At the turn of the Twentieth Century, it was apparent to many educated and enlightened individuals that the idea that America could continue to go without a true ruling class had become dangerously outdated with changing times.
The demands of a modern industrial society, faced with the advances of other similar industrial nations, required a large-scale organization principle which simply was not possible under the constitutional republic structure at the time, let alone under a true democracy. Without such a principle, it was realized, capitalism would produce a situation in which the democratic system would ultimately destroy itself through lack of wisdom.
The same question had been faced in Britain: namely, in the wake of the French Revolution, and the other revolutions of the Nineteenth Century which awakened a conscience of popular sovereignty of the masses of peoples, how was it is possible to maintain a well-organized modern industrial society in the face of the fickleness of the people, who cannot possibly know how to operate the world, and who are easily led by the blandishments of electoral promises and platforms?
The common man is easily led astray from the wise path of governance. Such a thing could be tolerated in a nation of disconnected farmer-legistatures, but no longer in the era of great machines and factories.
Britain had come up with a solution the problem, in part by turning to Plato, who had suggested that society must be run by enlightened guardians. The elite of the time---the landed aristocracy of Europe, together with the middle class on both sides of the ocean, buttressed by their supporting academics---generally agreed that the way to accomplish this was either through keeping a very low profile, or, if necessary, through outright deceit of the masses.
No comments:
Post a Comment