Posted on 06/17/2006 5:56:58 PM PDT by TSchmereL
THE REVOLT OF THE ELITES: And the Betrayal of Democracy by, Christopher Lasch
Publisher: W.W. Norton & CO.
December - 1995
In this book, an American historian finds fault with the values and beliefs of America's professional elites.
Christopher Lasch argues that democracy today is threatened not by the masses, as Jose Ortega y Gasset argued in The Revolt of the Masses, but by the elites.
These elites - mobile and increasingly global in outlook - refuse to accept limits or ties to any nation or place. Lasch contends that as they isolate themselves in their networks and enclaves, they abandon the traditional middle class and betray our democracy.
The author traces how meritocracy - and its selective elevation of individuals into the elite class - gradually replaced the original American democratic ideal of general competence and respect for every man.
The author criticizes our elite class for valuing self-esteem over achievement. He sees self-fulfilment as a false remedy for deeper social problems, and he attacks the superior pseudoradicalism of the academic left.
He sees these Americans as apathetic about their common culture and ambivalent about arguing politics or voting.
The elites, having jettisoned the moral and ethical guidelines provided by religion, cling to the belief that through various sciences they can master their fates and escape mortal limits.
In pursuit of this illusion they have become infatuated with the global economy. Their revolt, the author warns, is diminishing what is worthwhile about American life.
1. There used to be the threat of communism and the revolt of the workers. Now the threat is a revolt of the elites.
1.1. Those who control the international flow of information, bankers, stockbrokers, executives, professors, government analysts, have lost faith in the concept of Western Civilization and of reason.
1.2. These behaviours and beliefs are more characteristic of the upper classes and represent the betrayal of the middle class and of the lower classes, but especially the middle class.
1.3. The middle and lower classes are much more socially and morally conservative than their would-be liberators from the upper class. The natural and reasonable conservatism of the middle and lower classes is not serviced by the media, who are controlled by elites. These elites believe that they know what is best for the masses.
2. The Decline of the Middle Class
2.1. The middle class is treated with scorn and derision by the new elites. Everything that is ugly in society is associated with the unenlightened middle class (i.e. homophobia, racism, retrograde attitudes towards women, etc.)
2.2. Lasch argues that the crisis in the middle class must be addressed for democracy to survive.
2.3. The middle class is the silent backbone of society, paying an ever-growing proportion of the national tax receipts and working longer hours. Meanwhile the welfare state generates complacency among the lower class and the upper-middle and upper class become more powerful and separate from those who surround them.
3. Who are the New Elites?
3.1. They are symbolic analysts. They live in a world of ideas, abstract concepts and symbols: the stockmarket, financial trends, technology, communications, universities, etc.
3.2. They participate in a market that is global in scope.
3.3. They have more in common with their counterparts in foreign cities such as London, Brussels, Hong Kong and Cairo than they do with the average people whom they see every day.
3.4. In these abstract circles, there exists the cynical idea that the circles of power in finance, government, entertainment and the academe become interchangeable.
3.5. This is product of the Meritocracy.
4. Lasch's Meritocracy
4.1. The meritocracy has many of the attributes of the aristocracy minus its positive traits.
4.2. No sense of social chivalry and noblesse oblige.
4.3. No sense of community and of place.
4.4. Symbolic analysts often feel that they are self-made people who owe all their privileges to their efforts and talent.
4.5. They tend to be transient and live in a community of contemporaries. They do not accept the generational transfer of wisdom, knowledge and values.
5. Meritocracy and Democracy
5.1. For Lasch, meritocracy is a parody of democracy.
5.2. It has brought on the collapse of public schools and an end to the notion of a common culture.
5.3. Educational reforms leave little possibility for outrage. Those who are left behind know that "they have had every chance to succeed."
5.4. The concept of an obligation to others is depersonalized in the meritocracy. The symbolic analysts who benefit from being elites feel for their fellow citizens but do little directly or physically to benefit their fellow citizens.
6. Democracy in the Age of Meritocracy and Globalization
6.1. In the borderless economy, money has lost its nationality. Thus, it is harder to pinpoint those who divert it away from the national popular interest.
6.2. A strong centralized government, run by a quasi-permanent bureaucracy reduce the possibility for protest, change and real representation.
6.3. A strong centralized government is supported by a media that is owned by and serves more and more, a class of symbolic analysts who are increasingly removed from the common culture.
7. Lasch's thesis is that the decline of democracy is closely linked to the decline of the middle class and a move away from argument, discussion, freedom, individuality and a common culture.
The Lost Art of Argument
8. For many years we have been regaled with the benefits of the communications revolution. Lasch contends that all is not as rosy as it would seem.
8.1. The post-industrial economy puts a focus on the interchangeability of employ for the majority of non-symbolic analyst work.
8.2. A growing concentration of non-union labour-intensive parts of the economy.
9. Why is this happening?
9.1. We tend to blame the schools, but this is fallacy in Lasch's eyes. Instead Lasch says that it is the general decay of public debate that has caused this.
9.2. What democracy depends on is not information, but informed, rigorous and reasoned public debate.
9.3. The only way that we know that we know something is by subjecting our ideas to the test of public controversy.
9.4. Lasch thinks that an example of this decline in public debate is the way televised political debates have changed. The corporate media demand certain types of politicians.
10.Government, Media and Meritocracy
10.1. The corporatization of the media has brought about the incorporation of corporate methods in governance. Technocracy is the result.
10.2. Democracy requires the broad discussion of issues. This is difficult when discussion is discouraged. Lasch says that the written word is a poor substitute for oral argument.
11.The author notes the rise of "Public Relations and Advertising" and its negative effects on the democratic exchange of ideas.
12. The author laments the loss of "the ability to follow an argument, grasp the point of view of another, expand the boundaries of understanding, and debate alternative purposes that might be pursued."
Sorry, I don't deal with attitude.
Take care.
Sorry about my attitude. I could have been nicer and just said "I don't know what you mean."
I got to go anyway. Later.
Jefferson, that lover of fine wine, Italian architecture, and French women, may have only stopped at Wal Mart to purchase shotgun shells, most likely get his manservant Hercules to go inside. Don't know about Nascar, although he was known to attend a cockfight or two.
Washington was more of a homebody, not really into spectator sports.
One thing I am definately sure of: Martha Washington, Martha Jefferson, and Dolley Madison, would not be caught dead at Wal-Mart.
Most of the founding fathers had less regard for "redneck" culture (what they would have called "rustic") than certain revisionists would have you believe.
Marking.
Mondrian?
Nice, but I don't believe anyone thinks of the Founding Fathers as "just folks."
I think the point of the poster is that the founders were not full-blown, flaming, modern liberal, atheist, elitist, homosexual-agenda-pushing baby-boomers. Just a thought.
From my understanding they were pretty much a mixed bag, i.e. Jefferson/Hamilton. The thing they seemed to have in common is a fierce intellect, which included a firm grasp of history.
That said, they were a bunch of guys and not gods. Yeah, they were really, really bright guys, but still mortal.
The guy who seems almost not mortal, is Lincoln.
The guy who seems almost not mortal, is Lincoln
Yeah, well, he had a lot to deal with during his Presidency. The idea of America "manufacturing" the right people in times of crisis has always fascinated me.
This is nothing new. Think of Ebenezer Scrouge looking through the window at the Cratchetts celebrating Christmas. The elites are always looking in the window, trying to figure out why they have so much, but are lacking everything that really matters.
What is stunning about the guy (the ulimate master of the use of the English language for the ages) is that he was entirely self educated. His iron personal self discipline combined with his genius (both displayed time and again, and again), is simply not of this world.
...and his lows were really, really low. At one point he had contemplated suicide very early in his political career.
The Wills book, Lincoln at Gettysburg, is a fascinating study.
Painting by Louis Morris
Ditto times 10 to your post.
"Those who aspire to enjoy those things generally viewed as elitist are often ridiculed for not appreciating "normal things."
Unfortunately, they expect the masses to shell out tax money so they can look down their noses at said "masses" as they pursue "the arts." In Ft. Worth, the artsy crowd wants the proceeds of two city-owned gas wells to support their cultural choices. There is no need to dip into tax money or public coffers to keep the Texas Motor Speedway going. To each his own, but don't ask me to pay for your choices. If there aren't enough people interested in supporting the arts with their own money, then move to a city where there are more people who will. The elites think we owe them far more than they are worth to society.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.