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Reminds me of one of my favourite quotes by Huxley: "If you’re to do anything reasonable in this world, you must have a class of people who are secure, safe fr
by chancemehmu 3y ago
Reminds me of one of my favourite quotes by Huxley:
"If you’re to do anything reasonable in this world, you must have a class of people who are secure, safe from public opinion, safe from poverty, leisured, not compelled to waste their time in the imbecile routines that go by the name of Honest Work. You must have a class of which the members can think and, within the obvious limits, do what they please. You must have a class in which people who have eccentricities can indulge them and in which eccentricity in general will be tolerated and understood. That’s the important thing about an aristocracy. Not only is it eccentric itself—often grandiosely so; it also tolerates and even encourages eccentricity in others"
- leereeves 3y agoIt sounds like you're talking about an aristocracy, and the quote even uses that word, so I wonder: do you think the aristocracy is responsible for most of the progress in the world? I'd argue rather that, historically, progress has generally involved removing or disempowering the aristocracy.
- etrautmann 3y agonot the OP but presumably it depends whether you're referring to social progress, art, technology, etc.
- michaelt 3y agoHuxley being a famous author of dystopian and satirical fiction, that might be a quote from a fictional bad guy or idiot written by Huxley.
- ThrowawayR2 3y agoA casual check says the quoted text is from Huxley's Crome Yellow (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1999/1999-h/1999-h.htm https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1999/1999-h/1999-h.htm) and that the speaker is a character known only as Mr. Scogan, which some suggest is an analogue of Bertrand Russell.
- AnimalMuppet 3y agoIn Huxley's day, that was more true[1] than it is today. Look at someone like Lord Kelvin, for instance. State-sponsored science wasn't really a thing yet; most of it was done by people who had the time and money to pursue it. [1] That is, it was true of scientific progress. As you say, social progress often involved finding a way to destroy the aristocracy's stranglehold on money and power.
- ZeroGravitas 3y agoBaron Kelvin of Largs became that because of his work, not the other way round. His father was a University Professor. Having said that, in the history of science there's a surprising number of people who got to focus on their hobby due to family wealth, and access to all the best toys allowed them to claim a lot of firsts.
- j7ake 3y agoDepends what you mean by progress, but the flourishing of the arts and music in Vienna was possible because of the patronage of the Habsburgs.
- dustingetz 3y agohard to go to university for mathematics when you’re working the factory at age 12 alongside your parents. remember, life is “nasty brutish and short”
- trabant00 3y agoWeird, my view of history is that most progress in philosophy, arts, science, engineering, etc has come from aristocracy members who had the means to pursue something other than working for their next meal. That the aristocracy also spent their time exploiting the poor masses doesn't change that.
- lupire 3y agoBenjamin Franklin made a similar argument about civilization being dependent on a strong middle class of financially secure business owners who could afford time to engage in politics. The key difference is that Franklin's middle class wasn't interheted status.