printable version PDF version

Leaders and Followers
by lex Saturday, Sep 1 2018, 9:08pm
international / prose / post

This situation prevails today as it has throughout human history -- the need of the weak to follow the strong. This became the most popular model when REAL leaders led their groups/tribes/nations by EXAMPLE and fought wars on the front line with their followers who were proud to fight for the cause that leaders espoused. We note the historical record in this regard, ancient Greek heroes, the foremost of which was Alexander. Roman Caesars who led their conquering armies and expanded the empire until it was subverted from within by money/corruption and the destructive intrigues of WEAK men’s politics.

In such a way were/are today’s new ‘leaders’ created. This new form of non-leader-leader is known by their dysfunctional and socially destructive pursuits, the most notable of which is creating disunity and needless conflict. If any nation today could benefit from understanding the causative factors of the fall of the Roman Empire, clearly the USA is the most likely, as its leaders do not lead BY EXAMPLE and have therefore forfeited any real leadership status, particularly to UNITE their heterogeneous populations. And so the result would be as was/is recorded in Roman history, COLLAPSE.

However, today the question is not about failed methods of managing mindless hordes, though Trump/America continues down this road to ruin, it is about the internal/personal battle for integrity, meaning and identity in a lost leaderless suicidal world, which is a consequence of hundreds of years of FAILED leadership, which in turn has pushed the population’s focus elsewhere. And so today we ALL face questions of existential meaning, personal identity/integrity and GROWTH as opposed to destruction -- as clearly our leaders have failed us.

In other words the converse of social devolution is personal evolution, which is one positive consequence of failed leadership.

Of course mindless non-entities would continue, in decreasing numbers, to fanatically follow ‘leaders’ like Trump or Putin, the former being an imbecile devoid of any notion of sensible policies, much less positive achievements; Trump is a walking failure in every regard, which portends a dire future for the USA and that applies post-Trump, as leaders continue to reflect the nature/character of their populations. Trump is merely symptomatic of an extremely sick disintegrating culture today.

Putin, however, is a shrewd intelligent politician, though he clearly lacks COURAGE, as a result he is weakening the Russian national character while he accrues hundreds of $millions in personal wealth. Soviet leaders of the past would never have tolerated the scorn, ridicule and REAL national security compromises which Putin passively allows; perhaps his cowardice has resulted in selfish pursuits -- his CORRUPTION may explain his huge personal wealth. The term traitor could easily be applied to Putin due to HIS track record and the sooner he is removed from power the sooner Russia would achieve its former greatness. Interestingly, Trump’s election slogan ‘make America great Again,’ is a lie, the USA was never ‘great’ as Russia was historically.

Afghanistan may be the graveyard of empires BUT Russia remains the destroyer of fascist would-be emperor-rulers, Napoleon and Hitler met their downfall when attempting to conquer Russia, only a fool would attempt to interfere with Russia today, take note American neocons, you have ALREADY bitten off more than you can chew. But to return to the personal.

While old leader-follower models fail before our eyes, people become socially ‘unleashed,’ so to speak, which forces self-confrontation, re-evaluation of the social status quo and hopefully increased awareness from which NEW models are formed, notwithstanding the same process produces extremist models, as states and leaders lose their connection with their ‘subjects,’ these subjects become easy prey for demagogues and would-be reformers; today’s leaders unconsciously accelerate this process as they create evermore division, fragmentation and DIS-unity, which of course produces confusion, desperation and social chaos. Social chaos externalised/internalised that prevails today is symptomatic of this transformative process and once it reaches a certain point (probably at the end of the 20th century) it cannot be reversed and must run its course.

The struggle today is both personal and social which creates fertile ground for new systems or new inspired leaders. Strong leaders usually emerge from chaotic, destructive environments, and are therefore well equipped to deal with what others consider to be crises, as these leaders have faced life-death crises all their lives. They are therefore easily able to overtake existing failed models/leaders, that is, by obliterating the ‘old’ while formulating the NEW, simultaneously -- which is a proven method of social integration that EXPLOITS the disillusionment, angst and loathing that people feel for the old (dis)order.

There is something very instinctively appealing about destroying the old and the prospect of creating something NEW, which would of course involve razing every suicidal aspect of the old model/system to the ground and beginning anew.

This socially intoxicating formula need only be expressed by a REAL charismatic, intelligent, COURAGEOUS leader today, expressed as instinctive, emotive, inspiring ideals, as old leaders have already gifted their subjects to NEW leaders for exploitation or for other more noble purposes.