The Architects Role in Initial Decisions

I think as architects we are aware of deep design flaws in our world, brought on by greed, lack of experience, and loss of limitation due to the modern economy. We have been overrun by the development machine. 

This quote struck me as a weak assumption. Architects that Ive seen aren't any more natural leaders than another profession.

Maybe as architects we arent naturally leaders, but being in a field so deeply connected to culture, value, and the shaping of community, we have been afforded an important perspective. Because architecture so deeply reflects society - the study of architecture reveals society's weaknesses. A good financer can look at pages of numbers and get a clear picture of a business. Should a good architect be able to look at the study built environment and get a clear picture of the culture that formed it?

A lot of talk on leadership is focused within the industry, leaders of the profession. Maybe as architects that is an inefficient model. If architects were notorious for being community leaders, outside of the profession - would that not elevate our profession more than infighting of leadership? Do we not carry an important perspective to share with others?

Assuming that because the modern machine has taken off the limitations that used to define place locality, vernacular, etc, and legal, local, codification now defines the locality of the built environment

Are architects prime candidates to rewrite local vernacular? I think we are.