Does the title convey the message to you clearly? If not, picture this:
You’ve just updated a program such as iTunes, it doesn’t have to be iTunes, any program will work. Before you can use the program it wants you to read this massive End User License Agreement and then click that you agree.
If you’re like me, you probably don’t read the agreement at all. Some people do, some people skim it, but most of us, I think it’s safe to say, just scroll right to the end and hit agree.
As we are scrolling to the end or skimming it looks like this. “Damn I hate these…scroll, scroll, this is stupid, that’s stupid, scroll, scroll, more stupid stuff, more stupid stuff, scroll scroll, don’t care, don’t care, scroll scroll, ah there we go, I agree”
Would it disturb you if I said that most of our representatives in the house and the senate, even including the president, take on this same method of agreeing to defend the constitution?
Would you be surprised if I said most of them probably haven’t even read it? Even more don’t understand what it even means or why it was made, and just about everyone of them just acknowledges it’s something they must do in order to get sworn into office.
It’s kind of like swearing to tell the truth in court. If you don’t do it, you can’t talk at all or be heard, so people do it anyways just as part of the process, regardless of what they are about to say, truth or not.
Not too long ago, South Park did an episode on the iTunes agreement. Since no one reads it, no one knows what it says, then Apple started enforcing the agreement and they were baffled as to what was actually in it when it was read. Here’s a video clip from that episode.
What Makes a Good Leader?
So the real issue is not whether or not our representatives read and understand the constitution, even though it would be nice that all of them should. However, the real problem is that people have forgotten how to elect leaders. There is a huge disconnect in what qualifies someone to be a leader and what doesn’t, so let’s make a list here and then I’ll explain it.
What doesn’t inherently mean you will be a good leader (not even close to all inclusive).
- Being popular or famous
- Having a high level of education such as a PhD
- Being a lawyer or in another professional trade
- Being rich or making a lot of money
Let’s examine!
Being Popular or Famous
Could someone like Michael Jordan be president?
Sure, if he ran there might be enough people to elect him. But should he be?
He is arguably (I don’t think it’s arguable but you might) the best player to have ever played basketball. He’s famous and he’s rich. Does this mean he should be President? Some of you might say yes, but I ask you, what is it that he’s done that would make him be a good leader of the most powerful country in the world? Does he know anything about economics and can he solve major problems? This is all stuff that should be taken into consideration.
Here are some good traits he might have from his career as a professional basketball player.
- Ability to lead and work under pressure
- Positive attitude when behind
- Inspirational or motivating to be around
Those are some good traits, but that doesn’t qualify him as a good leader; so why would someone who’s popular or famous make a good leader?
They don’t unless they have other traits as well that qualify them.
Having a High Level of Education or Being in a Professional Trade
This one is simple. If you’re a doctor you belong in a hospital or in a practice treating people with medicine, there’s nothing about being a doctor that qualifies you as a leader. Being “smart” isn’t a requirement to be a leader, besides, if you’re a doctor, are you really smart or did you just follow what the system told you to do in order to graduate? We don’t want those people in office based solely on their education, I’ve met a lot of PhD morons in the workplace.
If you’re a lawyer, you belong in a court room, probably debating whether or not Obama care is constitutional or not. You do not belong in a position as President passing things like Obamacare (*cough). Just because you’re a lawyer or have a high level of education doesn’t mean you’ll be a good leader, you must take everything into consideration.
Being Rich or Making a lot of Money
Anyone in particular come to mind? How about Donald Trump?
You might think he’d make a good president because he’s a successful businessman and he runs a popular TV show, but you left out the fact that he’s an idiot in foreign policy and other things. A president and leader has to be solid in everything.
At best, he’d make a good addition to congress because he’s been in a leadership position and managed a business before, that’s essentially what America is, a business. But you also have to take into consideration, he’s gone bankrupt at least twice; we can’t afford a bankruptcy with America, although we are heading toward one.
So what makes a good leader?
There are absolutely a few requirements that leaders in congress and the senate should have, there are others but this is a blog post, not a book so I’m keeping it short. These traits don’t have to belong to each individual but the collective should have a mix of people who are good at these things.
- Problem Solving
- Leadership
- Management
Problem Solving
Somehow it has long been forgotten that the actual degree or educational background to have to be a good leader is Philosophy. Philosophy should be a requirement to be in a leadership position. Having a background in Philosophy will ensure that you can problem solve and creatively think. Romes Senate consisted of mainly Philosophers or “wise-men”, to get into the Senate it was a minimum requirement that you had to have been at least a Quaestor.
Here is what a Quaestor did: “administered finances of state treasury and served in various capacities in the provinces; when elected quaestor, a man automatically became eligible for membership in the Senate, though censors had to appoint him to fill a vacancy”
Depending on what source you believe the Roman Empire was the greatest and longest lasting empire to ever exist, including the reign of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) it went from approximately 44 BC to 1453 AD until it was conquered by the Ottoman Empire.
America was setup in a similar structure and already we are falling apart after just over 200 years.
We have no minimum requirements for our leaders, just age. Most people don’t seem to care who leads and some don’t think it matters, but obviously, it does matter. People say keep your politics to yourself, and that’s where we went wrong. More people need to be involved and more discussions need to take place in order to turn us back around in the right direction.
Another degree or educational background to have that would help in problem solving would be history. If the Senate / Congress was comprised of Historians and Philosophers, all having studied the constitution and the motivation behind it, with a few leaders and managers, you would see a different, and better America. Unfortunately, our current leader is a lawyer and our congress is comprised mainly of rejects and idiots who couldn’t find employment elsewhere in the economy.
Leadership
The ability to inspire and gather people behind an idea, a theory, or your set of principles. A leader is very passionate. Throughout history there have been many great leaders, like Martin Luther King Jr., Jesus, and even Hitler (not that I think what he did with his position was good at all but he had this trait and I want to illustrate what can happen when you have a good leader with bad principles).
These people are able to inspire and spread messages. We need these people in our government. Our current President is such a person, he was able to inspire millions of Americans. He is a great public speaker. But due to the lack of qualifications in the congress and senate; the ideas he’s gathering people behind are destined for epic failure of massive proportions.
Management
It would seem kind of obvious, to me at least, that in order to manage a $3.7 trillion budget, that we would want our leaders to have some type of management or business management experience. I’m not talking about a degree in Business Management, those types of degrees are jokes, and I hope you’re offended if you went and got one.
But I’m talking about the farmer who runs his own farm, the small business owner who handles the books, or even the CEO of a huge industry. These people know what it’s like to be involved with every part of managing budgets, people, resources, and so much more.
Would it be a real big surprise if I told you that the farmer living next door to you is more qualified to be in office than most of the congress? It shouldn’t be. That’s the reality of it.
Before the federal government went rampant and starting claiming control over everything, your local leaders were made up of the local businessmen in town. These people know what needs to be done and how to get it done. You may have local councils that are still primarily made up of these people and you probably notice your city functions better than the federal government.
What We Have Instead
What we have instead of the 535 members of congress and the senate is a mixture of trade professionals such as doctors and lawyers. A mixture of rich people who make money off government policies by investing and abusing the loopholes. A mixture of people who have never managed a business in their lives. There aren’t very many historians or philosophers, in fact, philosophy has probably dedicated part of it’s studies to some of these congressmen and senators in trying to figure out what the hell they are thinking. And finally, hardly anyone understands the Constitution, which is the founding document for America. It’s what made America what it is and it was designed to protect it.
The Judicial Branch is also full of judges now who don’t even understand the Constitution, how sad is that? I saw a ruling the other day that said this verbatim:
Humans…
“Do not have a fundamental right to own and use a dairy cow or a dairy herd;”
“Do not have a fundamental right to consume the milk from their own cow;”
“Do not have a fundamental right to board their cow at the farm of a farmer;”
“Do not have a fundamental right to produce and consume the foods of their choice;” and
Cannot enter into private contracts without State police power intervention.
You can find that ruling here: http://foodfreedom.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/ftcldf-09-09-11-no-right-to-own-a-cow.pdf
The way to fix America is to start educating the general population on what they should consider when electing their next leaders.. Get them thinking about things that aren’t so one-dimensional. Start proposing questions that make them think harder than whether or not a candidate is pro-life. Perhaps, “Yes he’s pro-life, but he wants to kill millions of innocent civilians and children in other countries by putting us into pre-emptive wars. This will burn all of our money, put us in a deficit, and probably effect your social security”
There’s a way to get through to people if you really think about it.
I want to also say before I close this out that I don’t think the entire congress and senate is full of bad leaders or rejects. I have already identified the ones that aren’t for myself and I hope you have too. You may think it’s kind of strange that I am writing to tell you what makes a good leader. You may be thinking, “Who does this guy think he is to tell us what makes a good leader.”
To that I simply say, “Fuck you, I’m Thomas Van.”
If you are offended by what I said here, then the person you elected probably doesn’t fit the criteria of being a good leader, and that’s for you to deal with, not me.
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