Power has always resided in groups of no more than four or five
individuals. It always has done and always will because our instincts have
been shaped this way for millions of years. In the modern nation-state,
every specialized occupation will have at least one or two micro-groups at
the very top of the elite, always on the alert in case their existence, and
particularly earnings, are in danger. Also, each top micro-group is keeping
a watching brief on the most powerful of them all -- government politicians
-- in case their own freedom is compromised.
Although we may never know what is the exact composition of any particular
micro-group at any instant of time (e.g. rich land-owners, rich
industrialists, nuclear power station builders) we see some iindividuals
mentioned frequently enough in the media (e.g. top judges, top generals).
Whenever a new governmental decision is in the offing, any affected
micro-group will get to work on the government (politicians and civil
servants) so as to make sure it will benefit, or at least not be adversely
affected. If the latter, a micro-group will lean on the government group
anywhere along the spectrum of personal bribery all the way through to a
hint of a future directorship when retired. Every man has his price.
Because the elite of England was not seriously disturbed by World War
II, those who comprise the 30 or so micro-power groups all share a great
deal of the top social culture and of hundreds of sophisticated strands of
behaviour that separate them from the masses. Whether we're talking of
Labour or Conservative governments, for example, almost all the
micro-groups come from Oxford or Cambidge universities, and at least a
third of the individuals were educated at private boy boarding schools,
Eton or Harrow more often than not. At these schools the children achieve
not only high academic results but also a degree of social confidence far
above anything that most males in the population ever experience.
Keith
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