You lead sheep and you drive cattle. Jesus made it clear that we are to be likened to sheep, not cattle. Sheep and fish are the two species that accept newcomers without reservation or critical review. Flocks of sheep can grow into the thousands on the way to market because of this reality. Sheep also know the voice of their leader. On the other hand, cattle must be driven by “force” and rounded up by experienced cowboys on equally experienced horses.
Love leads and Ego drives.
The ego must control and manipulate to move its agenda of lordship. When you put two strong egos in the room, you create competition. The ego must dominate to sustain its relative position thus you have the cattle driven by the egos of “leaders”. In recent years with the access to information provided by the Internet, private individuals have been able to uncover the manipulation of data by those in power. Whether it be the local banker who was paying low rates on CD’s or inflation rates with hedonic indexing, the proverbial cat is out of the bag. Long-term promises were made to the American people by short-term leaders who knew they would not be around when delivery of those promise came due. With the unfunded liabilities in the ten’s of trillions, there is no alternative but to devalue the dollar. In order to do this and survive, the cattle drivers must prop up the current paradigm for as long as possible. At its core, the ego knows that competition is a core method of misdirection. Why do you think that we have so many different professional sports in the U.S.? As Joe Sixpack focuses on the latest game or motor race, the dollar is crumbling away.
Have you ever noticed that politicians seem to enter politics as a middle class citizen then shortly after leaving politics they seem to become independently wealthy in a short period of time? They receive “consulting” revenue from the very companies and industries which fared well during their political office. The system perpetuates itself. There are a few exceptions and they are called leaders. Ron Paul from Texas has understood the perils of a fiat based currency. His ongoing quest to challenge the status quo has caused people who understand his mission to follow Congressman Paul. They know that he has their best interest at heart. That is a sign of a true leader. In the past we would call these types of politicians- statesmen. When is the last time you heard that term used?
Cattle drivers create problems and then fix them to convince people of their “calling”. This leads to domination over opponents by creating a resume that has been fashioned to attract voters and big money to support the “leader”. It assumes ignorance of the facts by those who are called upon to support this leader. As an example, how can a person with a law degree and no management experience be thrust into a management position of the largest economy on earth and be expected to make the right decisions? How can an economics professor with no private industry management experience formulate economic policy that affects millions of small businesses? The short answer is that they cannot hence the need to drive cattle by utilizing “think tanks” to help sway public opinion to get those theoretical policies in place. The long term effects of those policies are not known until those who made the policies are long gone.
Recently, Brian Deese, a protege of Dr. Lawrence Summers (Obama’s Economic Advisor), was assigned to dismantle GM and put it back together again.
Deese is a 31 year old Law student with no automotive, finance, or management experience yet he has been given the task of overseeing one of the largest reorganizations in world history. See:http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/business/01deese.html&OQ=_rQ3D3Q26hpw&OP=2b747986Q2FQ7BKbQ27Q7BHDRQ2A8DD.BQ7BBQ51Q51IQ7BQ51oQ7BQ51YQ7BQ27,Q2AC-bQ2AQ2AQ7BQ51YHbbQ2AbJq.9Q60
See: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,524757,00.html
What are these guys thinking? Leadership seeks out those who are called to a position and places them in their calling. Cattle drivers simply find a warm body to fill a position hoping they can somehow muster up enough luck to complete the task.
When a man is left to his own devices, his path leads to destruction. When all he has to rely on is his ego which leads him to believe he is qualified to do a job, he will surely fail.
Proverbs 16:18 Pride [goeth] before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
How many billions of dollars will be lost from poorly informed decision making? I suspect we will not found out the extent of the damage from placing a 31 year old inexperienced law student to do a seasoned leader’s job.
Leaders are moved by love to serve people, cattle drivers are compelled by ego to serve self.