The Optimistic Cynic - or the Informed Idealist...

I suppose that the fact that the father of Cynicism was the son of a Banker should not surprise us, as we stumble into the second decade of the 21nd Century. Poor old Diogenes. That barrel can't have been too comfortable, and with so many admirers, you'd think that he could have got himself a flash apartment overlooking the Adriatic. Of course, he would have said that "that which is valuable is battered with that which is worthless, and that which is worthless is battered by that which is valuable" - go figure.

Still, it's vaguely comforting to know that 2,300 years ago, there was a man who was prepared to go against the grain, to suffer the ridicule of the fashionable, for his ... ideals? Ah, and so we come to the question...

Was the father of Cynicism - and ultimately of Stoicism - actually an Idealist? Well, of course he was. He was a thinker and a philosopher. He didn't suffer fools gladly, and he described himself as a dog. "I am Diogenes the Dog. I will fawn upon those who are kind, bark at those who are greedy and bite scoundrels."

My kinda guy then. I suppose he's most peoples' kinda guy - unless he was your neighbour. He'd be a pain in the arse if he was your neighbour. Most oddballs are. He'd be distinctly uncomfortable. Most idealists are.

As I continue to think about 'the state we are in' and the knocking down of all the idols on all the pedestals that we have built ourselves; spiritually, socially, financially, culturally, They are all coming tumbling down.

We need leaders. We need people who are prepared to be ridiculed. We need people to become indignant - as Stephane Hessel would have it - but not tooo much...
Remember the lessons learned in previous centuries - In a vacuum, a leader can become too powerful.