Tag: elites

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Repeating History’s Mistakes

The paradigm has shifted in western politics, and not for the better.

Since the end of the Second World War, most nations in what has been known as “the Free World” had no tolerance for the use of physical force or overt bias against individuals because of their religious beliefs.  While disputes were often harsh and bitter, it was the general opinion that accepting the results of elections was an unquestioned good practice.

However, in 2016, both in the United States and the United Kingdom, the results of free and fair elections have been challenged by elites who are bitter about losing and are doing everything possible to ignore the will of the voters.  In America, that means delegitimizing the Trump Administration.  There have been violent demonstrations, and acts of violence against those identifying as supporters of the President. In Great Britain, where some Tory politicians have joined with their left-wing rivals in a grand alliance of the elites, it involves trying to ignore the demands of the British people to leave the European Union.

Two key factors have dramatically altered the dynamic towards democracy that occurred after the Second World War.  It has been credibly argued that they are directly related.

Despite the potential for greater democratization of political discussion resulting from widespread use of the internet, the command of that vast medium by those with leftist perspectives and their continual exclusion of those that disagree with them represents the most visible rise of the elites, a counter-revolution of sorts against what had been the increase in influence of the common man or woman.

Throughout history, the possession of power by elites, whether in the guise of emperors, monarchs, aristocrats or dictators has been the norm, not the exception.

 That changed in the New World with the rise of the United States.  The French Revolution did not yield a similar result, but gradually, some European nations achieved a lesser but still salutary level of freedom.

The tide turned against personal liberty with the rise of Communism in Russia, Fascism in Italy, Nazism in Germany, and imperialism in Japan. Allied victory in World War II allowed all of the Axis Powers but Russia (the USSR was originally allied with Hitler but switched sides when Germany attacked it) to again tread the path of democratization.

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The tide is, worryingly, turning again.  The New Left, intolerant of dissent, guided by those who feel morally superior and possessing sufficient power to heavily influence key institutions such as the media, education and other essential levers, have, in essence, initiated a counterrevolution against democracy.

There are two wings to the New Left. 

The ideologues, some of whom are young and with an insufficient comprehension of the evils of centralized control, express their beliefs through strident, inaccurate and often thoroughly illogical statements, often accompanied by violence or the threat thereof. Many have picked up their inclinations as a result of a politically biased, left-leaning education, propped up by the entertainment industry (which is now partially financed by Chinese investors.)

Ignorance plays a key role in their political orientation. Listen to a press conference with their standard-bearers, such as newly elected Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.  One can argue about her political philosophy, but her staggering lack of logical thinking and her blithe disregard of facts is beyond question.

Ignorance is apparently no barrier to the progress of the careers of the New Left.  Consider “Beto” O’Rourke, widely touted as a potential Democratic Party candidate for president in 2020. CNN says of the young Congressman:

“There’s zero question as to who the buzziest candidate — or potential candidate — in the 2020 Democratic presidential race is. It’s Beto O’Rourke. And it’s not close.”  However, CNN goes on to note: “But for all the excitement … there’s still a whole lot that people don’t know about him. And more importantly, a lot that O’Rourke doesn’t know. That fuzzy knowledge was on awkward display in a lengthy…interview in El Paso…The answer to every policy question can’t simply be, “Man, I don’t know. We are going to have to talk to everyday Americans and then roll our sleeves up and get something done for the country.”

The second wing is a historically more familiar group.  Where once control was wielded by those with ties to royalty, the “nobility” of the 21st century gains its strength from dominant positions in key areas or through the sheer power of their purse. Despite their acquisition of their wealth through capitalism, they seek to institutionalize control through the centralization of authority, a hallmark of socialism, with themselves at the helm, either publicly or behind the scene.

The rise of socialism, just another excuse for centralized control, will prove disastrous, economically and in terms of human rights, if successful. Recognizing that reality is the first step in preventing it from occurring.

Illustration: Pixabay

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Revolt Against Elites

The assertion of individual rights doesn’t have a particularly lengthy record in a history mainly filled with monarchs, dictators, oligarchs, and other elites. The age of gilded kings, queens, emperors and empresses isn’t as dead as it seems; only the names and excuses to stay in power keep changing. Russia lost its czar, but gained Communist Party rulers who held even greater control. Similar non-substantive changes have occurred in many locales.

Indeed, in Russia, the transition happened again.  When the Communist regime collapsed, essentially the same group rather quickly reclaimed power.  Putin, an old KGB hand, has, after only an unfortunately brief period, restored the same absolute power to his leadership that czars and commissars once held.

For centuries, Europe’s intermarried royal families controlled the lives of the continent’s residents.  That began to diminish as nationalism, often maligned but in reality a necessary step in European democratization, took hold. But as socialism gained acceptance, the concept of an elite class of intellectuals and politicians took hold.

The European Union deepened that trend. When the citizens of the United Kingdom voted to leave the E.U., the continental elites, who, in their own way, are as interconnected as the old monarchial families, were shocked.  In Britain itself, there was significant discussion among them about whether a re-vote or other scheme to overturn the ballot could be successful.

In the United States, the election of Donald Trump has caused similar conversations among power brokers and political party chiefs.  Whatever one’s thoughts of the new President, he is certainly outside of the typical leadership groups.  In the aftermath of his upset win, the traditional governing interests have reacted with near hysteria.  Even before he took the oath of office, the mainstream left-wing opinion makers in academia, the media, Hollywood, and progressive activists called for his impeachment.

Of course, there were a whole host of issues that compelled voters in the U.K. to reject the E.U. and Americans to reject the “establishment” candidacy of Hillary Clinton. But the extraordinary similarity is that, in both cases, the traditional power brokers were successfully challenged.

Writing for the BBC,  Mark Mardell discusses the twin jolts of Brexit and Trump : “It is perhaps ironic that our two countries, with a reputation for stable political systems, have delivered political revolutions of such importance. Or perhaps it’s not. Perhaps their stability and strength is they can cope with popular revolts, without pitchforks or getting blood all over our sans culottes.”
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As the leading supporters of individual freedom, British and American citizens have rejected surrendering their personal freedoms.

Tibor Machan, writing in the Daily Bell notes: “We are asked to believe that some people are inherently different from the rest of us. We are told that the select group − the leaders of socialist/egalitarian governments via their schemes of distribution and equalization − is immune from the errors of the rest of us. That the likes of Ralph Nader, Chuck Schumer, Joe Biden, et al., are really inherently better and wiser folk than are we all is what the citizenry is supposed to accept!”

Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall puts it this way in News With Views: “Communism, socialism, tribalism, and oligarchies all have one thing in common: Someone else is responsible for your life. From paying for your education, determining what kind of information will be contained in that education/indoctrination, to your career choices, the fuel your car will use (or whether you will be allowed to have a car…) all…are decisions about you to be made by others.”

Britain and America have been bulwarks in the lonely struggle to insure individual rights.  Attempts to overturn that achievement have been recently thwarted by the surprising victories of Brexit and Donald Trump. The particular merits of Brexit and Trump aren’t the point.  The battle lines in both instances clearly pitted elites eager to assert greater control against individuals, who rebelled at the attempt.

Writing in the British current affairs journal Spiked Brendon O’Neill  states: “…what a great starting point we have. If we can ditch something as huge as the EU, what else can we do to the end of enlivening the democratic sphere? This is what is so exciting about this referendum result. Ignore all the politicos and observers saying ‘Britain is broken. We no longer recognise this country’ (now they know how the people who voted against the EU have felt for years). For this huge jolt in global politics, this brilliant people’s quake, this vote against the political and media and business classes, provides us with an opportunity to rethink public life. It opens up the political landscape. It allows us to wonder, and discuss, how that landscape might be reshaped…”

During the eight years of the Obama Administration, Americans experienced a sharp deterioration in the fortunes of the middle class at home, and in the national security of their nation abroad.  Race relations took a turn for the worse.  Average citizens expressed their displeasure in the establishment elites by voting for Trump.