Inspiration Vs. Manipulation

Aung San Suu Kyi and Malcolm X both are very motivated people who look to spread this motivation from with in them to the outside world; to use this for a better community and a better country. They want change for a higher quality of life, not just for themselves, but for their nation. Although, these two inspirational speakers are fighting for the same message, they have different ways of achieving it whether it is written towards self-realization or being upfront on the issue.

            Being courageous is the first step to motivation--for taking these risks of failure and setbacks of being thrown in to jail or hurt. Both speakers want this to be achieved for this reason. In Aung San Suu Kyi’s words taken from her “Freed from Fear” speech “Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.” She views fear as a common weakness that gets in the way of achieving the courage to stand up. Whether it’s fear of losing your power or being scorned by the power that governs you—“for fear is not the natural state of civilized man” this is why it has to be forgotten, and we have to learn how to work past it. Now here is where Aung San Suu Kyi and Malcolm X both come together and split apart; the two of them speak of the courage and attaining it, but Malcolm X is more direct and harsh with his message. He makes you feel dishonorable by being direct and saying “If you don’t take this kind of stand, your little children will grow up and look at you and think “shame.” He pulls on your heartstrings to—although good—manipulate you to take that stand. “Let your dying be reciprocal” as in be the one to lead to the pack, everyone else will follow in your footsteps; this is how Malcolm X uses the being the majority in his manipulation.

            This is where the two speakers differ greatly, Aung San Suu Kyi has a more calm and collected tone which she uses towards her inspiration for the listeners and meanwhile Malcolm X bridles his anger as his tone and aims it in the direction of manipulation. I think of Aung San Suu Kyi as more of a philosopher tone, she reminds me a lot of Thoreau who famously wrote “let your life be the counter friction to stop the machine.” They both write, like in this quote, about overcoming the fears to be the one to stand up. Their messages are something to think about that you have to let sink in and a lot of the time those are the most powerful. For instance she writes, “Saints, it has been said, are the sinners who go on trying.” The in depth thought it takes to process this helps you come to a self-realization that in return motivates you. In contract Malcolm X tells you directly what is wrong and what you have to do to fix it. “Any time you demonstrate against segregation and a man has the audacity to put a police dog on you, kill that dog, kill him, I’m telling you, kill that dog.” Here he tells you what is wrong with our society—our own policemen keep us from carrying out our own law. Also telling us the remedy for a particularly common situation, killing the dog. Malcolm X does not hold back in the least, his angry tone causes him to lash out with intense statements such as these. This can scare people into the manipulation of doing what he says.