Roles and Qualifications

We have discussed roles and role-playing.

People who accept roles in societies must make sure they are qualified for those roles. They must study what are the qualifications, according to their society, for the role that they are playing.

How do you determine these qualifications?

First, you study the best players of those roles in your society. What makes them the best? Do you meet these qualifications? What are they? What are the specifics? What are you required to do and to know if you play that role in your society? Should you transform the qualifications? Should you introduce different qualifications? You must be the best of the best as your society interprets the best? You also must have your input into the best of the best? Are you truly qualified for that role?

Not just that you want the role. People want all kinds of roles. Many want to be president, but what are the qualifications for being president? Do you meet those qualifications? And, for a role, such as president, even if you meet the qualifications, you must be approved by the people of your society. That is also an aspect of the qualifications. Many people are qualified to be president of many civilizations, but are you available to win the approval of others? If not, it’s best to try to find some career in presidential politics or the administration but you don’t necessarily have to be president. You might become an advisor or consultant in presidential politics. You might become a presidential historian. You would have to seek a presidential political career that doesn’t involve elections to office. You can also become an expert on the presidency, writing books on the subject. You might even become a friend of presidents, writing books on them. To become president yourself means the approval of the people, through elections. Some people are quite qualified to be president in theory, but not for an elected office.

You can also become a non-elected polical person, in various non-elected political office, and you can work on the staffs of political people. Many of these people also write speeches for presidents, and have a great influence in public policy just as (lowly) speech writers. It’s good if these people are known, and given credit for the great speeches that they write, nevertheless, as with playwrights, they need the great president to deliver the speech. Nevertheless, with many of the great presidents it’s excellent when they can also write their own speeches, and have literary abilities as with an Abraham Lincoln or a Thomas Jefferson. Certainly it would be good if they are co-authors and contribute lines to some of the great speeches. But no wonder actors now become presidents, and mayors and governors. This is the media age. Many of the non-charismatic (in the media’s understanding of charisma, as some people are charismatic off-camera but not on-camera; there’s a different type of charisma) people who used to become the presidents and mayors and governors now are relegated to lesser roles.