A Dimension Missing in Elite Theory
The Elite Theorists are missing out on the actual nature of POWER
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6
The basis of Elite Theory is the Iron Law of Oligarchy - that all thrones of power, democratic or absolute monarchist, are ultimately controlled by a minority of people who are able to warp and control the narrative mythos of the nation. He who controls the story is Sovereign. Yada yada - you’ve all read Moldbug and Schmitt. The basis for this theory is that power, being top down, can only be operated by very tight-knit people who know what really is going on and utilize their connections and legitimacy to achieve goals they wish to achieve. Innately, this theory is Machiavellian (obviously). It treats power as this paradoxical concept, “Well I want power because power gets me what I want!” Why do you want what you want, though? Why does anybody want what they want? Are the reins of power always solely going to be in the hands of sociopathic narcissists who like to coerce to get what they want, or are Elite Theorists (ETs) themselves just projecting their own sociopathic narcissism onto the concept of power, and perceive it as purely a means to obtain gold and glory? The very idea of power being solely in the hands of the few leaves out an important part of the why for obtaining power, which puts this theory in a tizzy. If your why is selfish, your reign of power will be hellish.
The why must always be answered, before we go onto the how. We must understand why we don’t like a current governing paradigm, and why a different one would be better. Those of us with moral sincerity, however, cannot be ETs, because Elite Theory implies a lack of moral sincerity unto itself. It implies that those in charge will use morally reprehensible tools to obtain and maintain power. To go so far with this methodology ends up putting whoever the ETs back in a situation where they will always be condemned for “Corrupting the democracy!” or “Wanting the nation to be controlled by a secret few!” Reactionary ETs rely on a system of men, without the interception of the divine. Modern ETs are negativists, unlike Nazis who even were quite positivistic in comparison, but we won’t focus on that today. They see themselves as an agency of morality without the need for the divine. In the stead of God, they place their own flighty, subjective morality in His Place. For governments of men who have God at the core, and try to stay on the path of righteousness, the ETs give resounding dismissals for the genuineness of the pious. To them, the very nature of power is Machiavellian, treacherous, and manipulative. They see the masses as cattle, and LARP as some intellectual vanguard who will somehow convince their preferred political forces to bring about their preferred outcomes.
Who would trust an atheist Machiavellian with no sound metaphysical source? Who would trust any political or social movement whose ends don’t justify their means (what end even is that?). They want to destroy the current paradigm, then pretend as if they alone can sew the Titanic back together, and get it back en route to New York. Being an ET, you put coercion first, because you don’t believe that men can have the light of Grace shined upon them. For you, your end is at best selfish, at worst misguided altruism.
The ET doesn’t see any difference between the sincere, confessor running for Senate, and the greasy, slicked hair wise guy running against him. To them, it’s first pageantry to get power, then afterwards are potential results that can be achieved through certain ends. The corruption of democracy isn’t specifically because democracy can’t function, but that at the scale it is, with the divergence away from an altruistic, non-cynical foundation myth and potentiality for an ethnogenesis, America has lost its defined borders, even within itself, where it is truly a nation. It puts the individual first (or more like the individualist first), because that is its foundation myth at this point. For sure, in this corrupt and dying system that has no magnitudes higher to reach that would justify investment into its own complexity (read Tainter), the decay is quite noticeable, and that isn’t because everything was bullshit or that even now everything is just a lie. No, it means we are in a collapsing society. It just so happens sociopathic narcissists with no interest to love and help their fellow man can do relatively well when they use the last bits of the legitimacy of the state and its appendages to take advantage of people in the name of “doing what’s right.” I’d say that even if they aren’t sociopaths, most people in power, and anyone else who continues the illusion that there is still this commodified, suburbanite paradigm, are simply morally lost. Regardless of the status of their charlatanism, the point is moot - power is not inherently a negativist vision to be gained for the sake of itself. There is a purpose, and if your purpose is to destroy and cast aspersions on your predecessor then your fascination seems a bit unsettling.
Those who seek power are seeking the station of God, and so a ruler must be humble, compassionate, firm, wise, and above all - his soul must be set ablaze by the Mighty Power of Jesus Christ. Is anyone a charlatan who believes this? Is it foolish to think that good men can achieve a place of power by being stand-up, direct, not smarmy, and pious? It’s as if the ETs liken power to a schoolyard playground, or the social dynamics of a high school - pure chaos and disorder. Is that who rules, or is it the Father? Those of a pious distinction imitate how great the wisdom of the Father is, and what such a level of love can do to a society when all trust in one another. Treating power as if it is a dark, maniacal force will lead to that exact societal telos, where the overt and the spiritual are guided by the selfish and the misguided.
So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
Revelation 3:16
And this verse says it all. No power that is morally indecisive, no authority that loves God will inherit a kingdom that reflects love and understanding, but one of mistrust and anxiety. They won’t have a Kingdom under God, but a kingdom of man. If inherent in your beliefs is of wrath and vengeance, then your people, too, will be full of wrath and vengeance (against you, if you don’t know how to aim their anger correctly). This is why your power must be something of God, and not of your own doing, nor the bidding of you, but the bidding from On High.
One mustn’t reject the good, so that evil can be committed. One mustn’t look solely to men of questionable intent to achieve their goals. If good is good, and you know you are in the collapse of a society, and of this economic paradigm, then why feast your eyes upon a throne of darkness? Likewise, why do you think revitalization of a nation/a people will be done by an esoteric group of inconsistent, largely atheistic intellectuals? You aren’t following God, so your steps will be made only for you. No one will trust you - you have no story, you have no metaphysics, you have no gumption, you have no audaciousness. Elite Theory is Godless reactionary LARP.
“The last word that I address to you and one I urge upon you with all the ardor of my soul, is that you live in harmony, united together in one heart and one will. Be bound to one another by the bonds of charity, treating each other with respect, helping one another, bearing with each other in Christ Jesus: if you really try to live like this, there is no doubt that the Lord, our God, will be in your midst.”
St. Angela of Merici