EVENTS

Managerialism, as a dominant societal and governmental paradigm throughout the 20th century, particularly after World War II, represented a fundamental shift in the organisation and control of human affairs. It posited that objective, scientific management could effectively direct society, often bypassing traditional democratic or ideological frameworks.

This concept gained prominence through observations of evolving state structures and the perceived rationalisation of human behaviour.

The Emergence of the Managerial State

The theoretical underpinnings of managerialism gained significant traction in the mid-20th century, notably with the observation that industrialised nations were evolving into totalitarian managerial states.

Despite ideological differences, 02_ARCHIVE/05 people/Franklin D Roosevelt's America, Adolf Hitler's Germany, and Stalin's Russia shared a common characteristic of centralised, managerial control.

Britain, too, exhibited these characteristics, at times demonstrating even greater centralisation than the United States. All these states were subjected to extensive brainwashing and Propaganda, rendering them no more genuinely free than those in overtly authoritarian regimes, with their governments being no less manipulative.

The World War I inadvertently fostered an early form of managerial cooperation between nations. While the United States officially maintained neutrality, extensive and covert collaboration occurred between the American and British navies. This clandestine cooperation, known only to President Woodrow Wilson at its full extent, included actions like firing on unsighted German submarines in the North Atlantic, demonstrating a practical alliance driven by shared interests.

World War II further solidified the shift towards managerial power structures. The United States’ decisive role in defeating Hitler enabled it to exert significant influence over large parts of Europe. Post-war narratives in America often propagated the notion that American government actions were solely responsible for the collapse of the Soviet Union, fostering a belief in American power's capacity to aggressively spread democracy.

This era also witnessed an aggressive form of cultural imperialism, exemplified by the imposition of Jazz in occupied Germany, frequently featuring Black American Jazz acts. This cultural penetration, which began even before the war, intensified afterwards, leading to a psychological Americanisation of European minds.

The Engineering of Consent and Public Relations

A cornerstone of managerialism was the development and widespread application of techniques for social and psychological engineering. Edward Bernays, nephew of Sigmund Freud, pioneered the field of public relations, aiming to manage and alter the thoughts and feelings of populations in mass industrial societies.

Bernays believed that appealing to unconscious desires could effectively manipulate masses, enabling the Engineering of Consent for broad societal goals, particularly the American way of life. He famously argued that the American people, not being rational, could only be swayed by touching on their inner fears and manipulating them in the interests of a "higher truth".

This manipulation extended to the economy, where Bernays promoted "consumptionism," defining the American citizen's primary importance as a consumer rather than a citizen.

He linked products to unconscious desires and encouraged ordinary people to invest in the stock market by borrowing money. His methods swiftly gained traction in Britain, making American products and ideals fashionable and fostering an Americanisation of desires.

The media played a crucial role in this process. Journalism, historically holding a degree of independence, increasingly functioned as an adjunct of the government, actively suppressing uncomfortable truths to maintain morale and support for war efforts. This systematic control of information contributed to The Boomer Truth Regime-  a pervasive narrative where the victory of World War II justified all actions, regardless of factual accuracy or logic.

Within this regime, enemies were demonised as "monsters" rather than examining the underlying social and political factors contributing to their rise.

"Perception management" became a central tenet of both political and commercial strategies, with the explicit understanding that "perception is as important as the reality". This involved manufacturing public belief in existential threats to justify aggressive policies.

Managerialism in Post-War Governance and Economy

The post-war era saw the entrenchment of managerial principles across government and economic sectors. The vision of society moving towards an iron cage of rationality, where everything was managed and rationally done, but at the cost of enchantment and mystery, gained currency.

This vision implied a bureaucratic age where values and moral truths were questioned in favour of individual selfish desires, threatening societal cohesion.

In Britain, Margaret Thatcher's government, advised by the public choice theory of James Buchanan, operated on the premise that politicians and civil servants were self-interested hypocrites, motivated by personal gain rather than public duty. Buchanan's ideas were used to justify the dismantling of the post-war consensus and the opening of Britain to global markets.

Thatcher's deregulation of the City of London in 1986 significantly altered the financial landscape, replacing the traditional banker with the aggressive trader and fostering a free-for-all where the marketplace determined wealth and power. This shift, observed in corporate figures like James Goldsmith, saw a breaking down of old power systems in favour of market-driven success, often characterised by a what's in it for me ethos.

The American military, too, underwent a significant managerial transformation. Alan Enthoven, a nuclear strategist from the RAND Corporation, developed "systems analysis" – a mathematical system for managing human organisations by removing emotional and subjective values and replacing them with rational, objective methods, mathematically defined targets and incentives.

This approach, implemented in ThePentagon by Robert McNamara, explicitly aimed to purge patriotism as a guiding force in favour of numerical efficiency. This created a linguistic void, where traditional "blood and soil" rhetoric was replaced by dry, bureaucratic jargon like "collateral damage," which served to obscure the realities of war and allowed politically correct values to be injected into the system.

Economically, American foreign aid became a powerful weapon to influence recipient nations' policies, as seen with loans to Ghana's Nkrumah. The Shock Therapy approach, initially applied in Russia to dismantle state control and privatise industries, was subsequently replicated in Iraq after the 2003 invasion, with similarly devastating consequences for civic structures and leading to insurgency. This narrow interpretation of freedom often resulted in violence and torture in attempts to enforce it.

The Socially Engineered Self

Managerialism also extended into the realm of the individual self. Initial psychoanalytic theories, as championed by Freud, posited that human beings were driven by primitive animal instincts that needed to be repressed for societal stability.

However, this was challenged by figures like Wilhelm Reich, who argued that these unconscious forces were inherently good and their repression by society led to distortion and danger. This shift in understanding fostered an encouragement of self-expression, ultimately leading to the emergence of an "isolated, vulnerable, and above all greedy self" that was more susceptible to manipulation by both business and politics.

This new emphasis on the self was commodified. Marketing and advertising industries adopted psychotherapeutic techniques to delve into consumers' deepest feelings and desires, linking products and services to these unconscious needs through images and symbols. Focus groups became instrumental in categorising people not by social class, but by their "inner psychological needs," leading to tailored product ranges and a culture of consumption where individuals expressed identity through their purchases.

The shift was profound: from societal control through repression to control through the endless feeding of desires. This new individualism, particularly evident in the Thatcher-Reagan era, presented itself as liberation but ultimately facilitated greater manipulation.

Consequences and Critiques

The pervasive nature of managerialism led to several critical outcomes:

• Disenchantment: The relentless pursuit of a rational, managed society, as envisioned by Burnham's "iron cage," resulted in a loss of enchantment and a diminished sense of mystery in the world.
• Social Stratification: Despite rhetoric of liberating individuals from class and fostering choice, managerial systems in both Britain and America presided over a stark rise in inequalities and a dramatic collapse in social mobility, leading to a more rigid and stratified society than seen since the Second World War.
• Pseudo-Freedom: The freedom offered was often a "very strange kind of Freedom", a narrow, constantly calculating self-interest, rather than genuine collective or public good. This hyper-individualism, as described by Norman Mailer, bred alienation and a refusal to be part of any group.
• Hypocrisy and Cynicism: The political class, embracing managerial techniques, often engaged in "perception management," where the public image was consciously manipulated to override reality. This fostered cynicism regarding public service, as politicians were seen as pursuing self-interest while claiming to act for the greater good.
• Systemic Failures: The application of target-driven managerialism to public services, while intended to improve efficiency, often led to perverse outcomes, as individuals "gamed the system" to meet arbitrary metrics rather than genuinely solving problems. This created a "managerial autism," where adherence to process overshadowed actual results.
• Totalitarian Tendencies: The underlying logic of managerialism often led to a form of "absolutism" where alternative ideas were not debated but demonised and "cancelled". This "total war" doctrine, applied by nations like America and Britain, created a perpetual state of conflict against an ever-shifting "enemy". The system supports dictators who can contain revolutionary forces, even at the expense of human rights, while simultaneously promoting "democracy" abroad.
• Control through Simulation: The omnipresence of social media and algorithms created a "madness engine,"where constant information and shifting narratives meant "nothing actually matters" and public discourse became a "controlled opposition" in a "small allowable box". This fostered a sense of being "trapped" in an endless, often nonsensical, conversation.
• Loss of Authentic Self and Community: The focus on self-expression and individual desires, while presented as liberation, alienated individuals from societal concerns and fostered a sense of isolation. This created a paradox where people, despite striving for individuality, became more alike in their consumerist desires. It also eroded traditional community structures and created a "shame" around working in service to others.
• Erosion of Expertise and Truth: The transition from objective reporting to journalistic "entertainment" and "confessional columns" contributed to a landscape where journalists often acted as "stenographers for power," lacking independent intellectual judgment. The manipulation of information meant that the public often received an "extremely inaccurate picture" of events. The argument arose that the public, inherently seeking "slop," would gravitate towards superficial content if not guided by elites.

In essence, managerialism transformed society by applying rationalistic, scientific, and psychological methods to control populations and manage economies, often leading to unintended consequences such as social rigidity, economic inequality, and a pervasive sense of manipulation and disenchantment. It presented itself as a neutral, efficient approach, yet it consistently privileged particular values and outcomes, ultimately shaping the political and social landscape of the 20th century.

The Modern Elite Class

The contemporary liberal or left-leaning elite class has a profound disconnect from mainstream societal concerns and a tendency towards social engineering, often stemming from a misguided sense of intellectual superiority.

Characteristics and Disconnection

This elite class now perceives itself as being in a different social class due to academic degrees and pedigrees, and that they themselves are uniquely qualified to socially engineer society, viewing the working class as unintelligent peasants needing guidance.

Their profound disconnection from the realities faced by the general population is evident in their lack of understanding regarding male/female relationships, dating, marriage, family life, and the enduring relevance of religious faith, particularly Christianity.

Critique of Soft Sciences and Dogma

Fields such as psychology, sociology, and economics are often categorised by this elite as sciences, yet their methodologies are in reality dogmatic rather than truly scientific. While data gathering within these fields can employ scientific methods for minor aspects, the core study of the mind, behaviour, or non-material phenomena does not inherently constitute science. Predictive models generated within human sociology and economics are frequently inaccurate. Psychologists, for instance, have not cured mental illness, because it is not a disease. Policies derived from these models inevitably affect the working class profoundly, leading to widespread frustration.

The Exemplary Farmer: A Counterpoint

In stark contrast to this elite, the farmer embodies practical knowledge, generational wisdom, and multifaceted skills. Farming knowledge is acquired over generations, detailing intricate understanding of land, planting, crop selection, and soil pH balance. Farmers are highly resourceful and intelligent, often functioning as welders, scientists, chemists, and general handymen out of necessity. They operate under tight margins, necessitating ingenuity to keep equipment running with fewer resources. The critical importance of farmers is highlighted by the observation that the absence of a thousand farmers would significantly impact society, unlike the removal of a thousand bureaucrats or newspaper columnists. The working class holds a deep-seated disdain for bureaucrats, viewing them as ineffective and burdensome.

The distinction between the liberal elite and the working person is akin to the difference between a theoretician who can recite complex equations and an engineer who can build and maintain a functional machine; one possesses abstract knowledge, the other, applied expertise.