Retired Saint George Syndrome: what it is and how it is reflected in society

What happened to Saint George after killing the dragon? Well, he retired but, well, the man had to find something to entertain himself with and he began to see dragons everywhere, with lurid results.

The same thing happens to the activists of certain social movements who, after achieving the noble purpose for which they originally fought, they end up finding something new to fight for that, sometimes, is not so noble and even encourages the inequality that they originally intended fight.

This phenomenon is called the Retired Saint George syndrome., a peculiar event that we are going to see below, but not before explaining what happened to Saint George, the dragon slayer, after having ended the life of his reptilian enemy.

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The story of Saint George in retirement

Saint George the Dragon Slayer is relaxing in his house. He has earned it. He has managed to kill the dragon and saved the good people of the kingdom. He is now a true hero, a man of legend who will be forever immortalized in the history of the village: songs, stories by the fireplace, written chronicles... all of them will be ways in which your story will be narrated. feat.

Never before had the kingdom seen such prosperity. With the vile reptile gone, fear vanishes from the lives of the villagers as did the last smoke exhaled from the smoking jaws of the dragon. Peace and joy are felt among the people of the town, and all of them generously thank good Jorge. What a great feat! And what satisfaction! With the dragon dead, our hero has received his well-deserved rest: it is time for retirement.

Saint George the Retired is in the comfort of his home, calm and enjoying his new condition.. With no dragon to slay, it's time to put away your armor, let the heavy sword decorate above the mantelpiece, and rest your weary buttocks in a comfortable chair. Relaxed, he decides to look through the window at the blue sky, trying to clear his mind and enjoy the moment, living the “flow”.

No matter how beautiful the sky is, it's still a bit boring, so he decides to lower his eyes and look at his beautiful garden. It seems that everything is in order when he suddenly notices something. At first it doesn't seem like it's anything, although that stimulus makes you feel... uncomfortable. Wait a minute... it looks like it's a silhouette, something is moving in the bushes. It's not a leaf moved by the wind, but rather it seems… No, wait, it can't be. Is it? He is a dragon!

Saint George rubs his eyes and looks again, but this time he gets up hastily from his comfortable chair and leans out the window to get a better look. No, it's not a dragon. There are hundreds of them everywhere!!! Small, fast and colorful lizards moving through the bushes, mockingly sticking out their tongues and basking in the sun on this mild day. Peaceful for the lizards, but not for good Jorge who, seeing so many reptilian vermin, revives his old fears.

Seeing so many lizards on the loose makes Saint George clear: he has to save the town again. Lizards are tiny, harmless and even cute but in our hero's mind he can't help but make hateful comparisons to the great dragon he once slew. "The village once again needs my heroic action" Saint George says to himself, shaking the dust off his sword and armor and decking himself out to do what he knows best: kill dragons.

Our saint goes out into the street and, invaded by power, passion and the desire to fight bravely, he takes his sword and kills one by one the little dragons that he finds in his path. None hurt him because, in addition to being defenseless, they do not see the quick but deadly thrust of the merciless sword of Saint George coming. The blind hatred that the old dragon aroused in him, who did kill people, has made Saint George have no mercy or hesitation in his new mission: all dragons must die, no matter their size.

Saint George returns at night, already a bit tired but feeling truly accomplished. Many, many small lizards have died. Almost every. He has become so motivated by killing lizards that he has wiped out several endemic species in the area. A disaster for environmentalists, but who cares what they think? The important thing is that Saint George has done it again, he has saved the town from the threat of the dragon.

The kingdom once again recognizes Saint George for his feat. It is true that the dragons he has slain had not done anything, but what if they were planning to? "Better safe than sorry" the citizens of the kingdom say to themselves and, motivated by the new feat of their most illustrious neighbor, they organize a second tribute to him in the square right in front of the royal castle: a banquet with succulent dishes, stalls with local art, bonfires and people dancing and singing around them the deed of Saint Jorge. Once again happiness floods the town.

Saint George sits nicely next to the king, presiding over the banquet in his honor but although everyone is happy, he doesn't seem to be. There's something in the air, he can feel it. Something is wrong. No, he hasn't killed them all, he keeps noticing the presence of the dragons... There must be more dragons to kill! It's not possible that he killed them all! Our hero gets upset, starts screaming, and the other attendees of the event look at him worriedly.

The king hears what St. George is saying and says, "Honorable St. George, what are you saying? more dragons in my kingdom? It is not possible because you have killed every last one of them. Relax, enjoy the banquet.” But Saint George does not relax, quite the contrary, he worries even more in fact, how had he not thought of it? There must be dragons among the villagers and just what the king just said is what one of them would say while disguised as a man. Gotta get back into action...

The party turns into a bloody massacre. Saint George takes his sword and slits his king's throat, convinced that he is another dragon, while the rest of the attendees are horrified by the terrible scene. Thrust here, beheading there. Fear seizes people. Saint George has gone mad because he sees dragons instead of men like when Don Quixote thought he saw giants instead of windmills. No one escapes the wrath of Saint George. Men, women, children and even pets. Everyone, absolutely everyone, is a victim of the alienation of the one who was a hero for the village one day...

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What is Retired Saint George Syndrome?

The peculiar story that we have just told serves to illustrate very well a phenomenon that receives the name of our alienated hero. The Retired Saint George Syndrome is a concept that was first commented on by the Australian philosopher Kenneth Minogue in her book "The Liberal mind" (1963) to refer to that type of person, very widespread today, who he wants to always be on the front line of any social movement.

The "retired Saint Georges" are vindictive people who are deeply convinced of the need to continue with a determined social struggle, even though the main demands of the movement have already been satisfied. In other words, despite the fact that many social victories have been achieved in the last century, those who suffer from Saint George's syndrome Retired are not completely satisfied with this, asking that recognition and rights be achieved that, perhaps, border on the absurd or lack any sense.

These people would have liked to be part of great historical events that have brought greater freedom, equality and rights to different groups that were oppressed. The current "retired Saint Georges" would have been helpful if they had participated in the marches in favor of the civil rights in the United States, the Stonewall inn riots or protesting next to the suffragettes in Great Brittany. However, since these events are now a thing of the past and since there are few genuinely legitimate struggles in which to participate, people seek the first social demand they find.

Delving into the phenomenon

Since the 1960s we have lived in a time when all the great oppressions have been collapsing. Through social struggle it has been possible to face inequalities that, in the past, were unquestionably seen as natural: racism, misogyny, homophobia, and even slavery, are aspects that through social movements and the organized action of the people have achieved overcome. It is true that we do not live in a perfect and utopian society since there are still inequalities but these are milder than they have ever been.

As a general rule, when a social movement appears, it is maintained until it achieves what it has set out to do. After achieving its objective, one enters into a paradoxical situation: on the one hand, what the movement arose for has been achieved and one feels fulfillment and satisfaction, but on the other there is a void, a lack of common goal among its activists, which generates discomfort and does not calm the desire to continue with the spirit revolutionary.

Both the old supporters of the movement and its newer members are eager for action. and, not satisfied with entering a period of calm, they decide to fill that void with a new claim. As the first social objective to be achieved set the bar very high in that it was very noble and legitimate, the new objectives are less transcendental. It may be that the new goal to be achieved is totally nonsense, or it may even contribute to generating more inequality, only now what is being done is turning the privileged into the oppressed.

Example of the phenomenon: having dreadlocks and being white

A peculiarity of those who experience the Retired Saint George syndrome is their ability to turn a mundane and unimportant issue into a real problem that, if not solved, perceives it as a true injustice, something that makes the world a true oppressive hell. We have a very clear example of this phenomenon with the recent controversy about wearing dreadlocks and not being of the African race, especially if you are white.

At present, racism is very frowned upon and is even legally penalized in many countries. No Western country worth its salt prohibits people from voting if they are of one race or another, and racial segregation in Europe has no legal status. Obviously, there are still racists in the world and there are differences between white people and black people in terms of their rights and recognitions in many contexts, but the situation is much better than it was in, for example, the years 1950.

The anti-racist movement has fulfilled its main objective, which was to have the legal equality of people regardless of their race recognized. Subsequent struggles have been in charge of equalizing people of different races in different smaller issues but not for that reason insignificant, like the difference in wages between whites and blacks in the US, ghettos, the lack of representation of blacks on television, ending the Ku Klux Klan...

However, some people who call themselves anti-racists, invaded by the Retired Saint George syndrome they have done the same as the hero of our story. These people, instead of killing innocent lizards, have taken it out on those white people who wear dreadlocks, claiming that this hairstyle can only be worn by black people. Under their "logic" these supposed anti-racists say that if a white man has dreadlocks he is oppressing black people.

The curious thing about saying this and harassing white people who do their hair like this is that, curiously, oppression is being committed. On the one hand, it is being oppressed as people are told what they can and cannot do with their own body and appearance. On the other hand, it falls into racial discrimination, prohibiting all people who are not black from wearing certain hairstyles, especially white people.

These “anti-racists” would rather focus on an issue that doesn't even remotely appear to be racist than on issues that do. they have to do with the question of race and suppose real inequality, such as the socioeconomic differences between whites and blacks in USA

social consequences

The main negative consequence of suffering from the Retired Saint George syndrome is contribute to more inequalities in society, being an effect far from what is supposedly intended to be achieved. The “retired Saint Georges” are so obsessed with continuing to fight, even if it is something absurd and detrimental to society, who forget everything that the true heroes of the history.

The balance of equality is very easily unbalanced, either to one side or the other. Those who were oppressed one day can become oppressors in a very short time but who, protected by history, reproaches others for have oppressed them when they are now doing the same, whether it is a matter of race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, or language.

In turn, this syndrome leads to counter-responses, causing more people to support just the opposite, that is to say, that all the advances in different questions are eliminated and that the situation of several decades ago returns. If you raise one end of the stick, you also raise the other, that is, if a certain social movement chooses to extremist positions and that are far from the equality that was initially promulgated, the other opposite side will win followers.

For example, within the feminist collective, whose objective is to achieve equality between men and women in all In some respects, there are positions that lean towards hembrism and are even in favor of taking revenge on men for thousands of years of oppression. Because of these "retired Saint Georges" who do not define themselves as feminists believe that feminism implies privileging women. As a result, many men turn against feminism, saying the typical "neither machismo nor feminism, equality" without really knowing that, in principle, that is what feminism is, equality.

But the worst of the counter-response to hembrism is the most recalcitrant and outdated machismo. Fearing that they are going to lose their privileges and rights absolutely, many men take a position radically opposed to the advances that feminism has achieved, feeling nostalgic for those times in which "we had well controlled the women". In other words, the Retired Saint George Syndrome contributes to generating more inequality on both sides and generating a dangerous dynamic That can end in tragedy.

Bibliographic references:

• Minogue, K. (1963) The Liberal Mind. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund.
• Joludi (2020). The Retired Saint George Syndrome. Joludi.blog.wordpress. Recovered from: https://joludiblog.wordpress.com/2020/06/24/el-sindrome-de-san-jorge-jubilado/.
• Milian-Querol, J. (September 26, 2020). Sant Jordi does not retire. ABC. Recovered from: https://www.abc.es/espana/catalunya/abci-juan-milian-querol-sant-jordi-no-jubila-202009261041_noticia.html.