Pretty in Purple

Yesterday in Beijing, the heads of state gathered there put on what appeared to be purple silk Mao jackets for their dinner meeting.  It was a silly thing to do.  If the Chinese wanted to have their people wear this garb, that's fine.  But for the heads of state from other countries to wear the uniforms was a bit ridiculous.  President Obama as well as president Putin of Russia were photographed standing next to each other in these outfits.  My guess is that there was finally some agreement between the two men who were undoubtedly thinking about how they were going to fire the staffer who agreed to this idea.  Why should the president of the USA wear this purple jacket?  If the conference had been in India would Angela Merkel wear a sari?  If the meeting were in Tokyo, would they break out the kimonos?  The point is not that there is anything wrong with what the leaders were wearing.  The real issue is that the leader of a country should wear the clothes of his or her own country.  Obama can wear a business suit.  The king of Saudi Arabia can wear robes.  The Chinese can wear their own styles.  What is silly is for all these leaders to wear a uniform as if it makes any difference at all (other than to make some of them look silly.)  Too often in this world, supposed leaders think that symbolic gestures are what is important.  When the leaders of China, Japan, Russia and the USA stand next to each other in the same purple silk outfit in Beijing, NOTHING CHANGES.  No one in any of those countries sees any change to their lives (except maybe for the company that makes those purple outfits.)  In many ways, this sort of visual symbol is the equivalent of giving a speech.  The leaders look like they are united even though the truth is something else.

I hope the meeting focused on something other than fashion.