This might be my Canadian perspective, but people in charge have a moral obligation to lead those under them, justly and fairly, working solely in their carefully considered best interest—not commandeer the levers of power, fail, fail to take responsibility, and then blame the people for being worse off than before. This is called Nobless Oblige, it is originally a French concept as we understand it today, but its not a liberal or egalitarian idea—it is an ancient idea, rooted in Canada’s foundations and goes back all the way to the Iliad.
Canada, as part of the British Empire, utilized the principles of One-nation Toryism to advocate the preservation of established institutions and traditional principles, in combination with social and economic programmes designed to benefit the ordinary person.
It’s an early-modern form of class collaboration, from the landed gentry (aristocracy), viewing the nation as one body with constituent parts who work together as a whole. It was tacitly recognized the elite derive their authority on the basis of their moral obligations to justice and fairness, whether they always actually did or not.
There is nothing unrealistic or idealistic about this bare minimum requirement for the state and its leaders to actually care about what they’re doing, and how they effect people. In the Our Democracy, which is instead governed by carefully-selected-for loyalty paper-holders, the opposite occurs. This is what internationalists do, and what the Managerial Regime currently does. It is a total inversion of the spirit of fundamental justice, and the authority of the elite derives its legitimacy from that.
Yes, blue-collar culture is self sabotaging. Smart people don’t brag about inhaling silica on the job-site, or working more than 40 hours a week doing a dangerous or physically exhausting job where they never see their wife and kids (if they have them). Yes, mocking minimum wage workers for wanting pay raises is stupid while they tell them to get educated, but don’t go to college because it’s for Ethiopian basket weaving degrees is useless. Yes, we’re probably going to have to switch from fossil fuels to cleaner, more sustainable energy. Yes, driving 45 minutes to an hour to go anywhere, do anything sucks, is a complete waste of time, and planning cities around this is even more stupid. Yes, plastic straws are bad for the environment, and worse, produce endocrine disrupting hormones
But if you’re in the position to do something about it, to do the right thing, the proper response isn’t to stomp your feet, call these people illiterate rednecks, irredeemable white trash, and work to import rich foreigners who went to the same school as you. The right thing to do is not suppress wages with cheap foreign labour, or automate the jobs with AI that people need as a stepping stone for veg for jobs. It’s not to take people’s cars away, monitor and surveille their every move in 15 minute walkeable cities.
It is the responsibility of the elite to demonstrate patience, respect, to treat people with dignity so that they may self govern in their absence. The best leadership is not demonstrated by how people act around you, but how they act when you’re not around.
It’s to uplift your own goddamn people, before they lift you upside down.
