Dear Friends,
It seems to me, the entire bureaucracy and indeed the very idea of it, is based on elitism. That a cabal of highly trained elite, can make our decisions for us better than we can… the bureaucrats, judges and politicians. Our betters. There has always been an elite and there always will be an elite. That paradigm is an artifact of human nature just as the Pareto distribution and Price Law are. Once you understand that there is an elite, and the rest of us, you begin to understand on a deeper level the reality of our world. We are not discussing some new idea here, Aristotle described rule by the elite as Aristocracy, its perversion, Oligarchy. The administrative state is nothing more than aristocracy under a different name. Those who argue for aristocracy, like Thrasymachus, are called Sophists.
Elitism is a competing theory to Marx’s of class struggle. It posits that in any group, about 10% will rise to the top and lead. This happens whenever a random group of people are put together. Those who lead are not the smartest, wisest or best, they are the active, ambitious and self important. The group that is defined as the elite is not nor has it ever been permanent. It changes by replacement of the weak, passive and stupid, with the strong, energetic and sly. This theory describes human history by ascribing the “struggle,” if you will, between the people and elite. That elite could be the bourgeoisie, hereditary aristocracy or anything lese. It also says there is never a quick collapse of a civilization, nation or people, they only appear quick… the foundation having been corroded by a corrupt oligarchy over time.
Elitism also begs the question of aristocracy. There can be a despot and there can be democracy, but they both rely on the aristocracy, the elite, to implement their rule. Therefore, it can be surmised that every kind of government, is indeed a form of aristocracy. Some openly aristocratic, others where the aristocracy hides in the back ground. Pretending to be puppets controlled by others. The trouble with Aristocracy, is its perversion, oligarchy, is always waiting to take over. Since the elite, or aristocracy, are strong, energetic and sly, they soon grow to despise those they are supposed to serve. In a rational society, of which there has never been one yet, the elite would serve the people, not be served by us. In ours, and in every incarnation yet, we serve the public servants. The aristocrats and oligarchs.
Human nature gives rise to many facets of our society, culture and government. The Pareto curve, similar to Price’s Law, is a power law that is as brutal as it is unavoidable. It describes the distribution of talent, intellect, aggression, popularity, wealth and everything else. That is why there is a 1% of the 1% for everything. How many songs do you listen to, compared to the billions that are out there? Probably 1% of 1%. Power is distributed the same way, ala Elitist theory. So even if 10% are the leaders, a small minority of them will have outsized power. Human nature has other tricks as well. It gives us all egos, and inflates those egos as our power, prestige and wealth grow. Sadly, at the same time, our wisdom, foresight and awareness diminish as our egos flourish. So the elite become oligarchs.
Since it is clear, if you accept elitist theory, that there will always be an elite, that it is human nature for them to become oligarchs, and power is distributed in a power curve, then the only sane government, would be one that is strictly limited, utterly transparent, and with punitive criminal charges for miscreants abusing power. Fire burns, so we contain it in iron vessels like combustion engines, wood stoves and fire pits. If we start a fire in the brush in the woods, we get a forest fire. Having been around fire since our inception as a species we use fire in accordance with its nature. We have been around human nature just as long… yet we are living in a perpetual and growing forest fire. Autocratic rule by a corrupt elite, an oligarchy, for their own interests at the expense of the nation, people and future.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
