Think Big, Henry.
Here’s a chilling excerpt from a new movie about Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, which Ellsberg leaked to Neil Sheehan of the New York Times exposing the lies about the Vietnam War (among other things). If you haven’t read the Pentagon Papers I can tell you it’s an enlightening experience to say the very least. It may shake your confidence in official leadership a bit, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Leadership should be questioned so power remains as distributed as possible and decision making processes remain as transparent as possible. More generally, those two concepts are core principles to keep in mind while building communities, especially if you want to create the circumstances where opportunities can spring from anywhere. Anyway, back to this film clip. There is one audio conversation between Nixon and Kissinger cited in the film offering a glimpse into the thinking of Richard Nixon. Here’s the exchange:
Nixon: I still think we ought to take the dikes out now. Will that drown people?
Kissinger: That will drown 200,000 people.
Nixon: Well, no, no, no, no, no. I’d rather use a nuclear bomb. Have you got that ready?
Kissinger: That I think will just be too much, uh.
Nixon: A nuclear bomb, does that bother you? I just want you to think big, Henry, for Christsakes.
Absolutely. Insane. But instructive as well. This is what happens when leaders detach themselves from the reality of their decisions. Granted, this is an extreme case, but oftentimes even genuine leaders make bad decisions due to isolation. Lesson to would be leaders: get out of the office, get down in the grassroots, live like the people you lead.
Jim, I agree with you 100%. Leaders have to get down to the trenches often and see what they are up against. That is mandatory I don’t care who you are or in what kind of leadership position you are in. Often times, like you said, leaders detach themselves from reality. My philosophy is "if you can talk the talk, then you must walk the walk. Great post Jim. Luv your blog.
CR
November 10, 2009 at 5:09 am
[...] I suppose we should not be surprised by this pattern of rhetorical behavior, though. Bush did it with Iraq. Heck, that guy was famous for this perspective. And McCain likes this sort of thing, as well, but he extended it to Iran. And don’t forget Reagan on Russia. Actually, many politicians on all sides have boasted openly about wars in which they don’t have to fight. Convenient, eh? I would imagine that whoever comes after Obama will probably push the same public joke trend. The reason? Simple. Political leaders at that level never pay for the consequences of their actions. It’s all, well, a joke. It’s not real. Instead, it’s the job of other people to pay. But for them the price seems too high and too painful to be laughed it. Joking in public is one thing, but the private conversations can get a great deal uglier. See Nixon talking to Kissinger about Vietnam for probably the most offensive bit of all. [...]
Joking about Killing « Jim Grisanzio
May 4, 2010 at 11:01 pm
[...] The example of burning civilians in Japan is just one case, of course. Many other examples on all sides can be found from World War II and Vietnam, some of which are covered in The Fog of War. Daniel Ellsberg — “The Most Dangerous Man in America” — has more here and here. [...]
War Criminals Who Win « Jim Grisanzio
October 24, 2010 at 12:41 am