Leadership in a Time of Crisis

Leaders at every level – family, workplace, community, and nation – should never tolerate the misleadership that presides over the long-standing crises of economic mismanagement, political corruption, corporate malfeasance, family breakdown, poverty, drug abuse, crime, social dysfunction, mental illness, healthcare, state schooling, and geopolitical adventurism that afflict the West at large.

It is naïve to scoff at suggestions that Western society is in a perilous position.  Consider Tyler Cowen, Professor of Economics at George Mason University, who predicts a future in which ten to fifteen percent of the population will enjoy a life of wealth and ease scarcely imaginable, while the rest of the population will suffer poverty and social dysfunction.  His suggestion for policy-makers is the construction of massive favelas with cheap rents and free internet.  Bread and circuses anyone?

The breakdown of communal ties in the West has been dramatic.  The scourge of loneliness worsens by the day, and the sense of community is splintering, with membership in clubs, associations, and churches declining precipitously in recent decades.  A 2018 survey found that 50 percent of Americans have no meaningful personal interactions on a daily basis.  The tsunami of social dysfunction and the burgeoning mental health crisis are hardly surprising

No wonder ordinary people are cynical.  Who thinks open borders will do any good for anyone outside the establishment?  Who thinks the universal basic income will promote genuine human flourishing?  Who thinks the already out-of-control drug abuse epidemic will be resolved without a societal restoration of personal and communal virtue?

A leader at any level would recognise the danger, and know that history proves that socialism offers no solution, only much greater suffering.  The libertarian option is likewise bankrupt.  Oligarchs, conservative or progressive, and conservatives unable to articulate a cogent vision, also have soiled hands in the mess in which we find ourselves.

Modern political programs, left and right, fail because they are all rooted in the problem itself: Modernity’s elevation of the autonomous self and individual choice over the genuine community.  Selfishness prevails only by means of power, and is only controlled by means of power; that is why so soon after the totalitarian nightmares of the last century, western nations have succumbed to suffocating bureaucratic control and brazen oligarchic manipulation.

Yet Aristotle offers another option.  The advantage of his approach is that it is not ideological, and can be applied in republican regimes, constitutional monarchies, liberal democracies, and even oligarchies where the necessary bona fides is present.

Human beings are ‘dependent, rational animals’.  From cradle to grave we are dependent on others for our flourishing.  Our relationships shape our attitudes, desires, choices, and behaviour at every turn.  At the same time, we are rational animals, gifted with the power of abstract reasoning, free will, and language, and the need to give expression to our individuality.  Any system designed to promote human flourishing must take these realities into account.

Aristotle’s approach involves three common sense concepts: subsidiarity, solidarity, and the Common Good.  Subsidiarity is the principle that says the function of a central authority should be subsidiary, managing only those tasks that cannot be dealt with at a local level.  Families, local communities, and local institutions should be left to manage their own affairs without bureaucratic and legislative interference from a heavy-handed central government.

Solidarity is the principle of promoting the well-being of all people, recognising the bond of our common humanity.

It is not vague compassion or shallow sentimentality, but a firm commitment to securing justice, social, economic, and political for all human beings.  Solidarity expresses the essence of humanity, the goodwill that always seeks to help others.

The Common Good entails respect for the rights and responsibilities of all people.  Mutual interests, like justice, security, freedom, national integrity, sovereignty, and shared natural resources can only be enjoyed through individuals working together to protect them.  Justice is the basis of the Common Good, because human nature is selfish, and individuals and groups tend to favour their own interests at the expense of others.

And there’s the rub: Aristotle’s approach can only be built on virtue.  Representative institutions demand virtuous citizens; limited government depends on virtuous citizens; the free market needs virtuous citizens; the growth and application of capital is undermined when virtue is missing; the Rule of Law requires virtuous citizens; and sound mental health in each and every one of us relies on our living virtuously.

Sadly, a virtuous society will never be established in a culture characterised by nihilism, narcissism, pleonexia, and hedonism.  Technocratic systems and processes cannot save us; our culture has to be cured first.  The challenge confronting us is not physical, to be solved by science and technology; it is metaphysical, requiring a rigorous understanding of our moral responsibilities and our transcendental affinities.