Power corrupts, yadda yadda
I have a love/hate relationship with David Mamet. I love the rhythmic devices he employs in his playwriting and his striving for simplicity and honesty in art. I don't care for his misogyny, although he is at least willing to have a dialogue about it.
I was rereading a book of essays by David Mamet called Some Freaks -- the essays vary in quality, but I recommend the book -- and I was struck by how a certain essay, "Corruption," pertains to our current political situation as well as the one it was describing. Below is an excerpt:
In his response to the Tower Report, President Reagan said: The record seems to say that I traded arms for hostages, but in my heart I did not.
If we reduce this statement to meaningful English, we are left with this: "Whatever the report says is irrelevant -- far from being bound by the report's findings on my actions, I am not even to be held accountable for the actions themselves -- I am accountable only to 'my heart.' " I.e.:"I believe in my superiority to the public, to the law, even to the laws of logical discourse. I know what I was doing, and that's got to be sufficient for you below."
This behavior is an expression of ultimate contempt for the electorate, the ultimate corruption, the megalomania brought about by power. Political corruption in the pursuit of money is limited by the location and the amount of the money; political corruption in pursuit of a personal vision of the public good is limited by nothing at all, and ends in murder and chaos, as it did in Nazi Germany, and as it does today in Central America.
Psychologically, the corrupt leader creates, and then offers himself as the only protection against, chaos. This is a ploy which recalls and recapitulates the experience of the unhappy child -- the child forced to idolize the manipulative parent.
The corrupt parent says: "If you wish to be protected you must withhold all judgment, powers of interpretation, and individual initiative. I will explain to you what things mean, and how to act in every situation. There are no universal laws you are competent to divine or understand -- there is no understanding except through me.
(End of excerpt)
My mind replaced "Reagan" with "Bush" and "Central America" with "Iraq." Sadly, that worked all too well.
Mr. Mamet goes on to expand on the theme of corrupt leadership as it pertains to parents, therapists, and artists, basically saying that good leaders (parents, artists, etc.) have their own obligations, that they must put their own ego on hold in order to serve the needs of their constituency/children/patients/audience; i.e., good leadership is not about the needs of the leader, it is about the needs of those who are following the leader's guidance.
I want to send a copy to our President, but I doubt it would have an impact.
I was rereading a book of essays by David Mamet called Some Freaks -- the essays vary in quality, but I recommend the book -- and I was struck by how a certain essay, "Corruption," pertains to our current political situation as well as the one it was describing. Below is an excerpt:
In his response to the Tower Report, President Reagan said: The record seems to say that I traded arms for hostages, but in my heart I did not.
If we reduce this statement to meaningful English, we are left with this: "Whatever the report says is irrelevant -- far from being bound by the report's findings on my actions, I am not even to be held accountable for the actions themselves -- I am accountable only to 'my heart.' " I.e.:"I believe in my superiority to the public, to the law, even to the laws of logical discourse. I know what I was doing, and that's got to be sufficient for you below."
This behavior is an expression of ultimate contempt for the electorate, the ultimate corruption, the megalomania brought about by power. Political corruption in the pursuit of money is limited by the location and the amount of the money; political corruption in pursuit of a personal vision of the public good is limited by nothing at all, and ends in murder and chaos, as it did in Nazi Germany, and as it does today in Central America.
Psychologically, the corrupt leader creates, and then offers himself as the only protection against, chaos. This is a ploy which recalls and recapitulates the experience of the unhappy child -- the child forced to idolize the manipulative parent.
The corrupt parent says: "If you wish to be protected you must withhold all judgment, powers of interpretation, and individual initiative. I will explain to you what things mean, and how to act in every situation. There are no universal laws you are competent to divine or understand -- there is no understanding except through me.
(End of excerpt)
My mind replaced "Reagan" with "Bush" and "Central America" with "Iraq." Sadly, that worked all too well.
Mr. Mamet goes on to expand on the theme of corrupt leadership as it pertains to parents, therapists, and artists, basically saying that good leaders (parents, artists, etc.) have their own obligations, that they must put their own ego on hold in order to serve the needs of their constituency/children/patients/audience; i.e., good leadership is not about the needs of the leader, it is about the needs of those who are following the leader's guidance.
I want to send a copy to our President, but I doubt it would have an impact.