The Parasite vs the Shepherd

Can the People lead themselves? It is clear that they cannot. It is not that the People don't know what they want and need; it's that they don't know how to get what they want and need without harming themselves or others. This is why we need a benevolent aristocracy: Just like a man who needs heart surgery cannot perform the operation on himself, the People who need to be led cannot lead themselves.

I believe leadership is genetic; that there are people whose inherent nature draws them toward things that are necessary for leadership and away from all those things that cause corruption. But genetics is not enough: one must still undergo the proper education and training to become a statesman. To believe otherwise is akin to believing just being tall is enough to make one a great basketball player.

There is no doubt that there are many good people who could become leaders out there, but due to their inherently good nature, they do not get into politics because they are appalled by the system and want nothing to do with it. Unfortunately, with this attitude, they do more harm than good, allowing misleaders and traitors who are unfit for leadership take their place and corrupt the system. In other words, these good-natured people, unwilling to accept the unfortunate truths about the People and the necessity to be Machiavellian for their own good, actually commit one of the worst evils imaginable; their refusal to play the role they were born to play actually enables the evils we see today.

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The Masses are Asses

The masses are asses not because they are unable to understand things, but because they are too lazy and don’t care to manage more than their own simple lives. They don’t want to be bothered with all the responsibility, stress, and Machiavellianism that comes with managing a state. This is why they are so eager to give their power away to others: they consider it a burden.

The People just want to go to work and enjoy the fruits of their labor. They are not interested in maintaining the state’s function, so long as it is functioning. They don't care who's in charge either, so long as their bellies are full, they feel safe, and are entertained along the way. However, this nonchalant attitude is precisely what makes them the perfect prey.

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The Parasite vs the Shepherd

The misleaders and traitors among us are parasites and insecure narcissists who are able to mimic the behavior and speak the words of a good leader, doing so only to deceive their victims. These parasites, unlike good leaders, do not serve the People, but serve up the People to the highest bidder. They do not consider the People their fellow citizens, but rather a herd of cattle that needs to be beefed up and slaughtered for profit. The Parasites know how to manipulate the People so well that they have convinced them that corruption is a normal and acceptable part of politics, which the People even justify with the phrase: “It is what it is.”

A good leader serves the People by serving the greater good. He, unlike the Parasites, considers his fellow citizens a flock of sheep, and therefore, he is known as a good shepherd. The Shepherd accepts his people’s docile and fragile nature but does not exploit them; instead, he loves and takes care of them, as he wants nothing but what’s best. However, even he cannot always be honest with them: in the end, the Shepherd does need to use their wool to build up and keep the state running, and also create defensive strategies to protect them from the wolves; such strategies must remain secret, along with other sensitive information about the state.

Ultimately, the difference between the Shepherd and the Parasite is that the former uses the People’s labor to build a better society, while the latter feeds off their labor and destroys society.

We are in dire need of good shepherds to lead the People; good men who understand the nature of the masses and the Machiavellian world of politics that are willing to do whatever it takes to save the People not only from the Parasites, but also from themselves.

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