Tuesday, August 5, 2014

On the Great Man Theory of Historical Analysis

I despise it. a) It all too often equates impactfulness with greatness (sorry, but I'm just not sensing all that much greatness when it comes to vile bastards like Napoleon and Lenin) and b) it totally ignores the wider environment which helped to create these individuals (it's hugely simplistic, in other words). I mean, I know that western mind has a tendency to look for massive shiny objects, straight lines, and all sorts of other bullshit but on this one they may have truly jumped the shark. 

2 comments:

dmarks said...

It works in Superman comics... but not in the real world.

The really really powerful men are typically not heroes.

Society advances, and becomes more just, civilized and prosperous by focusing on the greatness of the individuals, not the rulers.

"I know that western mind has a tendency to look for massive shiny objects"

It is a human tendency that goes back even before Homo Sapiens. It is regressive, and unfortunate. But there are echos of the worship of the "alpha male" when school choirs are commanded to sing worship hymns to Obama when he got elected.

Whatever Bush's flaws, I don't recall anywhere near the worship of him as Obama has gotten. It is this mindset which makes the rise of fascist leaders so easy, so much of the time.

No, Obama is not one of them. But this is not a good thing. The US should be a nation of Constitutional law. Not one of Obama issuing executive orders because he is too piss-poor of an effective leader to convince the country to support his unpopular ideas.

BB-Idaho said...

Napoleon? He was a pastry
guy. Him and Otto von Bismark :)