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From Plato to Rousseau, to John Locke, and to our contemporary Francis Fukuyama, political theorists have attempted to look back to find he agents of change of civilization. In the Revolt of the Masses, Jose Ortega y Gasset focuses on the phenomenon of the mass-man as the source of the changes –for ill or good– in the European and American societies.
One of the most important books of our era. by
Read this book. If you don’t walk away with a deeper and broader understanding of our modern condition, I’ll eat my hat. Gasset wasn’t a class warrior or an elitist. He was a keen observer of humanity and the times. He shows us that what divides us is our willingness to challenge ourselves to be better. Our conception of self as either mass (think Sarah Palin) or specially qualified divides us, and tha mass have taken over. America’s love affair with “everyday Americans” is the rot in the foundation of society. Read this book to find the inspiration to become exceptional, and the humility to follow those who already are
Essential for an understanding of our times and the events of the twentieth century leading up to it
The little known book gives by far the most clear and thought provoking explanation for the social phenomena of our times, and the events in the twentieth century which informs and underpins these events. The arguments presented are based on the following observation: The “masses” are in revolt. By the “masses” are understood to be those people who in their own eyes have no special quality or qualification which singles them out. The “revolt” which Ortega speaks of is not a primarily political one, but a revolt against the very destiny of the mass man. This revolt is seen in the way in which the masses occupy the spaces and institutions of civilization, created for minorities by minorities. The mass man enjoys all the benefits of civilization, without giving a thought as to the enormous effort that went into obtaining these benefits, considering the marvels of civilization as a mere product of nature, like the air he breaths.
The consequences of this new mass man and his revolt is investigated in several different settings, including politics and science.
As Niall Ferguson recenlty said of some choice passages in “Wealth of Nations” regarding the ‘stationary state’, ‘I defy the Western reader not to feel an uneasy sense of recognition in contemplating [this book]’. It is amazing how much of what Gasset observed in 1930 is still true today, if not even more so.