Senior Patrol Leader, Junior Assistance Scout master, what's the difference, really? If a use a military, rather than a business metaphor, a boy can be a non-commissioned officer at best, not even a lieutenant.
The point that you are refusing to understand is that what you describe and apparently experienced is at most a common failure mode. It is not what the program is intended to be, and it is not representative of a typical troop with properly trained adult leadership. I'm sorry you had an asshole scoutmaster who couldn't internalize even the first half hour of the training he was supposed to receive before serving in that role.
I don't think I'm making my point, or you're deliberately mis-reading me. I had at least decent scoutmasters, and some were very good. I was an Eagle scout. I worked 3 summers at Great Rivers Council's Camp Thunderbird. I worked 3 summers at Philmont Scout Ranch, as a Range and at Cimmaroncito. I was in the Order of the Arrow. I've seen more scouts and scoutmasters in more situations than almost everyone. Most scoutmasters are good, a few are very good, and virtually all of them are trying hard.
I guess I should say that I gained a lot from Scouting, and Scoutmasters. Hopefully, I passed on some knowledge to the Scouts I interacted with as a camp staff member. Hopefully those Scouts gained a lot from their experiences. But all of that was outside the bounds of the Patrol Method, and at least secondary to it. The true message of Scouting appears to be "know your place". The "learn your place, and get better at things to serve the upper crust" is a problem built into Scouting at its very beginning, and imbues it to this day.
