Our Revolting Elites

[CaptMorgan68]

by J. R. Nyquist

In 1995 Christopher Lasch came out with The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy (http://www.amazon.com/Revolt-Elites-Betrayal-Democracy/dp/0393313719). The introduction was titled "The Democratic Malaise" and included chapters like "Does Democracy Deserve to Survive?" and "The Lost Art of Argument." The threat to our civilization, said Lasch, does not come from the masses. The threat comes from the elite. The masses have proved to be conservative. Against the most successful institutions and folkways in history, against the greatest civilization ever to arise, the elite revolted; and in the course of this revolt, wrote Lasch, "they betray the venomous hatred that lies not far beneath the smiling face of upper-middle-class benevolence."
Those of us who are not part of the elite's fashionable revolution are "racist, sexist and homophobic." We are fit objects for extermination or re-education because, in the end, we just don't get it. "Simultaneously arrogant and insecure," wrote Lasch, "the new elites, the professional classes in particular, regard the masses with mingled scorn and apprehension. In the United States , 'Middle America' -- a term that has both geographical and social implications -- has come to symbolize everything that stands in the way of progress: 'family values,' mindless patriotism, religious fundamentalism, racism...."
According to Lasch, there are far worse problems facing America than racism: "the crisis of competence; the spread of apathy and a suffocating cynicism; the moral paralysis of those who value 'openness' above all." Lasch saw an intellectual softening underway. He warned that culture "is a way of life backed up by the will to condemn and punish those who defy its commandments." As for the claim that we are now enlightened, he scoffed. The information revolution, he said, has not raised the level of public intelligence. It is no secret, he continued, "that the public knows less about public affairs than it used to know. Millions of Americans cannot begin to tell you what is in the Bill of Rights, what Congress does, what the Constitution says about the powers of the presidency, how the party system emerged or how it operates. A sizeable majority, according to a recent survey, believe that Israel is an Arab nation."
The crisis of competence is, perhaps, the most troubling problem of all. It comes in three forms: (1) as a general incompetence for living; (2) as an incompetence that wants to manage society, and determine economic outcomes through a redistribution of wealth; (3) as an incompetence through the lowering of professional standards. The first is less dangerous to society than the second, and the third compounds the second. In terms of a general incompetence for living (1): It may be said that people are no longer literate; that their attention span has been attenuated by television and is unsuited to the study of difficult subjects; that their health is ruined through fast food, soft drinks, and excessive indulgence in sweets; that the sexes are disoriented and no longer know how to live together or behave; that children suffer from poor discipline. What is shocking to discover, however, is that all of these things have been encouraged by the purveyors of (2): the would-be managers of society who rail against the market, against fatherhood, against punishment and discipline, and against the necessities of war.
"A lust for immediate gratification pervades American society from top to bottom," noted Lasch. "There is a universal concern with the self -- with 'self-fulfillment' and more recently with 'self-esteem,' slogans of a society incapable of generating a sense of civic obligation." Lash warned that there was a growing disinclination "to subordinate self-interest" to the general will. What makes a nation defensible is the willingness of people to subordinate their personal desires in time of war. An old veteran who fought in Vietnam once insisted to me that the anti-war movement was a selfishness movement. In C.S. Lewis's The Weight of Glory (http://www.amazon.com/Weight-Glory-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060653205/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263568145&sr=1-1) we find a chapter titled "Why I Am Not a Pacifist." In this chapter Lewis wrote that pacifism consists "in assuming that the great permanent miseries in human life must be curable if only we can find the right cure." Here in America we have an elite that is pathologically imbued with finding the right cure. Here the mediocrity of their thinking shines brightest.
Today's elite does not possess intellectual excellence. Arguably, they do not know what excellence is, because their whole education has come out of third-rate minds -- or worse. Our brightest people are taught remarkably stupid ideas in universities. What they have lost is a sense of history, which is the most important sense for those tasked with guiding society. As Lasch correctly noted, "History has given way to an infantilized version of sociology, in obedience to the misconceived principle that the quickest way to engage children's attention is to dwell on what is closest to home: their families, their neighborhoods; the local industries; the technologies on which they depend. A more sensible assumption would be that children need to learn about faraway places and olden times before they can make sense of their immediate surroundings."
It is not that President Bush was incompetent in managing the war in Iraq. The entire elite was incompetent, and Bush made this discovery, and was forced into a position of sorting out a mess caused by his underlings (and by himself). In the financial crisis we see the same forces at work. Every attempt to find a cure is worse than the disease. We move, therefore, from crisis to crisis, from catastrophe to catastrophe. If we had only educated our elite differently. If we had only given them history instead of what Lasch called "infantile sociology."



http://www.financialsense.com/stormwatch/geo/pastanalysis/2010/0115.html

[eskachig]

A combination of "the good old days", "those professors in their ivory towers", and "the sky is falling". I am not particularly impressed.

[Imp]

Interesting article. I don't agree that the entire elite being incompetent is what caused the Iraq mess, but that the elite are functionally incompetent is IMO pretty accurate.

As for "the good old days", you could take a 5th grade quiz from the 1950's and I'd bet real money that a hell of a lot of 8th graders today would flunk it. The decay of education in the Western world is one of the root causes of the problems we face today.

[vryhpyammoadded]

Love it! I'll go get the guillotine greased up, spit shined and ready to go.woot

[Keenan]

Nice read. I think some people expect the fall of our society would be 1984-ish, with frenzied politically motivated people taking over and creating a new regime. But the same could be done through apathy and hedonism, as illustrated in A Brave New World. Our democracy wouldnt be taken down by the so called elite, people would just stop caring about voting and such.

[Mastermind]

I agree with much of the article. There has been a general loss of kinsmanship among Americans...and a loss of "American identity" as we get more and more global in our thinking. It is our actions as a nation since WWI that has been largely the cause, in my estimation. No other nation on earth has expanded so much interest and treasure and blood in the cause of global security and politics since the beginning of the last century. So, we have increasingly come under the scrutiny of the people of the world and thus suffer thier criticism...this has obviously left it's mark on the "American" psyche. Now, we tlak of huge concerns...grandiose in nature..."Saving the Planet", "Stopping the scourge of Global Radical Islam"...it's gotten entirely out of hand. And, the world generally hates us for it...we're like big dumb rich babies. Slogging here and there, with no mind to the damage we casue or the loss of good will....it makes no difference to us. We've got the money and we'll damn well do what we want. Now, we have been slapped in the face by this great global financial disaster...a great bulk of which is our own fault. This sets us back and turns us a bit more introspective...and we don't much like what we see. We are losing our treasured freedom to the raging socilaist elits who all believe they know much better how to run our lives than we do. I must say, we free capitalists have mucked things up a bit...but nothing like the world socialists have their things over the last 90 years.

Now, how do we deal with this new century? How do we come to grips with what we have started? Is there to be a new "Revolution"? A new beginning? Or will it go all strawberries and end the way of the Romans? I don't know. We believe in far too much fantasy...and are willing to readily listen to every agenda wearing charlatan that comes down the road...like Al gore and his Global Crapola...We jump at shadows. We think the Moose-lums are coming to get us. We fear the "Boogey" men of Iran and Afghanistan and kids in Somalia with rusted shut AK-47's...and of all things, we are instantly ready to go on believing that the ghost of Old Jim Crow is still running amok in our streets and employment centers, in spite of the fact we have the wealthiest minority population in the history of the world...But, we are so damn ready to hear the racebaiters like the fake "Revrums" Rangle and Jackson, we eat our own livers over the slighest politically incorrect verbiage.

All this adds up to one very sick puppy of a society...we have not progressed...we have regressed to a point of mental turpitude. We are now locked against each other....Socilaist, freedom hating Democrats and Patriotic, rednecked, war-stupid Repiublicans. We'll never come together again. We have hatreds..I mane Blind Hatreds that go back to G.W. winning in 2000...the libs have never gotten past that. And now we will never...NEVER foirgive the Democrats for their arrogance and elitism over outrageous and insane spending and socialist policies. We will now remain divided for the next fity years as we were so irreconcileably divided over the destruction of slavery.

there is only one thing that can save this tired Republic...and that is a threat from without. It will, unfortunately, have to be so grave a threat it will threaten us all...we must have that shot of sour whiskey...that ice cold splash...that stamed toe that removes our stupor and invigorates us with honest vision and clarity of mind...to force us back together into a state of unity so vital to a healthy nation. We have to get past ourselve. We have got to quit acting like untrained spolied destructive children and start behaving like nation owners. Where that welding threat will come from, I do not know. But, without it, we will come the sad state of all past empire builders. We will surrnder to ou natural state of pettiness...and history will overtake us as surely as it overtook every other nation of fallen people.

[Noons86]

If someone calls you racist, sexist, or homophobic, don't complain that you're being oppressed by the elite. Ask them why. Do your part to bring back the "lost art" of argumentation.

[martinexsquaddie]

children don't learn or repsect there elders some greek bloke 2000bc

[California Joe]

I fine it odd that the word "elite" has somehow become a synonym for "asshole". Especially in America. There are people out there that are smarter and better educated than others. That's a fact. On both ends of the political spectrum. We may not always agree with them but I think it's bizarre that the uninformed opinions of sisterf*ckers in doublewide trailers are somehow supposed to count for something just because we live in a Democratic society. Although that explains the fascination with Sarah Palin. I do wish the priviledged classes in this country believed in selfless service to their country the way it was expected of them in the era around the Civil War. But that selfish focus on instant gratification and self absorbtion isn't limited to any one class of people.

[MaNiC]

I fine it odd that the word "elite" has somehow become a synonym for "asshole". Especially in America. There are people out there that are smarter and better educated than others. That's a fact. On both ends of the political spectrum. We may not always agree with them but I think it's bizarre that the uninformed opinions of sisterf*ckers in doublewide trailers are somehow supposed to count for something just because we live in a Democratic society. Although that explains the fascination with Sarah Palin. I do wish the priviledged classes in this country believed in selfless service to their country the way it was expected of them in the era around the Civil War. But that selfish focus on instant gratification and self absorbtion isn't limited to any one class of people.

I couldn't agree more. Very well said.

Just to add to your sentiments, I find it ironic that from a very young age we are told that if we put our minds to something we can do anything we want. Yet if we do end up "making it", we are then accused of losing touch with the pulse of mainstream America. Or worse, we are accused that the education and experience that we have gained over the years with so much hard work means that we no longer have the coveted "common sense" characteristic of so called "middle" America (which BTW I think is a bunch of hogwash and an excuse to over-simply any and all problems for ideological purposes).

In the end, the author I believe makes too many generalizations for his argument not to be taken with at least a grain or two of salt.

[Mordoror]

I fine it odd that the word "elite" has somehow become a synonym for "asshole". Especially in America. There are people out there that are smarter and better educated than others. That's a fact. On both ends of the political spectrum. We may not always agree with them but I think it's bizarre that the uninformed opinions of sisterf*ckers in doublewide trailers are somehow supposed to count for something just because we live in a Democratic society. Although that explains the fascination with Sarah Palin. I do wish the priviledged classes in this country believed in selfless service to their country the way it was expected of them in the era around the Civil War. But that selfish focus on instant gratification and self absorbtion isn't limited to any one class of people.

x1000

however this is a self maintaining circle in any democratic system
if we talk about politicians the "elites" are choosen at the political level by poll
among the voters, "elite", smart, well educated are a minority, average joe and stupid morons (one being the same or not) are the vast majority

average joe are average : they don't look anyway further than their noses
morons are moronic but theyr are often the ones that make the most noise
So unless you have a politician of exception that doesnt" care about popularity (and a second mandat) he will follow the vast majority will (i mean average joe + morons)

that basically turned our democracies into populism political systems

that was for the politicians
Now for all the others elites (soccer or footbal players, movie actors, writters...) of course they are not anymore smart and educated (to a few excecptions)
They are selected and asked to be some kind of icones that sell a product well or that is entertaining to the average joe and moronic people that has basically not too much educationnal desire. So they are leveled in a up to bottom way

you'll seldom see a very" smart elite" people go on TV to speak about astrophysics, macroeconomy, geopolitics, energy renewal....this is not interesting most of the people and those who are interested need to have a basic explanation with so much of shortcuts that you lose the real meaning of the subject

after all FoxNews with its unaccurate maps, studies and news is still (very) successful because it gives what people is asking for
on the other hand some very serious TV shows are not successuful because of the other way round

so we have a general shriking of society IQ just after the 1950s-1960s with the mass broadcasting of TV shows.....i clearly think that this is just not a coincidence

[MaNiC]

so we have a general shriking of society IQ just after the 1950s-1960s with the mass broadcasting of TV shows.....i clearly think that this is just not a coincidence

Just want to point out that average IQ test scores over generations have steadily increased over time actually:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect

[Mordoror]

Just want to point out that average IQ test scores over generations have steadily increased over time actually:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect


well that is somewhat astonishing for me
i alwyas thought that potato coach TV addicts had a mass neurons suicide given the average chat and quotes gathered here and there ;-)

[California Joe]

I'm not saying that this hatred of "elites" or general ignorance is limited to a single political party by any means, perhaps the worst informed people out there are the "pseudo intellectual" college kids that jump on any bandwagon offered to them if dressed up in the guise of a popular cause. Protesting the man and the system, trying to channel Abby Hoffman while their parents pay their tuition and furnish them with the latest IPhone to plan their protests. It just grates on my nerves that if you attach the term "elite" to a military group around here everyone gets Tier One *****s, but God forbid it be attached to someone that excelled in their education and career. If your computer breaks down do you want Bill Gates to fix it or cousin Cletus with his homespun wisdom?

[Kaplanr]

I guess it's all about whose shoes you're in. I think Nyquist is exactly what he's sounding off against. He's not an Elite, he's a snob. He spends 3/4 of the article sounding Jeffersonian until he switches allegiance to Hamilton. His tirade about competence and education levels is pretty telling. Elites and the privileged few are the boogie-men of someone who needs a convenient unsympathetic, and neatly-tied up target. As for CJ's last question - those are/were the Kennedys and Rockefellers; is that what we still want?

[Mordoror]

perhaps the worst informed people out there are the "pseudo intellectual" college kids that jump on any bandwagon offered to them if dressed up in the guise of a popular cause
unfortunately (or fortunately) this is the way the youth behave
they are always more critic on the society than elders...so it is not astonishing that young people is whining about the "elites". This thing existed since the caveman ages

However what is different actually is : that collegue and faculty kids have almost 0 politic consciousness or at least awareness : if an idea promoted by god knows who with god knows what kind of agenda looks cool then you have the band wagon

they are also stuffed with soo much information (99 % of it being false, biaised or purposely oriented) with TV/Internet without having the general knowledge background and every day life situational awareness to understand that they could be manipulated or that what they heard/read/see on "that internet blog conspiracyX" is ridiculous

so it is not anymore some kind of "natural" youth energy to change the world, it is much more, youth whining because they have seen/heard/read that they have to whine. Actually in fact i find the youth apathic more than anything else and they behave like good little soldiers on the orders of their prefered party/club/think tank
no more fresh blood, no more fresh ideas, only whining

that's sad

[California Joe]

I can't help but remember that the Founding Fathers were the elite.

[USMCRTop]

well....dunno what to say exactly but as long as elites (social, political, whatever) do not join the military, we are headed down a road that will not have a good end...

[MaNiC]

well that is somewhat astonishing for me
i alwyas thought that potato coach TV addicts had a mass neurons suicide given the average chat and quotes gathered here and there ;-)

LOL, I know what you mean. Sometimes I ask myself the same thing when I read through what some people post on the internet. ;)


I can't help but remember that the Founding Fathers were the elite.

Yep, and let's not forget that up until like 1825 the voting population consisted of white land owning men.


well....dunno what to say exactly but as long as elites (social, political, whatever) do not join the military, we are headed down a road that will not have a good end...

Not entirely sure if that's an honest assessment. I think the US military is one of the most diverse institution in the world (from every aspect). Many politicians in congress for example have family members or friends that are either serving or are going to serve (as well as successful business people). I myself have a college degree and will try to do my part and serve before I return to private employment (not saying I'm necessarily an "elite" but I know of many peers who have college degrees and chose to serve regardless of the fact that they can make more money in the private sector).

[USMCRTop]

Not entirely sure if that's an honest assessment. I think the US military is one of the most diverse institution in the world (from every aspect). Many politicians in congress for example have family members or friends that are either serving or are going to serve (as well as successful business people). I myself have a college degree and will try to do my part and serve before I return to private employment (not saying I'm necessarily an "elite" but I know of many peers who have college degrees and chose to serve regardless of the fact that they can make more money in the private sector).

Just finished reading Bing West's "The strongest tribe" He says something like 5 percent of Congress has a son serving in Iraq, while 30 percent of the Generals do...

[MaNiC]

Just finished reading Bing West's "The strongest tribe" He says something like 5 percent of Congress has a son serving in Iraq, while 30 percent of the Generals do...

Oh I don't doubt that there might be other institutions or facets of society that have a higher percentage of members and/or friends and family serving in the armed forces. But how many members of congress have served themselves? All of these percentages add up. My point is that the congress is certainly no stranger to the military.

Anyway, I see your point of view. I just feel that the military in general has a wide variety of people serving which certainly also includes what most people would consider as "elites".

[oldsoak]

Theres an old Chinese saying that if the top is bent, the bottom will surely be crooked. A very observant saying IMHO by a people who have seen elites come and go by the dozen.
Elites are not inherently bad, but by gum they set precedents and examples. If Elites ( political, civic or otherwise ) fiddle their taxes, lie to the public, shamelessly promote self interest and break laws then why are we surprised if Joe Shmoe does the same ? There was a time when people's behaviour and moral compass counted for a damn lot - now it doesnt matter as much. Until we as people get fed up enough to clean out the Augean stables, we're always going to be stuck with elites you'd be a fool to trust.

[Mordoror]

the problem is that the elites :
are self promoted
protect their own circle (the movie makers will protect the movie makers no matter why, see the Polanski example)
are outragously paid when average joe who maybe has a harder task gets zil (see the pay of soccer players or top models)
and in fine don't look so much of elites but just some kind of new decadent bourgeoisie

back in the past nobody would have stirred that issue with the out-of-WWII elites
they paid sweat and blood for the country, had tremendous responsablities and achieved tremendous tasks for the nation
actually our elites are only voted for, promoted by commercial adds or by the box office

moreover TV is surfing on the feeling that everybidy can be an elite (see the shows were hundred of average Joe think they can be the next pop super star even if they sing like a flu affected cat)... that certainky doesn"t help

[RSone]

Those of us who are not part of the elite's fashionable revolution are "racist, sexist and homophobic." We are fit objects for extermination or re-education because, in the end, we just don't get it. "Simultaneously arrogant and insecure," wrote Lasch, "the new elites, the professional classes in particular, regard the masses with mingled scorn and apprehension. In the United States , 'Middle America' -- a term that has both geographical and social implications -- has come to symbolize everything that stands in the way of progress: 'family values,' mindless patriotism, religious fundamentalism, racism...."

I wonder if Lasch and the author of this piece see that 'elite' and any form of adjective that precedes it is far too broad of a term to define the subject it is supposed to define. There are many elites strata, and they might or might not be connected. However, it is categorally wrong to describe ALL of the wealthy and affluent as the elite. In this context it could even be seen as class jingoism. it's all the elite's fault. All the more ironic, Lasch would by his writing of the book and presumeably his other books(not familiar with him) be part of the Intelligentsia, another so-called elite. Would he then not by his own definition be guilty of this so called perversion of society? Since by his definition the elite is a totally homogenous monstrosity, thus implying that any part of it is also bound to the whole of it.


According to Lasch, there are far worse problems facing America than racism: "the crisis of competence; the spread of apathy and a suffocating cynicism; the moral paralysis of those who value 'openness' above all." Lasch saw an intellectual softening underway. He warned that culture "is a way of life backed up by the will to condemn and punish those who defy its commandments." As for the claim that we are now enlightened, he scoffed. The information revolution, he said, has not raised the level of public intelligence. It is no secret, he continued, "that the public knows less about public affairs than it used to know. Millions of Americans cannot begin to tell you what is in the Bill of Rights, what Congress does, what the Constitution says about the powers of the presidency, how the party system emerged or how it operates. A sizeable majority, according to a recent survey, believe that Israel is an Arab nation."
The crisis of competence is, perhaps, the most troubling problem of all. It comes in three forms: (1) as a general incompetence for living; (2) as an incompetence that wants to manage society, and determine economic outcomes through a redistribution of wealth; (3) as an incompetence through the lowering of professional standards. The first is less dangerous to society than the second, and the third compounds the second. In terms of a general incompetence for living (1): It may be said that people are no longer literate; that their attention span has been attenuated by television and is unsuited to the study of difficult subjects; that their health is ruined through fast food, soft drinks, and excessive indulgence in sweets; that the sexes are disoriented and no longer know how to live together or behave; that children suffer from poor discipline. What is shocking to discover, however, is that all of these things have been encouraged by the purveyors of (2): the would-be managers of society who rail against the market, against fatherhood, against punishment and discipline, and against the necessities of war.

The information age, and the technology it brought us, have definitely increased our intelligene. A better word for it would be 'augmented', since however much some of us would like it to be the case, we are not permanently connected to the 'series of tubes' and thus do not have round the clock, all year long access to information on the internet. Intelligence is also selective. One cannot know everything. While i agree that in many society people know next to nothing about the society they live in, the internet is the perfect tool to change that. Lasch seems to complain about it, instead of attempting change. Thus, at some level, it could be said he didn't/does not truly care, else he would have attempted to do something about it. Why not, he's part of the elite, and by his own definitions thus has the power to make **** happen where the sheep can only watch and follow.


I'll take apart the text some more, just have to read it carefully again befor i post more. Judging from this article, the book seems to be a big piece of jingoistic op-ed, disguised in a layer of academic thought. Though some of the criticism is definitely valid, there are no suggestions to counter them, thus skewing the balance of the text to one side, making it effictively useless. Quoting a book does not make a good article, especially so when even Lasch may have made suggestions, author does not even try to incorporate them, thus making this article as useless as it makes the book appear to be.