The problem with "elites"

All societies are run by elites -- dictatorships, democracies, plutocracies, monarchies, capitalist countries, communist countries, theocracies etc. There will always be a select group of people who have vastly more power at times than anyone else. Why is this? Well, most people are too busy or ignorant or incompetent to actually control everything to any significant degree, and, in any case, there are far too many people in modern nations to allow for the possibility of everyone getting their way all the time. So, someone has to decide what to do. And, what is done can have immense consequences for everyone. So, some "elite" group is selected by some means or other to make these immensely important decisions, that could have catastrophic consequences for everyone, or, might possibly be brilliant solutions to everyone's problems! Now, in the US, there tends to be an immense contempt for academic and government and media "elites". Individuals who, while financially comfortable, are not fabulously wealthy, in general, but simply presume to have some knowledge or understanding of things that makes them more important and powerful than almost anyone else. This is deeply resented by "ordinary people", who see no reason why university professors should run their lives. This is perfectly understandable really. While, at times, science and engineering has made rapid strides to improve people's lives, this is much less the perception of people now, than it was 100 years ago. Perhaps this is because life expectancy and standard of living are not increasing nearly as rapidly now as they were, at least in the West, 100 years ago. Whereas 100 years ago it was perfectly natural for people to worship Einstein, these days, people are more likely to laugh at Nobel Prize winners than worship them. We don't really know why exactly scientists and engineers were more effective 100 or 150 years ago than they are now, but, for the average person, this is perfectly obvious. Of course, scientists and engineers will say this just proves how stupid everyone but scientists and engineers are. Right back at ya, guys! These days, particularly the US, there's more of a tendency to look for plutocratic elites, the billionaire oligarchs. This is probably because everyone in the US can relate to making money. So, someone who is good at making money must be smart, right? While that's probably true, the problem is, they may simply use their intelligence to manipulate people so they can steal from them! Making money does not mean that someone is productive, despite what arch-capitalists may think. Drug dealers make money, Art thieves make money, Art forgers make money, Counterfeiters quite literally make money! And, in a much broader sense, there are many, many people who are excellent salesmen, and can sell almost anything, who are not necessarily doing the world a great deal of good at all! They are selling garbage. So, the rich, plutocratic elite may be just as useless as the current academic, government or media elites, but, just greedier and more destructive! I think, in some ways, the Chinese example may be useful. They call themselves "communists", in the Chinese elite. Are they communists? Possibly, although I'm not quite sure what Karl Marx would think of them these days. However, I think we have to give the current Chinese leadership some credit in their immense flexibility in attempting to rule their great nation. They will try capitalism up to a point, they will try popular representation up to a point, they will try joint leadership up to a point, they will try having a single strongman up to a point. And, whatever they're doing, it seems to be working, in terms of increasing standard of living and prosperity for China. China's population will be cut in half by the end of the century, and with current trends for increasing technological innovation there, and increasing prosperity and education, they will probably be able to increase human rights to Western levels by then, they will not be constrained by overpopulation or poverty to control the people rigidly. By 2100, China will probably be the richest, best governed, and even most open and tolerant nation in the world. China may be freer than the US, by that time. Does China have "elites"? Perhaps, but, they are very elusively defined, and are inclined to morph into new forms rather regularly. So, perhaps no "elites" in the traditional Western sense, at all. And, it's working! #politics #politicalscience #sociology #philosophy #geopolitics #philosophyofhistory #science #technology #engineering #economics #communism #capitalism #China