There Are Giants Who Stride Across the Countryside
I recently had the opportunity to visit a Waldorf school. I was intrigued by the earth friendly curriculum and surroundings: natural beeswax crayons, other supplies made with natural fibre, the chemical free garden, and the holistic and artistic approach to learning. However, although I am not one who likes to challenge other people’s personal beliefs, I found the mythical and spiritual thinking a little disconcerting. I don’t believe that there are little gnomes living in the forest. I have always been a bit of a party pooper. Even as a child, I did not believe in things like Santa, the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy, although my skepticism did not prevent me from accepting gifts from these mealy-mouthed fraudsters.
We all have knowledge that others consider fantasies, whether we are adults or children. As a child, I did not believe in Santa or fairies, but I knew that there were giants who strode across the countryside. I saw them occasionally on television, in newspapers and magazines, in school auditoriums, and in the streets. They were our political leaders who seemed like supreme parents who commanded even our parents. In effect, they were guardians of our country. I still see them that way.
We do no one any favour when we try to cut off the legs of our best leaders. Like good parents, they should be templates for the way we live our lives. Because they are human, and not true gods, they are imperfect templates. But they should be templates nonetheless. When we engage in mindless and endless criticism, it breeds and reinforces a cynicism that can profound negative consequences. Across the political spectrum, recruiters complain that they are having great difficulty convincing good people to run for office. Voter turnout and political participation has been declining for years. Young people no longer dream of becoming Prime Minister, because few people today admire politicians.
Of course, some leaders are found to be corrupt or incompetent. But I don’t believe that there are more rascals among politicians than other folk, just that their misconduct is publicized more. Does anyone seriously believe that there are not journalists/bloggers who regularly make up stories or accept kickbacks from companies that they are profiling? Awhile back, some newspapers buried in their backpages a report of a journalist convicted of a serious sexual crime.
I encourage anyone, as an exercise in both flexible thinking and positive psychology, to drop (at least temporarily) hostile or negative feelings for our leaders, and attempt to conjure up warm feelings toward them. Feel free to pass on those positive feelings to me and any good news stories you hear about our political leaders.
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October 26th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Good parents don’t run their children’s lives. When we engage in mindless and endless praise it breeds and reenforces an acceptance of the status quo, this has profound negative consequences.
On a positive note and also derived from your article (though to be honest I doubt the veracity of your statement): if “[y]oung people no longer dream of becoming Prime Minister, because few people today admire politicians” than I am happier. Your statement implies that you want a Prime Minister motivated by admiration. Secondly it implies that the young people still interested in becoming Prime Minister might be motivated by something either than admiration. YAY, a generation of politicians motivated by anything else (except money) would be a positive development indeed.
October 26th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
I would like to thank Fraser for his comments. I did not state that good parents run their their children’s lives. Check the definition of template; it is a creative way of saying good parents are good role models. I think most people would agree with that statement. I do agree that excessive praise can have negative consequences. However, I am not necessarily promoting excessive, mindless praise, just some balance in terms of how we view politicians (although I agree with you that sometimes I am guilty of excessive praise of politicans. Given, however, the huge cynicism towards politicians in our society, I doubt that I have caused great harm). Finally, the reasons for career decisions are many, but to assume that admiration or status does not and/or should not play a role is naive.
October 26th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
I was saying that admiration should not play a role (I clearly agree that it does) in deciding whether or not to get into politics. The fact that being a politician can be a career choice in and of itself shows that we have a system that concentrates power in an alarming manner. I was merely pointing out that wanting to elect power hungry people is not good idea. Thinking that admiration or status should play a dominant role in career decisions is exactly the sort of in the box, templated thought pattern which causes us to hear so many negative stories: selfish inauthentic ideals lead to negative stories.
I am with you in not believing in perfect politicians. I applaud your template comment as I think it a good one. However my template of a good person involves thinking for oneself, not to be confused with the ever popular living for oneself, or the above mentioned templated thought patterns. My template of a good politician is one who is motivated by a vision of a better future for their constituents rather than for themselves. They champion the people and the country, they do not bestride either. I do not take a giant of fantastic origins as my template. I and, I think, most people want good, human leadership. Until I see it I will not be pouring on the praise, nor supporting anyone with donations of my resources.
Not voting is a statement of the people. Bad politicians make bad role models. Only in a fantasy does wishing for the hero cause them to emerge.
I grant you (not that truth is mine to grant) that excessive praise is unlikely to overwhelm this current political climate of negativity. Of course exceptions are obvious, namely inside of partisan lines. Do you think that enough spin is imparted upon our knowledge of events by politicians themselves? Canadians seem to.
October 28th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
One of the reasons that I think admiration, status, and even money are important for politicians is that we need to attract good candidates. It is not a popular point of view, but if we want good people to run (and despite the negatives about political life, some good people still run), I think we need to make this career choice more attractive to people. Steve Paikin’s book “The Life: the seductive call of politics” does a very good job of showing the good politicians do. His also does a good job in another book, showing how much garbage they have to put up with. I think both books are now out of print, but they are available in most libraries, and I recommend them both highly.