ABSTRACT
For over century and a half, sociological observers from Alexis de Tocqueville through James Bryce, and from the first generation of American sociologists through those writing today, have noted that Americans place an unambiguously high value on wealth and monetary success, but have mixed feelings about exercising authority and leadership. One of the main problems in terms of securing capable and stable leadership in America is tied directly to the high value placed on monetary success: both success-seeking and leadership avoidance are consequences of something lacking in our highly mobile and anxiety ridden other-directed society, namely confidence in a secure future. Any type of leadership, whether it is political, military, economic, religious, or moral, involves some sacrifice now for advantages in the future. Sociologists today often debunk authority as mere manipulation, and leadership as nothing but refined or sometimes raw, self-interest.
