The evolution of politics in the U. S. is only a symptom of the collective consciousness of our people, as reactions to the much-anticipated “Nunes Memo” makes stark. So-called “thought leaders,” who, in earlier times, might have been recognized as “leaders” by any definition worthy of follow-ship, are now best identified by a mix of shrillness and hypocrisy, the latter readily ignored by erstwhile and very temporary “followers.”
Any Gen-X’er or Millennial who stumbles across this scree is advised to watch “Saving Private Ryan” or “Apollo 13,” where he or she might get a glimpse of real adversity, dignity and bravery. Shouting at people with whom you suddenly disagree doesn’t begin even to cast a shadow in the sunlight of true grit. Who are the “thought leaders” of these most recent generations? Barack Obama, may be one, although none of his great thoughts come to mind; just as much so is Colin Kaepernick, just as hard to comprehend. And looming over Hollywood there is always Barbra Streisand. For both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama Saul Alinsky was a thought leader, as he was for a generation of radicals. Thought leaders, all.
Universities – in the “West,” at least – no longer place much emphasis on historical thought leaders, nor much on history, itself, sadly. It is as though their role in preserving and increasing knowledge of western civilization is no longer worth the price of admission, which is trending toward the upper half of a hundred thousand bucks a year. For those kinds of dollars one’s sons and daughters deserve safe spaces where never is heard a discouraging word. Real debate requires grief counseling – parents have paid enough to get some.
George Soros might be a thought leader. He certainly has enough followers, including those he pays minimum wage to riot on call. But, there’s the nagging question, what does he THINK? And, the gloomy corollary, what could his followers be thinking?
Soros thinks, in part, that a system of governance in which individuals are sovereign – like that outlined by the U. S. Constitution – must not be tolerated on this planet, he being a rabid socialist. We also know that when Nazis were actively collecting and killing Jews like himself, that renouncing his faith, family, heritage and neighbors was not too high a price to pay to preserve his own life and comfort when all one need do was cooperate with Hitler’s Fascists, perhaps helping them steal Jews’ property. No regrets, he says, and one might suppose his followers think the same way, as do partners, colleagues, compatriots and comrades who either have or hope to benefit from Soros’ wealth, whether an influential Democrat or a $15-an-hour “antifa” thug. We need not probe too deeply into the erstwhile meaning of “antifa,” but Soros has bought, at least, a place in the thought-leader coven.
Many other political and government types see themselves as thought leaders. They do their damnedest to lead the news whenever possible, but there they must compete with supposed journalists who are vying for their own places in the thought-leader cabal. Dismayingly, thanks to Twitter, Facebook, You-Tube and the like, many of both groups do lead thousands of people’s thoughts, even if only for a few hours… or minutes. It’s heady stuff, nevertheless.
Mr. Trump has long thought he could lead some thoughts and a good slogan and article of clothing can do that, as evidenced by Madonna, for one example, and “KISS” for another. Still, he does lead a lot of thinking in that everyone seems to think about him, whether skeptical, neutral, favorable or downright hateful. People are in various tizzies since Trump decided to run, never mind since being elected, including great thinkers like Nancy Pelosi and Joy Behar of NBC. Prudence isn’t sure whether great connivance is the same as great thinking. Maybe.
One can recall when Billy Graham and a handful of other faith leaders were also thought leaders, in that large numbers of people attuned their beliefs to theirs. In the “old” days, one might say, Cardinals in the Catholic Church were in that same role, in the sense that the Pope was a thought leader for the faithful. Prudence indicates that their role has diminished significantly, largely from self-inflicted, festering wounds. Western civilization overall has an abiding stake in the success and purity of the Roman Catholic Church. No matter one’s own path of faith, that purity is worthy of prayer. Indeed, the purity of EVERY Christian path is worthy of prayer, but each of those will have to find the strength to ignore popular culture and the attractions of money. Few have. Still, it is only in folly that we attempt, societally, to disavow the thought leadership of our Judeo-Christian heritage and history, since it underlies our laws, our origins, our forms of economics and capitalism and our sacrificial sense of justice. There is no single thought pattern stronger or more pervasive than what is described in the Bible, much as we wish there were no rights or wrongs or, for their matter, conscience.
Regardless of our half-baked feelings and weird higher education “leaders,” every society with endurance requires an abiding, overarching thought or belief in its mission… or purpose… or, failing those, right to survive. “Balkanization” became a verb for good reason. It names and describes how and why a nation held together by force will fracture along racial, tribal, religious and cultural lines, whereupon old hatreds, temporarily shrouded, again by force, will spill out into murderous, brutal conflict.
That is a fate to which the United States is not immune… not on the path we are following now.
Why? What do we think about that? Do we even hold congruent opinions, or beliefs about our direction? Our future? Karl Marx was and lately, is, a thought-leader, who later in life had to forego many of his twisted economic thoughts, since he had not factored in freedom, economic and otherwise. We might consider that devotees of Marxism, like Trotsky, Lenin, Stalin, Mao Tse-Dung, Pol Pot, Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and, also of late, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, were also thought-leaders, but their thoughts have destroyed not only dozens of economies but tens of millions of their citizens. That isn’t easy to conceive of or even feel badly about – if you’d ever heard of the events – but one can imagine a gymnasium, let’s say with 100 people in it: it’s only 10 rows with 10 people in each row. One might even know all 100 of them.
But to appreciate these historic thought-leaders we’d have to imagine, say, 250 such gymnasiums just in Massachusetts and with a little help from one’s phone, realize that that is only 25,000 souls. Hmmmnnn… Various kinds of Communist and National Socialist thinking have eliminated over 100,000,000 people – friends, neighbors, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters and more. That’s at least 4,000 Massachusetts-es worth of gyms. Is that enough murders to care about? They make Hitler, alone, a very junior partner. Does Marxism lead your thoughts? How in Hell has communism gained favor among American youth? For whom is this change a measure of success?
Somebody… some thought-leader, so called. It makes one a little happy to be at this end of his life and a little sorry for today’s youngsters who will mature in an America where the thoughts of knuckleheads will be “leading.”