You cannot win without it. 

  I don’t watch much sports. Typically the next day I’ll review the highlights but that’s about it. But I like watching the interviews and following the stories behind the scores, rankings and championships. 

  Championship teams inevitably have great coaching and a ‘core leadership group.’ These are the guys that set the tone. True team leaders never cease talking about ‘the process,’ about ‘coming together,’ ‘gelling,’ and ‘learning to win.’ It’s all about the building of a ‘culture,’ of commitment, dedication, and sacrifice. And then championship bound teams trade or jettison those who ‘don’t fit in,’ who detract from the ‘culture’ because they are not willing to subordinate their own personal goals to the team and put the work in for the greater good. 

  I’ve been thinking that communities, nations and civilizations are like teams. With the right culture and leadership they can go on century long runs, even win multiple ‘championships’ and become known as a ‘dynasty.’ 

  As an aside I suppose in that sense a community’s, a nation’s, or a civilization’s godhead could be considered its team mascot.  

  But all great teams get old. They tire and lose the dedication and commitment. The leadership group falters and false leaders step to the fore. The message becomes confused and ceases to speak to the moment. And the ‘process’ dissolves into chaos. 

  Recently I cracked open Joseph Campbell’s monumental Creative Mythology once again. Campbell called a book he chanced upon in a Carmel, California library and ended up reading seven times “possibly the greatest event of his intellectual career.” 

  The book was titled The Decline Of The West. 

Have you read Campbell or Spengler? Let’s have some fun with them at omphaloscafe@gmail.com!