The Auron MacIntyre Show - February 28, 2023


The Circulation of Elites： How the Ruling Class Falls ｜ 2⧸28⧸23

Hosted by
Auron MacIntyre
Mentioned
Vilfredo Pareto Oren McIntyre Sparta Rocky
Cancel Culture Is Good for Democracy？ ｜ 2⧸24⧸23 How Non-State Actors Capture Power ｜ Guest： Bennett's Phylactery ｜ 3⧸2⧸23

Episode Stats


Length

12 minutes

Words per minute

157.52

Word count

2,010

Sentence count

107

Harmful content

Misogyny

2

sentences flagged

Hate speech

1

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

All societies are ruled by an organized minority, a class of elites. This is an iron and inescapable law, as certain in modern democracies as it has been in every other society throughout history. Popular sovereignty may be the legitimating mechanism for our current elite, but there is always a ruling class.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 We hope you're enjoying your Air Canada flight.
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00:00:30.920 All societies are ruled by an organized minority, a class of elites.
00:00:35.940 This is an iron and inescapable law, as certain in modern democracies as it has been in every other society throughout history.
00:00:43.860 Popular sovereignty may be the legitimating mechanism for our current elite, but there is always a ruling class.
00:00:50.680 The Italian political theorist and sociologist Vilfredo Pareto observed that all ruling classes contain a balance of what he referred to as
00:00:59.700 as residues.
00:01:00.620 And of those residues, two types are most prominent.
00:01:04.640 The type 1 residues, or foxes, and the type 2 residues, or lions.
00:01:10.100 Foxes are the elites who are crafty and clever.
00:01:13.560 They focus on combinations to create new ideas and solutions.
00:01:18.120 Lions are strong and brave.
00:01:20.120 They focus on persistence of identity and tradition.
00:01:23.540 Foxes are academics and merchants.
00:01:25.540 Lions are generals and police captains.
00:01:28.820 While one group may dominate at any given time, all ruling classes contain a mixture of these two primary residues.
00:01:36.700 While a ruling class is always present, no healthy society has a totally static set of elites.
00:01:42.960 The conditions a nation faces are constantly shifting, and the composition of a ruling elite must also constantly adapt in order to meet new challenges.
00:01:53.020 During a time of war or physical danger, a society needs an elite composed primarily of lions to provide a steady stream of commanders capable of training and leading an army into battle.
00:02:04.280 In a time of peace, economic or logistical concerns may require solutions that only foxes can provide.
00:02:10.700 The elite class will always require some mixture of both skill sets, but it must be fluid enough to adapt its composition to the needs of the civilization over which it rules.
00:02:22.260 Aristocracy is an inescapable fact of human organization. 1.00
00:02:26.480 Just as there will always be a ruling class, that ruling class will always seek to pass its power and privilege on to its heirs.
00:02:33.600 Whether fox or lion, all members of the ruling elite grant preference to their friends, families, and other members of their class.
00:02:42.540 This means that no ruling elite is ever completely open to the elevation of common members of the society to its ranks.
00:02:50.620 Now this preference serves a practical purpose.
00:02:53.560 Those descended from the ruling class are more likely to have the natural ability and receive the skills and training necessary to lead.
00:03:00.880 A completely open ruling class leads to instability, as those of dubious qualification engage in a never-ending struggle for power and dominance.
00:03:11.260 But even if a totally open elite were desirable, it never exists for long, as the drive to pass property and privilege on to one's lineage is one of the most powerful human instincts.
00:03:22.780 Anyone ignoring this iron law of human nature when evaluating power will fail miserably.
00:03:29.180 While aristocracy is unavoidable, an elite must change over time to reflect the needs of their society,
00:03:36.900 so every healthy ruling class allows some method by which new members may be elevated into positions of leadership.
00:03:44.960 The ruled class will always contain capable and ambitious individuals who can bring new skills and solutions to bear on the problems currently facing their civilization.
00:03:55.680 In some societies, aristocrats adopted exceptional members of the lower class.
00:04:01.840 In others, the church or military were used as institutions to sort and elevate those of extraordinary talent.
00:04:09.180 In many western nations today, financial success or educational attainment are used as ladders by which exceptional individuals ascend to the ruling elite.
00:04:18.360 No matter what mechanism a specific society uses, any ruling elite that seeks to maintain its power must strike a balance between the persistence of its own dominant minority
00:04:30.260 and the circulation of capable individuals into its own ranks.
00:04:34.300 The temptation to close the ranks of the elite is great, as it allows for a more extreme concentration of power and wealth among those who rule.
00:04:43.240 In the past, the consideration may have been based on blood or religion.
00:04:48.880 Today, it's more likely to be ideological.
00:04:51.620 But in either case, an elite that decides to limit access to the best and brightest will always set itself on the path to ruin.
00:05:00.580 Over time, a closed elite will degenerate as it limits or completely ceases the flow of capable individuals who can shift the composition of the ruling class.
00:05:10.840 Pareto says,
00:05:11.920 In virtue of class circulation, the governing elite is always in a state of slow and continuous transformation.
00:05:20.980 It flows on like a river, never being today what it was yesterday.
00:05:25.760 From time to time, sudden and violent disturbances occur.
00:05:29.660 There is a flood.
00:05:30.700 The river overflows its banks.
00:05:32.600 Afterwards, the new governing elite again resumes its slow transformation.
00:05:36.260 The flood has subsided, and the river is again flowing normally in its wanted bed.
00:05:42.320 Revolutions come through accumulations in the higher strata of society,
00:05:46.520 either because of a slowing down in class circulation or from other causes,
00:05:51.400 of decadent elements no longer possessing the residues suitable for keeping them in power and shrinking from the use of force.
00:05:59.200 While meantime, in the lower strata of society, elements of superior quality are coming to the fore,
00:06:05.220 possessing residues suitable for exercising the functions of government and willing enough to use force.
00:06:11.640 End quote.
00:06:12.940 A closed elite dooms itself in a myriad of ways.
00:06:16.520 It degenerates and becomes decadent,
00:06:18.820 as those chosen purely out of nepotism become more and more sure of their right to rule.
00:06:23.780 The elite lose any connection to the ruled,
00:06:26.800 as their interactions become increasingly insular,
00:06:29.560 and they grow disdainful of the lower classes.
00:06:32.560 All the while, they've denied themselves access to the skilled,
00:06:35.960 who would naturally rise to leadership and balance the mixture of the elite.
00:06:40.120 This generally leads to an extreme imbalance of foxes and lions in the ruling class,
00:06:45.720 as one residue becomes overrepresented in the nepotistic elite
00:06:49.880 that now favors only those of the same disposition.
00:06:53.120 At the same time, those gifted and ambitious individuals
00:06:57.420 who have been denied entrance into the ruling elite do not disappear.
00:07:02.200 Some will give up their quest for elevation,
00:07:04.280 but many will become disgruntled and seek alternative avenues of power.
00:07:09.040 A dedicated counter-elite will often grow in institutions that become societal pressure points,
00:07:14.440 seeking to leverage the increasingly alienated masses against the sclerotic ruling class
00:07:19.720 that has become indifferent to the well-being of the ruled.
00:07:23.120 It's a common misconception that regimes fall when they're overbearing and totalitarian.
00:07:28.260 Instead, regimes most often fall when they've grown weak and decadent,
00:07:32.380 unable to control the population through the manipulation of the fox or the force of the lion.
00:07:37.420 When the elite have degenerated and grown soft by closing themselves
00:07:41.480 to the natural circulation of new talent into the ruling class,
00:07:45.200 those denied access will eventually lead a far more sudden disruption of the status quo.
00:07:51.500 Pareto uses the Greek civilizations of Athens and Sparta
00:07:55.280 as examples of societies dominated by fox and lion residues, respectively.
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00:08:31.500 While the openness and clever nature of the Athenian leaders allowed for great success
00:08:36.460 in areas like economics, art, and philosophy,
00:08:39.680 those qualities also resulted in factionalism, scheming, and political plotting
00:08:44.320 that weakened the unity of the people
00:08:46.320 and made it difficult for them to persist through the Peloponnesian Wars.
00:08:50.760 Sparta's legendary military tradition gave it an incredible ability
00:08:54.820 to endure adversity and maintain unity.
00:08:58.320 But the failure of its elites to produce an empire or great cultural achievements
00:09:02.780 meant that it could not adapt to rapid changes
00:09:05.580 and eventually faded in the shadow of those that could.
00:09:08.920 According to Pareto,
00:09:10.080 over time, most elite classes tend to see a concentration of type 1 or fox residues
00:09:16.260 and a waning of type 2 or lion residues.
00:09:19.360 This leads to a loss of religiosity, identity, and martial prowess among the ruling class,
00:09:25.720 which starts to select primarily for cunning and deception inside its own ranks.
00:09:30.860 A healthy circulation of elites will temper this tendency,
00:09:34.000 replenishing the ruling class with a supply of capable leaders
00:09:37.160 who are still religious, patriotic, and connected to the people.
00:09:40.960 A closed elite filled with foxes will lose connection to both its identity and the people
00:09:46.000 and will create a surplus of capable lions who have been denied access to the ruling class,
00:09:51.660 creating the kind of societal pressure that leads to more sudden and dramatic change.
00:09:57.340 Pareto says,
00:09:58.500 quote,
00:09:58.520 By opening only to those individuals who betray faith and conscience
00:10:02.680 in order to produce the benefits which the plutocracy so lavishly bestows
00:10:07.460 on those who devote themselves to its service,
00:10:10.160 it acquires elements that in no way serve to supply it with the things it most needs.
00:10:15.380 It does, to be sure, deprive the opposition of a few of its leaders,
00:10:20.040 and that's very helpful to it,
00:10:21.800 but it acquires nothing to replenish its own inner strength.
00:10:25.880 So long as cunning and corruption serve,
00:10:28.440 it is likely to keep winning victories,
00:10:31.000 but it falls very readily if violence and force chance to interpose.
00:10:36.160 End quote.
00:10:37.220 The circulation of elites is an inescapable part of every society,
00:10:42.200 A wise ruling class that seeks to maintain a healthy society
00:10:46.580 will strike a balance between protecting its own power
00:10:49.860 and allowing new and capable leaders to elevate themselves,
00:10:54.000 providing their strength and skill to the ruling class.
00:10:57.540 The elite class should always be changing and adapting,
00:11:01.360 meeting the new challenges of its civilization
00:11:03.740 with the right mixture of residues in order to overcome adversity.
00:11:07.600 A ruling class that succumbs to the temptation to completely close its ranks
00:11:12.460 doesn't escape the reality of the circulation of elites,
00:11:15.580 but only delays it and ensures that the circulation will be more severe.
00:11:19.920 Even if the circulation does eventually take place
00:11:22.940 through a more dramatic event like a cultural or violent revolution,
00:11:27.340 Parada reminds us that it's very rare for an elite to be completely replaced.
00:11:31.440 The ruling class may be heavily disrupted by a sudden surge in foxes or lions,
00:11:37.220 but it's very common for a large element of the previous elite to persist in the new arrangement.
00:11:43.300 Unless the civilization is completely wiped out,
00:11:46.080 there will usually remain some level of continuity through the persistence of its elites.
00:11:51.120 For Pareto, the story of a civilization is the story of its ruling elites,
00:11:55.820 and while that elite may always be in some degree of flux,
00:12:00.100 the religion, art, and culture that define a society
00:12:03.740 are inextricably linked to the elite class that guides it.
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