#1
A third way in which no guru makes sense is where there should be no guru, such as in politics. Implicit in the idea of a guru is a higher or deeper knowledge, but this properly applies to ideas that are personal or spiritual in nature, known to the guru through something particular to the guru as an individual—a special vision, message, “gift” or power—perceptible only to those who share a belief in that particular guru. General leadership on the basis of such knowledge is an especially dangerous type of demagoguery because disagreeing with this kind of demagogue is tantamount to being wrong on a deeper (or higher) level, which calls for more serious correction. And the demagoguery of this kind is incompatible with any degree of democracy simply because the “gift” is not given to everyone.
This essay expresses my personal beliefs about politics: The “convictions” here refer to firm beliefs, not criminal prosecutions. And politics here refers to the rules by which people live, not merely the democratic process. There is no demagoguery here because, in addition to my not being a guru, I am also not a politician. My “system,” if it be that, is presented as a utopian ideal, as a vision of what is not expected to really happen because perfection exists only in the mind. In theoretical terms, this is a hypothesis that will not likely be tested.
While this is a utopian vision or fancy, it is nonetheless rooted in evidence and observation, and the reasoning is guided by that ancient (and perhaps first) principle of society—the greater good for the greater number. The issues arise in deciding what the good is and who is in that number: The main points here will be the principles on which the good is ideally identified, while the number is based on who is considered human—an issue that will be addressed, albeit briefly, later.
Communalism here is in some ways similar to communism in its principles—in its universality, for one. In the 19th Century, there was a philosophy called communalism which pertained to particular groups that wanted to isolate themselves from the rest of humanity, such as the Amish in North America, some Hindu sects in India, and later the Hasids in Europe. However, I take “communalism” to be totally inclusive from a religious or spiritual point of view. (It can be said here to relieve the diatribe that in my utopia, religions would be allowed to preach and teach their faiths but the enforcement of rules regarding social conduct would belong to the state, as it is in principle in the U.S.A.) Communalism here is also similar to communism in the form of the word, which is another reason, like Paganism, why it was prudent for me as a teacher to keep my beliefs out of the classroom.
It can be inferred from my conjuring of a utopian vision to begin with that I believe the society in which I live is imperfect, and this is true: In general, utopian visions tend to be inspired by a perceived social dysfunction devolving in the direction of the negative “ideal” of a dystopia—a time and place in which nothing in the social structure works justly in anyone’s view. Cognitively, one knows what something is by virtue of what it is not, so the next section is devoted to pointing out what I perceive to be wrong with the system in which I live.
No Guru 