The Revolt of the Elites: And the Betrayal of Democracy

Rating:
Summary: A Modern Reply to Ortega y Gasset
Review: Christopher Lasch (1932-1994) was a historian and penetrating social critic. In his articles, essays and books, he challenged everyone - modern liberals and conservatives as well as the leftist and academic elite. While one did not have to agree with his conclusions, he was a man who always asked questions that needed to be answered, and raised issues that needed to be confronted. Politically, Lasch could probably be best described as a New Deal liberal, for he was very suspicious of both unfettered consumer capitalism and the rise of the New Left, whose goals and views he felt were in direct opposition to American values. He could also be described as a "thoughtful declinist" but one who always held out hope for the future.
In this book, Lasch's the last one published during the author's lifetime, he argued that America was not in danger from the "Revolt of the Masses" which was the title of Jose Ortega y Gasset's landmark book which was written in 1932, in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution and the rise of Fascism, but that we are threatened by a "Revolt of the Elites." In 1994, Lasch had come to believe that the economic and cultural elite of the United States, who historically has insured the continuity of a culture, had lost faith in the traditional values that had animated and organized our culture since its inception. He saw a threat to the continuation of western civilization was not a mass revolt as envisioned by the pro-communist New Left of the 1960's, but a rejection of its liberal and pluralistic values by the educated elite that run its institutions and educate its children. Lasch's last question was an important one: can a society survive when a significant portion of its elite have forsaken its founding principles?



Rating:
Summary: Lasch's chest-beating is mostly worthless.
Review: Christopher Lasch just doesn't get it. The machine age is over, and production (of any kind) is predominantly information-based. While he's right that there are two emerging classes in society, he ignores the fact that these are consumers and producers, not merely elites and underclass. In the industrial age, unskilled workers could seize machinery (means of production) to extory the industrialist. Those days are over. Today, the "means of production" lies in the creative mind, not machinery that anyone can operate. This is spelling the end of the politics of entitlement and violence (although I'm being doubly redundant here), and no amount of chest-beating will bring about a return to an imagined past.

The majority of society, the service and production workers, the unemployed and the underclass, are a drain on a region's economic potential. In the Information Age, governments based on a universal franchise and chosen by this majority are governments elected by losers. The 'politics of envy' is suicide and the 'will of the people', voting for full employment, a minimum wage, and fair (?) taxation is merely the turkeys voting for Christmas. The big political question of the coming decades is how to find a socially acceptable means of dismantling democracy.

If you really want to see the future, and more importantly, prepare for it, read "The New Barbarian Manifesto" by Ian Angell.

Democracy is dying. Long live freedom and personal volition.

Rating:
Summary: A sobering look at democracy in the New Economy
Review: In "the Revolt of the Elites" Christoper Lasch powerfully and persuasively contends that that the values and attitudes of professional and managerial elites and those of the working classes have dramatically diverged. Although the claim is controverted, many of us on the right (especially social conservatives) agree with the quasi-populist/communitarian notion that democracy works best when all members of society can participate in a world of upward mobility and of achievable status. In such a world, members of society will perceive themselves as belonging to the same team and care about ensuring that that team succeeds. But how can society achieve this sort of mutual interdependence if its members are not part of a community of shared values? As Christopher Lasch explains: "[T]he new elites, the professional classes in particular, regard the masses with mingled scorn and apprehension." For too many of these elites, the values of "Middle America" - a/k/a "fly-over country" - are mindless patriotism, religious fundamentalism, racism, homophobia, and retrograde views of women. "Middle Americans, as they appear to the makers of educated opinion, are hopelessly shabby, unfashionable, and provincial, ill informed about changes in taste or intellectual trends, addicted to trashy novels of romance and adventure, and stupefied by prolonged exposure to television. They are at once absurd and vaguely menacing." (28)

The tension between elite and non-elite attitudes is most pronounced with respect to religious belief. While our society admittedly is increasingly pluralistic, "the democratic reality, even, if you will, the raw demographic reality," as Father Neuhaus has observed, "is that most Americans derive their values and visions from the biblical tradition." Yet, Lasch points out, elite attitudes towards religion are increasingly hostile: "A skeptical, iconoclastic state of mind is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the knowledge classes. ... The elites' attitude to religion ranges from indifference to active hostility." (215)

Lash claims that the divergence in elite and non-elite attitudes is troubling for the future of democracy. Its hard for me to gainsay him. Yet, while "The Revolt of the Elites" is sobering - even a tad depressing - it deserves to be read even more widely than it has been. Lasch is no partisan. Conservative proponents of unfettered capitalism get bashed about the head by Lasch just as much as liberal critics of capitalism. Populists will find themselves nodding in agreement with some sections, while communitarians will concur with other sections. About the only folks who will be offended by all of "The Revolt of the Elites" are hardened libertarians and extreme left-liberals. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A sobering look at democracy in the New Economy
Review: In "the Revolt of the Elites" Christoper Lasch powerfully and persuasively contends that that the values and attitudes of professional and managerial elites and those of the working classes have dramatically diverged. Although the claim is controverted, many of us on the right (especially social conservatives) agree with the quasi-populist/communitarian notion that democracy works best when all members of society can participate in a world of upward mobility and of achievable status. In such a world, members of society will perceive themselves as belonging to the same team and care about ensuring that that team succeeds. But how can society achieve this sort of mutual interdependence if its members are not part of a community of shared values? As Christopher Lasch explains: "[T]he new elites, the professional classes in particular, regard the masses with mingled scorn and apprehension." For too many of these elites, the values of "Middle America" - a/k/a "fly-over country" - are mindless patriotism, religious fundamentalism, racism, homophobia, and retrograde views of women. "Middle Americans, as they appear to the makers of educated opinion, are hopelessly shabby, unfashionable, and provincial, ill informed about changes in taste or intellectual trends, addicted to trashy novels of romance and adventure, and stupefied by prolonged exposure to television. They are at once absurd and vaguely menacing." (28)

The tension between elite and non-elite attitudes is most pronounced with respect to religious belief. While our society admittedly is increasingly pluralistic, "the democratic reality, even, if you will, the raw demographic reality," as Father Neuhaus has observed, "is that most Americans derive their values and visions from the biblical tradition." Yet, Lasch points out, elite attitudes towards religion are increasingly hostile: "A skeptical, iconoclastic state of mind is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the knowledge classes. ... The elites' attitude to religion ranges from indifference to active hostility." (215)

Lash claims that the divergence in elite and non-elite attitudes is troubling for the future of democracy. Its hard for me to gainsay him. Yet, while "The Revolt of the Elites" is sobering - even a tad depressing - it deserves to be read even more widely than it has been. Lasch is no partisan. Conservative proponents of unfettered capitalism get bashed about the head by Lasch just as much as liberal critics of capitalism. Populists will find themselves nodding in agreement with some sections, while communitarians will concur with other sections. About the only folks who will be offended by all of "The Revolt of the Elites" are hardened libertarians and extreme left-liberals. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: BENEFIT OF THE NATION RATHER THAN INDIVIDUAL
Review: In this book 'The Revolt of the Elites and The Betrayal of Democracy'Lasch is taking a critical look at democracy. According to him people should try to achieve the goal of democracy by working towards it. He states that the accumalation of wealth for personal benefit is incorrect. He felt that wealth should be used for the development of the nation. My first response to reading this book was that Lasch had a vision. He was very philosophical and philanthrophic, he believed in the betterment of the community and the nation rather than just one individual or a group of individual's whom he calls Elites who are in revolt against Middle America. In an age where people are getting more and more materialistic Lasch is concerned about the well being of democracy. He wants individuals in a democracy to uphold moral values such as sharing the wealth for nation's benefit rather than for themselves.Lasch did not like the way Elites are creating two classes Those who have the money, education, and power and those who don't and how the group that has it exploits those who don't have these qualities. He wants the nation to look forward to continuity of ideals such as exchange of ideas and debates in a secular way. This is a great book in which Lasch expresses the hope of distrubution of excess wealth for the betterment of nation.

Rating:
Summary: Elites Revot and are Revolting
Review: The aristocratic elitism of modern society's version of royalty--well-educated liberals, university administrators, race and class baiters and political elites who fear accusations of being insufficiently sophisticated and sensitive--are tossed off their thrones by Christopher Lasch. Lasch gives a clear and comprehensive overview of the social and political upheaval of the last 40 years that occurred under the noses of a bland and uncaring populace.

He explains the changes in America that led to morality becoming a code word for judgmentalism, standards becoming a code word for racism, multiculturalism becoming a code word for denigrating an evil European culture, the loss of family and neighborhood hailed as necessary for individual freedom, and the death of social cohesiveness, which never was mourned. "Most of our spiritual energy is devoted precisely to a campaign against shame and guilt, the object of which is to make people 'feel good about themselves.' The churches themselves have enlisted in this therapeutic exercise...," he notes.

Lest one think this is a Bill Bennett-type bromide, Lasch's observations extend far beyond the ain't-divorce-and-latchkey-children-terrible speech and extends to the paradox of modern society in which people have never been better off materially because of capitalism but so in danger of losing the core of their souls and their society's democratic values.

Individuality without community connection and the disintegration of unstated but commonly understood traditional rules and obligations that neighbors and a community once believed they owed other threaten democracy, Lasch believes.

When multiculturalsm is seen from a limited tourist-type approach of folk dances and exotic food, when crime and violence in ethnic neighborhoods replace social cohesiveness, when impersonal malls and fast food restaurants displace informal gathering spots where people once discussed ideas and experiences, and when intimidation and name-calling replace reasoned debate, the country is deeply troubled, he notes. Worse yet, no one seems to find these developments alarming, so enmeshed they are in their structured public work worlds and isolated private home worlds.

Lasch pessimistically regrets the faltering of the foundation of a culture lost the very core of its democratic ideals: reasoned governance by an informed populace with a sense of community and ethics. He decries the usurpation of cultural norms instigated by elites, who rarely venture outside their smug circle of we-know-best-for-you compatriots and who refuse to acknowledge a need for individual responsibility and rather see the average, ordinary working person as a spigot for unending social spending and an unsophisticated inferior.

"...Identity politics has come to serve as a substitute for religion--or at least for the feeling of self-righteousness that is so commonly confused with religion," he says, while meanwhile decrying the modern tendency to use religion as a way to achieve personal happiness instead of as a guide to rightful living.

Lasch's clear and flowing writing style and his insights into the disorder and straying of modern society from its historical anchor make the book a timely and informative expose of many of the ills of modern society.

Rating:
Summary: Growing disconnectedness based on social-class
Review: The Revolt of the Elites articulates the growing disonnectedness between the social classes in the global economy. Lasch's work, for me, was an extenstion of Robert B. Reich's point in the Work of Nations, where he predicted that "knowledge workers" would secede from nationalistic idealism to become members of a globalist higher society. Lasch's thesis is based on this growing trend, which he sees as ultimately threatening American democracy and identity.

This reframing of America's social decline is consistant with the views of many prominant social conservatives and anti-globalists. As such, it draws much criticism from groups who have a stake in the economic changes that have taken root over the past thirty-years.

Despite the average rating of this book, open-minded readers will find Lasch's work to be well thought-out, convincing, and a pleasure to read.

Rating:
Summary: PROVOCATIVE INSIGHTS ABOUT THE WORKINGS OF MODERN DEMOCRACY
Review: This book is very interesting and provocative. Nobody seriously interested in political science, the structure of society and government, the need to reassess democracy and reconsider the roles of pressure groups, should overlook this last contribution by professor Lash.
According to the author, modern democracy is not only challenged by the masses (as Ortega y Gasset stated in its Revolt of the Masses), but also, and mostly, by the elites. Modern elites are not anymore connected with their geographical and social background and roots, they have a global vision and ambition, and do not accept any constraints and limits in the pursuance of their egotistical interests, which are basically money oriented. It is now common for the leaders and members of the ruling meritocracy to base self esteem upon success, material success, and to downplay humanistic ideals such as respect and tolerance.
The ideas and perceptions of Lash must provoke serious rethinking about the effective level of "democraticity" of the modern political structure, and the remedies that have to be conceived to ensure a truly democratic participation of the citizens in the exercise or control of power and government.
I would suggest that this book has to be accompanied by other works on the subject of democracy and elitism, in order to appreciate the dangers and pitfalls of the transformation and "materialization" of the values of the elites, and its overall effect upon the system analyzed by Lash. So read this book, but also the classic works by Robert Michels and Maurice Duverger about political parties, elites and pressure groups. Also, the book by Vilfredo Pareto "The rise and the fall of Elites" and the recent "Democracy and its critics" by Robert Dahl. You will then understand better this caveat by professor Lash, within the context of modern democracy.

Rating:
Summary: a review of THE REVOLT OF THE ELITES
Review: This is a rather disappointing work. It was the last work written by Christopher Lasch. Similar to earlier works it is a broad criticism of modern society. Written as he was approaching death, it expresses a disenchantment with America during the "Clinton" years. Unlike earlier works it contains sympathy with those who have religious beliefs. In my opinion, this book is not as clearly written as some of his earlier works. The book does not really have a cohesive message. Perhaps the main thesis of the book has to do with the book's title. The title refers to the argument that those who are running our society are disconnected from the ideals of the majority. Yet, Mr Lasch also asks the question whether democracy deserves to survive.