REVIEW: Moshik Temkin — Warriors, Rebels, and Saints (BOOK)
Moshik Temkin’s new book reminds me of Steve Jobs’ iconic speech — ‘Here’s to the Crazy Ones.’ It reaffirms the holistic altruism the otherwise corporate-sponsored envisioning promotes in excess, specifically a celebration of ill-adjustment. Of rule-breaking. In many ways, Temkin argues with his book, along with recent talks ideologically congruent to the book about how history is shaped by members deemed ill-fitting by the powers that be.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: https://www.moshiktemkin.com/
The most anomalous moments, movements, and events he argues are in direct contradiction to the ‘Great Man Theory’ — space often taken up by Eurocentric figures like Napolean Bonaparte, or Queen Elizabeth I. As a result, it’s only fitting Temkin has titled his book the straightforward, yet appropriately formalized Warriors, Rebels, and Saints: The Art of Leadership from Machiavelli to Malcolm X. In an article complimenting the nature and topicality explored in the text, Temkin sat down with an extension of Hachette Book Group to further unpack his arguments and articulations on the impact of such, citing Dr. Stacy Smith at the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, ‘epidemic of invisibility.’
One of the most striking aspects of what he had to say in that forum was there being an almost evanescent quality to visionary leaders, whether recognized in immediacy by students of promoted history. “…Martin Luther King Jr. and also his contemporary, Malcolm X, they both died very, very young. They were both 39 when they were killed, and they both knew that they were, in a sense, destined to die young. They talked about it, and it was part of their leadership message. So, it’s not that they were saints in their behavior, necessarily, but we can consider them saints afterward because of how far they were willing to go in terms of leadership,” Temkin observes.
In a separate interview similarly congruent to the text with Democracy Paradox, Temkin spoke at length about his view on the nature of true leadership. “…We talk a lot about politics. We live in a political world, but we tend to downplay leaders and leadership as if it’s something separate from that. I think there are a couple of reasons for that. One is I think we’ve almost all accepted a kind of lack of expectation from our political so-called leaders to really stand out as leaders. So, we have an image of important or great leaders from the past, and we compare our supposed leaders in the present to them and our present leaders tend to really come up short,” he states. “…
BUY THE BOOK: https://www.amazon.com/Warriors-Rebels-Saints-Leadership-Machiavelli/dp/1541758471
Some of the things that are in the book, I can date back as far as 5th grade, 6th grade, things that I learned in school. Of course, I hope it’s a little bit more sophisticated than that, but that’s really where the genesis is…I’ve come to the conclusion that leaders, true leaders, are not necessarily the most famous people. I could name names, but they wouldn’t ring a bell to any of the listeners because leaders can come in all forms. They can be the person who really stepped up when you needed it. They can be the person who helped the community when there’s a crisis. So, I see leadership all around me, Justin. It’s just a matter of recognizing these people and trying to help them, follow them, because they can lead us to good things.”
Colin Jordan
