Chapter 50

Doug, sitting in the loveseat sideways with a leg over the armrest, looked up from his book and saw that William had put down the manuscript he had been reading. He asked, "So what do you think?"

"I like it," William said nodding his head.

"What about my conclusion?"

"I think you are right on target. It does seem that a crisis of followership must be a democratic phenomenon," William answered. Doug had concluded after studying several dozen national histories that a loss in confidence in the democratic process led to crisis of followership. Historically, the result was a decline into social paralysis and subsequent conquest by a more vibrant regime.

"It looks like a pretty clear pattern to me. First the society fragments into social groups that have disjoint goals and values. The groups become increasingly polarized to a point where consensus becomes impossible. Each group becomes convinced that the other groups suffer from some serious moral flaw and argue against them based on the perception of that flaw. The end comes rather quickly once an external group sees the weakness," Doug said.

"And history records the fall to be the result of corruption," William said finishing the pattern.

"Yes. History records the innuendos, false charges, and rumors since the facts weren't really known even at the time," Doug said.

"That was pretty clever looking at tribal histories where leaders were elected by tribal consensus," William said.

"Most political organizations of the past were based on royal families who achieved power through inheritance, dictators who wrestled power from the existing leaders, and war lords who achieved power by conquering others. In comparison to those mechanisms of governorship, democratic means are rare."

"I'd like to see more of the details on the process by which a crisis of followership evolves," William said. If he were to model it accurately, he would need to have more details about the social forces that were at play.

"That is going to be very difficult. In all of the tribal histories that I found, the majority of information came from the victors. They weren't all that concerned about the nature of the society that they conquered. Their emphasis was on the act of conquering a weak society."

"There has to be modern examples," William said.

"No there doesn't," Doug said with a smile.

"How about Argentina?" William asked trying to think of a more modern example.

"It wasn't really a failure of followership," Doug said.

William thought about the material he had read. It had been a fascinating glimpse into big time losers in history. He said, "I want to understand it in terms of technology, medicine, economics, religion, natural events, and other social factors. Was the standard of living improving or failing? How was the culture being shaped by engineering advances? Were technological advances undermining religious beliefs? Was the culture being eroded as a result of interactions with external cultures?"

Doug closed the book he had been reading and thought about what William was requesting. Frowning, he said, "I'll try to identify that information. I can't make any promises."

"One thing that you might want to look for concerns how the people began to view their past. It seems to me that a culture that is expanding does so because the people often make hard decisions. I'm sure that some of the more influential leaders of the past made decisions that were often very nasty, but necessary. At some point in time, people look back at those decisions and decide they weren't nice. They start to dislike their past and feel that the foundation on which their culture is based is a lie," William said.

"My father is always going on about how he was taught that the founding fathers were great men. It seems that every article about those men that I read today is about what kind of hypocrites they were. Jefferson, who helped write one of the most amazing documents of all time, is viewed as a fraud because he owned slaves. The document he wrote has become suspect because of that. One of my fellow students called it the ultimate document in hypocrisy," Doug said.

"Exactly. Is it possible that losing faith in the past makes the culture lose faith in its ability to go forward in the future? Is that the real basis for a crisis of followership?"

"I think it is a little more complex than that. There has been a shift in assessing leaders in terms of their public deeds to the character of their private lives. Unfortunately, what was perfectly acceptable behavior at one time can become unacceptable behavior at a later time. Back then, no one thought anything bad of Jefferson for owning slaves. That was the status quo. Today, he's viewed quite differently," Doug said.

"Did the same thing happen in Greece and Rome? Did they start viewing their history through jaded eyes?" William asked.

"Yes, they did." Doug answered. He recalled reading a paper in which the author said that Romans had started looking outside of Rome for their values. Everything non-Roman became better than Roman.

"So what leads to that evolution of historical perspective?" William asked.

"I have no idea," Doug answered shrugging his shoulders. It seemed to him that it was an impossible question to answer.

"That's the key we must discover if we are to understand the basis of a crisis in followership," William said.

"I agree with you. I don't know how my advisor will feel about it," Doug said.

"Why?"

"He feels that this country was founded on lies and that the lies have continued through today," Doug answered.

William grimaced at the thought. Shaking his head, he said, "Pity."

Five very attractive women entered the bar of the restaurant to wait for the rest of the party. Their entrance turned the heads of all of the men and most of the women in the place. It was hard not to notice them; each was stunningly beautiful in her own way.

Professor Elliot McDonald watched the woman walk to the bar while holding his breath. Eyes fixed on Barbara, there was only a single thought running through his mind. He wanted her and he was going to get her. Such beauty had only one place in this world and that was spread across his bed. Just the thought of her in bondage was enough to give him an erection. If she wouldn't come voluntarily, he'd take her against her will.

The man had a reputation in the college in giving only one of two grades, A's and F's, to attractive coeds who took his freshman English class. The grade that the coed received was based on whether she said yes or no to his advances. Over the years, the number of attractive coeds who signed up for his courses had dropped significantly. Usually those who did were only too willing to trade sexual favors for good grades. Frequently, they did not expect the harsh treatment that came with that grade.

He glanced across the table at the current coed who was warming his bed at nights. She was pretty, but couldn't compare with the Goddess who had walked through the restaurant. Smiling at her, he said, "Excuse me for a minute."

"Sure, Professor McDonald," the coed answered more than happy to have him leave the table. Once he was gone, she wondered what she had gotten into. The man had hurt her the other night, but she was too far into it to back out now.

Elliot hurried over to the bar and approached Barbara trying to figure out what line would work best with her. He paused and walked over to her with a casualness that was purely artificial. She noticed his predatory approach and turned to watch him. Smiling, he said, "Excuse me. I'm Professor Elliot McDonald."

Barbara said, "So?"

"I'm a rather famous author. Maybe you've read my books," he said.

"I'm sure that your mother is quite proud of you," Barbara replied wishing that he would go away. She gave him a look intended to convey that she wanted nothing more to do with him.

Surprised that his line about being famous didn't impress her, he tried a second approach and said, "I'm a full professor at the college here."

"Isn't that grand?" Barbara said rolling her eyes. She made a shooing gesture with one hand.

"Let me buy you a drink," he said trying his best to charm her.

"Don't," she replied. The other women with her turned to watch the situation with concern. Usually a guy who continued after three rebukes meant trouble.

"Look, there's no need to be that way," he said getting irritated at her.

Taking a deep breath, Barbara stared at him and said, "Go away little man."

Professor McDonald stepped forward and grabbed her arm. He wasn't used to being insulted by women. Women were his toys and he enjoyed absolute power over many of them. His grip on her failed and she twisted her arm free. There was a horrible shooting pain that originated from his elbow.

Turning, he found that he was facing a young man. The young man was pinching his elbow between two fingers. He asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm William Redman Carter and you are bothering a friend of mine," William said in a flat even voice that sent chills down the Professor's spine.

"Unhand me," Professor McDonald shouted in the belief that a public scene would scare away the young man.

Doug sidled up to Donna and said, "This ought to be very interesting."

Glaring at him, she said, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that William is about to tear that man a new orifice," Doug answered with a wink. Donna smiled at the fact that this stranger knew William. Seeing her reaction, he said, "Your friend won't have to worry about the vile Professor McDonald again."