Introduction: Managerial state | Wikipedia:
November 24, 2023 - "The 'managerial state' is a concept used in critiquing modern procedural democracy. The concept is used largely, though not exclusively, in paleolibertarian, paleoconservative, and anarcho-capitalist critiques of late modern state power in Western democracies. Theorists Samuel T. Francis and Paul Gottfried, developing ideas inspired by the analytical framework of James Burnham, say this is an ongoing regime that remains in power, regardless of what political party holds a majority.... Variations on the concept include the therapeutic managerial state, welfare–warfare state, administrative state, and polite or soft totalitarianism. There is significant overlap between the concepts of the managerial state and the deep state....
"Theorists of the managerial state claim this constellation of factors tends towards the efflux of totalitarianism.... Francis, following James Burnham, said that under this historical process, 'law is replaced by administrative decree, federalism is replaced by executive autocracy, and a limited government replaced by an unlimited state.' It acts in the name of abstract goals, such as freedom, equality or positive rights, and uses its claim of moral superiority, power of taxation and wealth redistribution to keep itself in power.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Managerial_state
The Managerial Class has been replaced by a Credentialist Class | X | Nikolaos:
November 26, 2023: "Burnham & Francis’s theory of the Managerial Revolution needs [to be] updated. The Managerial Class has been replaced by a Credentialist Class.
"Managerial Elites derive their power from technical ability to manage systems; our current elites clearly posses no such ability. At some point, technical managerial skill ceased to be the dominant trait selected for in the jungle of high power, and instead résumé-building, favor-brokering, and ideological-signaling skills gained favor. Notice job-hoppers and fail-uppers collecting badges and climbing higher up in the canopy everywhere you look? Snakes with poisoned fangs overtook the Foxes, who long ago displaced the Lions.
"Just as Lions sought to augment their power by leveraging Foxes but only ended up ceding power to Foxes, so too have Foxes given way to Snakes: leveraging their power with assets the new elites provided, the old elites were nevertheless usurped by the new until remnants of their authority began to dissolve in their hands like a crumbling sand castle.
"The Cathedral learned that it could launder credentials in much the same way the State learned it could launder currency: the Dollar and Diploma were once backed by something, but the elites entrusted to control these resources removed the gold which underpinned them and have instead been printing and giving them to friends in a patronage scheme, devaluing the assets to the price of paper and ink. But the illusion of value remains: they rule because they control the dollars and diplomas and if you disagree then they won’t give you any dollars or diplomas.
"One could argue that Credentialism is just a part or conclusion of Managerialism but I see two fundamental differences: 1) Managerial Elites offered a bold, aspirational vision for humanity. Scientific Utopianism was always fake, but at least it was gilded. The Credentialist Elites, on the other hand, have since the turn of the century offered no positive vision or ideal... 2) A veneer of competence and legitimacy covered Managerialism. When a Managerial Elite said 'The vaccine is safe and effective and will stop the spread,' you believed them and they were probably even right because they had to be competent to rise to power. Credentialist Elites offer no evidence of competence — in fact they have offered the opposite at every turn. They acknowledge things are changing for the worse, tell their clients to 'just suck it up', and shame or even criminalize those who won’t; Economic, social, and spiritual pillars now lie in ruin, and the new elites dance atop them in a way that the old wouldn’t dare; Order is spinning into chaos; The emperor has no clothes; The Narrative has been exposed as a lie — they know it, we know it, and they know that we know it.
"Maybe this is the logical conclusion of Managerialism, and the Managers have merely mutated. One thing is certain, anyways: these are not your grandfather’s elites. Kamala Harris doesn’t have technical managerial skills. Joe Biden doesn’t have technical managerial skills. Claudine Gay doesn’t have technical managerial skills. These elites were selected for their credentials: i.e. the titles they’ve held, the boxes they check, the favors they owe. You could argue they are mere puppets for the actual managerial elite. There are some competent managers in the machines behind them, yes, but their numbers dwindle. A new Type emerges, like a weed, everywhere....
"Like the Managerial Elite, the Credentialed are ten thousand tyrants protected behind an Ephel Duath of procedure and legal papers. But their power and legitimacy is oil drawn of a different well, and you can see very clearly how Leviathan’s engine runs differently for it. We ought to update our mental models accordingly."
Read more: https://twitter.com/Nikolaoz/status/1728922994859184535
