To live and die like Jobs and Gaddafi

[Zomi Center]

To live and die like Steve Jobs (left) would be a great honour for any man even for one day. But for Muammar Gaddafi, he lived for 42 years and death greeted him with humiliation and brutality.

DEATH is the only certainty in life and every human being has to face it eventually. But what is more important is how a person dies. Every normal human being surely wishes to die at an old age peacefully, contented, surrounded by loved ones and for those who believe in a religion, with spiritual support as well.

Two high-profile international figures died this month – technology icon Steve Jobs on Oct 5 and former Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi on Oct 20. The activities of both, when they lived, had gigantic impacts in their country and globally. The similarities end there. Let's examine the glaring contrast of how they lived and died.

Jobs lived a life creating new technologies and he contributed immensely to the betterment of mankind. His impact on technological innovation was what Michael Jackson did for music and both are super legends of their own era with no comparison with others in their respective field.

The youths in the Middle East (Jobs' biological father originated from Syria; so technically he was also an Arab) are proud of his roots and they attributed part of their Arab Spring's success to his technology which has helped them in no small way.

Although Jobs' tough management style might be controversial to some people, his successes, accomplishments and visionary approach spoke volumes of his ingenuity and integrity of purpose. In August 2011, he led Apple to become the largest company in the world (by market capitalisation), pipping ExxonMobil's top position.

And at one point in July 2011, Apple's cash balance was US$76 billion, even more than that of the US Treasury of US$74 billion. For a man with such enormous wealth and achievements, he was relatively humble in public. He dressed simple and was very private about his personal and family affairs.

Jobs' most memorable and philosophical comment about life (in my opinion) came from his famous Stanford speech in 2005. It was about connecting the dots backwards and that everything in life happened for a good reason.

He explained that rejections or failures can often be blessings in disguise and it was only years later that he really understood why a "negative" event took place. He also spoke philosophically about death as a kind of rejuvenation, his close encounter with it and his readiness to deal with it at any time.

He died at his home surrounded by his family. Though some questions have just been raised that he might have lived longer or even be cured if he had resorted to the correct treatment for his pancreatic cancer, such a debate now would be purely academic.

But he seemed to know that he was dying and he was prepared for it until the final moments. He resigned as the chief executive of Apple only six weeks earlier. He died peacefully and a highly dignified man.

Gaddafi, on the other hand, lived a life oppressing and harming most of his own people in the name of the revolution when he came to power in a military coup 42 years ago. He tried to export his revolution and influence to other parts of the Middle East, Africa and even as far as Latin America.

He had absolute control over the country's immense (oil) cash asset which was estimated to be at least US$200 billion, many times more than Jobs or Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world. Gaddafi made large corporate investments in Europe and the US. He squandered away the country's wealth while many of his people were subjugated to poverty and misery.

He gave himself grandiose and arrogant-sounding titles such as Leader and Guide of the Revolution, Imam of all Muslims, Dean of Arab Rulers and King of Africa's Kings. He loved to dress up in colourful military uniforms or flowing African robes and he was a believer in pomp and ceremony wherever he went.

He was also a master state terrorist and his regime was responsible for the bombing of a Berlin bar in 1986 and the bombing of the Pan Am airliner over Lockerbie in Scotland in 1988 which killed 270 people. With his eccentricity and his love-hate relationship with the West, he earned the title of the "mad dog of the Middle East".

When his own people had had enough of his idiosyncratic personality, his denial of economic progress and his violent crushing of any peaceful dissent, an armed uprising took place in Benghazi in February.

France, Britain, the US and Nato with the support of a UN Security Council imposed an air embargo in Libya in March, which was followed by air raids and bombings on his government and military installations to protect civilians from his loyalist forces.

The rebellion of mostly amateur but enthusiastic fighters from the civilian population was growing steadily by the day and it soon spread throughout country. With the help of the Western powers (partly for their own vested interests), the Gaddafi regime was finally toppled earlier this month with the last loyalist town of Sirte overtaken by the forces of the new governing National Transitional Council.

The coup de grace of the crumbling regime was the killing of Gaddafi last week together with his military chief and one of his sons.

Based on various news reports, it appeared that Gaddafi was captured alive but badly injured while hiding in a large underground culvert after his convoy was attacked by a French military aircraft.

Almost immediately after his capture, it seemed he was surrounded by other rebel fighters, dragged on the ground by his hair, abused, assaulted and then shot to death. He was heard begging for mercy and appeared confused, bewildered and frightened.

For such a filthy rich leader with such a fearsome effect on his people and others, his final moments of facing humiliation and brutality at the hands of his enemies must be something he could never have imagined.

He was constantly fed with good news by his aides that most of his people loved him. The news on how he might have died in a brutal and extra-judicial manner (illegal under UN rules) must also come as a worst kind of nightmare for incumbent leaders in countries such as Syria and Yemen which are in a similar situation.

To live and die like Steve Jobs would be a great honour for any man even for one day. But for Muammar Gaddafi, he ruled for 42 years and death greeted him far worse than a "mad dog". Beyond the wall of death comes a lesson about living and doing the right things for humanity.

The writer believes that what goes around comes around. He can be contacted [e-mail] Comments: [e-mail] (The SunDaily)