Elites and Counter-Elites; the Saints and the Laity

Historian Peter Turchin (see "Could Be Even Worse in Dec. 2020 The Atlantic) is confident things will get worse for us because of "elite overproduction": we have too many who aspire to be elite but not enough elite positions. This causes unrest, anger, and the emergence of "counter-elites" who oppose those in power. He gives Trump and Steve Bannon as examples of an emergent counter-elite. The concept of "power elite" was developed by C. Wright Mills in his book of that title in 1957 and has become fundamental to our understanding of society. As an economic leftist in the 1950s Wright saw the interlocking, sometimes competing, elites (labor, capital, military, cultural, etc.) as collaborative in the capitalist-military dispensation. We have always had a variety of distinct, sometimes adversarial elites: wealthy Republicans, union leaders and social activists, intellectuals, bishops, and so forth. As we face the increasing strength and cohesion of hegemonic Cultural Liberalism, the idea of "counter-elites" becomes significant. Trump and Banon are an incoherent, angry populist response as they ally themselves with conservative Evangelicals and Catholics. In Sunday's NY Times, Ross Douthat asks "Can the Meritocracy Get God?" He answers in the negative for two reasons: the fierce individualistic ethos of autonomy and the rigid secularist aversion to anything transcendent or supernatural. His pessimism is understated: St. Jude (patron saint of hopeless cases) would not waste his prayers on this group. But the emergence of counter-elites is a promising possibility. I can think of three who will matter: conservatives in the elite culture, strong lay leaders in the Church, and the "not-power-elite", the holy ones. Within the elite class there is a vigorous, intelligent, confident cadre of strong conservatives. Douthat is himself a good example: intelligent, very well informed, rooted in a solid Catholic piety, he is able to draw what is best from the dominant culture while challenging the worst in a calm, confident and often light-hearted, humorous manner. At every Ivy League or prestigious school it is usually possible to find a remnant of such beautiful minds and souls. I am happy that my oldest grandchild will be attending Columbia University in the Fall for a number of reasons but perhaps the strongest is my hope that she discover for herself this island of wisdom and holiness. Second is lay leadership in the Church. Our hierarchy is in deep crisis for many reasons. Pope Francis with his ambiguity and confusion has heightened the crisis. Clerical leaders are in the awkward position of balancing loyalty to the Vatican and the unity of the Church with allegiance to our legacy and its clarity. Gratefully, we have Sarah, Mueller, Burke and a few others who speak clearly, but most bishops are quiet in the confusion. Providentially, in the half century since the Council we have seen the emergence of strong lay leaders, often in the renewal movements, who proclaim the faith boldly with fidelity to tradition and in a fresh, current fashion: Kiko Arguello, Ralph Martin, Reno and the First Things crowd, David Schindler and his faculty at the John Paul II Institute, even Raymond Arroyo and EWTN! These and others offer a countervailing elite so desperately needed by our Church in crisis. Last, but by far best: the holy ones, the saints. These move in the polar opposite direction from the upward-meritocratic-ladder: they deliberately descend to the bottom rungs of society, the hidden, marginal, forgotten. I recall a holy woman who asked that she could go to the poorest country in the world, find the most marginalized region therein, and the most desolute city, and the most miserable family in that city...and serve that family. Here we have: Mother Theresa burying herself in the slums of Calcutta, Charles de Foucault hidden in the desolute Sahara, Dorothy Day with her soup line, Kiko with his guitar and dogs and gypsies, Brother Andre and Father Solanus answering their doors and saying their prayers. This is the non-power elite: hidden, humble, peaceful, hopeful. They flee power and prestige, seek silence and solitude, associate with the lowest and poorest, and they become a light to the world! Their influence will countervail that of all the other elites. And there is no lack of opportunity there!