Reflect on this passage of Brave New World when Henry Foster and the Director are talking about Bernard and his public announcement of being exiled.
"The greater a man's talents, the greater his power to lead astray."
I was thinking of examples of people in the world who emanate the Director's philosophy. What came to mind were ISIS leaders who send members on suicide missions. I'm sure those leaders have many persuasive talents that convince ISIS members or others to kill themselves for a "good cause" or sacrifice. We also can't forget Hitler. Hitler had a great talent of arousing, persuading, and exciting people about genocide. Now, the Director's idea of "leading people astray" is giving them new ideas beyond the conditioning. Much different to how ISIS leaders and Hitler lead people astray. Can anyone think of other examples of people who use or have used their great talent to lead people astray?
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Could Joseph Stalin be one ? He launched plans to change the Soviet Union from a peasant society to an industrial superpower. Wanting to show the people that there could be progress in the Soviet Union. He ruled by terror, and millions of his own citizens died because they refused to cooperate with his orders and were exiled as punishment. I could be wrong in making the connection. Correct me if I'm wrong please !
ReplyDeleteYeah I was also thinking about Josef Stalin, because he did get the whole soviet union to follow him and believe in all of his tactics and at times he was way worse than Hitler but still had the support of the Russian people.
DeleteI couldn't think of one, but this does remind me of celebrity endorsement. If you're favorite band partnered up with a big company to help promopt that company's product. I know their not using their talents, but rather thier fame, but is this similar to people using their talents to lead people?
ReplyDeleteWhen I reflected on the passage, I thought of Socrates. Socrates always questioned people in his community. He made them think about politics and religion. He tried to rid people of their ignorance, essentially. He was murdered for "corrupting the youth" and "impiety," yet all he did was question the world around him.
ReplyDeleteCan the Civil Rights Movement be one? These people went against what was "normal" in society. Instead of a man's power, it is the peoples power. They led this entire movement that changed the course of American History.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about Martin Luther King Jr. he led millions of African Americans to fight for what they believed in.
DeleteI honestly can not think of any more examples then the ones you have already stated. I know how a different perspective on this. I don't justify what these people have done; however, they are people that are looked up too and many people do whatever it takes to make those people happy. It just depends on how much people are willing to do to satisfy others.
ReplyDeleteI feel you Melissa. Although all the different usage of all these different perspective lenses reminds me of the activity we did with "The Snake" in class
DeleteIt could be considered as as one mans saint is another mans terrorist. However, I think the quote could also convey that with greater responsibility comes greater consequence. It doesn't necessarily have to have negative connotations such as with ISIS and Hitler. It could be as innocent as parent struggling to raise their child.
ReplyDeleteYeah, "the devil you know is better than the devil you don't" reminded me of your quote. Yeah, with more power comes more responsibility. There's this pressure to keep the power absolute and clear to everyone, leading to paranoia. Hitler was self conscious of himself, wore layers of clothing to hide his sweats stains during speeches, and was very paranoid of who shaved him or cut his hair...fun facts ^.^
DeleteJulio Caesar Chavez a motivational leader to persuade people in to making strikes for equal pay.
ReplyDeleteI honestly think of religious leaders whose beliefs are predicated partially upon favoritism for some, and hatred for others. I would have to say that their convincing words and charisma lead people to ignorance, as well as creating more hate and leading them astray.
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