PrintApril 8, 2010
When Elites Revolt
A New Elite would have their way with the nation's laws, with rule-making, with the Constitution itself. So predicted a prescient book titled The Uncivil War: How a New Elite Is Destroying Our Democracy in 2004.
Our futures are at stake. Our very future as a relatively free republic hangs in the balance. So it seems nowadays, what with all the "changes" afoot and hard-edged, power-crazy political shenanigans going on.
We are on the verge, at least until November elections, of being overrun by a class of smug, self-satisfied, "superior," pushy individuals who think that they are far smarter than the average bear. It's their way or the highway.
We are to obey, not challenge. For they, like Big Brother, know best. They claim not to be ideologues, but they clearly are. Look at what they do, not what they say -- always sage advice.
These clever folks comprise what author David Lebedoff termed the New Elite in his eerily prescient work of non-fiction in 2004.
Beware, he warns, of wolves in sheep's clothing. The New Elite, now led by the triumvirate of the president, the Speaker of the House, and the Senate Majority Leader, are described to a "T" by Lebedoff in '04 even before their ascendancy to full power. His prophetic Uncivil War (First Taylor Trade Publishing, Lanham MD, 2004) foresaw the recent turns of political events.
Lebdeoff writes that a new kind of class warfare, "uncivil war," is based not so much on economics as a self-perceived monopoly on truths. It is waged by "natural born," 100% academia-bred, self-appointed leaders who, like Plato's "philosopher kings," would govern all others by sheer power of their own notions. Thus they would render democracy, or deference to the will of the people, obsolete, or at least subservient to the will of their New Elite.
It is a war between "We the People," -- the "Left Behinds" -- and the New Elite, whose core belief "is that it alone knows what is best for the governed," writes Lebedoff, a noted longtime Minneapolis lawyer. Consent of the governed is all but passé to the New Elite, disdainful of Everyman.
New Elitists lack experience in the real world...oh, such as meeting payrolls, serving in our military, being targets themselves of government regs, or paying much heed to pesky things such as income taxes. They pontificate about what's wrong, not right, with America, emulating the Sixties' Blame America First crowd.
The New Elite calls for Change. And it asks us, all of us, to believe unquestionably in its "fixes." You see, these people -- the haughty, blessed with intelligence no ordinary folks possess -- are the equivalent of JFK's "best and brightest," who led us irretrievably into a land war in Southeast Asia, of all things. So much for book-learnin'.
For today's New Elite, the will of the people, an imperfect majority, is irrelevant. Onward, say New Elitists -- an idea often expressed in their political speeches as "going forward." Their narcissistic mindset is "we're right and they're wrong." Period. Their worldview is shared by most mainstream media, who are loath to say a discouraging word about them.
The New Elite is not necessarily moneyed, but it is always highly politicized à la leftist Chicago activist Saul Alinsky, young Miss Rodham's mentor. Noses tilted upward, the New Elite would have their way with the laws of our land and tangle of bureaucratic rules yet to be promulgated, because, well, they are in power. Winning, not listening, is everything.
In a perverse sort of way, theirs is a restatement of Nietzsche's incarnate "will to power" premise. Nietzsche's "der wille zur macht" is summed up in the German philosopher's Beyond Good and Evil as modern man "striving to grow, spread, and become predominant."
Exactly! The New Elite, says left-leaning Fareed Zakaria in his 2003 book The Future of Freedom, "is .a hidden elite, un-anointable, unresponsive, often unconcerned with any layer of the public interest."
Democracy itself, with "majoritarian" rule, writes Lebadoff, is threatened. New elitists pitch Change with a capital "C." (Recall the mob chant: "When do we want it? Now!")
President Obama and his "progressive" minions are not plagued, not in the least, by what theologian Reinhold Niebuhr called "the wisdom of doubt." Cocksure in their Lewis Carroll world, they are superheroes, supermen, and the rest of us are, well, only filled with "heated rhetoric." Oh yes, and "vitriol," says Elitist-in-Chief Obama.
The New Elite's lack of doubt is rooted in their belief that what they do is "good" for America. This intransigent mindset was reflected in revamping health care insurance (not "reform" as falsely advertised) and taking over the student loan program to boot. Just what have student loans to do with health care? Nothing. Cognitive dissonance does not faze the New Elite. Besides, it was a sneaky way to avoid the required 60 Senate votes. Take that, Scott Brown!
What's next? Financial institutions? Licensing for houses for cap-and-trade? Strangling America, sapping its wealth, savaging its opportunities with new laws and a maze of regulations, plus new entitlements and new taxes (even on medical devices, for heaven's sake!)? Can a vibrant America survive this latest onslaught by steely-minded progressives?
Author Lebedoff, Harvard Law school grad and author of five books, was a prophet in his own time in his remarkable book. His premise, penned six years ago, is validated today. In this sentence, he underscores the ferocity of the New Elite he describes: "Perhaps the greatest mischief of the New Elite is the rapacity with which it seeks to rewrite basic rules."
For Lebedoff, a former University of Minnesota regent, suspicions of a permanent intellectual superclass began back in 1978. He wrote an article in Esquire titled "The Dangerous Appearance of the New Elite." He made a then-astounding claim, shocking some, that "this New Elite ceased to believe in majority rule." Lebedoff was surprised that his Esquire observations drew praise mostly by conservatives, not liberals.
"One of the hallmarks of the New Elite," Lebedoff observes, "is its incessant talk about individual rights," In reality, though, "no matter how they may praise such rights, they oppose the most fundamental rights of all: the right to chose how they public is governed."
Simply put, that means that the New Elite must have their way, first with elections: ACORN, anyone? Fraud? "Electing" Al Franken after the election? Sliming Sarah Palin? Attacking Joe the Plumber? Vilifying all who dare disagree? Remember, to the New Elite, winning is everything. Means justify "noble" ends.
Essentially, the New Elite believes that it knows what's good for the rest of us, and it has the power now to do something about that. Lebedoff writes: "The New Elite believes policy can be calibrated. There is no other way. Voters and the marketplace are irrelevant to the pursuit."
The New Elite represents "a calculated effort ... to replace the public will with its own." Large, rapacious egos must be served. Upturned-nosed hubris reigns among this subculture of the New Left, truth be told. (Shhhh! Don't tell the MSM!)
The "uncivil war" in Lebedoff's title is "a strange war, with one side [New Elite] advancing only by stealth, and the other [Left Behinds] organized largely for defense." In this, he predicted six years ago the future start-up of the tea party movement in reaction to the New Elite's startling hubris. His crystal ball was clear.
The New Elite gives lip service to bipartisanship but practices precious little of it. No olive branches across the aisle. Meanwhile, its sleazy, secret backroom deals and bribery hold forth for revamping health insurance, even to mandating individual coverage in a once-free America. (Bumper sicker: "SILLY ME! I thought this was still a free country.")
The New Elite's comeuppance might well manifest in, or at least start with, the November '10 elections. We the People will speak, finally, in opposition to the smug, know-it-all New Elitists. For the New Elite is out not to encourage democracy, or listen to the vox populi, but in truth, to stifle it.
Watch out, America. The New Elitists' contempt for the people is expressed in the sentiment that we, as an underclass, "cling to our guns and our religion." Elitist Obama said so, off the cuff, on the campaign trail, in a rare, unguarded moment, revealing as hell.
Dark, sinister figure Huey ("The Kingfisher") Long (D-LA) long ago was asked if we'd ever have fascism in America. "Yes," he replied, "but they'll call it anti-fascism."
Big Brother lives in the bleeding hearts of the New Elite.
Gary Larson is a retired newspaper and business magazine editor in Minnesota. He is not the cartoonist of the same name.
