TRTR on the hero and charisma thread

[Mark Kohut]

Max Weber...from the essay below: 
There is the authority of the extraordinary and personal gift of grace 
(charisma), the absolutely personal devotion and personal confidence in 
revelation, heroism, or other qualities of individual leadership. This is 
'charismatic' domination, as exercised by the prophet or--in the field of 
politics--by the elected war lord, the plebiscitarian ruler, the great 
demagogue, or the political party leader. 
 
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/moriyuki/abukuma/weber/lecture/politics_vocation.html




----- Original Message ----
From: Paul Mackin <mackin.paul at verizon.net>
To: Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com>; pynchon-l at waste.org
Sent: Fri, June 24, 2011 5:14:55 PM
Subject: Re: TRTR on the hero and charisma thread

On 6/24/2011 3:07 PM, Mark Kohut wrote:
> Paul M. writes
> Don't recall the remarks but I suppose anti charisma would mean routinized.  
As
> societies develop, the need for charismatic authority decreases.  Heroes are
> traditionally charismatic, but protagonists less so.
> 
> Brecht's line about unhappy the land that needs heroes might also apply to
> places that still require charisma.
> 
> But in a different way.
>    I think the case can be made that as Pynchon uses charisma.....taken it 
>seems
> from a famous Weber essay----anti-charisma
> 
> means simply something like not having/using the power of 
>personality......power
> being key.........................
>  just being another regular guy/woman.............
> 
Weber is certainly The Man when it comes to the topic of charismatic authority.

Was Pynchon talking about the stage at which bureaucracies come to the fore?

In pre-war Germany, Walter Rathenau was the great industrial rationaizer--we 
meet him "on the other side" in GR.

Ike was a great organizer but not very charismatic--unlike old Blood and Guts 
and Dugout Doug.

A bureaucracy such as the world had never seen formed around Winning the War.

Roger and Pointsman side by side.

P