The Equality Scam

it's about educated-class status and power

I'm reading Kissinger’s A World Restored about Metternich’s cunning diplomacy after the Napoleonic Wars.

One of the problems was the university students in German universities. They were all hot for revolution and liberalism and democracy. Not what Metternich and his Emperor and the Prussian regime had in mind! In fact they were terrified, and set about making sure there were no constitutions, no liberalism, and no unapproved manuscripts from the universities. Worked like a champ until 1848.

Here we are, 200 years later, and the university students still think they are the cat's meow.

Now back then I can understand the students’ faith in political change, particularly from the rule of the kings and the aristocrats, the landed feudal nobility, to the rule of the educated class. Really, it just made sense, since the educated class understood rights and democracy, and just knew how to build a just post-feudal society.

Back then everybody knew that the kings and emperors and feudal lords were yesterday’s men. What was needed was people with the knowledge and the commitment to build a society that was good for everyone, not just the noble rulers.

Now, I’d say that in the intervening two centuries we have learned a lot about the limitations of politics and government when it comes to rights, government programs, improving the lives of humans, and adapting to change.

In fact we had massive attempts to create societies in which everything would be under the direct control of government and the best people, the most obvious being the Soviet Union and Maoist China. They failed.

We have had massive attempts to run major sectors of the economy from the government, including pensions, healthcare and education. The results are, at very least, questionable.

We have huge bureacuracies regulating economy activity. The results are, at very least, questionable.

The question now is: why? Why do people in our educated class, especially young people, still think that government can make things better by economic intervention?

The answer is obvious. Government and administration and regulation create stable, remunerative and high status jobs for educated people. And in some cases provides the satisfactions of power.

And the educated class is just not interested in publicizing knowledge and changing the culture in ways that would reduce its power and privilege. Why would they?

If we simplify human society into a three-class system, we can see that the upper class has an interest in status and power. The lower class has an interest, under democracy, of using its votes to benefit themselves. The middle class, on the other hand, doesn’t play the game of power, and doesn’t really look to the state for benefits. But don’t you dare take away my Social Security, pal!

So you can see why the educated class loves equality. Equality means a big government and jobs for the educated class. And a big government provides status and importance for the educated class. What’s not to like?

I suspect that what we are experiencing in politics in the western world is the middle class rebelling against the decades-long supremacy of the educated class. And it’s not surprising that the educated class is fit to be tied about the middle-class rebellion that is threatening its power and status.

Hey, the educated class are yesterday’s men. And yesterday’s women.

Is there a way to reform our culture and politics to ramp down the power of government and administration and regulation without violence, without revolution, without political upheaval?

I sure hope so. But the way the world works we humans seldom get to reform and rebel without death and destruction. And our educated class just looves its status and power.

But you never know.