The Great Leader

Frank Chodorov

[Reprinted from Fragments, Vol.III, No.1]

Now that the birth of the Great Society has been announced with joyous fanfare, the time has come to study the mental processes of its arch-priest, the Great Leader.

Why do people seek a "leader"? Simply because they lack confidence in themselves. They repose their trust, instead, in the one person whose pursuits are non-productive.

Take President Johnson for example. Here is a man who has no interest in economics, and knows no economic laws except those which affect hit political prestige, Whatever he says -- whether it be in regard to Viet Nam or the "war on poverty" or land conservation -- must be considered from the strictly political point of view. If an economic proposal is "good" politics, it is good economics. This is as far as hit economic wisdom can go.

There are two methods of making a living. The first it the economic method. The vast mass of the people make their living in this fashion. They utilize the laws of nature to create values. They are the producers. The second is the political method. This it the method of criminals and politicians who live either by stealing or by taxing. They produce nothing. They give nothing. They only take. For their talents, they are either put behind bars, or get the adulation of the public. The more promises the politician gives (and this is the only thing he may be said to "give"), the more gratitude does he get.

After being elevated to hit pinnacle, the Great Leader begins to take himself seriously. He resents criticism. He recognizes that he has been chosen by Destiny to lead hit people out of the wilderness. Hit pronouncements are wildly acclaimed. He becomes the Savior of Mankind. The people begin to regard him as their Benefactor and Guardian Angel.

Some day, perhaps, this nation may again become a nation of people not bureaucrats - and the Great Leader may have to scrounge around for an honest living. When that day comes, this essay will become obsolete.