Stumpside Chats #3
The Utility of Ego in Leadership [Mar 22, 2024]
Normally I would have made this post it’s own separate thing, rather than include it in my Stumpside Chats, since it’s so long and deserving of its own dedicated post. However, since most of my recent posts (and just a lot of the general discourse here on the ‘Stack lately) has been about elitism, aristocracy, ego, etc. I felt like this would serve as a good sort of “recap” of the week, as well as providing some of my final (???) thoughts on the matter.
Ego seems to be one of the more controversial topics in contemporary politics, regardless of what side of the aisle you fall on.
Libfarts freak out if you have an ego because arrogance is pretty much antithetical to their worldview. Their worldview is concerned primarily with social conformity1 and by embracing your ego you are saying that you care more about what you think than what society thinks.
Similarly, many NeoCons (this is especially true of the more PaleoCon or Evangelical fields) have similar beliefs. Evangelicals think that ego is antithetical to Biblical teaching (to some extent they are right but they also typically take it beyond what the Bible actually says). PaleCons usually feel like publicly embracing your ego is crass and unbecoming. This has been one of, if not the biggest, concerns that the non-MAGA crowd has with Trump.
Pretty much the only people who embrace ego are the AltRight/Dissident Right crowds, even though the reasons mainstream ideologies disavow ego are varied and sometimes contradictory to eachother.
This is probably what helped Trump win in 2016 (and also what cost him moderate votes in 2020). As Sectionalism Archive put it:
I have to admire Trump’s unwillingness to try and frame himself as “down to earth”. He wears a big suit and tie everywhere he goes. Everyone knows who Trump is. He’s not down to earth, he’s larger than life. He likes his apartments gilded to the point where Louis XIV would feel inadequate. He plays golf like there is no tomorrow. Not long ago he was the iconic Yuppie of New York. Two scoops!2
While I disagree with the idea that Trump is “unwilling to frame himself as down to Earth”,3 I think this sentiment is something that is generally very appealing to many people. It certainly worked wonders in 2016, and has helped Trump build his sort of cult of personality that he has today.
This is also a major contributor to the success of people like Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, and of course Adolf Hitler. They were willing to take what they wanted, and that they did.
One time, a Jewish friend of mine told me that he thought Hitler was the only guy in Germany who could have achieved all that he did. He said that Hitler was probably the only guy willing to walk into Berlin all by himself with the intention of taking over Germany some day, and then actually do it. He was the only person willing to play hardball with national powers, allowing Germany to escape the confines of the Treaty of Versailles and its infamous article 231 (the “War Guilt” clause).
Also just to be clear this is not coming from some sort of Theodore Herzl-esque self-hating antisemite type; he still believes in the Holocaust and all that stuff he was just more intellectually honest than most and didn’t repeat the mustache twirling villain narrative.
I think this is true. I don’t imagine many other people could do something like this. It can also manifest in a few different ways; for example James K. Polk didn’t trust his subordinates to do their job properly and so he micromanaged all their work, to astonishing effect.4 For all intents and purposes, Polk was pretty mild mannered. He was really almost spergy. Chud-like, if you will. He was somewhat anti-social (his wife Sarah was largely responsible for the more PR oriented elements of his administration). This is a far cry from someone with a boisterous personality like Trump. But both are effective for the same reason: their acknowledgment and acceptance of ego. Polk accepted that he was going to do a better job than his subordinates because he was more qualified. Trump accepts (accepted?) that he is in a position to do a lot of damage to the establishment and is willing to leverage that.
Contrast these personalities to the meek sort of character you see in a lot of people today, and almost universally in women. One of the best ways you can see what I mean is by taking a public speaking class and just watching other people flounder. I had to take on such class as a requirement to graduate from my university and if it wasn’t so sad and depressing seeing people freak out over talking to a class of ~15 people it would have been funny. There were like 3 or 4 decent speakers in the whole class and I think I was the only one who hadn’t already taken any “Communications” classes (Communications or “CM” is the course identifier for these types of classes if you didn’t know). I didn’t even feel like I did particularly good because the speeches I had to give were not about anything I was invested in, and here I was getting feedback about how I was a “great natural speaker” and all that. Meanwhile, the 6’3 ~220 pound dude is about to pee his pants talking about some daily appliance he thinks has a lot of utility. Frankly it was ridiculous.
But these types of people are way more common than the Trumps or the Polks or Caesars or what have you. I don’t guess I really blame them either; they aren’t meant to be leaders after all. I do generally feel like this sort of collective ego death is more a product of our generally soft society than an emergent component of most of humanity though.
Anyways, the implications this has on society is that if a qualified individual doesn’t embrace ego then they are basically impotent. Imagine the smartest person in the world. A bazillion level IQ. But they can’t articulate their points to people because they are so afraid of seeming better than someone; of hurting someone’s feelings. They are useless. They are wasting their talents.
Contrast this with someone like any one of us. Top tier testers all throughout school, dating back to the earliest days of elementary school. Top 10% scores in the nation at the minimum. 26 on the ACT (or whatever the equivalent score is on the SAT) was probably a low score for us, but for most people that is the highest they could possibly make. We are also not afraid to point this out; to claim our ego. Certainly, some of us may take it too far and let it make us elitist.5 But frankly, being elitist is still better than being an ego dead eunuch. In some sense, a degree of elitism is even necessary to keep the Intelligentsia or other “high caste” groups placated. They crave acknowledgment and, frankly, they deserve it. You just have to balance it out.
I am pretty open about the fact that I am smarter than most people. Obviously I don’t go around bashing people over the head with that fact, but I embrace it. It’s gotten me a lot of respect, even among libfart types. Guess the honesty speaks truth to power or something to them, I still don’t really know how I pull that one off. But it works. Works for you as well (even if you haven’t tried it yet) I reckon.
This embrasure of your ability is what gives you the confidence to do what you need to do. It’s the same thing that allowed Caesar to cross the Rubicon. If Caesar didn’t think he could cross the Rubicon, then he would not have been Caesar. It’s that ability that makes embracing your ego good and useful. It allows you to truly manifest your Will to Power. Without first accepting your ego, you will never be able to make your will into reality.
And I don’t think this makes you “arrogant” either. I acknowledge my intellectual acumen. But, as you already know, that doesn’t make me feel as if I am superior to other people.6 I acknowledge my faults and the ways others are better than me. I am le lanklet (le sigh) and so my physical acumen is limited to stamina and speed. Dis is something I acknowledge as a failing. Yes, much of my lanklet-ness is the result of a genetically high metabolic rate (inherited from my mother and her side of the family) but it is also my fault for not engaging in “bulking” and exercising more, just like it is the fault of a fatty for not dieting and burning calories. Part of this is because I am very busy (and also somewhat neurotic about my daily schedule), but I imagine I could still make time if I actually tried to do it. It is my failing.
I don’t think you can acknowledge that sort issue and still be considered arrogant. Some people probably think that, but I think they are stupid. It’s all a delicate balance of power, but it’s entirely possible to keep that balance.
And keeping that balance is what makes great leaders so great. Yes, Trump can live in an opulent penthouse suite where literally everything is plated in gold. But he is also pretty in touch with the American people. Maybe McDonald’s is goyslop. But the American people like it, and Trump knows that. He is keenly aware of this in fact, and it serves to connect him with the general population. It simultaneously makes him larger than life, and down to Earth.
Trump is humble enough to relate to people, and generally do a much better job than establishment liberals. But he isn’t some sort of impotent ego eunuch. He still has the gal to play hardball and keep China or Russia in line or to demand that the European members of NATO kick up their fair share. That is what makes him pretty good.