Groton...subtle and insidious?
August 14, 2009 7:36 AM Subscribe
The Groton School motto is "To serve is to rule". What do you think it means in this particular context?
David Halberstam's reading of the motto in The Best and the Brightest is:
Cui servire est regnare is Groton's motto. "To serve is to rule." The overt teaching was that the finest life is service to God, your family and your state, but the covert teaching, far more subtle and insidious, was somewhat different: ultimately, strength is more important; there is a ruling clique; there is a thing called privilege and you might as well use it. (Halberstam 1972, p.51)
What is your understanding?
David Halberstam's reading of the motto in The Best and the Brightest is:
Cui servire est regnare is Groton's motto. "To serve is to rule." The overt teaching was that the finest life is service to God, your family and your state, but the covert teaching, far more subtle and insidious, was somewhat different: ultimately, strength is more important; there is a ruling clique; there is a thing called privilege and you might as well use it. (Halberstam 1972, p.51)
What is your understanding?
I would interpret it as something along the lines of "leadership comes from service", the idea that people will follow those whom they believe to be acting in their best interests.
posted by modernnomad at 7:46 AM on August 14, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by modernnomad at 7:46 AM on August 14, 2009 [1 favorite]
All streams flow to the sea
because it is lower than they are.
Humility gives it its power.
If you want to govern the people,
you must place yourself below them.
If you want to lead the people,
you must learn how to follow them.
The Master is above the people,
and no one feels oppressed.
She goes ahead of the people,
and no one feels manipulated.
The whole world is grateful to her.
Because she competes with no one,
no one can compete with her.
Tao Te Ching
posted by Comrade_robot at 7:52 AM on August 14, 2009 [3 favorites]
because it is lower than they are.
Humility gives it its power.
If you want to govern the people,
you must place yourself below them.
If you want to lead the people,
you must learn how to follow them.
The Master is above the people,
and no one feels oppressed.
She goes ahead of the people,
and no one feels manipulated.
The whole world is grateful to her.
Because she competes with no one,
no one can compete with her.
Tao Te Ching
posted by Comrade_robot at 7:52 AM on August 14, 2009 [3 favorites]
To me, it's just another way of saying The meek shall inherit the Earth.
posted by applemeat at 7:52 AM on August 14, 2009
posted by applemeat at 7:52 AM on August 14, 2009
I agree with modernnomad's interpretation. The motto makes me think of the Kennedys, who have accumulated great political power based, at least in part, on their history of public service.
posted by amyms at 7:56 AM on August 14, 2009
posted by amyms at 7:56 AM on August 14, 2009
If we all serve each other then there is no need for rulers. If we all serve ourselves only rulers will keep us in order.
posted by any major dude at 7:56 AM on August 14, 2009
posted by any major dude at 7:56 AM on August 14, 2009
To me, it means that working hard, having your heart and mind fully engaged, is an end in itself, and (I have found this to be true in my own life) with application of one's self, more responsibility flows one's way.
I have found myself unexpectedly in leadership roles, either formally or informally, by hard work and dedication. Life just sorta works out that way, in the long run (but not in the short run).
posted by Danf at 7:58 AM on August 14, 2009
I have found myself unexpectedly in leadership roles, either formally or informally, by hard work and dedication. Life just sorta works out that way, in the long run (but not in the short run).
posted by Danf at 7:58 AM on August 14, 2009
Life is like tennis: He who serves best wins.
posted by mattbucher at 8:15 AM on August 14, 2009
posted by mattbucher at 8:15 AM on August 14, 2009
Response by poster:
I understand the direction that Halberstam is trying to take, it fits in very nicely with his characterisation of the Kennedy administration, but I think in his reading of the motto he might be clutching at straws.
posted by quosimosaur at 8:18 AM on August 14, 2009
Tomorrowful: I can't make up my mind whether this sounds more like homework or chatfilter.Some clarification: This is related to some reading I'm doing for a university project. Apologies if the question is a little vague. Maybe I should 've made my own opinion clear.
I understand the direction that Halberstam is trying to take, it fits in very nicely with his characterisation of the Kennedy administration, but I think in his reading of the motto he might be clutching at straws.
posted by quosimosaur at 8:18 AM on August 14, 2009
It's a version of the Latin motto 'servire Deo regnare est', 'to serve God is to reign'. But in fact the Groton motto is a variation on this, 'cui servare est regnare', usually translated 'whose service is perfect freedom'. This is a quotation from the Collect for Peace, in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer:
O God, who art the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom: Defend us thy humble servants in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in thy defence, may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord.
posted by verstegan at 8:52 AM on August 14, 2009 [5 favorites]
O God, who art the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom: Defend us thy humble servants in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in thy defence, may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord.
posted by verstegan at 8:52 AM on August 14, 2009 [5 favorites]
Ask Topher. He'll be able to give you a far better explanation than anyone here can.
posted by -1 at 9:17 AM on August 14, 2009
posted by -1 at 9:17 AM on August 14, 2009
That to serve the public—whether it be in government, politics, or law enforcement—means, at least in America, to ultimately dictate policy and control the lives of citizens.
It hints at a bigger question, one perhaps too large to talk about here: whether social structures exist to benefit people, or the other way around.
posted by trotter at 10:42 AM on August 14, 2009
It hints at a bigger question, one perhaps too large to talk about here: whether social structures exist to benefit people, or the other way around.
posted by trotter at 10:42 AM on August 14, 2009
Groton is a school for the elite (more so a century ago than now, but America was smaller then), and I think the dual meaning here is for the future ruling classes and their handlers.
1) "Kids, you're gonna grow up to rule this country, and to do so well, you need to understand that it's about serving and making sacrifices for people you aren't as good as you, because that's the nature of a patrician class."
2) "teachers, by teaching these kids, you're shaping the future of the world more than any other teachers of any other kids. you can influence them, so do a damn good job of it"
posted by Jon_Evil at 10:43 AM on August 14, 2009
1) "Kids, you're gonna grow up to rule this country, and to do so well, you need to understand that it's about serving and making sacrifices for people you aren't as good as you, because that's the nature of a patrician class."
2) "teachers, by teaching these kids, you're shaping the future of the world more than any other teachers of any other kids. you can influence them, so do a damn good job of it"
posted by Jon_Evil at 10:43 AM on August 14, 2009
What verstegan said. "God" is understood in the motto--the central idea it's meant to convey is that serving God is a way to become autonomous.
It is certainly possible that some Groton students looked at the motto and parsed it the way Halberstam did. On the other hand, teenagers will mangle anything Latin into anything they damn well please (Nigra sum sed formosa = "I am a black woman, although I come from Taiwan" being my father's favorite from his own school days).
posted by Sidhedevil at 11:51 AM on August 14, 2009
It is certainly possible that some Groton students looked at the motto and parsed it the way Halberstam did. On the other hand, teenagers will mangle anything Latin into anything they damn well please (Nigra sum sed formosa = "I am a black woman, although I come from Taiwan" being my father's favorite from his own school days).
posted by Sidhedevil at 11:51 AM on August 14, 2009
Best answer: Halberstam's distinction between the 'overt' and the 'covert' teaching is presumably intended to echo Leo Strauss's distinction between 'exoteric' and 'esoteric' meanings -- the idea being that all the great philosophical texts have a double meaning, a surface meaning for the general reader and a hidden meaning for an inner circle of initiates. Applying this to the Groton school motto strikes me as .. well, I was going to say 'a load of bullshit', but let's settle for 'not very convincing'.
Esoteric as it might seem to us, a school motto like 'cui servire est regnare' sprang from a culture where the Bible, the Anglican Prayer Book and the Latin language were all taken for granted as part of the common stock of learning. Any educated man would have been expected to pick up the allusion to the Collect for Purity ('whose service is perfect freedom'), which the boys at Groton would have heard recited at morning prayer every day. There was nothing particularly 'covert' about it. And in a school like Groton with a strong religious tradition, it would have been natural to interpret it in a spiritual sense (service to God, reward in heaven) without looking for a deeper meaning concealed underneath. If we're going to unpack the motto, then I suspect the inner meaning is something along the lines of 'noblesse oblige', a reminder to the privileged boys of Groton that privilege is worthless without responsibility.
My school motto, incidentally, was 'Serve and Obey', or as we used to say, 'Serve and Pay' in reference to the crippling fees our parents were paying for our education. The new headmaster has altered this to 'Nurturing Excellence', which makes me cringe, but as a Google search for 'Serve and Obey' turns up a large number of BDSM sites, I suppose he may have a point.
posted by verstegan at 1:58 PM on August 14, 2009 [1 favorite]
Esoteric as it might seem to us, a school motto like 'cui servire est regnare' sprang from a culture where the Bible, the Anglican Prayer Book and the Latin language were all taken for granted as part of the common stock of learning. Any educated man would have been expected to pick up the allusion to the Collect for Purity ('whose service is perfect freedom'), which the boys at Groton would have heard recited at morning prayer every day. There was nothing particularly 'covert' about it. And in a school like Groton with a strong religious tradition, it would have been natural to interpret it in a spiritual sense (service to God, reward in heaven) without looking for a deeper meaning concealed underneath. If we're going to unpack the motto, then I suspect the inner meaning is something along the lines of 'noblesse oblige', a reminder to the privileged boys of Groton that privilege is worthless without responsibility.
My school motto, incidentally, was 'Serve and Obey', or as we used to say, 'Serve and Pay' in reference to the crippling fees our parents were paying for our education. The new headmaster has altered this to 'Nurturing Excellence', which makes me cringe, but as a Google search for 'Serve and Obey' turns up a large number of BDSM sites, I suppose he may have a point.
posted by verstegan at 1:58 PM on August 14, 2009 [1 favorite]
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but I just made that up on the spot
posted by sueinnyc at 7:42 AM on August 14, 2009 [1 favorite]