Seven Watchmen, Blind and Without Knowledge

Confidence in G7 leaders couldn't be any lower.

“His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.

Yes, they are greedy dogs which never have enough. And they are shepherds Who cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his own gain, from his own quarter.”

Isaiah 56:10-11

Although time passes, some things never change.

Human nature, especially of those who end up in positions of power, is one of those things. In the passage above, the prophet Isaiah was condemning the spiritual and moral failings of the leaders and watchmen of Israel. However, the words from a few thousand years ago could equally apply today.

The image above shows the leaders of the G7 countries, currently in their 50th summit in Apulia, Italy.

The number above each leader is their approval rating in their respective countries. (Their approval rating minus their disapproval rating. Therefore, if your number is negative, more people disapprove than approve)

From left to right:

• Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz. After the EU elections last week the “question now is not whether Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government will survive, but for how long…Scholz, the biggest loser of the night, put in a cameo at his party headquarters for a few selfies before going AWOL, leaving to the help the unenviable task of explaining his Social Democrats’ worst showing in a federal election in over a century”.

• Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau. “He has trailed in polls by double digits for nearly a year, and the outlook for the once popular prime minister is so grim that some old guard Liberals have been grumbling that maybe he should just step down and give someone else a shot”.

• French Prime Minister, Emmanuel Macron. “Macron’s approval rating fell to its lowest level in 5 1/2 years, according to a poll carried out after he called a snap vote in response to defeat in European elections, deepening the country’s political turmoil. Macron dissolved the National Assembly on Sunday and announced a two-round legislative ballot on June 30 and July 7. This came after his political group was trounced by National Rally in European Parliament elections”.

• Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni. Whilst still in the negative zone, Meloni is the most popular of the G7 leaders.

• US President, Joe Biden. “Biden’s public approval rating this month fell to its lowest level in almost two years, tying the lowest reading of his presidency in a warning sign for his reelection effort”.

• Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida. “The approval rating for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet in June dropped 2.3 percentage points from the previous month to 16.4%, the worst level since the ruling Liberal Democratic Party returned to power in 2012”.

• UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak. “His leader approvals at the start of the campaign are among the worst ever recorded – as bad as Jeremy Corbyn in 2019, or Gordon Brown in the depths of the financial crisis. His campaign trail choices have not improved things”.

Our seven watchmen are blind, being both ignorant and lacking spiritual vision. They are ignorant, displaying a lack of understanding and making unwise decisions. Unable to sound the alarm about our dire circumstances, they are like dogs that cannot bark. Negligent in their duties, they are lazy, sleeping and loving slumber. And like selfish shepherds they are greedy, only looking out for themselves.

Isaiah’s metaphor accusing Israel’s leaders of moral corruption and abandoning their sacred duties to the nation could equally apply to our inept G7 “watchmen” today.

I think it was Thomas Jefferson who said something like “the government you elect is the government you deserve,” but I don’t think that is fair on us any more. What choice do we have? Biden or Trump. Starmer or Sunak. There is no choice, just two wings of the same bird.

Which stage, in the meme below, do you think we are in?