deterministic.
The three fates, picked, pulled and then cut the thread of each life. Pagan rituals, myths of various kinds and then institutionalised religion, bounded the masses into acceptance. However with the coming of the enlightenment and the power of individualism these shackles were thrown off. Progress and equal access to power were demanded by the dull but brute mass. Standards and expectations have progressed and now we have the question of how to achieve an open Liberal order within the framework of human frailty, egoism and banality ? How should, in this culture of equality and ‘me too’ rights, a person lead ?
The evolution of leadership usually matches the evolution of societal development, albeit for some regions of the world at a retarded pace. Different eras will throw up different leadership paradigms. In the mostly militaristic and tribal and primal eras that were in vogue for most of history before the industrial revolution and the spread of technology and democracy, most leadership was rather authoritarian. The authoritarianism could take different guises and forms, and have different points of emphasis, but mainly until about the 19th century, rule was by force, by a small oligarchic elite, and without any real regard for popular expression.
The degree of this atavism would be influenced by the degree of the particular empire, city-state, or tribe’s collective mission, religious worship and strength. But there is very little difference when looking at the attitudes and actions of early Sumerian or Babylonian rulers with those of Rome, the Mayans, the ancient Manchu’s or the Gold Coast Princes, or even those skills demonstrated by Napoleon, Stalin or Mao. But in a world where the