The Great Man Theory: Is Modern Liberalism a Zombie Faith?
On July 21, 2024, Joe Biden ended his bid to be reelected president. Today—two months and five days later—Kamala Harris is the Democratic nominee. Next week, if a scandal breaks and Harris must drop out, Tim Walz could easily slide into the top spot.
But really, does it even matter?
There are many ways to interpret history. In the 19th century, “The Great Man Theory” emerged as the preeminent academic lens. Scottish historian and philosopher Thomas Carlyle summarized The Great Man theory thusly: “The History of the world is but the Biography of great men.”
It’s a rather straightforward worldview: Great men accomplish great things. Therefore, the driving force of large-scale historical arcs is powerful, courageous leaders—men like Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Shakespeare, Napoleon, Washington, etc. They’ve bent, shaped, and contorted the world in accordance with their unique vision.
The antithetical worldview is “History from Below.” Also known as social history, it rose to prominence in the 1960s and posits that The Great Man Theory is inaccurate, unfair, and elitist. Instead, history is driven by society itself—all the “normal people” just trying to get by—and the notion of “Great Men” is actually a myth.
There are no great men: Just byproducts, beneficiaries, and plunderers of our existing social structure. To quote Barack Obama in 2012: “You didn’t build that.”
The “History from Below” concept can be analogized to a surfer riding a wave: Sure, someone had to ride the wave, but the surfer isn’t responsible for making the tides roll in or out. He just happened to be there at the optimal time. And if it weren’t him, it would just be someone else.
As you’ve probably anticipated, there’s a stark political divide between the two philosophies. Conservatives tend to side with The Great Man Theory—after all, it’s highly compatible with conservative beliefs of rugged individualism, personal autonomy, and the heroic nature of man. Liberals prefer the History from Below Theory, which negates individualism, personal accountability, and the entrepreneurial mindset and solely credits society at large.
With this in mind, it’s fascinating to analyze the Republican Party and the Democratic Party through these two prisms:
The MAGA movement is 100% aligned with The Great Man Theory. That’s its raison d'être: It’s gonna take a Great Man to Make America Great Again. A dude like Jeb! won’t cut the mustard. We need Trump(!).
But for the Democrats, they’re running in the exact opposite direction: Great men don’t exist; there are no great men. So, the only thing that matters is the liberal agenda. And if the liberal agenda needs to swap one leader for another—i.e., go from Clinton to Gore to Kerry to Obama to Hillary to Biden to Harris—it doesn’t really matter because leaders are irrelevant.
“You didn’t build that.”
Even if you passionately disagree with their worldview, don’t dismiss the sincerity of the Left: They truly, completely, 100% drank the Kool-Aid. This isn’t lip-service but a core tenant of modern liberalism. (It makes sense: If the Democrats thought differently... well, they’d be Republicans.)
From a conservative’s perspective, this means it’s immaterial if it’s Biden, Harris, Walz, or anyone else on the top of the ticket. Liberalism is a movement with a large body, a minuscule head, and mob-like tendencies. (This makes them panicky and prone to wild overreactions.) This isn’t an ideology that follows a leader; instead, it appoints different flagbearers to march a little bit ahead, but make no mistake: The liberal movement is moving all on its own.
Your head is for thinking; your heart is for feeling. Since day one, liberalism has always been far more concerned with emotions than thought—with symbolism over substance. And so, it’s become a zombie faith—reliant not on new ideas, innovation, or the dreams of its leaders but on the emotional trajectory of its followers.
It is because it was.
Right now, we have a zombie president. Nobody knows the true extent of Biden’s mental deterioration, but he’s clearly diminished. No matter: Liberals don’t need no stinkin’ leaders. Day or night, today or tomorrow, it’s irrelevant. All that matters to the movement is the movement.
As far as Machiavellian gameplans go, it's not too bad: Hey, zombies are hard to kill.
It’s why liberals have been so successful at fundamentally changing America.
No comments:
Post a Comment