Mavericks let loose, need release. We Mavericks like a bit of freedom. If we aren’t given some, we will create it for ourselves. This is never truer than with Extreme Mavericks [1]. Those people who manipulate situations and circumstances to their advantage. They grab freedom and exert their will. The trouble is, that can often cause damage, like a free radical in the body.
So, what happens when Extreme Mavericks combine, fuelled by shared ideas and aims? That sounds like a recipe for disaster if ever that was one. You could argue that it has led to some major crises, disasters even. The current economic crisis in the UK results from a group of Extreme Mavericks pursuing policies widely decried as irresponsible. The Extreme Mavericks that rushed into the former Soviet Union after Glasnost and brought economic carnage in their wake, the results of which are still being played out on the world stage with tragic results. I have written another piece for this magazine on this topic, looking at the Loki tendencies of the aggressor. And there’s a host of other examples of totalitarian regimes through history, from Genghis Khan to Charles I, from Adolph Hitler and the Nazis, to Pol Pot.
So are all Extreme Mavericks dangerous thugs? No, of course they’re not.
What they all ARE is wilfully independent [2] to a degree which has the potential to harm others. What tips that potential over into ACTUAL harm is collective action, and shared ideology.
Is there a lesson here for us? Ought we keep Extreme Mavericks isolated? Should we prevent them communicating between themselves? Again, of course we shouldn’t. That would mean descending into the moral pit that has been inhabited by those Extreme Mavericks listed above.
The REAL lesson has to be accountability. Holding people to account for their views, opinions and actions – and the impact of them. And I would argue there’s a role for Extreme Mavericks in that holding their peers to account. Making sure that counterpoints, checks and balances are in place to prevent any opinions or ideologies becoming too outlandish, too extreme, too dominant. And where the Extreme Mavericks are in democratic institutions, there needs to be a means of holding them accountable that works and is seen to work. The ballot box should be that but all too few people in the UK vote, which is a whole other blog!
Another key challenge will be those who fawn around the powerful Extreme Mavericks. Obsequious followers, particularly if in the mass media, could provide the biggest barrier to accountability. Although the purpose of the press is to uphold freedoms and transparency, they can actually be guilty of conspiring to shine the light on areas which purposefully keep other areas in the dark.
That could be a hurdle to accountability; the temptation for Extreme Mavericks to manipulate information flows can be so difficult to resist. Propaganda has been used since time began, to spread influence, both righteous and malign. It feels like the trick is to engage Extreme Mavericks in the media to play their part in the checks and balances. This may be a high-stakes game, given the vested interests at play. However, if it takes fire to fight fire, that may be what it takes to control the Maverick extremism at play in the world around us. However, that again plays into the Extreme Maverick desperation stakes again. Better, I would argue, that we will all, Maverick or not, be sharp-eyed, fleet of foot and brave, to hold truth to power, as the saying goes. If we leverage the phenomenon that is Maverick energy, it could be something that organisations, communities and even whole countries could adopt.
Now THAT is something worth fighting for, tho’ perhaps not with fire.
Footnote
[1] Extreme Maverick – Judith Germain. The Maverick Paradox: The Secret Power Behind Successful Leaders 2017 PublishNation
[2] Wilful independence – definition of a Maverick. Judith Germain
