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The Gaffer's Philosophy:
Part 22, Not for the Rabble:
September 30, 2002:
This essay is out of place. It should have been at the beginning
of my philosophy series. However, I just recently began thinking
seriously about who I am addressing with these essays. I have
a friend who is among the handful of thoughtful people I know.
He is interested and he reads what I write, not always with agreement.
His comments are the cause of this essay.
In past essays, I have outlined some of what is wrong in our culture. These discussions always point to the citizen as the one who must step up and behave well. They always point to personal responsibility. I also point out that personal responsibility is a missing factor in our citizenry. Our particular culture has gone to an extreme in abdicating responsibility. Some of these thoughts have depressed my friend. His most compelling concern is about these citizens. How, he asks, are you going to change this hedonistic rabble?
Of course, the short answer is, I cannot change these people. I am not even addressing this to them. I assumed it was enough to use the phase, thoughtful people, but I find it is not. As clearly as I can say it, I am not writing for the rabble. I am writing for thoughtful people. I am writing this to people who can make changes. Now, let me expand on that.
The masses of rabble will always be part of our culture. Like the poor, they will always be with us. These are the people who will always go very fast in small circles on noisy machines of one kind or another. They will make a great deal of noise, wave their arms, and desperately pretend they are having fun. This is not a current thing. It is a historical human condition. In ancient Rome they did it with chariots. We cannot change that directly. It is the normal condition of any society.
The majority of the people will be rabble. This is not about wealth or position. It is about behavior. We identify rabble by the way they behave. It could be a factory worker wasting his weekends going in small circles on a noisy machine. It could be a billionaire wasting a fortune going around the world in a balloon.
We must face the fact that the mindset and behavior of most people is pitifully shallow. They have a selfish attitude toward their friends, neighbors, community, and the larger community. They care nothing for the future of mankind or the condition of the environment. The rabble always reproduce. Sometimes they also produce, and they always consume. They go through their lives with their minds void of any real thought, waiting to be manipulated; or lead. They are selfish, greedy, and shallow.
Human greed is a powerful leverage point for a political hack. Mr. common man does stand in his wallet when he considers how he will vote. He does not think about the long term best interest of mankind or even of America, nor even of his local community. His thinking is very short term and personal. This outlook is so common that I must conclude, most of us do not give a damn about our grandchildren or the world they will be facing.
Even my friends, when they discuss political issues, relate it back to their wallet. It matters not that many of them have not managed their financial situation well at all. They want the politicians to compensate that. A common phrase is, "That's my money he wants to spend." That is how we vote. That is how we are lead to vote. When we stand in our wallets to vote, it makes us very vulnerable to every hack politician out there. We will be susceptible to every cheap political ploy, outright lie, and false promise in the book. We will be manipulated through our greed. They will promise tax relief or some kind of financial advantage and buy our vote with our neighbors money.
Because of this normal condition of the "common folk," we need a leadership who can lead and direct them toward their own ultimate betterment. Most of our leaders are not qualified. They are consciously dishonest rabble and they pander to the basest instincts of the rabble. We do not need political buffoons to pander to our greed and dull mindedness for personal gain.
The question is not, how will you ever change these people? I cannot change these people, and I do not intend to. That is why all of the bleeding heart programs eventually fail. That is why Marxism failed. They attempt to change people instead of situations. They expect people to suddenly behave better that they obviously can.
The real question is, where is the person who will lead them? Where do we find the person who will con, shame, bully, and boot the rabble into behaving better, such that they might eventually become better? Who will make them want to be responsible for their behavior? I am not writing to or for the rabble. I am addressing thoughtful people. I am directing this work toward those handful of people who may have greatness within them. Contrary to common mythology, greatness is not thrust upon us. Great people see a need and step up to fill it. They seek out power to do what must be done.
What has made the difference throughout human history is not the masses, but those who lead them. It is a time for greatness, but, alas, we have no great leaders. Unless some true leadership emerges, we are doomed. Very few people are qualified for greatness in leadership. In America, at this time, I know of none. Kennedy might have been such a man, had he lived. It was not too long ago when he mouthed his famous phase, "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country," and people responded.
The response highlighted the moral void which existed in America at that time and a widespread desperation to be lead out of it. I know of no one who could have that effect now. The void still exists and grows like a tumor and there are no visible politicians who are qualified to change that. There are, so far as I can tell, no great men in America at this time. Hence America continues to decline.
Some people think that an intellect would be the right person to lead us. There are still people around who can't understand why Adlai Stevenson could never win. That is pure nonsense. A leader must be strong and appear strong. Intellect is not quite irrelevant, but demonstrable strength and will are most important in a leader. He must be positive and able to take command. No leader, no matter how clever, is going to convince anyone through argument and logic. It is sureness of action which causes the rabble to respond, not logic.
It's not about changing a mindset. It is about changing behavior. Leadership can do that. If we change behavior, the mindset may follow at some latter time. We cannot prevent the rabble from being dull. We cannot make them thoughtful. We can, however, convince them to behave well. We can, with the right leadership, inspire them to greater effort and even to excellence. With that, we might gradually evolve and become a superior species. That is a long term thing. We cannot expect it overnight.
This whole work is directed toward inspiring the right leadership. I hope there is at least one great leader somewhere in America. That is the person I am writing to. It is not the rabble who have failed, it is the leadership. Without honest leadership, the rabble cannot be expected to be more than what they are. The rabble want to and need to be lead and controlled. They want to believe they are free and equal, but they do not want the pain of thinking about what they ought to do. They need someone to tell them. They need in fact a true honest dominant.
This philosophy is not for the masses. No philosophy is for the masses. It is for thoughtful heroic people with a will to lead. It is for superior people. Regardless of the political rhetoric, we are not all equal. Some people are clearly superior. These are the ones who must lead us out of this mess.
The point of this work is to lay out a philosophy which can
be acquired and developed by thoughtful people. One of these people
must then step up to the task of leadership. That person will
be a true dominant in the best sense of the word. People will
respond to him and act to implement his directions. They will
begin to fix America. Without this leadership, none of the things
which need to be fixed can be fixed. I do not know if we will
ever find such leadership. Nonetheless, I still intend to go through
the laundry list of things that need to be fixed.
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