THE ELITE ALWAYS RULES - BUT IN WHOSE BEST INTERESTS?

Plato - Our Elite should be self sacrificing not self serving

The Greek classical philosopher Plato stated that the elite will always rule in a particular society. The elite being defined as a grouping of people who are the choice part of that society, who indeed dominate the remainder of society in a political and social sense. Gaining admittance to that grouping is not easy and often power is passed between generations of members of that elite. Be it the richest in society, The Chinese Communist Party or indeed the ANC in South Africa  -- all the aforementioned groupings can be described as elites in their respective societies. these elites may come from the right or the left of politics but they exhibit remarkably similar characteristics which can work against a free society.

 

Philip Blond the philosopher argues that the future role of elites will have to be different;

 

"The real politics of the future will be anti-oligarchical - it will require a new right and a new left. For increasingly, from the perspectives of those who are shut out, the elites of authoritarian and democratic states will look remarkably similar. The West used to produce self-sacrificing elites; now it has those who are assiduously self-serving. Too many of our institutions are corrupt, and too many of their leaders rest easy in the falsehood that their interests are ours. A revulsion against oligarchy will soon define both eastern and western states, and it will of necessity draw on new and unexpected resources to shape a new political idealism."

 

The statement that, "Too many of our leaders rest easy in the falsehood that their interests are our interests," does ring true in many instances we can quote. Giving groupings access to the power to provide products and services for the benefit of the whole community and still make a return must be the way forward in many respects.   It does not need to be a focus of excess profit but a fair social return. 

 

Plato imagined a society without the weaknesses of rule by inheritance and the weakness of leadership chosen by the multitude. He believed that his ruling elite had to be free from labour so they could specialise in philosophy. Under his ruling elite, Plato invented a second and third class of citizens. The second class were the warriors, who were to be free from ordinary labours so they could train to become as highly skilled in combat as possible. The third class consisted of labourers. Plato wished his ruler-philosophers to be unconcerned with possessions. He wished that they be interested in harmony and justice only. The best men, he believed, serve society out of devotion rather than for pay. Therefore, he believed, the ruling elite should share rather than compete for possessions. If we do have an elite in society and I believe we do, should they adhere to the ideals of Plato and act in the best interests of society as a whole rather than just for their own grouping? I believe that they should do so.

 

Things can go wrong in the sense that one self serving elite can be replaced by another. The prime example of this is South Africa. The ruling white elite were replaced by a black elite embodied within the ANC which took on the mantle of power. This power should have produced a high degree of change for the country in terms of social advance and the alleviation of poverty but unfortunately it has not achieved what was expected of it. Now South Africa has many of the characteristics of a one party state where a black elite benefit whilst the majority of black people are still mired in poverty. Clearly that was not the intention when Nelson Mandela became president.

 

If the elite do rule us, they should serve society as a whole -- and in any shift of power between elites, one hopes such change means that under a new elite  - the support and service given to society will improve for the good of everyone.