Breaking Out of the Inner Ring
The mark of a true gentleman is not the orbit he inhabits. It is the orbit he creates.
Very few, if any, people in this world would volunteer to say they like cliques. Perhaps there are a handful of cynical Machievallians willing to publicly proclaim that the way good work is done is by selecting a handful of folk to do it. In the realm of politics, one might find a brave soul or two (like this author) willing to say that convention-style nominations are better than the primary system. Most people in most places, however, are less cynical.
In the United States especially, and with the populist flavor of current cultural trends, it is quite natural that the idea of cliques is held in disdain. It is good, too. The notion of a secretive inner circle where the “important things” are discussed and done cuts against the ideas of democracy and meritocracy. Transparency, integrity, and the rewards of hard work are virtues, and the very idea these virtues are supplanted by a hidden cabal of insiders runs against the grain of any good ethos. The desire to belong to these cabals is considered uncouth. But it is also inherent to man.
Everywhere one looks across the American landscape, it is a desire that continues to creep up in all facets of life. The impulse to be a part of a clique is one we all must fight, but it is especially important that we train the gentleman of tomorrow to resist it.
As with all moral questions, the desire to be a part of a clique and the problems this desire engenders were addressed by C.S. Lewis. In a lecture given at London’s King College in 1944 before a student cohort hungry for “middle-aged moralism,” Lewis opined against the dangers of pursuing the “Inner Rings” in life. As he explains, such cliques are an inevitable fact of life. Creating a group of friends at school or work is natural. Being called upon to perform duties at work that are outside one’s job description, simply because the higher-ups are incompetent, is in many ways a pleasant vote of confidence. The clique cannot be avoided in its entirety. But, as Lewis notes, the desire to be part of such cliques is a different thing entirely:
“It is necessary, and perhaps it is not a necessary evil. But the desire which draws us into Inner Rings is another matter. A thing may be morally neutral and yet the desire for that thing may be dangerous.”
-C.S. Lewis
He is quite right. This sentiment applies to a number of life’s many facets, but the desire to be “in the club,” so to speak, is particularly worrisome. Lewis writes that the intense desire to be in the know can drive a man to do distasteful things. Ambition is a powerful drug, and ambition, coupled with the satisfaction of being an insider, will drive a man to do all sorts of things. That satisfaction is an important point because it reveals that the appeal of the Inner Ring goes beyond its external benefits:
“It is no doubt a great convenience to know that we need fear no official reprimands from our official senior because he is old Percy, a fellow member of our Ring. But we don’t value the intimacy only for the sake of convenience; quite equally we value the convenience as a proof of the intimacy.”
-C.S. Lewis
It is this intimacy, and the satisfaction it brings, that drives the unsuspecting man to become a scoundrel (Lewis’ word). Rarely does a man wake up intending to do bad, and rarely is the opportunity to do bad offered from blatantly evil men. The Wolf on Wall Street is an apt example of this. People remember that movie for the open conniving and mockery of the law shown by Jordan Belfort and his crew, but they did not begin that way. Their insiderism was the product of many years of bad choices, one made after the other, because their ambition and desire to be ‘the guys’ took hold.
Help us to continue to provide a platform for writers like Scott Howard.
And, as Lewis remarks, giving into this desire is remarkably short-sighted because it will not be satisfied. No amount of insiderism is ever enough. The desire to be in the know is forever unfulfilling:
“The circle cannot have from within the charm it had from outside. By the very act of admitting you it has lost its magic. Once the first novelty is worn off, the members of this circle will be no more interesting than your old friends. Why should they be? You were not looking for virtue or kindness or loyalty or humour or learning or wit or any of the things that can be really enjoyed. You merely wanted to be ‘in.’”
-C.S. Lewis
Therein lies the rub. The pursuit of a clique for the sake of the clique will never satisfy. It is only in pursuing those other virtues that one can be truly content with their circle. In today’s day and age, that is something society must ingrain into its youth. The mark of a true gentleman is not the orbit he inhabits. It is the orbit he creates. It is enough, and we must raise young men to believe it to be enough, for one to simply be a good man. Living life on its own terms, and contenting oneself to that, will lead to the right inner rings. Going in pursuit of the clique, as many today are apt to do, will only lead to misery and scoundrelism.
Resisting the temptation to pursue these inner rings, as with all temptations to vice, is hard. It is an especially herculean task in a world that disregards virtue and celebrates such vice. But no task, however herculean, is worth abandoning if it is the right thing to do. I leave you with such a reminder, plucked from the biography “Hannibal” by Theodore Ayrault Dodge, as to why:
“To him [Hannibal], with his honest cause and unconquerable purpose, there must be a way. It is, indeed, when such a hero looks the all but impossible in the face that he is at his greatest. It is here that he shines forth, clad in all his virtue. Be it that the palm of the victor awaits him, be it that he is destined to sink beneath the weight of his herculean task, at such a time he is no longer man. He is a demigod!”
-Theodore Ayrault Dodge
May we all hope to be demigods in these times.
Scott Howard is an undergraduate student at the University of Florida where he studies political science. An alumnus intern of National Review, he is currently an Editor at Lone Conservative and volunteers as the Submissions Editor for the Freemen News-Letter. @ConservaMuse
 | A guest post by
|