"...what makes the Emperor weak?
...Poor advisors, to whom he listens.
- Well, he must listen to someone.
- Yes, but he must gain experience in order to determine to whom he ought to listen...he must find advisors who have, at their heart, the interest of the Empire."
-Well, and what has he now?
- Now he has advisors who look after their own positions, and seek to advise him only in such a way as to gain his favor, thus they contradict one another needlessly, and leave policy, which ought to be the force which unites all of the Imperial decisions into a single direction, scattered and uncertain."
Okay, so probably very few people would recognize where that passage came from. Given that my current reading material is so friggin depressing, I occasionally flit to my usual fun escapes (i.e. science fiction and fantasy). Every so often, partly to reduce spending as I am addicted to books and will buy new ones all the time, I'll look through my shelves to find something I haven't read in a while. In this case it was The Phoenix Guards, by Steven Brust, which I hadn't read in so long that I've mostly forgotten the plot. I do remember, however, feeling like it was very similar to the book The Three Musketeers. (Which I read after the movie came out a few decades ago, and enjoyed enough that it brought home how disappointing Hollywood can be at adapting books. The plot was NOTHING like the movie!)
Anyways, I threw this in there because it reminded me a lot of Kissinger's Shadow, or rather it seems to describe almost perfectly what Kissinger appeared to be doing with Nixon.
To go back to yesterday's post, I think there's a fear that the hidden transcript of the dominant group is not just snobbery and condemnation of those who aren't as well off...it's also a fear that behind the scenes they're all playing self-serving games rather than truly doing what is in the best interests of our nation. Some of that is the usual self-deceit, and some of it's deliberate, but I don't know any of the elite well enough to which is which on an individual basis.
In Domination and the Arts of Resistance the author points out that every dominant group has a story that justifies their dominance. In a system like ours, it's that they're supposed to be the most educated and smartest...the ones who can be trusted to make the wisest decisions. That in a meritocracy the best and brightest rise to the top. Evidence that they're NOT making wise decisions, but rather are making decisions in their own self-interest, always undermines the premise of their dominance.
...Poor advisors, to whom he listens.
- Well, he must listen to someone.
- Yes, but he must gain experience in order to determine to whom he ought to listen...he must find advisors who have, at their heart, the interest of the Empire."
-Well, and what has he now?
- Now he has advisors who look after their own positions, and seek to advise him only in such a way as to gain his favor, thus they contradict one another needlessly, and leave policy, which ought to be the force which unites all of the Imperial decisions into a single direction, scattered and uncertain."
Okay, so probably very few people would recognize where that passage came from. Given that my current reading material is so friggin depressing, I occasionally flit to my usual fun escapes (i.e. science fiction and fantasy). Every so often, partly to reduce spending as I am addicted to books and will buy new ones all the time, I'll look through my shelves to find something I haven't read in a while. In this case it was The Phoenix Guards, by Steven Brust, which I hadn't read in so long that I've mostly forgotten the plot. I do remember, however, feeling like it was very similar to the book The Three Musketeers. (Which I read after the movie came out a few decades ago, and enjoyed enough that it brought home how disappointing Hollywood can be at adapting books. The plot was NOTHING like the movie!)
Anyways, I threw this in there because it reminded me a lot of Kissinger's Shadow, or rather it seems to describe almost perfectly what Kissinger appeared to be doing with Nixon.
To go back to yesterday's post, I think there's a fear that the hidden transcript of the dominant group is not just snobbery and condemnation of those who aren't as well off...it's also a fear that behind the scenes they're all playing self-serving games rather than truly doing what is in the best interests of our nation. Some of that is the usual self-deceit, and some of it's deliberate, but I don't know any of the elite well enough to which is which on an individual basis.
In Domination and the Arts of Resistance the author points out that every dominant group has a story that justifies their dominance. In a system like ours, it's that they're supposed to be the most educated and smartest...the ones who can be trusted to make the wisest decisions. That in a meritocracy the best and brightest rise to the top. Evidence that they're NOT making wise decisions, but rather are making decisions in their own self-interest, always undermines the premise of their dominance.
No comments:
Post a Comment