The illusions of compassion and rationality

I am amazed at the prescience of Herbert Schlossberg. Writing Idols for Destruction in 1983, he has captured what has happened to America in 2009! He writes about how unelected leftist intellectual elites gain power in bureaucracies. Like the Pharisees of old, they convince the people that they have wisdom no others possess. Never ask them about their track record, though, writes Schlossberg, because "it is a series of disguised disasters; just accept on faith that they have the secret to life." Their expertise is not value-free. They attach their expertise to a social movement, such as Marxism or socialism. The compassion and rationality they seem to promote are illusions; it is all about power and control. Again, Schlossberg: "The elites and the bureacracy both prosper as the private sector declines and as the state absorbs and expends a greater proportion of the national wealth. They seek to crush all opposition; their rule is incompatible with freedom."

Are bureaucrats people who are just silently obeying orders? No, writes Schlossberg, bureaucrats believe they are the law! The way to bring the socialist vision into being is through administrative fiat. Elections become increasingly irrelevant to what the government actually does. "Bureaucrats shuffle not paper, but people," writes Schlossberg. Suddenly we wake up to find that we have left ourselves defenseless against our supposed protectors!