On Tuesday, November 14, 2006 at 12:08:16 (-0800) David B. Shemano writes:
>Mark Louse writes:
>
>>> David Shemano asked, "Do any members of this list give any credence to the
>>> theory that a 'cognitive elite/meritcoracy' is the ruling class in the
>>> United States, or is that something Leftists dismiss out of hand?"
>>>
>>> Great question. "Do any members of this list give any credence to Santa
>>> Claus, or is that something Leftists dismiss out of hand?"
>>>
>>> When did we stop beating our wife? Are you serious?
>
>I don't understand your response. Serious about what? I thought I asked a
>serious question, but I could be wrong -- that is why I ask questions.
Your question was fine. The response was pretty lame.
The elite do favor that explanation --- they rule because they are
better. Not more vicious, greedy, narrow-minded, and often stupid.
They see themselves as "splendid blond beasts":
Friedrich Nietzsche called the aristocratic predators who write
society's laws "the splendid blond beast" precisely because
they so often behave as though they are beyond the reach of
elementary morality. As he saw things, these elites have cut a
path toward a certain sort of excellence consisting mainly of the
exercise of power at the expense of others. When dealing with
ordinary people, he said, they "revert to the innocence of wild
animals....We can imaging them returning from an orgy of murder,
arson, rape and torture, jubilant and at peace with themselves as
though they had committed a fraternity prank---convinced,
moreover, that the poets for a long time to come will have
something to sing about and to praise." Their brutality was true
courage, Nietzsche thought, and the foundation of social order.
---Christopher Simpson, <em>The Splendid Blond Beast: Money, Law,
and Genocide in the Twentieth Century</em>, (New York: Grove
Press, 1993), p. 3.
I tend to think of them as simply beastly.
Bill
