Tall Poppy Syndrome
Before becoming a republic, and hundreds of years before the reign of Julius Caesar and the start of the empire, Rome was a city-kingdom ruled by various kings, the last of which was the tyrant Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, also known as Tarquin the Proud.
During his reign, in an effort to subjugate the surrounding cities, Tarquin insisted that they each sign treaties with Rome, threatening war against those that refused. One such town was Gabii, an ancient city 11 miles east of Rome. Not only did Gabii shun Tarquin’s treaty, but it also withstood his army’s attack, repulsing the enemy and retaining its sovereignty.
Tarquin, however, would not be deterred.
Failing to conquer the city from without, he hatched a plan to infiltrate Gabii and achieve his goal from within. His son, Sextus, pretending to be feuding with his father, sought asylum with Gabii. The people there welcomed the “exiled” prince with open arms, and he spent the subsequent weeks and months gaining their confidence. Once having done so, and after establishing himself as an influential figure within Gabii, Sextus sent a message to his father asking what should be done next.
When the messenger reached Rome, he found Tarquin strolling through his garden. Having delivered the message to the king, the messenger waited patiently for a reply. After a prolonged moment of silence, the tyrant approached a grove of poppies and, in one swift motion, severed the heads of the tallest ones with his sword. The messenger raced back to Gabii and relayed the story back to Sextus.
The moral was clear: Sextus should work to banish or kill all of the leading aristocrats of the city, for once Gabii was deprived of its most influential statesmen and elders, the city would be so weakened and desperate for security that it would surrender to Rome on its own volition.
And indeed, this is exactly what happened.
The term ‘tall poppy syndrome’ is derived from this account, and it is used today to refer to situations where people of genuine merit are persecuted because of their high standards and achievements.
Instead of looking to those with great accomplishments as sources of inspiration and models of emulation, those around them grow envious and resentful, opting to “cut them down to size” instead raising their own standards as well.
Throughout my many years as a health coach and trainer, this has been one of the most recurring themes encountered by my clients. As soon as they begin to make better food choices, or shun that second or third drink at happy hour, or show signs of improved body composition, they are derided for their efforts by their peers, many times with interrogations along the lines of “So, you think you’re better than us?”
Sadly, this mentality isn’t just limited to the realm of personal health and fitness but has become widespread in our popular culture and political discourse as well. It’s the reason why participation trophies exist, as well as why standardized tests are now considered “racist.”
Under the guise of “democracy”—a political system in which every adult citizen has an opportunity to exercise an equal say in governance—many of us have taken that to mean that we are all equal, in all aspects, despite our individual talents, characters, and lifestyle choices; and that any measure that distinguishes between superiority and mediocrity should be abolished, so that feelings don’t get hurt and self-esteems are preserved.
For thousands of years, it was well established that democratic governments tended to devolve into tyrannies. Plato, in his philosophical treatise, The Republic, wrote that ‘dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty.’
This is because freedom naturally begets responsibilities, the most important of which require the citizenry to have and maintain the highest of standards in scholarship, work ethic, and personal conduct.
If instead, a free people remove all objective standards of merit in the pursuit of “equity” and “relativism”, and no behaviors or pursuits are more worthy than others, culture deteriorates to the point where sophists and demagogues can take advantage of the social decay and weakness fostered by this outlook for their own personal gain.
Aristotle, Plato’s student, famously asked whether democratic behavior meant the behavior that democracies like or the behavior that preserves democracy.
Our culture, at this moment in time, is promoting the former at the expense of the latter—to the detriment of us all.
In the “spirit of democracy,” we are rapidly solidifying a culture of envy, where victimhood reigns supreme and those who succeed owe it solely to their “unearned privilege.”
Not only is this shift in the zeitgeist hurting us at the individual level, quelching the sparks of distinction in us all, but it is simultaneously sowing the seeds for a most ‘aggravated form of tyranny,’ as Plato long ago warned.
Because, why change for the better if I’m perfect just the way I am?
Why lose weight if obesity is just another form of beauty?
Why read Shakespeare or Dostoevsky or Tolstoy if they were just “privileged white men” with nothing to say about the universal truth of the human condition that dwells in us all, regardless of skin color or background?
Why strive for anything worthwhile when equal opportunity is supplanted by equality of outcome, and anyone who has more than anyone else must be an evil benefactor of past social injustice?
As C.S. Lewis stated in his Screwtape Letters, this democratic spirit thus performs the work of dictators, allowing no ‘pre-eminence among… subjects’; letting ‘no man live who is wiser, or better, or more famous, or even handsomer than the mass’; cutting them ‘all down to a level; all slaves; all ciphers, all nobodies. All equals.’
This essay, therefore, is a repudiation of this so-called democratic spirit.
It’s a reminder that democratic behavior is not the behavior that democracies (or would-be tyrants, for that matter) like.
Democratic behavior is the behavior that preserves democracy.
And democracies perish without tall poppies, because without them there is no behavior to emulate or mark to aim at.
While we may all enjoy equality under the law, we are not all equal in terms of our talents, characters, or work-ethic.
And despite the popular ethos of the moment, you don’t help the disadvantaged by pulling down the strong and lowering all standards of excellence; you tell them the truth—that life isn’t fair, and nothing worthwhile comes easy—and you inspire the best inside of them and encourage the formulation of better habits and mental models.
Instead of encouraging citizens to place all of their focus on the “system” or the “unfair” advantages given to others, instead of expecting our politicians to stand-in for our parents and priests, a virtuous culture inverts that attention onto the individual and asks them what it is that they can do better for themselves.
Let this essay be a rallying call to strive for individual greatness.
Right now, from this moment forth, decide to stop making excuses for your life and blaming others.
Start asking more of yourself than you do of those around you.
Respect yourself by eating more nutritious foods and exercising regularly, perhaps losing some weight in the process—not because it’s “sexy,” just because it’s objectively healthier.
Read more books—but not just any books: the best books.
Clean up your speech by diversifying your vocabulary away from four letter words; and opt for the pregnant pause over “like” or “um”.
Talk about ideas and stop talking about others.
Pick better friends: those who encourage you to raise your standards and reach for the stars, not succumb to their own poor habits.
Dress well (and this doesn’t mean expensively, either): Men, simply stop dressing like giant children; and ladies, display more class, and less ass.
Listen to beautiful, inspirational music: see how your mood shifts from dejection to felicity when you swap the Drake and Cardi B for Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin.
Watch great films: the kinds that remind you that life is an adventure, and that timeless traits such as prudence, justice, courage, and temperance still exist and should be cultivated, no matter the toughest of circumstances.
Choose humility over arrogance and decide to show gratitude instead of resentment.
And if along the way you are ridiculed by your peers for these changes in attitudes, tastes, and behaviors, simply reply that, while you don’t think you’re better than your neighbors, you are certain, however, that they are better than their choices.
Be a tall poppy.
Though you run the risk of being cut down, the alternative is much worse—for to suppress your ambitions and therefore fail to live up to your full potential as a unique human being, you are not only damning your own soul in the process but forsaking us all as well.