Leadership plays a crucial role in the implementation of the
disciplinary mechanism in an organization. As per the book, a
disciplinary force is instrumental in defending the country, but, for
it to be effective, a laid down code of conduct has to be structured.
In particular, the disciplinary authorities need to have a sense of
self -reasoning inculcated through training. John Holt is of the idea
that just like the environment shapes a child’s character, the conduct
of the armed forces is the sum product of the natural setting in which
they operate. The same is applied in army barracks to instill a sense
of humanity and self-discipline on the part of the soldiers, In
essence, by sending them on missions with desperate conditions, a
successful soldier comes out stronger and ready to face the harsh
realities of life with a different perspective.
Cultural discipline is
another aspect of human life, as Holt puts it, the disciplinary forces
operate on a hierarchical structure. Communication is through the
issuance of commands to junior officers. Violators are subject to
stringent disciplinary actions with those who conformed being rewarded
with promotions and incentives. The rate of response is essential in
determining the level of obedience on the part of a soldier.
Just like
in the army, Holt is quick to point out that life requires high levels
of discipline directed to oneself or to third party. An organization
stands to reap it fruits early if the workplace is a myriad of
disciplined individuals. On the same note, discipline reduces the
overall cost of operations as it drives away the need to hire extra
manpower for supervision purposes. This concept extends to the social
confines in which the social order rests. Social order draws from
discipline. Without the discipline the society will be a good example
of the effects of common property, the tragedy of the commons.
Self-discipline is vital in shaping an individual. If a child hurts his
toe in a particular playground, faced with this scenario again, a
self-disciplined child will dopt out from using the same field again.
The same case applies to real life situations, in our day to day
activities faced with the same dilemma, we require high levels of
self-discipline to handle the same challenges. Similarly, we apply the
same rationality every time our parents ground us, we end up conforming
to sequential code of practice overtime since failure to do so would
result to heavy punishment.
Life presents itself to us like a play or
a song, borrowing from “the Official Song of Custer’s 7th cavalry’ and
‘Sioux honoring Song’ we learn of the undisputed role cultural
discipline relates to honoring. Composed in the early European-
American setting, the songs originated from divergent cultural
backgrounds and needed high levels of discipline for the songs to come
to light. The songs focused on praising the ancient cultures of the two
distinct inhabitants of the society who worked together to bring about
freedom.
Holt uses the example of the ‘official song of Custer 7th
cavalry’ to demonstrate the importance of cultural discipline. The
composers intended the song to act as means of preserving the
historical salience for the future generations. The song was skewed
towards praising the most prominent name in the culture, Garryowen, a
name derived from Garrai and Eion, a group of boys that was
instrumental in the fight for community freedom. The songs shade some
light the ascent of the name as it waded its way to glory, as a matter
of fact the song paints a vivid picture of the happenings of the time
the day the song was composed. The activities of the moment centered on
heaping praises on the soldiers as they returned home with smiles of
triumph on their faces as the news of their victory swept across the
land and extolled beyond the borders. Holt is of the opinion that
marking of army victory is done by dedicating a victory song to the
brave soldiers.
In summary, the official Custer’s 7th cavalry is an
excellent example of the way more than a unit designation that puts
into perspective the historic lore and the greeting shared in a
victorious European community kind of setting. This song simply
applause the Garryowen boys for their excellent work on the
battlefield. Thus, this song was the only way of expressing love to the
veterans.
The Sioux community composed of three distinct cultures: the
Dakota, the Lakota and the Nakota. The Sioux song is common to the
three subgroups but sung in different tones. The Dakota version is high
pitched and led by a soloist who leads the song as the others repeat
after him. The songs transcended into a crescendo and proceeded by a
brief pause. The traditions demand the use of drums and syncopation to
add more rhythm to the tune. Closer reference to the song reveals that
the songs were dominantly serenades. Sioux songs were customarily sung
in honor of prominent individuals in the society, and were named penny
songs and were marked with the characters in these songs standing up
for a parade with goodies in their hands as the songs heaped praises on
them. In some instances, the Sioux songs served to comfort the meek
demonstrating a fact that the songs were communal in that they took
into account all the aspects of the community. The songs mainly focused
on driving in the idea of self-discipline, an aspect that was
detrimental in the army, the family and in the society at large. In
particular brave personalities who demonstrated high levels of
discipline were sung after to commemorate their gallant deeds during
the Vietnam, Second World War and the great Korean War.
In conclusion,
it is evident that the songs discussed above mostly took the tones of
war and discipline, they served the purpose of extolling the gallant
work by the soldiers, mostly the Garryowen boys and Sioux soldiers
respectively. The songs served as a form of preservation of historical
memories particular countries underwent in their quest for freedom.