Farewell to Bourgeois Kings

I was given this essay on the bigger implications for the collapse in Afghanistan for the legitimacy of the U.S. and Western ruling classes....

I suspect we are currently witnessing the catastrophic end of this metaphysical power of legitimacy that has shielded the managerial ruling class for decades. Anyone even briefly familiar with the historical record knows just how much of a Pandora’s box such a loss of legitimacy represents. The signs have obviously been multiplying over many years, but it is only now that the picture is becoming clear to everyone. When Michael Gove said ”I think the people in this country have had enough of experts” in a debate about the merits of Brexit, he probably traced the contours of something much bigger than anyone really knew at the time. Back then, the acute phase of the delegitimization of the managerial class was only just beginning. Now, with Afghanistan, it is impossible to miss.

I find the essay compelling and thought-provoking* and would appreciate the insights of better-read political philosophers who might be willing to actually wrestle with it.

(*It will not go down easy if you are a neoliberal globalist or a classic Marxist, but the authors point is that the Western ethos of technocrats "right-to-rule" has collapsed. It is not at all clear what will replace it.)

Interesting article but I don’t know if I agree with the authors hypothesis. See, the problem facing the west and also apparent in Afghanistan is one of education. Americas rule in the middle east is far to young to satisfy the indoctrination necessary in the founding of states. It is impossible to expect the citizens to defend an institution that they weren’t born into and that they — themselves — didn’t create.

In terms of our North American issues, the author may be on to something but they did not make it explicit from what I am reading. The loss of legitimate authority in a Liberal Democratic society very well could go the other way; that the society descends into tyrannical rule. If the people are disenfranchised by the elites, all it will take is an elite that reflects the struggles of the people to restore faith in a civic institution.

However, the thing with north America is that, even if the people grow tired of their rulers, we have the liberal institutions that are prima facie legitimate. So, what may happen — like Brexit — is that the people double down on their Liberal principles and just eradicate the illegitimate rule. States can change, borders change, but so long as the education system rears up liberal democrats, I don’t anticipate the West faces any significant threat to its existence.

But, that is exactly the issue we see with pedagogical theories in the education landscape. The change to hyper rational studies (such as discovery learning),invariably threatens the sanctity of the state. Moreover, educational theories that attack the foundations of the state, and degrade the legitimacy of its implementation (CRT) are very dangerous to the yoke of the public good.