[extropy-chat] FWD [fantasticreality] Nice Summary of Problems of the self-denoted "Cultural Elites"

[MB]

Much of this commentary mirrors well the conclusions reached in "The Bell Curve".
The last few chapters of that book were serious questions about the direction our
country was going, and questioned how to avoid what is described below.

Regards,
MB





> -----Forwarded Message-----
>>
>>This is nice review of some (I am sure it is incomplete) of the
>>problems regular folk see with the so-called cultural elites.  It is
>>in the form of a summary of the conclusions of the great social
>>critic Christopher Lasch from his book The Revolt of the Elites.  I
>>like it because Lasch knew the "Elites" from the inside, being one
>>of them himself.  I especially note how he counters Peter Parks'
>>claim that "bettering oneself" and "meritocracy" is in some way part
>>of the American democratic ideal of respect for every person, no
>>matter to which social class they might be assigned by
>>their "betters" at any given moment.  Lasch's book is well worth a
>>read.
>>
>>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."
>
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