so you are arguing that once people form a crowd, they lose any sense of direction unless a strong leader steps up and pushes them somewhere?

i think Free Software and Open Source are counter examples. and i bet there are more. FOSS started with a good idea. not with a good leader. i love and respect richard stallman, but he is not a good leader. people follow him because he has a great idea and makes every effort to defend that idea.

the point being: if you have a set of beliefs, principles and you find others that agree, you potentially have something that is strong enough to keep the group on course.