A very interesting observation regarding elites Waldemar.

It seems clear that the American Founding was based upon a collective
agreement among the elites that the Printing Press was authoritative
regarding how one should organize a state and that the resulting culture
was to be defended at all costs: recalling that Jefferson defended the
Declaration upon the notion that the ethics within had not sprung from his
own as originally but were root and branch of the modern West. Madison,
Hamilton and Jay implicitly acknowledged the same in their Federalist
defense of the Constitution by way of “opinions” of man.

Of course, their were “formed” by the “ground” upon which they lived, or
the psycho environment of the Printing Press which was the basis of the
West at the time.

These were elites reflecting the ground and attempting to shape a society.

Indeed, the idea that elites would do just this had been widely known
throughout Western History, beginning with Athens and the Elesinian
Mysteries (mandatory as was the organic LSD laced drink) with the
Carolingian Renaissance being perhaps the most obvious example of
“creating” the West by “retrieving” the Grammar or foundations and then
devising an education for the very young, the first Grammar school
education based upon the Cathedral schools of the time.

We used to understand that elites came together and made the decisions,
based upon the “media” environment or “authority,” of the time, that
everyone else lived their lives by: the rules of the road so to speak. This
is exactly would Winston Churchill saw himself: of course I lead so that
others can simply live their lives and not have to think about things they
know nothing about.

Elite theory used to be a well understood area of study in political
sociology (one of my areas of study): Pareto, Mosca, C. Wright Mills,
Domhoff, Robert Putnam, Theodor Adorno and James Burnham are some names to
think of, as is the notion of the Anglo-American Establishment, the name of
Carroll Quigley’s book that Bill Clinton claimed had influence upon him.
Burnham is of particular insight in his observations that the West has
moved from “class” to “mass” by the early 20th century, though he did not
know exactly why (it was the effects of electricity in the forms of the
Telegraph and Radio and then Television as the “authority”). Putnam is
famous for observing that late 20th century man had gone into their
separate rooms (the effects of TELEVISION, as McLuhan described it).

The notion that the common people would somehow shape or organize a society
would have seemed to go against the history of humanity.

By the 1960s, elites by and large stopped being the societal force they had
been, to the chagrin of Nelson Rockefeller. What happened? The effects of
TELEVISION on our psyche/minds/formation. To paraphrase Aristotle, “the
City” did it!

Television was both designed and had the effects of killing what we think
of as elites as anything more than “opinion” leaders. Which is to say,
people that made it into television, but knew virtually nothing other than
how to get on television.

This brings us to the group Gregg has pointed to us today in his blog and
associated articles. Who are these people?

A look at their official bios on their website, which Gregg linked to,
tells us exactly what they are up to: Euro/globalist/tech/MEDIA types which
much experience in crafting “stories” or narratives. Not surprising. It’s
the environment they were formed by in the West.

This is Plato: man is the fundamental problem and he needs the right
stories to undercut his senses. It’s Television: create a new fantasy and
we can have peace and buy stuff! It’s Dialectic not Grammar. And in the
DIGITAL Paradigm, it does not work (see Soros’ laments), but there is still
money to be spent and made on it: Television era Democracy (the con that
people are “deciding” and saving themselves in the process).

So it brings up THE fundamental Aristotlian question: what will the
“ethics” and “politics” be in the era when the young’s psyche/souls are
“formed” by Digital/algorithms/Robots, or Memory, and fantasy/storytelling
is rejected?

On Fri, Oct 19, 2018 at 15:52 [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> A suggestion:
>
> We have and were previously guided by an ideological center - The US
> Constitution.
> But now, we seem to eschew that guide - why?
> Perhaps, it is because we, as individuals, have become confused about the
> nature and place of our own personal beliefs, values, and goals vis-a-vis
> our own public beliefs, values, and goals.
>
> For instance, I am not in favor of abortion, in general (though I
> recognize its place and use).
> But, I recognize that my personal opinion is different from my public
> opinion thereon because the choice belongs to another person - because that
> other person has person-related rights that are not constrained by the
> Constitution.
> In other words, I don’t want to participate but that doesn’t mean that
> another person might not want or need to do so.
> Others, however, seem to feel their personal beliefs, values, and goals
> trump (pun intended) another person’s beliefs, values, and goals - as well
> as that other person’s dignity, well-being, life, liberty, and the pursuit
> of happiness.
>
> Substitute another “issue” for abortion - such as gay marriage, etc.
> The end seems to be the same - you (the other person) have to live by MY
> rules (ie, you are duty bound to sustain MY worldview) - it’s the OR ELSE
> that seems to be getting nastier and nastier.
> It’s a physics problem, narrow worldviews seem to have immense inertia!
> and are not malleable.
>
> But, I agree with Andre - we sure don’t seem to be using, or even looking
> for, an ideological center.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Waldemar
>
>
> *Waldemar A Schmidt, PhD, MD*
> (Perseveret et Percipiunt)
> 503.631.8044
>
> *Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.* (A Einstein)
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Oct 19, 2018, at 8:07 AM, Marquis, Andre <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
> Great blog, Gregg. What stands out the most to me is "Unfortunately, there
> is no clear ideological center for the majority to rally around.” That is
> what we really seem to need.
> andre
>
> From: tree of knowledge system discussion <[log in to unmask]>
> on behalf of "Henriques, Gregg - henriqgx" <[log in to unmask]>
> Reply-To: tree of knowledge system discussion <
> [log in to unmask]>
> Date: Friday, October 19, 2018 at 9:12 AM
> To: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Hidden Tribes/More in Common
>
> Hi List,
>   I just posted a blog offering a very strong endorsement of a new
> political report. I STRONGLY encourage EVERYONE to check it out. From my
> vantage point, it is hitting on a key analysis and solution to one of the
> great challenges of our day.
>
> Here is my blog:
>
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.psychologytoday.com_us_blog_theory-2Dknowledge_201810_outstanding-2Danalysis-2Dpolitical-2Dviews-2Din-2Dthe-2Dus&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=7iSoITA6nlQt_jjKclSrFBfKRB-oIolIAjdIkp67k_4&s=4H0YCD1MVUHPWiODojFCYPY8Y7kn1IyBVHnSdQrtxec&e=
> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.psychologytoday.com_us_blog_theory-2Dknowledge_201810_outstanding-2Danalysis-2Dpolitical-2Dviews-2Din-2Dthe-2Dus&d=DwMFAg&c=kbmfwr1Yojg42sGEpaQh5ofMHBeTl9EI2eaqQZhHbOU&r=fAX9xBiqC7Jpwi5bcf42BpKio-w7hhMYFN9VxTHChls&m=nISdU03kIEXpAIYtEl8uXTM_0YcVss9WXpsWkT5voM4&s=7iOL93etyHcF2nUyreylLas94HWtluSE7pMY6yN_nL0&e=>
>
> Here is the report:
>
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__static1.squarespace.com_static_5a70a7c3010027736a22740f_t_5bbcea6b7817f7bf7342b718_1539107467397_hidden-5Ftribes-5Freport-2D2.pdf&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=7iSoITA6nlQt_jjKclSrFBfKRB-oIolIAjdIkp67k_4&s=YGm1zlX3OZwgbHNigQ9Oaaq_zSnJ7aDsmE7o86lqP3s&e=
> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__static1.squarespace.com_static_5a70a7c3010027736a22740f_t_5bbcea6b7817f7bf7342b718_1539107467397_hidden-5Ftribes-5Freport-2D2.pdf&d=DwMFAg&c=kbmfwr1Yojg42sGEpaQh5ofMHBeTl9EI2eaqQZhHbOU&r=fAX9xBiqC7Jpwi5bcf42BpKio-w7hhMYFN9VxTHChls&m=nISdU03kIEXpAIYtEl8uXTM_0YcVss9WXpsWkT5voM4&s=0WgMlTOinhkXLaDJUOZnPF1D52QbAYQEY11ucOAWYzY&e=>
>
> Here is the organization it is from:
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.moreincommon.com_&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=7iSoITA6nlQt_jjKclSrFBfKRB-oIolIAjdIkp67k_4&s=5SxeXyYYPwW7mMnprKdaqx9Hx4eQITg7zu9b_Z7TRuk&e=
> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.moreincommon.com_&d=DwMFAg&c=kbmfwr1Yojg42sGEpaQh5ofMHBeTl9EI2eaqQZhHbOU&r=fAX9xBiqC7Jpwi5bcf42BpKio-w7hhMYFN9VxTHChls&m=nISdU03kIEXpAIYtEl8uXTM_0YcVss9WXpsWkT5voM4&s=2w3ilErMMBCvN6KcCvRHTId1tTo7mkCNZ83KDXdLpKg&e=>
>
> Here are two other articles on it:
>
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.nytimes.com_2018_10_15_opinion_politics-2Drace-2Dwhite-2Dtribalism.html-3Femc-3Dedit-5Fth-5F181016-26nl-3Dtodaysheadlines-26nlid-3D352238941016&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=7iSoITA6nlQt_jjKclSrFBfKRB-oIolIAjdIkp67k_4&s=7BuqpVgO5MlY5qHmawJJlpXuieum6WvujI9cLqqoq0k&e=
> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.nytimes.com_2018_10_15_opinion_politics-2Drace-2Dwhite-2Dtribalism.html-3Femc-3Dedit-5Fth-5F181016-26nl-3Dtodaysheadlines-26nlid-3D352238941016&d=DwMFAg&c=kbmfwr1Yojg42sGEpaQh5ofMHBeTl9EI2eaqQZhHbOU&r=fAX9xBiqC7Jpwi5bcf42BpKio-w7hhMYFN9VxTHChls&m=nISdU03kIEXpAIYtEl8uXTM_0YcVss9WXpsWkT5voM4&s=4nb2WTZM5Y9lg_83ce2TBE-_UZPpMJXqkgXmXlf2s8o&e=>
>
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.theatlantic.com_ideas_archive_2018_10_large-2Dmajorities-2Ddislike-2Dpolitical-2Dcorrectness_572581_&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=7iSoITA6nlQt_jjKclSrFBfKRB-oIolIAjdIkp67k_4&s=PWIcVUJT9YYf2hfVjOpV1OsplKRkifag_V4p0nNvlAE&e=
> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.theatlantic.com_ideas_archive_2018_10_large-2Dmajorities-2Ddislike-2Dpolitical-2Dcorrectness_572581_&d=DwMFAg&c=kbmfwr1Yojg42sGEpaQh5ofMHBeTl9EI2eaqQZhHbOU&r=fAX9xBiqC7Jpwi5bcf42BpKio-w7hhMYFN9VxTHChls&m=nISdU03kIEXpAIYtEl8uXTM_0YcVss9WXpsWkT5voM4&s=bDjeHxbs5J1oJ2cVu_QYsutEB5WIEvqy3IE-d1yYVPQ&e=>
>
> Please check this group (More In Common) and report out when you get the
> time.
>
> Here is to achieving a more connected, united, and resilient group!
>
> Best,
> Gregg
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-- 
Jeffrey A. Martineau
Vice President for Development
Center for the Study of Digital Life
www.digitallife.center
202.413.4542

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