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Full Idea
When I consider any social system that prevails in the modern world, I can't see it as anything but a conspiracy of the rich to advance their own interests under the pretext of organizing society.
Gist of Idea
All modern social systems seem to be conspiracies of the rich
Source
Thomas More (Utopia [1516], Bk 2)
Book Ref
More,Thomas: 'Utopia', ed/tr. Turner,Paul [Penguin 1965], p.130
A Reaction
I'm afraid this is my own view of most conservative politics. I don't deny that there is a good case to be made for the conservative view (by Burke and Scruton, for example), but the rich will always latch onto its coat-tails. Cf. Idea 122.
Related Idea
Idea 122 Moral rules are made by the weak members of humanity [Plato]
| 23393 | Confucianism assumes that all good developments have happened, and there is only one Way [Norden on Kongzi (Confucius)] |
| 7257 | All modern social systems seem to be conspiracies of the rich [More,T] |
| 21988 | In the 1840s Hegel seemed to defend society being right as it is, as a manifestation of Mind [Hegel, by Singer] |
| 23817 | We need both equality (to attend to human needs) and hierarchy (as a scale of responsibilities) [Weil] |
| 23829 | National leaders want to preserve necessary order - but always the existing order [Weil] |
| 23107 | Prosperity is a higher social virtue than justice [Kekes] |
| 22259 | Conservatives are either individualistic, or communal [Sandel] |
| 7588 | Allegiance is fundamental to the conservative view of society [Scruton] |
| 8990 | So-called 'liberation' is the enemy of freedom, destroying the very structures that are needed [Scruton] |
| 20451 | Belief that humans are wicked leads to authoritarian politics [Critchley] |
| 22838 | Societies need shared values, so conservatism is right if rational discussion of values is impossible [Charvet] |
| 23126 | Conservatives often want peace, prosperity and tolerance, but not social fairness [Gopnik] |
| 23132 | Conservatives believe obedience and rank are essential to social order [Gopnik] |