Follow the Leader

  Leaders. Ever wonder why we have them? Or what does it take to make a leader? Are they different from the rest of us? Sometimes we idolize our leaders. Sometimes we revile them. Sometimes we write books about them. Sometimes we kill them like dogs in the street. But we always have one around. When one steps down - or is killed - there is always another ready to take his place. Do we just like having someone to blame when things go wrong? Can’t we find our own path without them? Are we so lazy that we would turn over all our own personal sovereignty to someone else in order to not have to make our own decisions? I remember reading in the Bible about the early Hebrews. They were a nation without a secular king. They looked around and saw that all the other nations had kings. So they clamored to God for a king so they could be like everybody else. God advised against it. He told them they were better off without a king. And if they had a king, they would open themselves up to all kinds of new problems. Abuse of power is one that comes to mind. A vainglorious king might be easily insulted and bring the whole nation to war over some perceived slight. An ambitious king might embark on generations of expansionism causing his people to suffer and die in great numbers in the process. A paranoid king might spy on his own people without their permission or knowledge. The Hebrews didn’t listen to God. So, God gave in and anointed them a king. And the nations of the Hebrews have been in turmoil ever since.

  In this country we go through a long process to elect our leaders. Supposedly it’s a democratic process where anyone can run and has the chance to win. It doesn’t really work that way. And every four years someone is “elected” to be our new leader. They say he or she is elected by the majority. But the majority of eligible people in this country don’t vote. So that means our leaders are elected by a small minority to lead us all for at least four years. More people vote for the next “American Idol” than they do for president sometimes. With today’s technology, why couldn’t we set up a system where everyone could vote instantaneously on every issue?  Need a new road built through your state? Everyone in the state votes electronically and bam…the people in that state let you know if they are willing to pay for the project. Then they vote on who gets to build it if the project passes. And they must decide how to pay for the project. Voila! A leaderless society that is truly democratic. But then who would we have to blame when the road didn’t get built correctly? Or who would we blame if it cost way more than the original estimate? Whose head would roll? We like to blame our leaders when things don’t go the way we think they should. But we rarely do anything about it. Sure we bitch and moan. We might even write nasty things about them in the newspapers. Or ridicule them on the late night talk shows. But we don’t usually go further than that. After all, leaders sometimes have the power (that we gave them, by the way) to make you have a very bad day if you bitch and moan too loudly.

  So who in their right mind would want to be a leader anyway? What does it take to step up and say, “Yes, I will show you the way.”  What rational human being would want to be the alpha male, the big dog, the head cheese, the decider? And why would they want to? Is it for the money? Most of them are rich already. The power? Most have power – hey they’re rich and powerful enough when they step out there – or at least you would think so. The Fame and Glory? Even knowing that if you don’t do what the public thinks you should, it might be your head rolling in the street. Is it worth the risk? And we’ve all seen the toll being the leader takes on most folks. Most of our presidents have gone into the job looking young and vigorous. Then they come out looking old and tired – if they manage to come out alive that is.

  So, raise your hand if you want to be the leader of the free world. Or even of the not so free world. I suspect not many hands went up. So what kind of person would really want to be a leader? Just stepping up there and saying, “I’ll do it,” makes me question, if not their sanity, at least their motives. And the fact that we have had leaders through most of our history and followed them even when we could clearly see the cliff up ahead makes me question our own sanity. Why couldn’t the Hebrews, and the rest of us, just listened to God in the first place? I suspect that if we had, history classes in school would be much more boring than they are already. So maybe that’s why we do it. Entertainment. After all, we all like to watch a fool dancing and prancing around up on a stage. They might be good for a few laughs. But is the show really worth the price of admission? I, for one, think not.