The Treachery of the Elites

lt;p>The achievements of Western democracies (equality, rule of law, social justice) are met with growing disdain. A hierarchical system, largely derived from the nation-state model, pits the (scorned) elites against the (disdained) people. Social give and take does not happen anymore, the situation is being made worse by social media.

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lt;p>This book gives explanations for the growing gap in wealth and income and the rise of anti-democratic movements. The power of the elites today is supposedly founded on merit (education, intelligence etc.), but a closer look shows that a well-marked-out pool is just self-re-producing. The power these in-groups wield often leads to moral insensibility, made worse by a condescending attitude towards people further down the food chain. The pre-dominance of the model of the nation-state, with its centralism and top-down structure, is one of the roots of this problem, as is the lack of comparisons and value judgements; examples from transport and urbanism show that they are possible. The deplorable situation is made worse by the "anti-"social-media scuppering open and productive discussions.