Leader...wanted?
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messianism
Definition: [noun] zealous devotion to a leader, cause, or movement.
In this current era of moral liquidity and insolubility where values and ideals are collapsing every day, citizens are in search of a "leader" who will show them a way out of the darkness. In our difficult reality, this of course is an extremely humane and expected reaction. Many are the voices of citizens, who like tragic figures, desperately seek a "Deus Ex Machina" that will redeem them from their sufferings and will lead them to catharsis.
Without a doubt, there is an unsatisfied longing for the emergence of an enlightened political leader, who holds all the answers to the ills that plague modern society. As a result, the antiquated notion of messianism arises in many social strata.
The science of management defines leaders as strong personalities that can influence other people and make them follow willingly and voluntarily.
However, the notion of messianism does not simply touch upon the philosophical necessity of a leader in society; it dictates with absolute certainty that such political leaders are needed in order to cure the wrongs of modern times, ignoring the lurking dangers of power abuse.
Citizens always run the risk of being deceived by so called leaders that aim to satisfy their personal interests, needs and agendas. Populism, wooden or stilted language and the demagoguery of the political system find fertile ground and flourish only if citizens are not alert.
The notion of messianism is not compatible with the spirit that Europe was built upon. It is nothing more than a citing doctrine that compromises democracy. Europeans should be masters of themselves; shape their own life and reality; they should not be spineless puppets and subservient mass, pinning their hopes for salvation from every crisis to these charismatic leaders.
As a result education should become the key in combating this notion. Education is a force that can change man and his life. It is not something rigid and static. Its meaning is not confined only in acquiring knowledge but it is designed to transform it into something brighter…creating new ideas and ideologies.
This knowledge of ideas is the only solution to the swamp of obscurantism, which affects every society, not these so called political leaders who promise to reveal all on-revealed truths. Education provides a heightened critical thinking that can become the decisive factor on who is able to lead. It is high time critical thinking became the leader of our actions.