| This question <102|83> overall <102|104> Jimi: <41|144>. |
| Question 90: Have we gotten away from this personality cult in a modern democracy? |
| [103] Jimi: Cult of Personality---Everywhere you look. I agree with Tripper's assertion that we have not gotten away from (nor, in my opinion, likely will we ever get away from) such a personality cult. But I would like to respond to the question that Tripper posed in the final paragraph of his submission [83]. He wonders why question 90 ends with the word ‘democracy’ instead of ‘society’. Certainly there are personality cults in other types of society. People express their devotion to certain figures that embody a certain role for them all the time, but in the context of Marx's metaphor (which addresses political leaders), I thinks it's totally appropriate that the question ends with ‘democracy’. In a democratic system, it is the personality cult that gets a certain leader elected. It is how well the candidate persuades us that he/she is the embodiment of what we see as ‘your majesty’ that gets him/her elected. It is how well he/she assembles a ‘cult’ around him/her that wins the office. Now, whether the elected leader actually possesses those qualities we feel a leader should have is another issue. |
| The relevance of the question being about democracy is this: we in a democracy constantly align ourselves with certain individuals that we think fit into our images of what a leader should be. From this alignment there constantly arises personality cults. Everyday. All the time. |
| There is one important difference between Marx's metaphor and the idea of personality cults in a democracy. In the metaphor, the people had little choice, they basically had to adjust to the characteristics of the new king. In a democracy, the candidate must first convince the people that he/she is what they want for a king, then only after being elected will he/she reveal his/her version of what a king is. The people will either adjust, or look for some new ‘personality’ to elect. |
| Hans: You wrote: |
| Now, whether the elected leader actually possesses those qualities we feel a leader should have is another issue. |
| I would even go one step further and question whether we need leaders at all. |
| There is one important difference between Marx's metaphor and the idea of personality cults in a democracy. In the metaphor, the people had little choice, they basically had to adjust to the characteristics of the new king. In a democracy, the candidate must first convince the people that he/she is what they want for a king, then only after being elected will he/she reveal his/her version of what a king is. The people will either adjust, or look for some new ‘personality’ to elect. |
| This is a very good observation. In a democracy, people actively take part in the process of their own subjugation. |
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