V.J. Chalupa

On Post-Modern Politics

PART C. QUO VADIS, HOMO?

ENTROPY VERSUS EVOLUTION

CHAPTER 22

STRUCTURAL SHIFTS IN SOCIETY (23)

The source of political action is discontent with the situation of a certain human group. It is discontent with the extent of its power and wealth; but its roots usually go deeper: it is the discontent with the very nature of man and his destiny which are perceived as lacking and needing improvement. The conviction about the essential imperfection of man is common to all religions and underlies also nonreligious ideologies. Historically, the defining of human deficiency and the ways towards its correction originated with visionaries and prophets; in modern times, this role was assumed by intellectual elites.

The term  "intellectual" characterizes here not only individuals dealing mainly with theories; it encompasses all those whose occupation is to create, deal with or represent symbols -- primarily in science, and also in arts and entertainment as well as politics.

The generalizations of the nature and of the impact of elites in this chapter are derived primarily from the experience in the United States for the simple reason, that it has gone farthest in this direction by attracting and concentrating excellence in most areas of human endeavor reaching from sports, entertainment, performing and other arts to social and exact sciences and has drained the world of its best talent. The greatest aggregations of talent in the world are in New York, Hollywood, and Washington, the centers of cultural, economic and political power, which give the elites the best opportunities for personal advancement and also advancement of their visions for the betterment of humanity. Also the exceptional position of the judiciary and the Supreme Court in the American Constitution has enabled the elites to make their impact felt faster and stronger than it has been in other nations.

Emergence of Elites

An elite is a group of persons whose source of cohesion is excellence in their common specific area of competence. Accordingly, there exist elites in politics, religion, sports, arts, science, economy and finances.

In contemporary society, elites perform two indispensable functions. They facilitate the realization of subjective as well as objective (technical) goals by discoveries of the most useful means, i.e., means that achieve the given goals at the least cost with the greatest profit. At the same time they are the carriers of differentiation, and therefore an evolutionary plus especially in a democracy, because they inject the culture with new elements that can engender and often do engender new political movements and political organizations. The importance of elites increases in the measure in which political processes fail to solve outstanding problems of the society; incompetence of governments results in greater reliance on expertise and this reliance has created a direct entry into the government of experts which leads to the elimination of the citizenry from sharing in the deliberations and decisions of experts and specialists.

Modern society bestows on exceptional individuals the recognition of excellence primarily by material, rather than symbolic rewards; stunning incomes rather than honors, status or respect of peers are the common denominator of members of the elites in the area of western civilization. Their wealth is seldom derived from production of goods; their world is the world of abstractions and symbols. People and their lives are classified by the elite as types and captured as statistics, statistics become equations, equations become models and models are translated into mathematical, scientific and artistic symbols from which other symbols and patterns are derived by deduction and speculation. The elite are experts in the creation and exploitation of abstract concepts and models, whether they are mathematical models for trading in commodities, shares or currencies, for management of currency, models for creating new demands and marketing products, for social engineering, visual models for living promoted by novels, plays, films, videos, songs -- or publicized personal behavior of sport or film stars, prominent politicians or entertainers; computer games are used as the basis of political, economic, foreign policy and military decisions. As their areas of influence overlap, their importance grows. Film stars interfere with politics and military strategy and attain political positions (the most spectacular example being Ronald Reagan), television commentators and journalists push proposals on how to reform society, change laws or conduct foreign policy, leading sportsmen assume the role of critics of traditions and institutions. Thus, a world of symbols arises in which words and impressions ("images") have more impact than reality which becomes more and more abstract and transformed in accordance with the elite's models.

The very principles of democracy protect the elites' activities. Professional experts are protected by the freedom of scientific research and the dissemination of their results by the freedom of information. Economic activities are protected by the principles of private property, free enterprise and free market. Art and entertainment are protected by the freedom of press and expression. Their interdependence enhances their invulnerability making possible extrapolitical concentration of power immune from interference by the state and from democratic political processes; on the contrary, economic and intellectual elites determine the nature of culture in global dimensions and thus are able to dominate political processes in various ways and extent.

The elites' "means of production" are seldom material; they are intellectual brilliance and top education (own or purchased) combined with the ability to distinguish and exploit relevant and privileged information to which they have preferential access. Their income is based on manipulation of data and finely honed expertise which is highly appreciated and rewarded by the owners of capital on whose behalf and with whose assets the experts trade on the exchanges of commodities, currencies and financial instruments, buy and sell real estate, direct marketing, develop cybernetics, direct movie studios, manage museums, create and select programs for mass media, teach at universities, direct research and produce literature and songs.

Their power over the lives of other people is immense. Even if they never milked a cow or planted a row of corn, they decide the fate of agriculture in entire areas of the world; through market manipulations they create or destroy whole sectors of a nation's economy. They are mostly independent of society's prosperity; the knowledge of symbols enables them to profit equally from economic boom and from economic slump. Because they think in terms of symbols and models and not in terms of concrete human lives, they isolate themselves mentally from the impact of their actions on the fate of those who bear the brunt of their consequences. For the victims  they may feel compassion, but not responsibility. In terms of material goods, they create very little; theirs is rather a parasitic existence.

A Cosmopolitan Community

The opportunities of the elites, especially the economic, technological and scientific ones, are not limited by ties to the place of their residence and loyalty to a country or nation: the space for their opportunities is the world. This causes their mobility: they go to where they find the best financial conditions and their best appreciation, whether at universities, international corporations or international bureaucracies. They often change their employer and moving from one state or continent to another is, for them, normal because the "market" for their abilities is international. Their fates are mostly connected with multinational corporations which span borders of nation states. Their objective is to assure the functioning of their employers' empires as a whole; this prevents them from respecting the interests of the nation of their origin. To be tied down to one place such as a permanent home for having a family and bringing up children is an obstacle on the way towards excellence and success.

International elites form a global community of an extraordinary type of people with specific needs and interests: to perfect the world of symbols and the securing their application planet-wide creates among their members an international solidarity placed, in their value system, way above other ties, be it family, local community, nation or state. "Home" is where employment and entertainment are; home are national and international organizations and professional associations based on specialization in esoteric fields, whose members compete with each other to excel among their peers by their expertise, academic career or publication of scientific papers and tomes. They have more in common with their counterparts anywhere in the world, America, Hongkong, Tokyo or Brussels, than with the people among whom they live.

This solidarity of outlook and interests is reinforced by the fact, that the members of elites are mostly alumni of a handful of the best schools in the world, especially the universities in the United States (Harvard and Stanford, MIT and UCLA, etc.) which attract the best brains of the world by offering them the best working conditions and highest financial rewards. The contact with teachers and students of many nations and the resulting cosmopolitan environment contributes to their "outgrowing the provincial needs" of their nation, religion, history and culture and forming a unique type of solidarity based on mutual respect, personal ties, friendships and -- to a large degree -- also the expectation of advantages stemming from their mutual assistance and preferences.   

Life-style

In its present stage of development, democratic society whose economy is based on the principles of private ownership of means of production, free enterprise and free market, rewards extravagantly its intellectual elites. Their incomes are not derived from personal wealth, especially ownership and management of means of production; it is derived from manipulation of symbols in demand at the time when technology is forcing an overhaul of the existing system of manufacturing and finance. Their incomes are mostly invested also in symbols: bank accounts, mutual funds, stocks and bonds. Whenever their wealth is invested in fixed objects (land, real estate, factories), elites usually hire others to administer them;  nor do they display any great attachment to them; they are objects of speculation (selling, buying, mergers, dismantling, bankruptcies) -- with the exception of a pride in their luxurious habitats and "toys" (cars, airplanes, yachts).

Their rapidly increasing incomes (cf. the rising salaries of top game players and their coaches) separate the elites from the rest of the society, and this separation is increased by their mobility and their life-style characterized not only by conspicuous consumption, but also by a physical segregation from the common life and people. Their lives are in many regards similar to the lives of the nomenclatura in Soviet society. They congregate increasingly in exclusive localities, enclaves inaccessible to others, with their own security forces, own regulations, hospitals, best schools, theaters, restaurants, clubs, physical health, sports and games facilities.

They control the influx of new people by zoning regulations and high taxes, and if someone undesired still manages to penetrate, he is not accepted and is finally forced to leave by social ostracism and pressure. They consider themselves and are indeed the aristocracy of the intellect which owns its position only to themselves and their own achievements. This contributes to their self-confidence and their isolationism. They leave their enclaves only to travel to their places of work by protected routes or conveyances, or when they seek relaxation and entertainment. In the work place, they are isolated from outside intrusions by cohorts of company guards, subordinates and secretaries, and with the progress of cybernetics, even this contact with the outside world becomes superfluous: increasingly they can perform their activities from anywhere -- their homes, cars, hotel rooms or airplanes. When travelling, they remain within the ambiance of luxurious conveyances, hotels, exclusive resorts.

They can demand and get the best services, as "America is becoming a two-tiered society; an overclass of highly compensated people vs. an underclass of dead-ended, underemployed, dissatisfied, no-chance people." (24) A continuous society changes into an hourglass type society: on the top are individuals with very high incomes (in the United States at most 20%), while the incomes of the rest stagnate or decrease. The "overclass" of elites dealing with symbols visibly increases its power and wealth, the remaining 80% lose influence as well as economic security.

Elitism

When, in such a situation, the elites exceed their social functions, they usurp the legislative or executive powers of the government and endanger democracy.

During this century, democracy overcame three great adversaries: theocratic monarchies (in World War I), nationalist dictatorships (in World War II) and communist totalitarianism (in the Cold War). In spite of these victories, democracy is again in danger. It is in danger also after the demise of Communism, because in every society, there are those who are convinced that, by virtue of their outstanding qualities, they know better that ordinary people what is good for the populace, for society and for humanity.  Elites become a danger to democracy, when their members are so convinced of their intellectual superiority and the infallibility of their opinions that they consider themselves entitled, called or obliged to override the legitimate source of the state's will whenever their conclusions and demands are not accepted by normal democratic procedures or are not adopted and executed by the power of the state as fast and as extensively as the respective elites deem necessary. The functioning of the elites turns into elitism, as and when they strive to transform society according to their speculative models without its consent, and into scientism when they disregard the limitations of science and disdain other sources of knowledge. This intellectual arrogance encourages the opinion that only scientists and experts are capable of contributing to the formation of decisions and that "unqualified" people should obey those who consider themselves qualified by their education, theoretical knowledge and approval of their peers. If the backward populace does not accept the wisdom of their betters willingly, they may feel justified in circumventing the democratic norm-giving organs, use managerial methods or bureaucratic power.

From the combination of scientism and elitism can arise an ideology and an ideological movement which, if intolerant, can become an intellectual straightjacket on the entire society. Once non-conforming opinions -- past or new ones -- are not met by arguments or experiments, but by application of power at the disposal of the elites, through preventing or inhibiting dissenting publications, when non-conforming members of the elites are disadvantaged professionally and financially -- excluded from teaching positions, excluded from participation in professional conferences or government's advisory commissions, denied access to media and otherwise silenced -- democracy is in danger. If a majority of the "knowledge class" holding the most important "means of production", i.e., expert knowledge and through it key positions in society, applies them in accordance with the same ideology, these are the beginnings of a decentralized totalitarianism. The elites produce "The Movement" managing the society without regard to its political system and institutions..

This is the stage to which the United States and (through its own and other developed countries' activities) the world is headed or has arrived, and the ideology of this elitist movement formulate the plans whose implementation its members pursue. Its importance is increased by two factors: first the fact that the USA is the only superpower, and if it can be manipulated into pursuing the elitist goals,  the elites' power is greatly enhanced; and second, the fact that these goals coincide to a great extent with the interests of another powerful group to which democracy is sometimes inconvenient: those who find it to be an obstacle to acquiring more and more wealth. Real power belongs not to the intellectual elites, but to economic elites who own the majority of means of production in the world, i.e., the so-called multinational, actually supra-national corporations. In the year 1995, seven most industrialized nations controlled 18 trillion dollars our of 25 trillion of the global GNP; the remaining 7 trillion was divided among 231 nations out of the total number of 238. Because the adjustment of this imbalance would involve far-going changes in the economic structure of the world, economic elites adopted enthusiastically the elitist ideology, and thanks to the extra-political concentration of the economy and especially of mass communications media are economic elites the main promoter of the  elitist culture globally. The control of the majority of the world's means of production and the freedom to pursue extra-political concentration, when wedded to the political and military might of the industrialized nations, creates a power which justifies expectations that the new world order will be shaped in accordance with elitist ideology whose exportation and imposition on nations and cultures represents an ideological imperialism of global dimensions. Therefore the following chapter is devoted to its dissection.