Of Elites

Elites are not worthy of admiration, but of sympathy; for they are mostly those who know little more about matters, much less about men, and least about themselves. Their professional achievements seemingly justify their devotion to matters; yet how vast the universe of knowledge is; what they can pick up within their whole lives are but twigs, rather than branches or boles. Nay, more dedication to matters inevitably means less to men, whether in business or in leisure. They are those who exploit humanity for the stamps of slavery. Therefore, they are masters of fools, servants of the sovereign, and slaves of the society.

As Hemingway said, men come closest to their true selves in the sober moments of life, under the shadows of sorrow and loss. Living in abundance makes waste a wont, for they need not know the cost as long as they believe they can afford. A content mind is likely to be ignorant; owning to their ignorance of human nature, they tend to respond with instinct, the instinct of self-preservation; in their eyes the universe consists of two parts: the outside world of myriad men, and their individual selves. Their own fear of loss pitches themselves against the whole world, and so it grows. Also driven by the desire for control some go to the extremes; but the full moon is destined to wane; the full bloom is destined to wither; as perils commonly ask to be paid in pleasures, as it is among warriors, so do their immature and distorted souls ask to be paid in adoration and abundance, and are sooner or later to be paid in disappointments, depression, and even disgrace. Hence elites suffer less slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, and much more self-inflicted pains, for which they claim that they do know human misery.

They deserve admiration, if they are not unworthy, not for their achievements, but for their cost. As Robert Bruce Senior says, “Uncompromising men are easy to admire. He has courage, so does a dog. But it is exactly the ability to compromise that makes a man noble!” It’s quite queer to note that a noble’s remarks prove the elites are not to admire as they dare to trade their humanity bestowed by God, for feats celebrated by men, while the commoners deserve flattery for their more humane trade-offs between work and life. No wonder they are often brave toward God, and cowards toward men.