Populism Against Progress: and the Collapse of Aspirational Values

The increasing complexity of industrial society, together with the prospect of economic and environmental threats on a scale never before experienced, entails an ever-greater demand on the educational and citizenship-skills of the ordinary individual. An appropriately educated public is needed to ensure effective democracy, and also, that suitably qualified men and women are elected to power - and this is something which transcends the narrow factor of party politics. Unfortunately, as this book demonstrates, in the industrialised world today we live in a society where standards of education and good citizenship are declining, relative to the increasing complexity of the financial-industrial infrastructure, and the prospect of unprecedented threats on the horizon. The author attributes this decline to what he identifies as populism, defined as the short-termism of the easy option which compounds rather than resolves the issues of life. These are traced to two main sources: firstly, the faulty values promoted by or arising from political decision-making; and secondly, from the malign influence of marketing forces on public attitudes in dumbing-down standards in so many spheres of life. Whilst a new perspective is put on politics, of most significance is the emphasis placed on education. The question of maintaining high culture, and correlating this with the needs of a classless and democratic society, is a theme which dominates the book. The appeal for raising aspirational standards in a heterogeneous society, challenge some of the totemic ideas in contemporary education, such as the questionable value of relativism and post-modernism as a preparation for good citizenship. A sociological analysis of populism reveals it as the cancer of democracy. The breadth of the subject matter covers such issues as Islamic fundamentalism in barring the path to progress; the self-destructiveness of Western politics through a facile view of our real condition; and a glance at the arts. A broad canvas, covering many disciplines in the social sciences, is evoked in furthering the crucial arguments in this interesting book.

Table of Contents:
CONTENTSpagePreface - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . vCHAPTER 1The Hidden Poison of Populism 1 The ultimate threat to civilisation - - - - - - - - - 12 The fragility of democracy - - - - - - - - - - - . 23 Populism as the cancer of democracy - - - - - - - 24 Deceptive tendency of representative government - - . 35 Democratic sovereignty is an amoral mechanism - - . 46 Self-deception of proponents of democracy - - - - .. 57 Democracy vital for technological progress - - - - . 68 Symptoms of populism - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8CHAPTER 2The Beneficent Power of Culture1 Culture as the bonding mechanism of society - - - - 102 The rise and fall of cultures - - - - - - - - - - - 113 Categories of world cultures - - - - - - - - - - . 124 The absorption and annihilation of cultures - - - - .. 145 The hidden power of smaller cultures - - - - - - - 146 The benefits of civilisation as a moral problem - - - 167 When benevolent intervention incites politicalcollapse - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . 178 When dominated peoples pull down the props of their own culture - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 18CHAPTER 3The Populism of Islamic Fundamentalism1 Incompatibility between the Islamic and Westerncivilisations - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 212 A Conflict arising through moral values rather thaneconomic factors - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 223 Distinctive characteristics of Islamic civilisation - - . 244 Imperialistic success of Islamic fundamentalism - - . 255 Idolatry and materialism of the West - - - - - - - 266 The Faustian alchemy of the primitive West - - - - 277 The stasis of Chinese civilisation in the 15th century - 308 National rivalry drove forward Western technology - 319 Fundamentalism is the destructive populism ofIslamic civilisation - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3210 Liberal attitudes towards Islam are not reciprocated - 3311 When accusations of Islamophobia are based onfalse premises - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3412 Islam's successful conquest of the Roman Empire ... 3613 How Islam should have responded to allegedIslamophobia - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 37CHAPTER 4The Battle for Freedom through Education1 Freedom must begin with defining individual needs - 402 How Socialist modes of thought undermined the understanding of freedom - - - - - - - - - - - 413 Function of education to maximise the freefulfilment of the individual - - - - - - - - - - - 424 But relativism is undermining this task of education - 435 Importance of Heroic role models in education - - - 456 Absurd methods used in thought-stimulation - - - - 477 How relativism in education makes for boredom - - - 488 The humanities as a universal study subject in theegalitarian society - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 499 Suggested reading matter on the school curriculum - - 51CHAPTER 5Social Bonding through Cultural Education1 How history should be taught - - - - - - - - - - 532 Critique of contemporary history teaching - - - - - . 553 History texts should aim for memory retention - - - .. 564 Success of the great historians of the past - - - - - ... 575 The teaching of history should be all-inclusive - - - - 596 Resolving the memory of international conflictthrough history teaching - - - - - - - - - - - - . 607 Explaining but not excusing past conflict - - - - - - 628 Importance of presenting diverse views in stimulating thought and discussion - - - - - - - - 639 Totalitarian values of no benefit in the teaching of history - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . 6410 Pictorial representation as a stimulus to the study of history - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 6511 Early education should be guided by the rule ofobedience - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . 6712 Teaching citizenship and democracy - - - - - - - - 6913 Early teaching of practical life in the home - - - - - .7114 Excessive bureaucracy and the failure of educational standards - - - - - - - - - - - - - . 72CHAPTER 6The Failure of Class-based Politics to Resolve Our Needs1 Populism and the crisis of Western culture - - - - - 752 The progress of egalitarianism - - - - - - - - - - 763 How party politics sustains the class divide - - - - - 774 Class-based politics has led to the electorate'sdisgust - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 785 Why the left is incapable of creating the classless society - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 806 How the left's class prejudice is influenced by cultural rather than economic factors - - - - - - - 817 Need to differentiate between a Working Class anda Classless society - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 82 8 Left/right party politics is no longer capable of advancing democracy - - - - - - - - - - - - - 84CHAPTER 7The Self-destructiveness of Contemporary Politics1 The parliamentary left has never challenged themalign aspects of rentier capitalism - - - - - - - 862 Weighing the philanthropy of the left and right - - .. 873 In the near future the right may promote the classless society no less than the left - - - - - - - 894 Inescapable movement towards the one-party state - 915 The spirit of collectivism is now hindering social progress - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .. 926 The need for individualism in an upwardly-aspiringsociety - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .. 947 Labour's downward-enforcing egalitarianism ineducation - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ... 95 8 The historical divide between high and low culture - . 979 Downwards and upwards egalitarianism compared - . 9910 Why high culture should be for all - - - - - - - . 100CHAPTER 8Corporate Power and the Corruption of Society1 Why advertising is an insolent intrusion onprivate life - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .. 1022 How corporate advertising appeals to human weakness - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . 1033 How marketing degrades products and services - - . 1044 Discrimination and taste is degraded bycorporate power - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .. 1065 The corrupting power of corporate marketing - - - 1076 Personalisation policies are an alternative to the privatisationA" of the right and the statismA" of theleft - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1097 Benefits of direct democracy and devolved power - - 1118 A universal proprietorial class would repudiatepopulism - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1129 The alienated give rise to the populist society - - - . 113CHAPTER 9The Debasement of Culture by Marketing Forces1 Practicality of high culture shared by all economic groups - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .. 1152 Differentiation between Anglo-Saxon and Continentalmiddle class attitudes and values - - - - - - - - 1163 High cultural egalitarianism on the Continent andin the Far East - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . 1174 Cultural decline of BBC TV since the 1950s - - - . 1195 The failure of historical realism in BBC drama - - . 1216 Degradation of contemporary television - - - - - 1227 Idealising the sad, the bad, and the mad - - - - - . 1238 How marketeers insult the less privileged - - - - - 126 9 The self-deception of marketing promoters - - - - 12810 Egalitarianism: notional and real - - - - - - - - 130CHAPTER 10Reversing Social and Cultural Decline1 Permanence of human physicality but impermanenceof culture - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . 1322 Contrast between young and mature cultures - - - . 1333 When maturity turns to decline - - - - - - - - - 1354 Distinction between Creative Reflection and Pedantic Reflection - - - - - - - - - - - - - . 1385 The cultural problem in maintaining artisticstandards - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . 1396 The gap between the ideal and the actual in socio-political life - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1407 The urgent need for integrative theory - - - - - - 1418 Value of Constructive philosophies past and future - 1439 New Idealism is the key to social progress - - - - 144INDEX - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .. 147

About the Author :
Robert Corfe is a prolific author who has written extensively on the benefits of social capitalism. He is a political scientist and businessman, with considerable experience of political life, and in this book he elaborates on the ills of populism in undermining standards in many spheres of life, and how aspirational values may be promoted in meeting the challenges of an increasingly dangerous world. For many years he was a senior manager in manufacturing industry, and later a management consultant advising SMEs, usually in the engineering sector. He is also the author of two autobiographical books under different pseudonyms: Death in Riyadh dark secrets in hidden Arabia (Geoff Carter), based on his experiences as a businessman in the Middle East in the 1980s, and, My Conflict With A Soviet Spy the story of the Ron Evans spy case (Eddie Miller), based on his adventures in Scandinavia in the 1960s. In 1987 he founded the Campaign For Industry, to which he was elected Chairman, and for which he wrote many pamphlets on the problems of contemporary business. His broad experience, frequent travels overseas, and years of residence in Continental Europe have given him a unique perspective of socio-economic issues.