Cult of Personality

October 5, 2023October 5, 2023

Cult of Personality

These days we all know what a cult of personality is, and we all believe that we can identify them, and we all believe we’d never become part of one. Khrushchev first used the term when speaking about Stalin and admonishing the Communist Party that they must not allow such a thing to happen again. In the West we scramble backwards at the mention of the word “cult.” After all, a cult is a group that brainwashes its members into believing absolutely fantastical claims and performing strange rituals deifying the leaders. And nobody with an ounce of sense would fall for a cult of personality, right? Right?

January 29, 2021January 29, 2021

Hero-worship and politicians

Hero-worship of political leaders of all stripes is nothing new. But it is most definitely not something we should be doing. Politicians, democratic or authoritarian, are human beings just like the rest of us. Unlike Roman generals in their triumph through Rome, modern leaders don’t have a slave behind them whispering in their ear, “Remember, you are mortal.” Perhaps that custom needs to be revived for our current political leaders.