The Betrayal Of The Elites

In an important new book, political scientist Yuval Levin argues that we have lost faith in our institutions—public, private, civic, and political.

We need institutions, including families, associations, churches, corporations, trade unions, political parties, professions such as law and medicine, as well as the formal institutions of government such as Congress, the presidency, and the courts.

They are, as Levin puts it, “the durable forms of our common life.” They serve purposes or missions, like educating the young, resolving disputes, or defending the country. They give life meaning by assigning roles, teaching self-control, and enforcing standards. In the process, they form the character of those who participate in them.

But we no longer trust them. What went wrong?

From Molds to Platforms

There has been a big shift in the way elites, those who play a leadership role in our institutions, treat them. Instead of seeing their institution as a mold that forms and shapes their character and behavior, they treat them as platforms for promoting their own.

Think of a new member of Congress, who is less interested in learning and conforming to the traditions and expectations of the House than using it as a platform for gaining fame and celebrity. Congress—by its own will, Levin argues—has become increasingly weak and ineffectual. Its members seek publicity and fame through social media and other avenues even before learning or accomplishing anything of substance in Congress itself.

Indeed, Levin notes, political leaders often appeal to their outsider status—claiming not to be part of the Washington bubble or swamp themselves—as a way to enhance their own power. Even as leaders, they criticize their own institutions as if they were not themselves responsible or in charge of them.

The one exception to the breakdown of confidence in institutions is the military. In that case, the formation of character—fitting those serving with the sense of duty, mission, and self-effacement of one’s own interest—is recognized and primary. It’s rare for a soldier in uniform to use the military as a platform to promote himself, not, anyway, until resigning or retiring from duty. We trust the military, beyond other institutions, to do its job of forming those who serve.

Levin shows the need to rebuild institutions and to form elites who can better lead them. He spends much space criticizing anti-elite populism.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/betrayal-elites

Top NSC Official Could Be Reassigned Amid Speculation She Is ‘Anonymous’

Top Trump administration officials are discussing reassigning a senior National Security Council (NSC) official to the Department fo Energy, amid speculation she is “anonymous” — the author who penned an anti-Trump op-ed that later became a book, according to a report.

Axios reported Monday that two sources familiar with the planning said that Deputy National Security Adviser Victoria Coates, who was elevated to the role just two months ago, could be transferred amid an effort by some within the administration to tag her as “anonymous.”

The outlet said her working relationship with National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien is “strained.” Coates reportedly denied being “anonymous” to colleagues, and one of the literary agents of the book released a statement that said Coates is not the author, did not edit the book, did not see it in advance, and did not know about it.

The discussions involve Coates potentially taking on a senior role at the Energy Department, according to Axios.

National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot told Breitbart News in a statement, “We do not comment on personnel matters.”

There have been several departures from the NSC in recent weeks. Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and his twin brother, Army Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, were both reassigned from the NSC back to the Army.

Vindman testified during the House impeachment inquiry that he was so disturbed by the president’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he reported it to the NSC’s general counsel along with his brother. He likely also spoke with the “whistleblower,” whose complaint launched the House Democrats’ impeachment effort.

O’Brien recently described their removal as his decision and part of a restructuring of the NSC. Under the Obama administration, the NSC ballooned in size. Ullyot told Breitbart News the restructuring continues.

“We remain on track to meeting the rightsizing goal Ambassador O’Brien outlined in October, and in fact may exceed that target by drawing down even more positions,” he said.

In October, O’Brien wrote in an op-ed that policy positions at the NSC would go from 174 to under 120 by early 2020.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/02/18/report-top-nsc-official-could-be-reassigned-amid-speculation-she-is-anonymous/

Rudolf Steiner, Secret Societies & ‘The Ahrimanic Deception’

For those who believe there is an ‘occult’ or ‘spiritual war’ taking place between forces of ‘light’ and ‘darkness’, or ‘good’ and ‘evil’, and that this ‘war’ manifests on the material and mortal planes politically, culturally, spiritually, and economically, it is often surprisingly difficult to discern the affiliations in this ‘battle’, with the multitude of occult Orders, Schools and personalities. These often use similar or even identical terminologies and symbols, and draw on the same traditions and origins. In such a situation well-meaning people are easily duped into supporting long-range aims of which they do not understand.

Occult War: Adepts ‘Black’ & ‘White’

The definition of ‘good and evil’, or ‘light and dark’, metaphysically can – from an esoteric perspective – be regarded as a dichotomy between those who seek a higher spiritual path for mankind, and those who seek to enchain man to matter. This dichotomy is well portrayed in the standard depictions of ‘The Devil’ trump in the Tarot Major Arcana.1 Paul Foster Case, founder of the Builders of the Adytum, gave a particularly apt explanation:

In its most general meanings, it signifies Mammon and thus big business, the conventions of society, the injustice and cruelty of a social order in which money takes the place of God, in which humanity is bestialised, in which war is engineered by greed masquerading as patriotism, in which fear is dominant. Students of astrology will have no difficulty in seeing how this corresponds to Capricorn, the sign of big business, and the sign of world fame.2

One sees in this Trump a male and female human each starting to take on the appearance of wild beasts – with horns and tails – enchained to a solid block, representing matter, with the Devil enthroned. As Case states, it is symbolic of the reign of Mammon, which is ushered in by materialistic doctrines such as Capitalism and Marxism, keeping humanity focused on lower pursuits in the guise of ‘progress’ and ‘freedom’.

Occultists such as René Guenon, Aleister Crowley and Julius Evola3 have sought to identify contending Schools as ‘White’ and ‘Black’ Brotherhoods, or as ‘Right’ and ‘Left’ Hand Paths.

Given the confusion that exists – because individuals and occult currents that are diametrically opposed often claim to represent the same traditions – the biblical injunction ‘by their fruits ye shall know them’ is the best formula for identifying motives, although this also is often obscure. For example, the notorious English occultist Aleister Crowley, whose ‘evil’ antics played up to the tabloid press, could easily be regarded as a ‘Black Adept’. Although Crowley claimed to work in the tradition of, among others, and for unclear reasons, the 18th century Black Adept Adam Weishaupt and his crypto-Masonic Illuminati, Crowley sought to expose the spiritual war that was taking place between the ‘White’ and ‘Black’ Adepts,4 while his doctrine of Thelema is antithetical to the doctrine of the Illuminati.5 Also, while having been a Freemason, as was Eliphas Levi,6 Rene Guenon7 condemned the Black Adepts who had subverted and redirected Masonry.8

http://cosmiconvergence.com/2016/02/01/rudolf-steiner-secret-societies-the-ahrimanic-deception/