. He insisted that he wasn’t defending Gaddafi, but rather Libya, from falling into foreign dependency and chaos. Ironically, he used to mock the very system he served. Months later, he died from grief and illness. He felt that Gaddafi had become a solution, even in death, because what followed seemed........

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