Have you seen the bumper sticker which states "I may be a slow, bad driver but I'm still ahead of you!”?
We ought, as a nation, to see ourselves as behind the Big Egos and Big Mouths who increasingly establish themselves as our political leadership, at every level of government. Why does a society comprised of so many reasonable, competent, and responsible people allow itself to have leadership whose claims to hierarchy come from mere will and ego-driven marketing skills?
The conventional components of good leadership, comprised of competence, experience, good character, and dedication to the position, have been severely deprecated in recent times. ( No need to state any examples here, as the history is well documented.)
Social science and history have long recognized the ability of Big Egos and Big Mouths to rally democratic populaces by techniques involving manipulation of the emotions of fear, distrust, and hate; and appeals to tribalism and strongman governance. Appeals to the more primitive experiences tend to be exceptionally powerful, especially as for most people, the world is a scary, cruel place.
Since the end of the monarchical system a couple of centuries ago liberal democracies in much of the world (dominated by a political elite) designed governmental systems to counter the the influence of rogue alphas and unruly mass populaces. They created republican structures, systems of separation of powers and checks and balances, and similar elements. Our own Federalist Papers devote much discussion and planning to the issue.
Those strategies and techniques are no longer effective. Modern communication means, weaknesses of traditional political organizations, lack of trustworthiness in nearly all of our institutions, and functional obsolescence of much of the political processes have rendered liberal democracies vulnerable to exploitation by the loudest and most manipulative of Big Egos/Mouths. (Check the index of the democracies of the world, now declining nearly everywhere.) The discontented masses, having no decent options and prompted by unscrupulous, self-serving rogues, act to clog up rational governance by destructive opposition and resistance.
Americans can no longer dismiss our vulnerability by believing that the US is immune from what has happened to Russia, Poland, Hungary, Brazil, and other democracies. Even the most advanced societies—of the European Union—are becoming increasingly regressing into dysfunction. (Consider the Brexit debacle.)
Americans are seeing the consequences of Big EgoMouth leadership in ego/personal politics-driven actions where the US has estranged most of our best allies, disrupted international trade, rejected rationalizing international institutions, as well as demonstrating an ugly and incoherent management of the Covid-19 crisis. What's next?
Imagine a military crisis or even war with one of the other major nations. It is eminently possible (especially as elements of government— neocons for one – actually are pushing for that. Iran next?). We are subordinate and vulnerable to Big Ego/Mouth leadership having no suitable management skills, subject to impulse, and resistant to consequences for anyone or anything besides itself.
We have way too few institutions and other constraints on executive powers, especially foreign/military ones. The logic of this ought to be utterly petrifying to all right-minded, responsible Americans. If that possibility isn't scary then you are not paying enough attention! If that doesn't impel you to some kind of positive actions to correct this then you are not being responsible enough!
Historically, the elite class has accepted mediocre leadership because those leaders tended to follow well-established rules and mores and gave fealty to them. This essentially allowed the elite to dominate society as it saw fit. Any person who was electable sufficed as their leader.
However, recent history shows that elite control over Big Egos and Big Mouths is no longer effective. Even allowing that the political elite still gets pretty much what it wants and can work around much of the dysfunctional governance, it ought to be ashamed for enabling and tolerating the incoherence, meanness, and ugliness of our current political system. Where is our American decency? Where is the self respect?
The apparent attraction of these, mostly populist, Big Ego/Big Mouths leaders for the masses is on an irrational level. The masses, having been beaten up so much for so long, revel in the the disruptions and public antics of the Big Egos and Big Mouths as an emotional and psychological release and as satisfaction that doing something, even if it is ineffectual in any policy or objective sense, is better than taking it where the sun don't shine by the elite yet again. Yet, it is the worst characteristics of the populace which are being enabled and incentivized.
The private interest, self-absorbed element of the elite will not be too concerned about any of this as they still will make money and maintain their social status. The more socially responsible should be very concerned as the road to autocracy and the death of civil liberties can be clearly inferred. History shows that democracies are fragile entities. (Only 80 years ago the great German state spawned the Nazis and a world war.)
Already it is clear that liberal democracies are failing to govern responsibly, regressing in competence, and opening wide for corruption and autocratic cronyism. Even if the worst consequences can be contained, who wants to live in a society where extreme partisanship, class and racial conflicts, irrational governance, and hatefulness are a chronic pandemic?
The principles, structures, and processes of liberal democracy are obsolete. Only our governance, among all other social and cultural elements, has not evolved greatly since the 18th-Century.
The remedy must be 21st-Century smart, i.e., a Big Brain vs. a Big Mouth/Ego. We need a new paradigm of governance and social relations. That paradigm will provide new ways of seeing and thinking about social and public affairs. A new governance model will include collective rationality and fairness; smart structures and processes of governance based on reason, science, and professionalism; inclusivity; and a "shadow government" of ordinary citizens empowered by a new set of public values emphasizing a balance between private and public interests, meaningfulness of life beyond mere production and consumption, and a respect for ordinary citizens living the small life well.
Write a comment