The need to be unique
Who was Oleg Penkovsky?
He was a Russian colonel and one of the first spies for the West to come out of the Soviet Union. Penkovsky provided invaluable intelligence until his capture and execution by the Russians in May 1963.
Who is Robert Hanssen? An American FBI agent, who is considered the most destructive spy in United States history. Hanssen did untold damage to the security of our nation for many years until his capture in 2001. Today, he remains in solitary confinement at a Colorado supermax prison.
So why did these and others like them betray their countries, families and friends?
Some might argue that spies like these do it for money. Yet acquired monetary gains are usually minimal, as compared to the amount of damage done to their home countries.
For example, Adolf Tolkachev wanted very little from the U.S. for his work. Sometimes, it was simply the acquisition of quality ballpoint pens, which were unavailable in his country’s centrally managed, socialist economy.
Most who engage in these activities take unusually high risks and are either executed or imprisoned for life. Ironically, spies are often betrayed by those in the country they are secretly serving. The risks are known, yet they do it anyway. The question remains “Why?”
The idea for the today’s column came to me in a 4 a.m. dream. I’m in my old home town of Bethesda, Md. I’m filling out some kind of bureaucratic paperwork. I have a California driver’s license and other forms of official identification that make me appear “special.” The clerk is impressed that I have residences and political connections on both sides of the continent. It feels good to be respected as someone who is “special.”
My attempt to analyze this dream was made clear, as the words of local historian Greg Gores came to mind: “Equality is an illusion.”
“It has never been achieved,” he has said. “No one wants equality. Everyone wants superiority.”
Thus, an explanation as to why I felt superior in my dream and why spies do what they do. Individualism for most is lost when working in large corporations or bureaucratic institutions.
Most people really don’t matter in top-down structured societies and organizations. They are simply small parts of large machines. Their personal achievements often have no effect on the overall operation of a specific system.
In the few cases where they might have some influence, these people can easily be replaced should they fail to function in a preauthorized manner — just like a small interchangeable part on an mass-produced automobile.
Years ago, psychiatrist Frank Ernst, MD, wrote an obscure book titled: “Leaving Your Mark.” He tried to explain why people carve their names on benches or engage in other forms of graffiti and public vandalism. It’s a cry for the human soul to be remembered as unique, and not just another worker ant among billions.
Thus, the need for these spies to break lose from institutions that have left them feeling unrecognized and insignificant.
Penkovsky once said he wanted to be remembered as the greatest spy in history. Robert Hanssen felt his genius in computer technology was completely ignored by FBI management. Tolkachev, although an engineer and living well as compared to other Russian citizens, found it wasn’t enough to satisfy his soul, which yearned to be “special.”
Despite idealistic fantasies of social equality, the paradox for condemnation of individuality is a major reason why institutions such as large corporations, state and federal bureaucracies often fail to achieve expectations.
Human individuals, especially those with above-average intelligence, always have strived to “leave their mark” in some way by being unique and different from the crowd. This can be expressed through art, invention, business ventures, heroism, religion, science, music or countless other forms of human creativity.
When these quests are suppressed, the results are often depression, despair, alcoholism, drug abuse, self-destruction and sometimes, projected evil and harm to others.
Here lies the problem when human beings sell their individuality to an institution or a cause for the illusions of job and personal security. Later in life, they often discover it was not a trade of “equal” value.