One aspect not touched though and I can understand that because you're a guy. Put three guys together, you likely got a trio of pals. Three women and you got two fighting for dominance and one victim they'll worry into shreds. The overwhelming presence of women in all leftist movements and bureaucracies ensures carnage wherever the slightest dissent might attempt to emerge.
[and an appealing painterly talent too? where yu get the time?]
alas, not my work. but if you are a painter looking for the thinnest sliver of renown, you should paint a picture of schönfels castle.
the curators of the museum there (which takes up much of the castle interior) are on some kind of insane crusade to assemble all artistic depictions of the monument in one massive art exhibit. this was one of the humbler and less pretentious attempts, also interesting historically because it was painted (iirc) around 1900 and shows the castle and village as they looked around that time.
You make a good point -- the "mean girls" have taken over the whole lefty woke movements, which is how they've become this shrieking, blathering, insanity. Women are ruthless and very mean to other women; also to men of course, but against other women there is no limit to the cruelty. I've always preferred to hang out with men, who are more calm and balanced -- laugh if you will, but woman on woman nastiness is beyond anything men do, at least in my experience.
The human race strikes me as a very sad thing, a lot of the time.
Well, the survival instinct aspect of human nature is brutal as it must be. Civilization was invented to tame it as much as can be hoped for. There's inherent goodness too but we see over and over again in the most awful ways that inherent goodness can be fatal to the good.
Keep in mind that mean girls come in all flavors. Before we had cadres of Red Guard girls we had church ladies.
eugyppius, when I saw your headline in my email I anticipated that the post would be about climatism as a way for more technologically advanced countries to keep developing countries down and backward, but what you actually wrote is equally interesting. Thank you.
As Trump noted in his very frank UNGA address, it’s pretty much the opposite. The developed world has handicapped itself while waving the developing world into the fast lane to overtake them.
The best part. Developing nation such as.... China.... have at least two currencies, lots of opaque government, even more opaque law, don't care about CO2 at all (which is quite reasonable), do burn coal (again, not unreasonable) but do like to get cash from 'established nations' with smaller economies.
A bit of a cuckoo. (In a very deep voice - 'tweet-tweet').
Fabulous. I hope some of your countrymen are reading these gems. I was recently exposed for some time to a twenty something German visiting the US. He was anti AFD for no reason he could articulate. It seemed that it was just what he absorbed in school.
This ties directly into our other recent discussions. Alex Jones said the intention behind the Covid response was as a test pilot for compliance leading to a ramp up of the climate narrative. USA was naturally more resistant.
But poor Germany… ”Criticizing a minister” officially became a criminal offense during the Coof. The culture was already hardwired to accept official diktats as well as social norms. “You don’t want to be a bad citizen do you? Everyone must do his part. Sacrifices must be made…”
I talked to one local woman whose Tesla is vandalized at a charging station. She was completely befuddled, wailing "I was just trying to save the planet!"
Too bad I didn't have the presence of mind to point out that fellow progressives were the ones doing the damage.
I was recently in the SF Bay Area. In the affluent areas of Mill Valley, Tiburon, San Rafael, and surrounds, Tesla still represents 1/3-1/2 of all the commuter cars on the road. 1/3 are German internal combustion. The rest a mixed bag. I was very surprised more people had not ditched their Teslas.
One Tesla bumper sticker read, “I bought my car before Elon went crazy.” Another read, “Imprison Newsom.”
I attended a private, “Chardonnay liberal” event a few years back to watch the slide show of a women’s only cruise to Antartica whose purported mission was to observe the effects of climate change. Of course there were the requisite sighs and obligatory signs of angst from the onlookers.
However, a couple of young PhD “climate scientists” were also present. They were honest and ironic enough to mention (with distain) to the group that suggested remedies such as burying trees in the ground for carbon sequestration does nothing. They didn’t even seem to be onboard with the overall “Carbon Bad” narrative but stayed relatively quiet.
Good to see the Chardonnay Libs share so much with Champagne Socialists. The latter spring up like weeds in the UK - fighting for the low paid just as long as all their characteristics fit all of the correct labels which were, of course, 'assigned at birth'.
Quite. Filling the glass with champagne while ensuring it does not flow over and fighting for 'rights' is quite tricky. I just wonder. Wouldn't Pinot Noir or a saucy dry white wine be easier to manage during a protest?
The climate fiends are of divided mind on wine grapes and the “effect” the industry has on “climate.”
In the “good” column you have the fact that grape vines are mostly drought tolerant and send down very deep roots to find moisture, thereby avoiding the need for intense irrigation like most other crops.
In the “bad” column, they are self-pollinating and so do nothing to bolster bee populations.
Additionally, most wineries utilize large energy consuming machinery to harvest and process grapes.
Traditionally operated wineries still rely on natural cork, therefore depleting that resource “needlessly” with a one time use. Whereas, it is felt that cork used for flooring etc has greater, long term utility. Incidentally, cork oat is considered at risk or endangered, by definition, due to its limited range and numbers. However, over the past century more trees have been planted in other places in the world and growers have diversified, finding new and expanding markets for their abundance of product.
Organic wines avoid the chemical fertilizers and herbicides contributing to “climate change.” However, the cost is in crop loss or otherwise extensive use of net covers made typically of non-recyclable plastic which breaks down in the sun within a few seasons and must be replaced.
Full disclosure- to me, use of glyphosates or artificial fertilizers, even most plastics, should not be derided because of the catch all, “climate.” Chemicals when harmful should be regarded as, “pollutants” and I for one refuse to acquiesce to the convolution just to be polite or out of social convenience.
It must be noted that there are almost no “New Men” left in Germany, if any at all.
Decades of quasi-socialist regulations at both the national and EU level have created a cadre of CEOs who are as much bureaucratic politicians as the politicians themselves.
All our industrial successes of recent decades represent nothing more than the apotheosis of tinkering. Germany perfected its industrial processes developed more than 100 years ago, but created little that was truly new.
Our last great company was SAP, founded in the 1970s, which was fortunate to be early in its field. Since then, nothing comparable has emerged. If you look at the great companies of the last three decades, there are all from the USA, and lately of course Chinese.
The German economy was lucky three times: sheltered during the Cold War, boosted by unification, and later well-positioned to profit from globalization by exploiting cheap Chinese manufacturing.
That era is over.
We have destroyed our competitiveness. At a time of rapid change, when great powers are vying for position, Germany is led by the embarassingly stupid politicians and CEOs in its history.
Europe as a whole is the great loser of the current wave of de-globalization.
The religion of climatism relies on climate science, a subset of “the science,” the dogma of “we know,” which is the antithesis of actual science. Anyone who sees a weather forecast knows that frequently it doesn’t match the actual weather. How can they be so wrong about weather and so right about climate? That was a rhetorical question. The oligarchs declare themselves to be right, and even if proven wrong, they just remind everyone who’s in charge.
I appreciate that you note how influential people emerge without a need for cabal-type language. All the mystical language obscures the reality that elites emerge in all societies. It is a feature and not a bug, as the utopian dreamers believe. A short paper on ritualistic killings noted that as soon as hierarchies emerge, along with complex language, the elites periodically sacrifice victim(s) to maintain power by showing their brute strength fused with mysticism. Literary critic Rene Girard believed that in all the myths, the victim and the accusers believe they were guilty of some sin, but that Christianity broke the myth. Thus, the sacrificial victim is innocent. One doesn't have to be a believer to understand the ramifications. Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna stated unequivocally in an interview that the US is a bible nation, which of course is true. To deny this would be to deny that India is Hindu-based or that Confucianism doesn't inform China and Korea. Before his death in the early 2000s, Girard believed we were entering into a giant scapegoating in the West. Indeed, we are, and it is the 'native' population being sacrificed.
When free market forces are allowed to work is when all of the best-laid plans of the command and control centralizing authoritarians come crumbling down. Like removing the EV tax credit in a certain Big, Beautiful Bill just passed in the US shatters the façade of a market preference for EV's. With sufficient rewards (and punishments) central planners can make a market for a product they are pushing on the masses 'for their own (save the planet) good' they appear to wise and sage. Remove the rewards (and punishments) and the illusion of a market preference shatters.
In this article notice that the writer makes sure that the central planners aren't seen as wrong and how small the market for EV's actually is (tiny niche). Just that they are ahead of their time, the market isn't ready for EV's *yet.* The vision of the visionaries not yet recognized for their brilliance.
Such it is for the elitist mindset. They aren't wrong. Ever. The masses just aren't ready for their infinite wisdom. Jilted by lesser people who don't appreciate them, too small is the mind of the little person to grasp the greatness of their 'best and brightest' academics and bureaucratic managerial class.
There's a concept known as the Circulation of Elites that Vilfredo Pareto offered and influenced the oligarchical class 125 years ago. Young students like Benito Mussolini learned much that the sociologist philosopher and mathematician taught. And applied it in their governance (Fascism). Chasing efficiency in all things, for the "greater good." Most know of Pareto through his Pareto Principle, aka 80-20 Rule. But he wrote of many things that apply to our world today. Optimization, Efficiency theories that all corporations, institutions operate under, whether for Communist aspirations, Fascist aspirations, Technocrat aspirations, Monarchal aspirations, Oligarchical aspirations. More in next comment.
Thomas Sowell has two books which speak to this: “The Vision of the Anointed”, and “A Conflict of Visions”, the latter most akin to Eugyppius’ analysis here.
Here’s a synopsis of that book:
•The Competing Visions:
Constrained Vision =
Human Nature: Sees human nature as unchanging and inherently self-interested.
Governance: Prefers limited government and emphasizes the importance of tradition, law, and empirical evidence.
Approach: Advocates for compromise and acknowledges that there are no perfect solutions, only trade-offs.
Unconstrained Vision =
Human Nature: Believes in the perfectibility of human nature and that people can improve morally.
Governance: Supports more interventionist policies and trusts in the ability of enlightened individuals to make decisions for society.
Approach: Sees ideal solutions to problems and is often impatient with traditional institutions.
"Pareto introduced a social taxonomy that included six classes, Class I through Class VI. Class I corresponds to the adventurous "foxes" in Machiavelli, and Class II to the conservative "lions," particularly in the governing elite."
Other Pareto works, including The Mind and Society:
"In this book Pareto presents the first sociological cycle theory, centered on the concept of an elite social class. The Mind and Society has been named, by Martin Seymour-Smith, as one of the most influential books ever written"
And freedom is inefficient:
Damned Efficient Slavery’ vs. ‘Inefficient Freedom’
"Because the Soviets mobilize and direct all their economic resources from one centre, he said, they have a great advantage. “Vice-President Nixon called the Russian system slavery. All right, slavery it is. But damned efficient slavery...We cherish our freedom. All right, freedom it is, but sadly inefficient freedom.”
NYT's tool hack writer for the 'elite' penned this love note to authoritarianism in 2009, one of the times when the mask drops and true agendas are revealed, the quest for damned efficient slavery...and how manufactured climate fears help usher it in:
"One-party autocracy certainly has its drawbacks. But when it is led by a reasonably enlightened group of people, as China is today, it can also have great advantages. That one party can just impose the politically difficult but critically important policies needed to move a society forward in the 21st century"
"China’s leaders understand that in a world of exploding populations and rising emerging-market middle classes, demand for clean power and energy efficiency is going to soar. Beijing wants to make sure that it owns that industry and is ordering the policies to do that, including boosting gasoline prices, from the top down."
"The only way for us to match them is by legislating a rising carbon price along with efficiency and renewable standards that will stimulate massive private investment in clean-tech. Hard to do with a one-party democracy."
Vice-President Nixon called the Russian system slavery. All right, slavery it is. But damned efficient slavery...We cherish our freedom. All right, freedom it is, but sadly inefficient freedom.”
"Damned efficient" for whom?
Why for the oligarchs of course.
Fortunately, this myth has been debunked. If nothing in the world changed, the efficiency of central planning might hold true. A huge, automated factory that makes roofing nails might be the most efficient, but when glue becomes the best way to install roofing tiles, shifting the factory to making epoxy will be slow and difficult - if even possible. A cruise ship is the most efficient way to move people, but it's not a containership, nor is it easily converted to one. Centrally planned systems find it difficult to adapt.
Bingo! I remember reading an article/opinion piece out of China at the beginning of the plandemic from one of their official CCP English-language outlets (Global Times, China Daily or People's Daily) that touched on this. It was when the world, including D's were saying that Trump was a xenophobe and trying to weaponize a disease that wasn't contained by borders, was against all prior pandemic planning, for political gain - which turned out to be true, flu can't be contained or controlled by man's interventions, but that's another story.
In the Chinese articles they said that if Trump wanted to go down the path of politicizing the flu, containment attempts that it would be a demonstration of how the different governing systems perform in a crisis, believing their model of authoritarianism gave them the advantage of immediacy, efficiency - much like Thomas Friedman's NYT piece lusted for, like the 1958 AP article did.
I wish I could find the exact article, I found other ones in archive searches of the CCP outlets, but in it China said that both systems have advantages and disadvantages over the other. It asserted that in times of crisis the people (masses) prefer the firm hand of authoritarianism to guide them through it, which was where the Chinese system would shine - which turned out to be true, recognizing human psychology of frightened masses. It said that while the western systems elevating individualistic notions is more inventive, more creative, more adaptive, and that those attributes are valuable, that the assertion of emergency powers and restrictions by Trump would necessarily open the door to Authoritarianism in the US and west - which turned out to be true.
And the article cautioned that a time of crisis isn't a good time to change governing models. That if the US and west wanted to become authoritarian regimes like China was that it was best to make those reforms in a gradual, deliberative manner, that introducing major system changes in crisis would be counterproductive to solving the crisis at hand, many would object, it would be divisive and messy when unity to face the challenges was needed. It read much like China was saying "if you like how we do things, fine, we'll welcome you, but for now, Dance With the One Who Brung ya."
China's advice at the time was right! They saw it, called it, knew it for what it was. They even said that antivirals (meaning drugs like Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin) had proven to be very effective at treating the flu symptoms in Wuhan and elsewhere. Sometimes what our adversaries tell us contains far more truths than our own governments. Even our own "team" in our own governments. Oh how much I wish I had saved the links to those stories from February-March, 2020. They were so spot on. They acknowledged our system is more adaptive, has inherent value in it. Despite their preference for their own authoritarian system. Crazy from them, huh?
And Marxist professor of linguistics (deceptive words, framing, The Science (TM) of Newspeak) Noam Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent contains parallels to Pareto's Circulation of Elite:
"You know, it’s very striking that continually people move from one position to the other, very easily. And I think the reason for the ease is partly because they’re sort of the same position. So you can be either a Marxist-Leninist commissar, or you can be somebody celebrating the magnificence of State capitalism, and you can serve those guys. It’s more or less the same position. You pick one or the other depending on your estimate of where power is, and that can change."
This piece was a lesson in the gap between my ability to articulate a concept and that of a gifted writer like Eugyppius. It comports completely with my own thesis and theory from years diving deep into the subject matter... the same that I keep shouting from the rooftop only to be considered a crank and conspiracy theory nutcase (probably because I lack the capability to explain it well enough) from those who's media feeds have convinced them that the fascists have landed again.
But this is it. I live in a liberal California college town and have previously injected myself into local politics because, well, things with the city have not been going well. What I have learned is that the elites running the place fall well below the private sector merit-capability matrix... but boy oh boy do they have the academic credentials backing their name. These people are quite frankly in over their heads, but their lust for upper class status is so consuming that they become masters at the slime of politics... because they would never succeed in the competition for the path up the corporate ladder.
And we have multiplied them like roaches in the wall by pushing them all through the "higher-learning" machine where they emerge with the expectation that they be considered something special. We exploded the professional managerial class and changed the economy so that they made more money and in effect we empowered the wrong type of people to rule us. We created too many little elite monsters that are now coming back to eat at our faces.
And yes, they will not let go of that power to rule us without a fight. And that fight appears to have "progressed" to from cancel culture to assassination culture. Don't be surprised when AfD leaders start losing their lives.
The only solution against the consolidated shadowy groups like you (correctly, imho) describe is constitutionally-limited government, including 2A. That could (possibly - thank you, Alexis de T.) work for about 250 years or so.
Rebuild, reorganize, reinvent. If you look at Europe over the last 500 years, the one thing that is consistent is change. Sometimes change is good, sometimes it's bad, but it is always inevitable.
And who do we think will build it? It will be a top down procedure, looks to me, and will be nothing remotely close to protecting the masses from the predators at the top.
It will be the equivalent of creating a virtual technocratic hunting ground.
The nature of the new structure is always determined by those who build it. If the people act like sheep, they will likely end up with a system that treats them like sheep. If the population wants to ensure its rights and create a system that is beneficial to them, they must be active participants in the process.
When I was young, I had difficulty believing that elites preferred to rule over an economic and cultural wasteland, rather than participate in a thriving, dynamic society. But the longer you observe, the harder it is to deny.
I expect that external foreign pressure will someday bring the whole damn thing crashing down in ruins. Maybe China, maybe someone else. Maybe soon, maybe not so soon.
I especially appreciate your final paragraph. I've always had a disinclination to believe in supervillains (individual or committee) planning all this stuff ahead of time*. Rather, what you describe arises somewhat organically "via a confluence of interests".
Metaphorically, I see it as the difference between a disease and a syndrome. A disease has a specific cause (supervillain under a volcano); a syndrome is simply a name for a collection of symptoms with an undefined etiology.
This may have been the most important piece you’ve done recently…no small feat.
You took the words right out of my mouth. Only I might say most important piece ever.
Incisively analyzed and clearly explained.
One aspect not touched though and I can understand that because you're a guy. Put three guys together, you likely got a trio of pals. Three women and you got two fighting for dominance and one victim they'll worry into shreds. The overwhelming presence of women in all leftist movements and bureaucracies ensures carnage wherever the slightest dissent might attempt to emerge.
[and an appealing painterly talent too? where yu get the time?]
alas, not my work. but if you are a painter looking for the thinnest sliver of renown, you should paint a picture of schönfels castle.
the curators of the museum there (which takes up much of the castle interior) are on some kind of insane crusade to assemble all artistic depictions of the monument in one massive art exhibit. this was one of the humbler and less pretentious attempts, also interesting historically because it was painted (iirc) around 1900 and shows the castle and village as they looked around that time.
Great observation. Not just simply women though. They are all crazy and hateful to the extent that they are beginning to remind me of Jezebel.
You make a good point -- the "mean girls" have taken over the whole lefty woke movements, which is how they've become this shrieking, blathering, insanity. Women are ruthless and very mean to other women; also to men of course, but against other women there is no limit to the cruelty. I've always preferred to hang out with men, who are more calm and balanced -- laugh if you will, but woman on woman nastiness is beyond anything men do, at least in my experience.
The human race strikes me as a very sad thing, a lot of the time.
Well, the survival instinct aspect of human nature is brutal as it must be. Civilization was invented to tame it as much as can be hoped for. There's inherent goodness too but we see over and over again in the most awful ways that inherent goodness can be fatal to the good.
Keep in mind that mean girls come in all flavors. Before we had cadres of Red Guard girls we had church ladies.
That's not been my experience with women in my small town government, although I do usually hang around with the guys.
There's a reason you usually hang around with the guys.
eugyppius, when I saw your headline in my email I anticipated that the post would be about climatism as a way for more technologically advanced countries to keep developing countries down and backward, but what you actually wrote is equally interesting. Thank you.
As Trump noted in his very frank UNGA address, it’s pretty much the opposite. The developed world has handicapped itself while waving the developing world into the fast lane to overtake them.
The best part. Developing nation such as.... China.... have at least two currencies, lots of opaque government, even more opaque law, don't care about CO2 at all (which is quite reasonable), do burn coal (again, not unreasonable) but do like to get cash from 'established nations' with smaller economies.
A bit of a cuckoo. (In a very deep voice - 'tweet-tweet').
Fabulous. I hope some of your countrymen are reading these gems. I was recently exposed for some time to a twenty something German visiting the US. He was anti AFD for no reason he could articulate. It seemed that it was just what he absorbed in school.
That phenomenon is epidemic today, esp on college campuses, where actual critical thinking has become taboo.
This ties directly into our other recent discussions. Alex Jones said the intention behind the Covid response was as a test pilot for compliance leading to a ramp up of the climate narrative. USA was naturally more resistant.
But poor Germany… ”Criticizing a minister” officially became a criminal offense during the Coof. The culture was already hardwired to accept official diktats as well as social norms. “You don’t want to be a bad citizen do you? Everyone must do his part. Sacrifices must be made…”
Readers may find this pertinent and interesting.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy2ju_qPtuM&pp=0gcJCRsBo7VqN5tD
Trump could end "climate change" and the leftist by simply telling them CO2 is good to inhale.
They'd go on an oxygen strike, refusing to exhale!...lol.
Just look how the association with Trump hit Elon's "good" green cars.
I think this was a net win for Trump, as slews of Tesla owners learned that all political violence comes from the left latey.
I talked to one local woman whose Tesla is vandalized at a charging station. She was completely befuddled, wailing "I was just trying to save the planet!"
Too bad I didn't have the presence of mind to point out that fellow progressives were the ones doing the damage.
Hahaha. So true.
I was recently in the SF Bay Area. In the affluent areas of Mill Valley, Tiburon, San Rafael, and surrounds, Tesla still represents 1/3-1/2 of all the commuter cars on the road. 1/3 are German internal combustion. The rest a mixed bag. I was very surprised more people had not ditched their Teslas.
One Tesla bumper sticker read, “I bought my car before Elon went crazy.” Another read, “Imprison Newsom.”
Hilarious.
I attended a private, “Chardonnay liberal” event a few years back to watch the slide show of a women’s only cruise to Antartica whose purported mission was to observe the effects of climate change. Of course there were the requisite sighs and obligatory signs of angst from the onlookers.
However, a couple of young PhD “climate scientists” were also present. They were honest and ironic enough to mention (with distain) to the group that suggested remedies such as burying trees in the ground for carbon sequestration does nothing. They didn’t even seem to be onboard with the overall “Carbon Bad” narrative but stayed relatively quiet.
Good to see the Chardonnay Libs share so much with Champagne Socialists. The latter spring up like weeds in the UK - fighting for the low paid just as long as all their characteristics fit all of the correct labels which were, of course, 'assigned at birth'.
So tiring.
Quite. Filling the glass with champagne while ensuring it does not flow over and fighting for 'rights' is quite tricky. I just wonder. Wouldn't Pinot Noir or a saucy dry white wine be easier to manage during a protest?
TMI alert:
The climate fiends are of divided mind on wine grapes and the “effect” the industry has on “climate.”
In the “good” column you have the fact that grape vines are mostly drought tolerant and send down very deep roots to find moisture, thereby avoiding the need for intense irrigation like most other crops.
In the “bad” column, they are self-pollinating and so do nothing to bolster bee populations.
Additionally, most wineries utilize large energy consuming machinery to harvest and process grapes.
Traditionally operated wineries still rely on natural cork, therefore depleting that resource “needlessly” with a one time use. Whereas, it is felt that cork used for flooring etc has greater, long term utility. Incidentally, cork oat is considered at risk or endangered, by definition, due to its limited range and numbers. However, over the past century more trees have been planted in other places in the world and growers have diversified, finding new and expanding markets for their abundance of product.
Organic wines avoid the chemical fertilizers and herbicides contributing to “climate change.” However, the cost is in crop loss or otherwise extensive use of net covers made typically of non-recyclable plastic which breaks down in the sun within a few seasons and must be replaced.
Full disclosure- to me, use of glyphosates or artificial fertilizers, even most plastics, should not be derided because of the catch all, “climate.” Chemicals when harmful should be regarded as, “pollutants” and I for one refuse to acquiesce to the convolution just to be polite or out of social convenience.
It must be noted that there are almost no “New Men” left in Germany, if any at all.
Decades of quasi-socialist regulations at both the national and EU level have created a cadre of CEOs who are as much bureaucratic politicians as the politicians themselves.
All our industrial successes of recent decades represent nothing more than the apotheosis of tinkering. Germany perfected its industrial processes developed more than 100 years ago, but created little that was truly new.
Our last great company was SAP, founded in the 1970s, which was fortunate to be early in its field. Since then, nothing comparable has emerged. If you look at the great companies of the last three decades, there are all from the USA, and lately of course Chinese.
The German economy was lucky three times: sheltered during the Cold War, boosted by unification, and later well-positioned to profit from globalization by exploiting cheap Chinese manufacturing.
That era is over.
We have destroyed our competitiveness. At a time of rapid change, when great powers are vying for position, Germany is led by the embarassingly stupid politicians and CEOs in its history.
Europe as a whole is the great loser of the current wave of de-globalization.
New entrepreneurs will arise. In Europe somewhere. But over-regulation is an existential threat.
The religion of climatism relies on climate science, a subset of “the science,” the dogma of “we know,” which is the antithesis of actual science. Anyone who sees a weather forecast knows that frequently it doesn’t match the actual weather. How can they be so wrong about weather and so right about climate? That was a rhetorical question. The oligarchs declare themselves to be right, and even if proven wrong, they just remind everyone who’s in charge.
I appreciate that you note how influential people emerge without a need for cabal-type language. All the mystical language obscures the reality that elites emerge in all societies. It is a feature and not a bug, as the utopian dreamers believe. A short paper on ritualistic killings noted that as soon as hierarchies emerge, along with complex language, the elites periodically sacrifice victim(s) to maintain power by showing their brute strength fused with mysticism. Literary critic Rene Girard believed that in all the myths, the victim and the accusers believe they were guilty of some sin, but that Christianity broke the myth. Thus, the sacrificial victim is innocent. One doesn't have to be a believer to understand the ramifications. Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna stated unequivocally in an interview that the US is a bible nation, which of course is true. To deny this would be to deny that India is Hindu-based or that Confucianism doesn't inform China and Korea. Before his death in the early 2000s, Girard believed we were entering into a giant scapegoating in the West. Indeed, we are, and it is the 'native' population being sacrificed.
When free market forces are allowed to work is when all of the best-laid plans of the command and control centralizing authoritarians come crumbling down. Like removing the EV tax credit in a certain Big, Beautiful Bill just passed in the US shatters the façade of a market preference for EV's. With sufficient rewards (and punishments) central planners can make a market for a product they are pushing on the masses 'for their own (save the planet) good' they appear to wise and sage. Remove the rewards (and punishments) and the illusion of a market preference shatters.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/30/ford-ceo-jim-farley-ev-incentives.html
In this article notice that the writer makes sure that the central planners aren't seen as wrong and how small the market for EV's actually is (tiny niche). Just that they are ahead of their time, the market isn't ready for EV's *yet.* The vision of the visionaries not yet recognized for their brilliance.
Such it is for the elitist mindset. They aren't wrong. Ever. The masses just aren't ready for their infinite wisdom. Jilted by lesser people who don't appreciate them, too small is the mind of the little person to grasp the greatness of their 'best and brightest' academics and bureaucratic managerial class.
There's a concept known as the Circulation of Elites that Vilfredo Pareto offered and influenced the oligarchical class 125 years ago. Young students like Benito Mussolini learned much that the sociologist philosopher and mathematician taught. And applied it in their governance (Fascism). Chasing efficiency in all things, for the "greater good." Most know of Pareto through his Pareto Principle, aka 80-20 Rule. But he wrote of many things that apply to our world today. Optimization, Efficiency theories that all corporations, institutions operate under, whether for Communist aspirations, Fascist aspirations, Technocrat aspirations, Monarchal aspirations, Oligarchical aspirations. More in next comment.
Thomas Sowell has two books which speak to this: “The Vision of the Anointed”, and “A Conflict of Visions”, the latter most akin to Eugyppius’ analysis here.
Here’s a synopsis of that book:
•The Competing Visions:
Constrained Vision =
Human Nature: Sees human nature as unchanging and inherently self-interested.
Governance: Prefers limited government and emphasizes the importance of tradition, law, and empirical evidence.
Approach: Advocates for compromise and acknowledges that there are no perfect solutions, only trade-offs.
Unconstrained Vision =
Human Nature: Believes in the perfectibility of human nature and that people can improve morally.
Governance: Supports more interventionist policies and trusts in the ability of enlightened individuals to make decisions for society.
Approach: Sees ideal solutions to problems and is often impatient with traditional institutions.
Both are Brilliant books!!
Sowell has been sharing great ideas and insights for a long, long time! I'm not 100% simpatico with him, but far more than not.
Vilfredo Pareto (wiki overview):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilfredo_Pareto
The Circulation of Elites (wiki overview)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circulation_of_elites
"Pareto introduced a social taxonomy that included six classes, Class I through Class VI. Class I corresponds to the adventurous "foxes" in Machiavelli, and Class II to the conservative "lions," particularly in the governing elite."
Other Pareto works, including The Mind and Society:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_efficiency
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mind_and_Society
"In this book Pareto presents the first sociological cycle theory, centered on the concept of an elite social class. The Mind and Society has been named, by Martin Seymour-Smith, as one of the most influential books ever written"
And freedom is inefficient:
Damned Efficient Slavery’ vs. ‘Inefficient Freedom’
SAN FRANCISCO (AP), January 4th, 1958
https://archive.org/details/dailycolonist0158uvic_1/mode/2up?view=theater
"Because the Soviets mobilize and direct all their economic resources from one centre, he said, they have a great advantage. “Vice-President Nixon called the Russian system slavery. All right, slavery it is. But damned efficient slavery...We cherish our freedom. All right, freedom it is, but sadly inefficient freedom.”
NYT's tool hack writer for the 'elite' penned this love note to authoritarianism in 2009, one of the times when the mask drops and true agendas are revealed, the quest for damned efficient slavery...and how manufactured climate fears help usher it in:
Our One-Party Democracy - Thomas Friedman
The New York Times, September 8, 2009
https://archive.ph/RBOvl#selection-663.0-663.310
"One-party autocracy certainly has its drawbacks. But when it is led by a reasonably enlightened group of people, as China is today, it can also have great advantages. That one party can just impose the politically difficult but critically important policies needed to move a society forward in the 21st century"
"China’s leaders understand that in a world of exploding populations and rising emerging-market middle classes, demand for clean power and energy efficiency is going to soar. Beijing wants to make sure that it owns that industry and is ordering the policies to do that, including boosting gasoline prices, from the top down."
"The only way for us to match them is by legislating a rising carbon price along with efficiency and renewable standards that will stimulate massive private investment in clean-tech. Hard to do with a one-party democracy."
Vice-President Nixon called the Russian system slavery. All right, slavery it is. But damned efficient slavery...We cherish our freedom. All right, freedom it is, but sadly inefficient freedom.”
"Damned efficient" for whom?
Why for the oligarchs of course.
Fortunately, this myth has been debunked. If nothing in the world changed, the efficiency of central planning might hold true. A huge, automated factory that makes roofing nails might be the most efficient, but when glue becomes the best way to install roofing tiles, shifting the factory to making epoxy will be slow and difficult - if even possible. A cruise ship is the most efficient way to move people, but it's not a containership, nor is it easily converted to one. Centrally planned systems find it difficult to adapt.
Bingo! I remember reading an article/opinion piece out of China at the beginning of the plandemic from one of their official CCP English-language outlets (Global Times, China Daily or People's Daily) that touched on this. It was when the world, including D's were saying that Trump was a xenophobe and trying to weaponize a disease that wasn't contained by borders, was against all prior pandemic planning, for political gain - which turned out to be true, flu can't be contained or controlled by man's interventions, but that's another story.
In the Chinese articles they said that if Trump wanted to go down the path of politicizing the flu, containment attempts that it would be a demonstration of how the different governing systems perform in a crisis, believing their model of authoritarianism gave them the advantage of immediacy, efficiency - much like Thomas Friedman's NYT piece lusted for, like the 1958 AP article did.
I wish I could find the exact article, I found other ones in archive searches of the CCP outlets, but in it China said that both systems have advantages and disadvantages over the other. It asserted that in times of crisis the people (masses) prefer the firm hand of authoritarianism to guide them through it, which was where the Chinese system would shine - which turned out to be true, recognizing human psychology of frightened masses. It said that while the western systems elevating individualistic notions is more inventive, more creative, more adaptive, and that those attributes are valuable, that the assertion of emergency powers and restrictions by Trump would necessarily open the door to Authoritarianism in the US and west - which turned out to be true.
And the article cautioned that a time of crisis isn't a good time to change governing models. That if the US and west wanted to become authoritarian regimes like China was that it was best to make those reforms in a gradual, deliberative manner, that introducing major system changes in crisis would be counterproductive to solving the crisis at hand, many would object, it would be divisive and messy when unity to face the challenges was needed. It read much like China was saying "if you like how we do things, fine, we'll welcome you, but for now, Dance With the One Who Brung ya."
China's advice at the time was right! They saw it, called it, knew it for what it was. They even said that antivirals (meaning drugs like Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin) had proven to be very effective at treating the flu symptoms in Wuhan and elsewhere. Sometimes what our adversaries tell us contains far more truths than our own governments. Even our own "team" in our own governments. Oh how much I wish I had saved the links to those stories from February-March, 2020. They were so spot on. They acknowledged our system is more adaptive, has inherent value in it. Despite their preference for their own authoritarian system. Crazy from them, huh?
And Marxist professor of linguistics (deceptive words, framing, The Science (TM) of Newspeak) Noam Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent contains parallels to Pareto's Circulation of Elite:
https://chomsky.info/19890315/
"You know, it’s very striking that continually people move from one position to the other, very easily. And I think the reason for the ease is partly because they’re sort of the same position. So you can be either a Marxist-Leninist commissar, or you can be somebody celebrating the magnificence of State capitalism, and you can serve those guys. It’s more or less the same position. You pick one or the other depending on your estimate of where power is, and that can change."
This piece was a lesson in the gap between my ability to articulate a concept and that of a gifted writer like Eugyppius. It comports completely with my own thesis and theory from years diving deep into the subject matter... the same that I keep shouting from the rooftop only to be considered a crank and conspiracy theory nutcase (probably because I lack the capability to explain it well enough) from those who's media feeds have convinced them that the fascists have landed again.
But this is it. I live in a liberal California college town and have previously injected myself into local politics because, well, things with the city have not been going well. What I have learned is that the elites running the place fall well below the private sector merit-capability matrix... but boy oh boy do they have the academic credentials backing their name. These people are quite frankly in over their heads, but their lust for upper class status is so consuming that they become masters at the slime of politics... because they would never succeed in the competition for the path up the corporate ladder.
And we have multiplied them like roaches in the wall by pushing them all through the "higher-learning" machine where they emerge with the expectation that they be considered something special. We exploded the professional managerial class and changed the economy so that they made more money and in effect we empowered the wrong type of people to rule us. We created too many little elite monsters that are now coming back to eat at our faces.
And yes, they will not let go of that power to rule us without a fight. And that fight appears to have "progressed" to from cancel culture to assassination culture. Don't be surprised when AfD leaders start losing their lives.
Brilliant
The only solution against the consolidated shadowy groups like you (correctly, imho) describe is constitutionally-limited government, including 2A. That could (possibly - thank you, Alexis de T.) work for about 250 years or so.
I have often said the 2A is the most important, because without it, the others wouldn't exist
It may well be that the time has come to test if 2A does indeed work.
I fear you may be correct
As with termites, sometimes you need to tear the entire rotten structure down and rebuild.
As a European, I apply what you wrote to the EU (except the "rebuild" part, but that's a technicality, I assume your meant it in principle).
Rebuild, reorganize, reinvent. If you look at Europe over the last 500 years, the one thing that is consistent is change. Sometimes change is good, sometimes it's bad, but it is always inevitable.
And who do we think will build it? It will be a top down procedure, looks to me, and will be nothing remotely close to protecting the masses from the predators at the top.
It will be the equivalent of creating a virtual technocratic hunting ground.
The nature of the new structure is always determined by those who build it. If the people act like sheep, they will likely end up with a system that treats them like sheep. If the population wants to ensure its rights and create a system that is beneficial to them, they must be active participants in the process.
When I was young, I had difficulty believing that elites preferred to rule over an economic and cultural wasteland, rather than participate in a thriving, dynamic society. But the longer you observe, the harder it is to deny.
I expect that external foreign pressure will someday bring the whole damn thing crashing down in ruins. Maybe China, maybe someone else. Maybe soon, maybe not so soon.
A brilliant explanation, up to your usual standard. Thanks!
I especially appreciate your final paragraph. I've always had a disinclination to believe in supervillains (individual or committee) planning all this stuff ahead of time*. Rather, what you describe arises somewhat organically "via a confluence of interests".
Metaphorically, I see it as the difference between a disease and a syndrome. A disease has a specific cause (supervillain under a volcano); a syndrome is simply a name for a collection of symptoms with an undefined etiology.
* Because nobody is that good at planning.
I've been reading "Rise and Fall of the 3rd Reich" by Shirer. The wealthy funded Hitler because:
1. He was fanatically anti-communist, and they wanted to protect their factories from expropriation.
2. They thought that giving Hitler money would allow them to control him. That turned out to be false.
There were members of the early Nazi party who took the "Socialist" part of the NSDAP literally, but quickly learned to shut up about it.