What Makes a Revolutionary Revolutionary?

Today, we will attempt to profile the personalities of several famous revolutionaries. So what is a revolutionary? Revolutionaries are individuals who attempted, or succeeded, in radically transforming the social system or hierarchy in their given place and time. We can see from an analysis of nine such people that, surprisingly, there is no common profile, with the exception of an aim which in the MindHub system we call Community. Going against the social system or norms can arise from many core motivations and diverse aims, or may arise from the confluence of circumstances and decisions of key people during a turning point in history. In any case, the personality of the revolutionary figure can have various effects on the speed or degree of social transformation.

https://medium.com/media/1b8fd6d9d86f120276ee443852b152df/hrefThe Rebel

First up, Che Guevara. Che Guevara was the iconic Argentinian medical student-cum-guerrilla fighter, now often found on trendy t-shirts. He showed from his early career till his death a combination of drives including primary Principles and Compassion. This combination means Che was attempting to live up to ideals and was willing to sacrifice for those in distress. Che wanted to be a doctor who could treat ailing people, and aimed to work without compensation. In this sense, he was a true humanitarian and due to this many remember him affectionately. However, his strongest drive is a drive we call Lust in the MindHub system. Lust at its most extreme is carelessness or no longer taking into account the consequences of one’s actions. We should note the combination of Lust and Compassion is statistically rare. In the MindHub system these are referred to as polar drives. In this case Che was ‘Knocked under the table by vices but compensating for it with goodness to others’. In the moment, he wouldn’t take what happens to people into account, yet strangely he did care about what happened to people after the dust settled. Over the course of time, Che was able to use his strong principles to justify being led into violent conflicts, and with repeated successes in using guerilla tactics, he grew accustomed to the effects of war and willing to take ever greater risks. In the MindHub system we also look to the aims or what people strive for in life over a longer period of time. In Che’s case we can see Community as his first aim. He is at every stage of his career working toward improvements for the community, at least from his own perspective. Another more personal aim, was for the enjoyment of novelty. He enjoyed travelling especially. He has become a symbol of global rebellion, especially for social groups sharing similar drives.

The Teacher

Gandhi, known as the Mahatma, was a leader who employed the resistance to kick the British out of India, he also wrote a gripping autobiography. Gandhi is know principally for the concept and practice of civil disobedience. However, early in his career he studied approaches to creating movements in South Africa and was educated in England. He clearly displayed what we would call a primary Ambition drive, fully dedicating himself to success as an activist. He also had primary principles in combination with Ego. Now, Gandhi did not have Ego in the colloquial sense, wanting to be recognized or praised for his achievements. However, he wanted his life to be a perfect model of his ideals, and wanted others to recognize and follow the superiority of that model. His autobiography is subtitled “The Story of My Experiments with Truth” where he lays out quite clearly how he arrived at his life’s governing principles. The autobiography reveals a constantly deepening interior life, and we can see his effort centered around personal growth which Gandhi saw as foundational to the way he would connect with and teach the community. His legacy shows that non-violence and gentle dissent can also transform society. In MindHub this is an aim called Spirituality. Indeed, Gandhi’s legacy is as much one of a spiritual leader as a secular one.

The Architect

Lenin was the Bolshevik revolutionary who brought the iconic cap with a star and the October revolution. Under his leadership the party grew from about 20,000 people to more than 700,000 in a short span of years. Lenin had primary Ambition, working continuously for the progress of the party. He also shows the combination of primary Security and Revenge drives. In MindHub Revenge usually means an individual seeks to control circumstances and security focuses on avoiding unnecessary risks. The combination of these drives usually leads to a focus on standard procedures as they help to keep the necessary level of control with limited expenditures of resources. Lenin’s profile is totally reactive, on the right side of the MindHub circle, which is shown through his ability to prepare but wait sometimes for protracted periods for the right moment to act. We might also mention that Lenin’s profile is without any extreme drives, making it quite sturdy, healthy in the sense that disappointments are unlikely to rattle him. His aims were also in alignment with his drives. He had Competence foremost, which focuses on expertise in the chosen field and Finance which is concerned with having the resources to execute operations.

The Freedom Fighter

Mandela was the anti-apartheid revolutionary who spent the majority of his career in jail, incarcerated for 27 years from 1964 to 1988. He served one five year term as South Africa’s president from 1994 to 1999. Mandela certainly shows a primary Principles drive as he was willing to sacrifice his personal life for a larger cause. He kept himself busy in prison by writing two books, both about the struggle toward freedom and by studying the law. Although the works can be seen as autobiographical they are largely about how to set up life and leadership methods that serve others. This also reflects Mandela’s primary Compassion. He was focused on alleviating distress of his fellow inmates while in jail and in the distress of the oppressed in his country. He was constantly working toward those ends and even took it upon himself to learn enough to defend himself. Mandela was able to keep his hope through such a long wait because his profile is so balanced, with the position of the drives more compact around the center, though without many inner drives. This means greater flexibility, his drives are suitable for solo work as well as cooperation. He also kept his hope and increased the hope of others through a clear understanding of the goal for his country. He had a Community aim first, showing solidarity with the oppressed instead of setting himself apart from them. He had Spirituality as an aim as well but, without an Ego drive, this shows as a willingness to draw strength from a higher power and to have an awareness of the possibility of transcendence, which has a role in supporting the higher aim and drives.

The Social Engineer

Mao was the Chinese communist leader who introduced those infamous matching jumpsuits. Mao is the only revolutionary in our list with two extreme drives. Extreme drives have the tendency to disbalance the personality. Mao showed extreme Security and extreme Principles. In the MindHub system extreme Principles is fanaticism, a conviction that one’s beliefs are the only valid choice. Extreme Security is paranoia, seeing danger everywhere. Mao also had Ambition working consistently to implement his plans. It is also worth noting there are no individualistic drives in Mao’s personality. This combination of drives, along with this lack of awareness or care about individuals, contributed to the justification of eliminating entire groups of people. Mao also shows a life aim called Competence. He is focused on expertise in his domain. He had a second aim of Community. This combination of aims, with Community supporting Competence, means that Mao was most concerned with molding the community competently, essentially in a project of social engineering.

The Star Humanitarian

Peron was the Argentine first lady and political powerhouse who championed women's and workers’ rights, while hording extravagant fashion. She was a divisive figure beloved by many and hated enough to have her body stolen, twice. Eva was afflicted with poverty early in life and was open about her total self-transformation between her young life to the life of an actress, and then again from the life of an actress to political activist and first lady. She even separated her usual personality as Eva Peron from her new personality, Evita, which she popularized among the people. However radical the transformation, we can see common drives between Eva and Evita. She certainly maintained a strong Ego drive, enjoying public praise and attention, but in combination with this drive she also had primary Greed. In MindHub, having Greed shows expansionist tendencies, desire for monetary resources, and willingness to push to obtain quicker results. Evita was famously hardworking but for short periods of time, sometimes clocking twenty hour days as minister of health and labor, with workers, women, and in setting up her own foundation. She was willing to plow her way to what she wanted without much thought toward burnout or long term consequences for herself or other co-workers who she pushed equally hard. There is also evidence of a Principles drive, as she took strong positions on human rights issues and zealously defended them. Sadly, at the height of her involvement with governmental campaigns she was struck down by cancer and died at the young age of thirty-three. Eva’s aims were directed toward securing a future for herself, getting the necessary attention to secure resources, and then securing a future for others who were raised in similar situations to her own. She had a finance aim with a community aim second.

The Chosen One

Aung San Suu Kyi is a Myanmar democracy advocate who spent much of her political career under house arrest, but whose tenure in power left much to be desired. She spent fifteen years out of a twenty year period confined to her home with only occasional visits allowed. She spent the time reading political books, biographies and writing essays of her own, which were published in two volumes. She also played piano and tended to orchids. Her activities reveal an organized and consistent work ethic which fits well with the primary Ambition drive in the MindHub system. Her personal essays also show a personality focused on logical structures and having effective formulas for understanding that will benefit her as a political leader in the future. She studied the models of democracy in many countries and was attempting to learn from each of them in turn to be exacting about the implementation of democracy in the transition of Myanmar. Though this may look like Principles, it may better reflect her pragmatic and strategic nature, which points to her drives being mostly reactive. Given her captivity and the assassination of her father, it’s more likely she has a primary Revenge drive. In MindHub, this drive is not about personal revenge per se, but rather reflects the tendency toward cultivating strict control over circumstances and, as much as possible, over situations or the environment. She showed discipline in all aspects of life, making no demarcation between the political and personal. In addition to these, Aung San Su Kyi has had to develop a strong Security drive, as she has faced the danger of possible assassination and further arrests. Her aims have been to develop competence as a leader and to overthrow the current military hierarchy. The world seemed quite shocked to learn that she was not similar at all to her imprisoned revolutionary predessesors, showing neither strong community aim nor pronounced principles or compassion drives.

The Hothead

Fidel Castro was the bearded Cuban revolutionary who turned a tropical paradise into a communist time warp. Castro ruled for 47 years, enough time to span ten US presidents. Castro had primary extreme Lust in the Mindhub system, which is a carelessness regarding the consequences of one’s actions. Combined with Ego, this drive can create a particularly impulsive and individualistic leader, which can be seen as unpredictable or capricious to others. Many world leaders including Vladimir Putin described Castro as unique, but what they meant was that it was difficult to determine what he might do and surprising that, given his wildness, he was able to outmanuever enemies. Castro’s proactiveness was cooled by primary Security, a drive that would become a necessity to survive approximately six hundred assassination attempts. What Castro directed himself toward over the long term was simply the goal to keep himself at the top of the hierarchy, but he had a second aim called Fun. He wanted to enjoy the process and enjoy the power as he held it. He made time for novel sensations and particularly enjoyed cigars, scuba diving, and adventuring with likeminded friends like Ernest Hemingway. Toppling oppressive regimes is a serious thing to do, as is leading a country for a half century, so Castro comes across as very social and charismatic through this unique mix of aims and drives.

The Uncle

Ho Chi Minh, known affectionately as Uncle Ho, was the Vietnamese revolutionary who taught the French and Americans some valuable lessons. His backstory is mysterious as the biographies of him that exist do not agree on key points of his early life. A person who used hundreds of psudonyms and pioneers ways to create invisible networks underground during war, is a person who has primary Security drive. Ho Chi Minh saw danger and responded to threats accordingly. We know that Ho Chi Minh was well-educated and had a strict Confucian upbringing, and that he became a poet and writer before his political career. We see evidence of primary Principles as his letters, diaries, and correspondence were all related to becoming a committed Marxist-Leninist and to the cause of independence from French colonial rule. His third primary drive is Compassion, which is also evident in his diaries, but more so in his visits to children in Vietnam. He clearly cared about the children, but also wanted to instill in them similar values. His triangle is mainly positioned in the lower half of the Mindhub circle, showing a more introverted disposition. Such personalities are usually not active enough to grab power on their own. Ho Chi Minh was likely chosen as a leader due to his knowledge and zeal for the cause. He had a competence aim with a second community aim; he wanted his use his intellect to plan and implement changes that would benefit everyone. He didn’t want to be the face of a movement; he just wanted everyone to prosper.

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