Aristocracy and Leadership - Part 1

Vince Lombardi

On September 3, 1970, Vince Lombardi lost his battle with cancer. On his deathbed, he said he was not afraid to die, although he regretted that he could not have accomplished more in life.

Lombardi never had a losing season as a head coach in the NFL, he held a career record of 105-35-6, and he won the first two Super Bowls. In 1970 the NFL renamed its Championship Trophy the Vince Lombardi Trophy in his honor. In a speech to the Agonis Club at Suttmiller’s Restaurant in Dayton, OH the year before he died, he said in part:?When all is said and done – to be successful a man must exert an effective influence upon his brothers and upon his associates and the degree in which he accomplishes this depends upon the personality of the man. The incandescence of which he is capable, The flame of the fire that burns inside him, the magnetism which draws the hearts of other men to him.?

No man, no matter how great he may be, can long continue to be successful unless he wins the battles because the battle decides all. How you do this, I think it is essential to understand that conquests are won primarily in the hearts of men and once you have won their hearts, they’ll follow you anywhere. Man will respond to this type of leadership in a most remarkable way.?

Success is based on a spiritual quality; a power to inspire others, sometimes for good, sometimes for evil, sometimes for one’s personal ends, sometimes it can be partially or wholly evil. When it is evil, fortunately, while it may temporarily succeed, it always keeps within itself the seeds of it’s own destruction.

The difference between a successful man and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will because the character rather than education is man’s greatest need and man’s greatest safeguard because the character is higher than the intellect. The difference between men is in energy, in the strong will, in a singleness of purpose, and an invincible determination. But the great difference is in sacrifice, in self-denial, in love and loyalty, in fearlessness and in humility, in the pursuit of excellence and in the perfectly disciplined will, because this is not only the difference between men, this is the difference between great and little men.

The Philosopher Kings

Plato opined that philosopher kings should rule. Thucydides wrote: the society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools.

Update

This is the dilemma faced by American society today, a society where our political system and our culture of superficiality so influence our educational processes that mediocrity results in place of excellence and the wisdom found in our history is declared "woke" by the ignorant.

Evolution, Mutiny and Aristocracy - Part 1

Ignorance, a lack of education, and a culture of mediocrity have resulted in America becoming a global also-ran. What Deming noted about plants (factories), also applies to nations and enterprise:

Deming’s wisdom applies as well to sports, just as General Mattis’ missives do not solely apply to the battlefield.

U.S. Marines are fond of saying that there are no bad troops, only poor leaders. In sports, there are no poorly performing teams, only poor coaches.?

Rugby

My French grandfather played rugby for France, just as Prince Harry, the Spare, enjoyed the contact sport. The "French flair", I was told by an Englishman, once led that nation to dominate the sport.?

Update - U.S. Politics

Kevin McCarthy, the Squeaker of the U.S. House, is of Irish descent. The Irish once came to America in droves during the potato famine. This same descendant of immigrants would now deny other immigrants seeking refuge, the benefit of America’s solace and compassion.?How soon we forget -history.

Mutiny

6 January was an insurrection against the Constitution and Democracy. Those of us who served on the front line, swore to protect the flag and the Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and domestic. Just as the inhabitants of Troy did not recognize the Trojan horse for the threat it posed:

the ignorant do not recognize Trump’s active role in undermining both our Constitution and our flag, because this is taking place in the ethernet and his role is strongly protected by attorneys:

In the OR

"Now with a firm twist. I’ll remove his attorney"

By implanting Moscow on the Intercoastal (in North Miami Beach),

Trump has undermined our Democracy?

and has violated his sacred oath to our flag and our Constitution.

Next: Aristocracy, Mutiny on the Bounty and January 6th