A crash introduction to Elite Theory in light of the news and international affairs
Elite political theory[1] holds that any society is divided between the elites (the few) and the masses (the many). Whatever the narrative behind the term democracy, the reality is that in a democracy, it is the elite political class who holds the power to make decisions. The elites – who make up the leaders of society – are generally different from the masses, having control over wealth, education, access and so on. There is an elite class who graduates into the various leadership positions of power – in the UK think of the Eton/ Oxbridge/ Bullingdon club graduates which dominate the political class whether politician, journalist or other. The role of the masses is to be ruled, not to rule, with elections having symbolic value rather than being any meaningful competition. In reality, the elections are simply a tool to decide who will run the system, and nothing to do with changing it.
Elitism doesn’t prevent other non-elites from entering the elite set – a few from the masses can be permitted to work their way up, serving the double purpose of assimilating the best talent from the generality of people while at the same time providing an outlet to undermine any potential for revolutionary leadership emerging. But to be accepted as one of the elite – you have to give up any alternative views to that of the elite class. You can become one of the people at the top – as long as you agree to the rules of the game and to help maintain the playing field. A good example of this would be the current White House incumbent Barack Obama, superficially appearing as an outsider, but one who has internalized what are the fundamental interests of the United States according to the elites, helping to explain that, though he was carried in on a slogan of change, he has disappointed even his most ardent supporters.
There will be differences amongst elites as well as competition for leadership, which leads to conflicting interests and therefore to competition as represented by the plurality of the political parties. But the disagreement within the elites and therefore between the various parties which are generally led by elite interests are over a pretty narrow scope – which has resulted to the long-time public apathy towards the political system in the UK due to the impression that neither Labor nor Conservatives represent the people and basically do not represent any kind of real choice. (The same could be said of American politics, Obama’s campaign aside which has as already mentioned since lost its luster).
In other words, the veneer of plurality in Western democracies hides the reality that the effective political parties represent the elites and not the masses (New Labor?). The actions of the Liberal Democrats in government only confirms the view, since even the third “alternative” party has basically been proven that it is a part of the “establishment”.
Being part of the elite means that you have a stake in the status quo – the system and the institutions that compose it should stay as they are, since you are doing so well out of it. Hence any changes should be slow, gradual and incremental. Getting the masses to buy into the system is important – getting them tied to debt or into property is a good way of doing it, explaining the encouragement for mortgages leading to the boom in house ownership. A man afraid of losing his house is unlikely to revolt even if his living standard becomes straitened while he observes the few others (bankers, politicians etc.) still doing extremely well. This helps to explain the relative quiet of the masses even though they are literally being worked over by the political class in order to resolve the economic crisis brought on by the banking sector. While the few reaped the vast majority of the profit in times of growth, the many pay the vast majority of the price in the time of decline.
At the same time, when resources are plentiful, it is in the interest of elites to ensure that the masses share some proportion of them in order to ensure their apathy towards the inequality between the two. But as resources shrink, the elite have to make choices about whether they should sacrifice their own interests to maintain mass support/ apathy, or risk undermining mass support through self-serving policies which protect their interests whilst harming those of the public, leading to discontent and potential unrest. A revolution is the nightmare for the elite, something to be resisted at all costs. Therefore in times of economic or political crisis, elites may turn upon one another and make compromises within their system in order to maintain their own position.
The current phone-hacking scandal engulfing the political classes in the United Kingdom highlights the entrenchment of the elites in the country (for more details regarding the scandal read Kourosh Ziabari’s piece here). Elite theory helps to explain the web of interests tying the newspaper barons, big business, etc. to the political class, and the culture of unaccountability amongst them. Far from evidence of the strength of the current politics, the current blood-letting focused upon the Murdochs and Rebekah Brooks, with the promise of an eventually more open and accountable government and media, is an example of how elites are willing and able to sacrifice one another on the altar of public humiliation in order to ensure the stability of the underlying system, a necessity at this time due to the severe undermining of public confidence in the political system as a result of the whole phone-hacking scandal and how it extends through the media, police, and politicians. However, previous crises have shown this is not necessarily successful. As mentioned by Madeleine Bunting in The Guardian, “Three major national crises of trust in as many years, and neither of the two previous crises have led to convincing reform. The danger we face is of an intensifying cynicism, and the angry apathy that entails.”
With confidence in the Western capitalist economic system shattered and the moral leadership of the West long gone, the current political crisis appears to be yet another symptom of the wider malaise of a dying civilization. Though the current elite appear able to maintain their control and interests in the short term future, as the economic situation reaches further depths, and a greater number of people face eviction from their homes and hunger coupled with the complete loss of confidence in the political and social institutions in the country, the situation may become much less easy to control.
Notes
[1] The description of elite theory as mentioned here is derived from the explanation in Dye and Zeigler’s “The Irony of Democracy”
A version of this article appeared at www.newcivilisation.com.
The Bipartisan Puppet American Politicians will create a Military Dictatorship, because the Elites have worked too long and too hard to ever let New Politicians who are not Republicans or Democrats to bring Good Government to America.
The Pentagon recently declared that the Internet is now being considered an Operational Domain for all wars, and proposed a dramatic increase in the number of employees fighting wars on the Internet.
They used the Fancy Euphemism of cyber security plan, and that just means cyber insecurity, and the Censoring truthful information, and an acceptance that another piece of the Constitution is gone; namely, the right to free speech.
They will tell lies that thousands of files had been stolen by foreign intruders, but they may have gladly let the enemy think that it was all factual or useful information, and it may be misinformation in disguise, yet it will be used to Establish a Military Dictatorship in America.
I think that the Serbian Government should Pretend to be Patriotic and Stand Up against All False Accusations, because it will give false hope for a while to the People of the World.
At the same time, I think that the Serbian People should be wise and decent enough to know that all DS and LDP Candidates at the next Election are Secret NATO Candidates.
There could be some People who think that Democratic England, Democratic France, and Democratic America are friends of Democratic Serbia and the Democratic Serbian People, and there could be People who do their thinking based on the Facts.
Democratic England’s, Democratic France’s, and Democratic America’s money went to breaking up Democratic Yugoslavia and to demonizing the Democratic Serbian People as regards to Democratic Yugoslavia, and Montenegro, Serbian Krajina, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the Serbian Province of Kosovo.
If you want to know where Democratic England’s, Democratic France’s, and Democratic America’s sympathies lie, then you should not make fools of yourselves, and you should not rely on them, because People should rely on Themselves, more than on these Plutocratic Fake Democracies.
The Serbian People have seen the injustice of NATO, and if they can be corrupted from proper principles by America, the European Union, and NATO, then the People of the World need to Fully Understand that they have no hope for the future.
These Serbian Voters People, both the Corrupt Puppet Politicians, and the Stupid or Corrupted Population are Proof Positive that the World has no hope.
A vote for the DS and the LDP is a vote for NATO, and it is a Definite Vote that Europe and the World has no hope.
It could be that America, the European Union, and NATO, along with the bribed Media may make those Puppet Bastards in the Serbian Parliament pretend to be doing the Right Thing, because they need time to organize an attack against their own People in order to set Up a Military Dictatorship.
These Puppet Serbian Politicians would join NATO to do injustices to others, even though they know what America, the European Union, and NATO are from firsthand experience.
Any accused Person should have equal space with the Slanderous Propaganda that a News Media is accusing anyone of, and if that News Media does not want to grant the equal space for the Person or Country to voluntarily respond, then that News Media has made itself an Enemy of the Entire Human Race.
There are many People who think that the only just Penalty for making oneself an Enemy of the Entire Human Race must be death, and that is why they might hire their local Mafia to eliminate Journalists and Owners of that Corrupt and Biased Media.
There could be People who think that Corrupted and Bribed Media is in Fact an Enemy Combatant against the People, and as such, it is most worthy of the Death Penalty that local the Mafia is paid to bring Democracy and Justice to the People.
The Mafia must know that they have their own lives to protect, and the lives of their families, and the other Citizens, and therefore they might consider doing this Community Service to bring Honesty in the Main Stream Media, Media, and Democracy to those Countries who Pretend to be Democracies at a Discount Price.
The Ever Present Danger for America is that if the Voters are asleep, then the Bipartisan Puppet Politicians will create a Military Dictatorship, and if the Voters are awake, then the Bipartisan Puppet Politicians will create a Military Dictatorship in America.
We see the American White Plutocratic Plan for Africa, where they want to tell the Non-Whites who their Leaders should be, and who their Government should be.
The English, French, and Americans know that they can Puppetize the Leaders of Black African Countries, because the Non-White Leaders cannot be like President Bill Clinton and have Public Affairs, but they must keep it Secret from their Wives that they like White Women.
We know that the English, French, and America like to invite Black African Leaders to White London, White Paris, and White Washington for what is Euphemistically called High Level Talks and invite to attend Secret Drunken Parties where there are White Women at those Secret Drunken Parties.
Barack Obama is a Constant Reminder that Barack Obama’s father liked White Women and Black Women, and we know that the Puppet President of France’s Colony of the Ivory Coast is married to a White Woman.
If America were interested in protecting Civilians, then they would have done something to help the decades long sufferings, injustices, and murders of the Palestinian People.
If America was interested in protecting Civilians, then they would not have sponsored a Coup Attempt in Libya, along with trying to install their Puppets one way or another, but they would simply just walk away from Libya, considering all the Evil they have already visited on the Innocent People.
If England, France, and America were serious about protecting Civilians, then they would order a ceasefire, and let the African Union mediate a Peaceful Negotiated Solution for the Libyan Civilians.
The African Union needs to know that the White Terrorist Colonialists and Imperialists, along with their Puppet Uncle Tom Barack Obama, fully consider the Black People of Africa to be Dogs that need to be Recolonized, because the White Euro-American Plutocrats consider the People of Africa to be both Racially Inferior, and Intellectually Inferior to the White Plutocratic Elites and their Corrupt and Bribed Puppet Politicians.
We know that even though Italy’s Prime Minister SillyOld BurlesqueConi, also known as Silvio Berlusconi is very Wealthy, he is charged with committing Acts of Paedophilia, and everyone in Italy knows these things.
There are American People who think that there are American Politicians who volunteer to be Secretly filmed in Acts of Bestiality or Paedophilia to receive Election Funding and Wealth from the American Plutocratic Corporations.
These Films are then used to Puppetize and Blackmail the Corrupt American Politicians to do the bidding of the American Plutocrats.
We, the Plutocratic Dictators of America, whose national borders are defined by however much we can steal, and by the Law of the Jungle, are committed Only to Ourselves.
America will be a True Plutocracy; America will have no Public Funding for Elections, because the Puppet Politicians will be Filmed in Acts Bestiality or Paedophilia as the only way for them to gain Campaign Finance, and to have a Wealthy Puppetized Career.
Plutocratic America will be the Chief of War Criminal NATO; it will be 100% for Racism; it will have all the genetically modified crops it wants to; it will destroy many trees; and it will have very little recycling.
An excellent article which explains where we are today in the desire by the ruling elite to return to a feudal system of a ruling elite which owed their position to heredity or wealth. All the trapping are there – an untouchable ruling class protected by force of arms against the majority who live a life of serfdom. Even the desire to colonise, destroy and pillage neighbouring countries are all there.
Due to the industrial revolution today’s feudal system looks different to the feudal system at the time of Queen Elizabeth-I but as the article points out the principle is exactly the same.
For a while in the 20th century after two world wars which abolished the old feudal system we had a true democracy. But democracy being based on the lowest common denominator – greed and selfishness – contains the seeds of its own destruction. This has been evident in some of the liberal socially destructive laws including divorce and abortion adopted by nearly all those who have lately come to democracy.
So we are at a crossroads. All the most cherished forms of government of the 20th century – communism, democracy, dictatorships, capitalist, free market – have all been tried and found wanting.
So where do we go from here?
I should have mentioned that Al-Qaeda is useful to the Republicans and the Democrats in America, because they want a Paedophile America.
I know that some People will switch off here, and say that this just cannot possibly be what the Corrupted and Bribed American Politicians want, but I say, that you should make up your own minds based on the Evidence.
If I were one of a group of American Plutocrats, then by Definition, I would want Total Obedience wanted by the Elected Politicians, who even though they were Elected by you Gullible People, they would be Total Puppets, and not Representatives of those who Elected them.
If you have not been able to understand that last sentence, then, I suggest you ask a good friend to help you, before reading the rest of this comment.
It is important to build on the Foundation of Elementary Facts, and one of those Elementary Facts is that of the American Plutocrats, Most American Politicians, and Most American Journalists and Media will lie whenever they want to.
Another Elementary Fact is that Many Americans are either Gullible, or they Pretend to be Gullible for a number of reasons.
I do not know about you, but if I was a group of American Plutocrat in a group of American Plutocrats, we would want GUARANTEES, GUARANTEES, and more GUARANTEES that my Puppet Politicians would Never Ever Disobey us.
There could be some People who think that if the American Plutocrats could threaten the American Politicians with death, then the American Politicians will always be their Puppets.
However, such a situation is messy, and the American Plutocrats would use a false suicide note, along with drugs or child pornography would be placed near the body, and any film of the Dead American Politician in Acts of Paedphilia would only be used in an unavoidable situation.
The approach here is the Carrot and the Stick, and the Carrot is of Course Fortune and Fame.
The stick is not death, but imprisonment, and we see that the American Plutocrats have set up the former Illinois Governor Blagojevich, just to let the Puppet Uncle Tom and House Negro, Barack Obama understand that a Military Dictatorship is what he should set up, or it will be Jail for him.
With things this risky, and with the gamble so great for the Dictatorial Plutocrats, then only American Politicians that have Secretly been filmed in Acts of Bestiality and Paedophilia would be Candidates that I Could even come Close to Trusting to Obey the Plutocrats.
If you would settle for less than this type of Guarantee, then all I can say is that you are True Idiot in every aspect of the word Idiot.
If an American Politician is known to have committed Bestiality, then they would not be re-elected, but they would also not go to jail.
Even so, these American Politicians know that the endless embarrassment they would encounter, and so that ids Probably enough to ensure their Total Puppetship to the American Plutocrats.
However, just to make sure, the American Plutocrats would want their Puppet American Politicians to be filmed in Acts of Paedophilia, so that a Jack Ruby and Lee Harvey Oswald situation could exist to prevent any one of the numerous Corrupt and Bribed American Puppet Politicians from going to Court and revealing some of the Dirt on the American Plutocrats.
The American Politicians know that they can be free if they make Paedophilia legal, and this is what they are eagerly working towards.
They want Adults and Children to think it is normal for People in Public to be seen naked, and that the Authorities should grope other strangers and especially Children, because even the Corrupt and Bribed American Politicians have been Secretly Filmed by the Plutocrats groping naked young Children.
The America Politicians want to have all Americans thinking about a naked America that gropes and molests young Children.
Do not Underestimate the power of this manipulation of Adult and Children thinking of each other naked, and engaging in Acts very Close to Paedophilia with the Authorities.
These thoughts are especially potent in the Secrecy of each Individual’s Bed, as their hands touch their own Sexual Organs, and Masturbate while thinking of these things.
This is where Al-Qaeda is desperately needed by the American Politicians, because they need not Only the Dirty Money of the American Military Industrial Complex, but the need a American Society that will became Feral because of fears of Al-Qaeda.
We all know that America is Bankrupt, but the Plutocrats Puppet Barack Obama wants to lend even more Money, because as he rightly says, it is all about his future, and nothing to do with America’s future.
We can see why the Bankrupt America wants Al-Qaeda to be funded by the Benghazi Al-Qaeda using Libyan Oil and Libyan Assets, regardless of the plight of the Libyan People.
We know that Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is one of richest men in Italy, and he is charged with having sex with an under aged person, but this could be just the Tip of the Iceberg.
Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi keeps saying that there is nothing wrong with having under age sex, and he is just doing the Dirty Work for the American Politicians.
I realized that I should have provided the information of the Full Naked Body Scanners, and the Molesting TSA Authority Workers who may Masturbate after hours at Home in the Secrecy of their Beds.
If I were the Ruling Plutocrats of a Superpower, then I would make my Puppet Politicians in other Countries be Secretly Filmed in Acts of Bestiality and Paedophilia, so that they would say what I wanted them to say.
These Puppet Politicians would Voluntarily agree to be Secretly Filmed in Acts of Bestiality and Paedophilia, because they would Lust for the Dirty Money that I would steal for them from their own fellow Citizens, for which they do not care.
The Serbian People understand that the Albanians do not want to be governed by Belgrade, and this is why a Negotiated Level of Autonomy will be granted to the Serbian Citizens of Albanian Ethnicity in Serbia’s Province of Kosovo.