Monday, April 12, 2010

A Ruler is No Leader

To rule...



...is to maintain power by facilitating and/or coercing the dependency of others upon ones self. "Do as I say, not as I do". To a Ruler, Superiority means depriving others of power; it means limiting other people so the Ruler is superior by contrast.

To lead...



...is to maintain power by facilitating the independence of ones self with such success that the method of facilitation is emulated by others- they follow the Leader voluntarily. "Do as I do, for I do it the best". To a Leader, Superiority means only that the Leader is superior now to what he once was. It means following the creed, "If each time I try I do my best, then my best gets better with each time I try".

Acting on that creed means that who one is now, is superior to who one was in the past, and that is the standard, the contrast. Measuring ones self now against who one was before, and what one had accomplished in the past, instead of measuring ones self against other people.

In those words are the very kernel of our society, our republic, our Nation. As we fail to either Lead or Follow, and instead allow ourselves to be Subjects of the endless flow of would-be Rulers, the eternal rebirth of America in each generation withers and begins to cease altogether.

The Revolution starts in your own mind.

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