It has become such an ugly word: "Elite". People say the word as if it were a curse or a sin, hating on a class of people who have always and will always rule human society.
But no matter which side gains victory in the political conflict, whether or not democracy will be achieved, the elite will still rule Thailand, just like in all other countries around the world.
The elite are the politically and economically powerful, the rulers of society. The oligarchy sits atop the social ladder. The elite makes the rules and masterminds the game.
There's the idealism of democracy, rule by the people. Then there’s the reality of any organisation, including democratic ones, which by their very nature cannot escape the rule of the elite.
The "iron law of oligarchy" is a political theory first developed by German sociologist Robert Michels in his 1911 book, Political Parties. He would later become a member of the Nazi party.
The theory states the inevitability of elite rule in any organisation, democratic or otherwise. "Whoever says organisation, says oligarchy," Michels wrote.
An organisation, no matter how vertical or horizontal, whether it is fascist or socialist, has a hierarchy of bureaucracy. At the top of the hierarchy is always the elite.
We can look at the United States and United Kingdom, the two bastions of modern-day democracy.
The people in both countries have the power to vote for their leaders. But the elite have the monopoly on creating the choices, and most times they don’t give the people more than a couple of choices.
The vote is the prerogative of the democratic citizen. It is nice and all. But the power to create choices is, in a sense, godly.
In the United States, the two presidential candidates are fielded through a process of careful selection by two powerful organisations dominated by political and business interests.
Those two elite organisations are called the Democrat Party and the Republican Party. They create the choices. The people then get to choose between elite representative A and elite representative B.
No matter who ends up the president of the US, he or she will heed the people. But he or she will first and foremost walk the party line and take meetings with powerful lobbyists.
In the parliamentarian democracy of the United Kingdom, the people also have the power to choose. But it’s always a choice between two elite organisations dominated by the politically and economically powerful.
The Conservative Party and the Labour Party create the choices. Then there's the Liberal Democrats, a smaller group of the elite. All three organisations would also heed the people. But before that, they would walk the party line and take meetings with powerful lobbyists.
A village or a community, a society or a country, a company or a government; they are all organisational entities. Whether they are fascists or socialists, the elite sit atop the pyramid.
The iron law is inevitable for any organisation, bureaucracy or power. There is no such a thing as rule by the people. Yes, sometimes even a Nazi can make a good point.
Thailand’s political conflict is a contest for power between two elite organisations. Powerful political and business interests dominate both sides. No matter who wins and no matter if we become a fully fledged democracy, the elite will still rule.
The pertinent question is that of the two sides, which elite organisation is benevolent enough to foster freedom and human rights? Which elite grouping is capable enough to create political stability and economic opportunity? In other words, which elite entity is more willing and able to let the rest of society have a taste of the big mango?
Western democracies, though flawed in many ways, survive and thrive because the ruling oligarchy has managed to pacify the majority of the people with their share of the pie, crumbs, bits and all, with a touch of vanilla sauce on top.
To allow the rest of society a few bites of political and economic power, but not too much to upset the status quo; to make those powers sustainable at all levels; and to upkeep the illusion that the people actually have enough power to upset the status quo.
The freedom to choose is democratic. The power to create choices is godly. The elite are here stay, just as the middle class and the poor. The pyramid is but a geometrical metaphor of the human social condition.
Email Voranai Vanijaka at Voranai@gmail.com