Complex issues require us to navigate many different intersections of facts, values, interests, and experience. One way we resolve these tensions is through the stories we tell ourselves and others. Often these narratives run below the surface and shape our thinking without the examination they deserve.
One widely held although damaging narrative underlying our current politics is the “great man theory of history.” This is the belief that one person “can change it all.”
This is damaging for several reasons, in particular:
- It falsely absolves us of our responsibility as citizens to think for ourselves, be informed, and hold our representatives accountable to our democratic values. Thomas Jefferson recognized that citizens would have to be the guardians of their own liberties. He also doubted whether citizens would be up to the task, predicting that, distracted by their day to day lives, they might “never think of uniting to effect a due respect for their rights” from a government that disregarded them. We should be wary of any leader who offers to do our thinking for us.
- When we simply focus on finding the “great man,” many of us fail to study how either the government or the economy actually works and so have little understanding of cause and effect on key issues. This makes us vulnerable to misinformation. It also leads us to underestimate the work done by groups and teams, the ways that specialized knowledge can help us, and the dangers inherent in oversimplifying the complex issues we face.
- The “great man” narrative, combined with our cultural bent toward celebrity worship, makes us focus more on personality and charisma than on values and policy. “Pick the right person and all our problems will go away” is misleading magic bullet thinking. Tom Nichols, writing for the Atlantic Daily, explained this in the context of elections: “Much of this eyes-squeezed-tight wishing is linked to the peculiar American belief that presidents are godlike creatures who can make things better by fiat. Too many voters, when they encounter difficulties, create in their mind a superhero president who, if elected, will bring down the price of eggs, make the Russians go home, and end the war and suffering in Gaza. And if the current candidates are too flawed to fit that bill, Americans design one in their head.” When we focus more on personality than where a leader is leading, we are especially vulnerable to ending up in a place where we do not want to be.
As Jefferson said, we are the guardians of our own liberty. Outsourcing that role to an individual is a dangerous thing to do. Stories of hate, which attempt to rally us around a charismatic leader and separate us into factions of “us” v. “them,” erode our democracy. It is the stories of hope, which stress the value of community and our responsibilities to each other, that strengthen our democracy. Which are you listening to? Which are you sharing?
Resources
On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
Twilight of Democracy by Anne Applebaum
Tyranny of the Minority by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
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