Tuesday, May 01, 2012
A Great Man...
His landmark work on the dangers of unbridled commercial excess won him several prestigious awards in Canada, Europe, and America. He has been nominated for a Nobel Prize several times, once for the coveted Peace Prize.
He has warned us of the threats posed by greed and unnecessary consumption.
Academics across the globe have praised him for his blunt honesty and selfless concern for the downtrodden and less fortunate.
In spite of his scientifically proven conclusions he is mocked by some for his warnings that humankind's days may be numbered.
He knows that we all must unite as one, that no one should d be elevated socially or materially above others. He's got a plan, and since he's a genius we'd be fools to not listen to him.
We all know this man for we read of him and his beliefs everyday in books, classrooms, and television news. This man is everywhere...yet, nowhere.
Because, ...this man doesn't exist. He's a composite fabrication of the fantasies held by many who create and dispense the information and values that many of us buy into.
Unlike Dos Equis' famous "most interesting man in the world," The Great Man is not funny. He's not even interesting. But we're supposed to take him seriously.
He's idolized as the most profound man in the world but when his type shows up as a real human being, we find out that his books are boring and wouldn't even be sold if they weren't amongst required reading at high schools and Universities. For all the descriptions of his humanity and humility he usually lives the high life, mingling with fawning celebrities, traveling the globe, and retiring in a couple of expensive homes. He virtually never practices what he preaches.
Occasionally clowns like "the Great Man" actually obtain power over nations, ...and then lots of people die. But he keeps coming back and people keep believing him...and then more people die. If you're lucky, you'll merely be inconvenienced and not live life as fully as if he were not the "great" man some think he is.
He's a "great man" to a small clique of elitist snobs and ideologues and that's not a problem really. The problem occurs when many of our fellow citizens believe the "great man" and the people who sell him. The problem is when supposed greatness moves side by side with stupidity in numbers.
