Reply #9: OK, since y'all chimed in, I will reply all at once. [View All]

[Colorado Blue]

Nothing I have read about what is bothering people about Strauss' philosophy, so far, strikes me as being either new or particularly scary.

The Prince particularly comes to mind, Machiavelli's blueprint for the acquisition and manipulation of power.

This is new?

What people probably THINK is new, is that people like Bush, people born into wealth and power, study this stuff with their Wheaties. So do others, NOT born into wealth and power, but who would like to influence the political shape of their time.

That is not a crime. In fact, if people of the lower classes did not learn how to acquire and manipulate power, the rich, the kings, would NEVER be deposed.

In a sense, this is a progressive philosophy, not a reactionary one. It is teaching the following:

a) political power exists
b) it can be desirable if you are into that sort of thing
c) if you are not born into the powerful classes, here's how you can get some

and implied, is

d) in some cases, it is necessary to acquire political power, otherwise needed reforms can't occur.

The so-called PNAC/Neocon philosophy is based on this, I think, along with a cold-eyed view of how to project American power into the world - which we've been doing anyway.

Nor would America be the first nation to seek imperial power. As I said above, we have been doing it for decades.

The PNAC docs, so forth, do not represent the introduction of these ideas into American politics, it simply puts it out there where people can read about them. This is the role of the university, after all. And we should be glad they're public, we can debate these ideas openly.

I studied both Machiavelli and Nietzsche in school. Their ideas have not turned me into a prince or an ubermensch.

However, I did attend school with people born into the upper classes, who most definitely are aware that they will be Princes of the Universe all their lives. They learn how to manipulate others, how to use wealth, power, in their cradles. More, they learn a sense of entitlement to the above.

Strauss, it seems to me, is teaching people the IDEAS, which have been around forever, of power and its acquisition, in an open university.

People NOT born into the ruling classes have need of their tools, do they not, if they are to effectively break down the barriers of privilege and class?

Fire back!

And thanks for the conversations, and the links, I appreciate them:)