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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Technocratic Elite and the Dystopia of Meritocracy by Fareed Zakaria
at CNN
"SNIP.....
Let me be clear. I of all people am not calling for a revival of the WASP establishment, Fareed writes in his latest column for The Washington Post, but in this national moment of reflection upon the presidency of George H.W. Bush, can we learn something from its virtues?
For all its faults and it was often horribly bigoted, in some places segregationist and almost always exclusionary at its best, the old WASP aristocracy did have a sense of modesty, humility and public-spiritedness that seems largely absent in todays elite. Many of Bushs greatest moments, Fareed writes, were marked by restraint, an ability to do the right thing despite enormous pressure to pander to public opinion.
The WASP establishment could afford to think about the countrys fate in broad terms, looking out for the longer term, rising above self-interest because its own interest was assured through bloodlines and connections.
Todays elites are chosen in a much more open, democratic manner, largely through education. Those who do well on tests get into good colleges, then good graduate schools, then get the best jobs and so on. But their power flows from this treadmill of achievement, so they are constantly moving, looking out for their own survival and success.
Most damagingly, they believe their status is legitimately earned
Today, chief executives and other elites pay themselves lavishly, jockey for personal advantage and focus on their own ascendancy.
Trump has found a genuine vein of disgust among many Americans at the way they are perceived and treated by their more successful countrymen. The violent protests that have been happening in France are similarly fueled by rural, poorer people who believe that the metropolitan elites ignore their plight. The 2016 Brexit vote reflected the same revolt against technocrats.
.....SNIP"
DonViejo
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(118,778 posts)Last edited Sat Dec 8, 2018, 03:22 AM - Edit history (10)
apparently saw themselves as unlucky. As part of a group of the unlucky they are still connected to the world. Having ptsd myself from being stalked and harrassed I know how much power you take away from evil and give to yourself if you don't see it as human caused. I try to see them under the category of a volcano. And i see myself as unlucky. Likewise the succesful or affluent people I know, knew growing up saw themselves as lucky. They were all liberals. And voted liberal. Except my dad voted for the progressive conservatives a few times back when they were the Progressive Conservatives. When people think they are solely responsible for their own success they are less connected and less happy. And they act that way And the workers notice the elites have pulled up the ladder and are not sharing the increasing wealth. And the workers elect nutbars populist authoritarians like in the US and Europe. Of course we don't want to go back to having an embeded wasp elite with the barriers and predudice. But big picture thinking is needed again and so is going back to seeing people seeing others and themselves as lucky or unlucky depending on their circumstances, so we are all connected to the greater group of us, all in this together, for the first time ever.