It is a mistake to blame Mr. Trump for whatever happens in the nation. Why? Because every nation is built not out of its leader but out of manager-managed duality. You look puzzled. You have no idea what I mean by “manager-managed duality.” Let me explain.
Each human comes into the world with unique capabilities that alone cannot provide for that individual’s daily needs. Capabilities of many others have to be shared in order to get what one needs in daily life. Millions of humans share their capabilities so that I can get my car, my house, my computer, my medicine, my food and many more. The capability sharing process is only possible if a small group of managers directs the shared capabilities of the masses. Thus the manager-managed duality—the boss-subordinate arrangement—gets born as a foundational aspect of human life in order to manage the human capabilities to serve the human needs. Every workplace, every government agency, every organization is set up in the boss-subordinate format, otherwise, nothing gets done. Without it there would be nothing in the grocery stores, nothing to settle conflicts, nothing to provide for the daily needs of humans. Because it works, humans continually organize themselves in structures where a small number acts as boss and the masses of humans follow and obey the boss as subordinates—thus, the manager-managed duality.
The boss-subordinate terminology is blunt as to its relationship. One commands, the other follows. We can make it seem less blunt using words like “leader-follower,” but the relationship remains the same. One orders and the other obeys. The terminology of “manager-managed duality” brings to full view the role played by capability sharing. It is most important to note that manager-managed duality declares both sides responsible for keeping the relationship functional. In the ideal case, both sides engage in managing the relationship that would provide for the daily needs of the masses of “managed.” The functionality of manager-managed duality is critical for societal well-being. When the masses of managed fail to keep their end functional, the man declared the society’s leader can adopt a self-serving dictatorial posture and declare his own opinion as the law of the land. When the managers fail to share the societal capabilities in ways that satisfy everyone’s needs, it is equally easy for masses of managed to turn into righteous mobs that destroy anything and anyone in their path, tearing apart the whole social structure. From the specter of such extremes the tension between the manager and managed has to move toward the possibility of balance that would serve all.
Why am I introducing you to manager-managed duality? Because I want you to have a full, foundational view of players on both sides; understand the patterns that can trap either into dysfunctional behavior. Let us start with our most familiar societal leader, Mr. Trump and the US population as masses of managed. In the US, which dysfunctional behavior have the masses of managed adopted in relation to nation’s manager? And I add that the dysfunctional behavior I have in mind has been around since the dawn of human civilization, thus nothing new. We would have been fully aware of it if we were into the habit of learning from history. Since most of us are not into the habit of learning from history, you may be surprised to hear that this dysfunctional behavior is “treating the manager as if he is God.” And your surprise should quickly evaporate as I remind you to recall how you treat a company’s CEO. You do treat the company’s CEO as if you’re dealing with a God. You obey everything the CEO says or demands as if commands originating from a divine being. The history is full of such behavior. Let me give you another well-known historical example. Emperor Nero burned down Rome and no one would say a word. Why? Because the emperor was the same as God. God can do anything God wants.
Let’s see if you can relate to another historical fact. Do you know, can you remember, that all white Americans are children of emigrants from the Roman Empire? They all came from places that for centuries were ruled by the Roman Empire. They all have come from generations of humans conditioned to see the top man—the Emperor, as God or at minimum, a Son of God. Even if today these socially conditioned humans do not openly behave in that manner, many do subconsciously.
The human individual differs in degree of seeing the manager as God. There are a few that behave as atheists and stand up to the manager and often get their asses kicked, thrown out, purged from the organization in which the manager demands to be seen as God. Many go the opposite and become the worshippers of the manager. They accept as true whatever the manager says. For Mr. Trump that amounts to a third of the US population. Among the worshippers there are some powerful individuals like president of Fox News who amplifies Mr. Trump’s worship to heights never possible for a Roman Emperor. He applies his whole organization to worshipping Mr. Trump as God.
What I have said so far was about the socially conditioned behavior of the masses. What about the manager? Let us have a look at Mr. Trump. When lying, Mr. Trump always assumes a godlike position. He assumes and asserts that everything everyone else is saying is false and only what he says is true. Only God can make such a claim because of His infinite knowledge and the ignorance that pervades everywhere else. Mr. Trump can make the same claim because the masses of managed—especially the descendants of Romans who have become Americans—are conditioned to see the national leader, and in specific Mr. Trump, as God.
Those that totally buy into Mr. Trump’s “I am godlike and thus know what I’m doing while everyone else does not” are a third of the US population. They are the ones that see him as God no different than the way the Romans related to their Emperor. In whatever way a human learns to see God in society’s manager, one aspect remains most threatening. Like Mr. Trump, the believers are also trapped in lies that the assumption of godlike behavior creates and perpetuates. All this, sooner or later, is going to translate into harm—societal harm—directed at everyone. In the long term, harm is the inescapable outcome of any life founded on lies. The lies easily become devices for seeing God where God does not exist. A lie-based God is always a treacherous, life-destroying one.
Can the United States, as a society, see these historical patterns of social conditioning? Can the masses see both the manager and the managed and the role each plays in order to create a balanced life for everyone? Would everyone know what to do when one is aware of the manager-managed duality and can recognize the mistaken way through which the manager can become God? Or would everyone and everything revert to the ways done for thousands of years—seeing the manager as God and his word as the only truth in life?