The goat on the hill can only stand and watch as the wolf devours the herd of sheep. Both the sheep and wolf would disapprove of interference.

I was at a park today, and saw a mass of children being herded like sheep by the most strict, unfriendly adults I've ever seen.

Tsk tsk.

My view of leadership is soured just by this very incident moments ago. Of course it was just a peaceful park on a sunny day, so the strict unfriendliness seemed incredibly out of place. Most certainly it got the job done though. The children were forced to obey, and so they went in a very specifically single-file line to their destination, their laughter silenced.

What a successful example of leadership.

But is it ideal?

I value team-work and motivated workers, as well as cleverness. I like a team of free-thinking people who don't need a leader. Mutualistic companionship is my ideal. Of course, when people are trained to be herded in a single-file line from children, and never once allowed to say "no," the very concept of leadership loses value.

What value is there if trained sheep-people follow a "leader?" What does it matter if some person decides to enforce dominance upon a herd of people raised to obey? If I had a feeling people could choose to lead or follow, it wouldn't be so deceitful, but if children are nurtured to obey, those children become adults trained to obey.

And they most certainly are.

Certainly a person given a leadership role will find leadership admirable. But what of the poor sheep? Well, they aren't given a leadership role. They aren't even supposed to have opinions that go against the grain, nor are they to question things. But for a person who is neither a leader nor a follower, perhaps they can look at the concept from an outside-angle, and see the true form of hierarchies.

I often wonder if I'm too mellow when it comes to provoking people. It's quite the norm for leaders to not act as cruel masters, but instead, kindly use reasonable instructions to attain their goal. But is such charismatic amicability as valuable as informed consent and voluntary participation?

There is a value to be learned from the concept of choosing to follow or choosing to lead, as a leader among equals. If you are a teacher, or in a position where leadership is used respectfully among voluntary followers, then I don't think I would see a problem there. Of course, in this sort of zany world, I would still urge each person to question things.

Always question.

Charisma is a wicked art, used more often to manipulate people into thinking they want what the leader wants. Charisma can still be useful for a poet like me, yet very often, I choose to forgo it in favor of furious passion.

Pure, pyrogenic, poetic passion produced by my personal philosophies.

Damn the norm, I say. Damn conformity. Damn masters and slaves alike.

I shall grow my own grapes, forge my own goblet, ferment my own juice, and then I shall have wine by my own hand, laughing the entire way. Oh how damned jolly I shall be.

~Kitten