The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy by
Christopher Lasch
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
I originally wanted to write a long, detailed review of this book because I had a lot to say about it in context with my real-world understanding in the '90s of the reality, my crazy amount of non-fiction reading back then and the '00s, and how it all directly relates TO and EXEMPLIFIES what we can all see to be true NOW, in MUCH worse fashion--
But I'm not going to. Perhaps it was the last section that went on and on about moralizing functions and religion instead of the core premise that was promised in the title, but it got annoying after a certain point. Yes, the intellectual elite really screwed the pooch by making them less understood by normal people. Yes, the focus on single issues rather than the CORE health of society doomed us on either side of the ideological line.
That being said, however, the real heart and soul of this book is pretty damn simple: the entrenchment of old ideas have betrayed us yet again. It betrayed us 30 years ago and it betrays us now.
Sunk cost fallacy-- throwing good money after bad doesn't solve the problem. And throwing real people's time and energy and intellectual capacity after tired and lost-nuanced ideas and ideologies is a recipe for failure. If neither the Republicans OR the Democrats are serving the public well being, and haven't for ages, then then we obviously need something else entirely.
Here's an idea that keeps coming up in this and many books:
Make sure the entire population is taken care of. Disarm the growing class war by making sure people are GENUINELY happy and able to support themselves, pursue their own interests, and be able to live without fear.
As we have it now, massive coercion and surveillance, rising poverty, insecurity, and let's face it: ANGER is prevalent. Just increasing the cops and the boot-state isn't fixing the underlying problem.
We all know the "Elites" or rather, the Oligarchy and those who wish to remain unnamed, have been massively sucking the general wealth out of the world and putting it all in their own hands--at a rate that was shocking and dramatic BACK IN THE MID 90s. That very rate of their wealth increase has met an EXPONENTIAL rate since then.
And they have done all they can to keep that power. If it means cozying up to ethic-less bastards, marrying corporations to politics as the good Oligarchy wants, then so be it--as long as they can grow ever richer, more powerful, and hold on to their wealth.
Who wins? Who loses? You get the picture. So yeah, we've known this has been happening for a long time and we all rather lost the plot, haven't we.
It SHOULD be rather obvious. I mean, we see the results of that everywhere we look. All the in-fighting we do is BY DESIGN. Keep us occupied while they steal what's left of the vault. Of course, there's no WISDOM in it.
If there was any wisdom, it would be in creating a just and happy world. Instead, the in-fighting among everyone whose NOT an elite just serves the rest into their hands.
The funny thing is--we could have had it all.
Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to requests. Just direct message me in goodreads or email me on my site. I'd love to get some eyes on my novels.
Arctunn.com
View all my reviews
Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O'Keefe
