Follow the Leader? C. Robertson

BAFFLING to many reporters was the alleged change of character in Jim Jones. The tragic events in Guyana were said to ~~defy rational analysis." Unfortunately, however, the mechanics of mania are built into our fondest political and religious beliefs. They need only mass weari ness with responsibility, and a character with charisma, to set the wheels grinding down the final road to Jonestown. Are we not taught righteous loy alty to leadership in public school? Don't we learn surrender to another human being as saint or saviour in church? Aren't we trained to hope all our lives that ~~the right man" will come along, that the «right sys tem" will prevail? A would-be leader's sense of com passion and humanity may be genuine, or he may be nothing but a petty opportunist who sees a ready Mrs. Robertson has a background in journalism, education, and advertising, and live. In Los Angele. with her husband and daughter.

Constance Robertson Follow the Leader? market in religion or politics-but the outcome is the same. When this ((right man" tries to meet all the longings we dump upon him, when he sees that his own ecstatic and extravagant promises cannot be humanly met, what does he do? Can we expect him to publicly announce that it was all a mistake, folks, go on home? Or can we expect him to resort to expediency and de ception, in order to keep alive the fond illusion called leadership. And when we become uneasily aware that relinquishing our inter ests to another is not working, what do we do? Do we admit it looks like we were all wrong? That we should figure out things for ourselves? Or do we permit, even encourage our chosen leader to manufacture mira cles and present us with programs. Jim Jones' change in character is no mystery. By investing him with the responsibility for their interests, his followers corrupted him as surely as he later ruined them.

499 500 THE FREEMAN August Several decades ago in a nation torn by war and ravaged by infla tion, a man came along with a sys tem that offered strong medicine for hope, prosperity, and renewed pride. This man's passion and eloquence, his sincerity and dedication to his nation's rise, and his energetic radio presentations to reach the minds and hearts of the people-all com bined to assure the simple and the intellectual alike that a true leader had risen. Women swooned, men cried, and God was thanked that at last these beleaguered human beings could be led to their high and holy destiny-as· Master Race. Never mind that his System was imperfect, requiring hatred for indi viduality and usurpation of prop erty. All the suffering was for ((the common good." Never mind that their beloved leader fell into pathe tic fits and tantrums. Surely he was beleaguered by the burdens of great ness. Never mind the talk of mur ders and persecutions and personal aberrations. Great men are always misunderstood. His followers re mained loyal-to the end.

Hitler and his movement is his tory now, but human nature has not changed. We still pin our hopes on anyone who even talks about compe tence and vision-which are qual ities we need to develop in ourselves, not look for in others. But we are disarmed, for usually an influential creature comes cloaked in the garb of respectability, beguiling even himself in his dapper uniform, his politicians' pinstripes, or the vener ated robes of religion. How many of us are aware of Executive Order 11921? (Federal Register, Vol. 41, No. 116, June 15, 1976.) Should any President find (or desire to create) a cause to declare National Emergency, this Executive Order allows the following: complete government censorship, usurpation of all production and distribution facilities (food, water, power, health services), management of all high ways, streets, aviation equipment and facilities, plus more. It means complete control of the ways and means of our lives, if our leader even calls a situation a national emer gency.

I'm less concerned over that likely event than I am over our blind reac tion to it. Weary of our national malaise, concerned about world events, eager to have a renewed sense of direction, will we fall into the People's Temple trap? Will we, in fear and in gratitude, further em power a President with the surren der of our rightful responsibilities? In an emotional orgy of martial music and slick slogans, will we con fuse our individual ethics with ((our leader's" personal ambitions? Will generations hence wonder that we were impressed with a man's religious and dedicated at titude, that we were delighted with 1980 FOLLOW THE LEADER? 501 his righteous and charismatic anger? Will they comprehend how we slavishly rendered up our daily freedom, in misplaced hope and fear, to a President who could not resist ~~great leadership" and the ~~will of the people." I'm all for defending my country.

I'll fight if I have to, with a pen or a gun, for my family, my life, my lib erty, my· property. And I will join with those of a like mind, against all coercion, whether foreign or domes tic. But ~~my leader," in war and in peace, will have to fend for himself. I will not play Follow the Leader. The bloody footprints from that age-old con-game are smeared all over world history. I will not go down as another sad statistic, as one of mil lions who relied on their govern ment and trusted in their leader. History's most recent reminder of our human gullibility, of the degrad ing symbiosis between avid leader and devoted follower, was Guyana. Jim Jones skillfully combined reli gion and politics to establish leader ship over 1,000 conscientious and idealistic American people. How many more of us hold the same false beliefs-that our well-being is bet ter off under the influence of a leader and his organization?

Rather than a mystery, the loss of integrity, property, liberty, and life is the logical outcome of our attach ment to leaders and institutions. Degradation, despair, and death are the historically proven prices we pay for looking outside ourselves for sal vation. Our solutions lie within. Inspira tion is within. What we know as God is within each individual, no more so and no less so than in any other individual. We need only to cultivate our per sonal self-esteem, but in gratitude, not in arrogance. We need only to cultivate our self-reliance, but in awareness, not contempt, for the concerns of those around us. We can travel the middle path of Dignity, as neither Manipulator nor the Ma nipulated. We can exercise what we believe in an involved and responsi ble existence, but we need never sacrifice our life to the personal val ues of another. Shall we in the United States blunder into a debacle, surrendering in hopeful worship and obedience to a leader who touts ~~the common good" and ~~self-sacrifice"? Millions fell for that propaganda in Ger many. One thousand Americans fell for it in Guyana.

Or shall we choose to be aware and responsible individualists, whose love for our families, our country, and our God is expressed in a calculated disdain of leaders, causes, and mass movements. Know that we have a choice, in every action and attitude. Let free dom be. , Allan C. Brownfeld Knowledge and Decisions THOMAS SoWELL, professor of eco nomics at U.C.L.A. and the author of such important books as Classical Economics Reconsidered (1974) and Race and Economics (1975) is one of the most articulate advocates of the free market in the United States at the present time. Interestingly, the fact that he is black has caused many who might not otherwise carefully consider his work to pay it the attention it deserves. In this book, he illustrates in depth the superiority of the market to various forms of collective deci sion making, and shows the manner in which the collective idea has gained in the U.S., tracing trends in economics, law and politics which are moving us away from freedom.