Scientific-Technological Elite | Banned.Video

Technology and science are tools of the rulers.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower's farewell address in 1961 included a warning about the potential danger of a “scientific-technological elite” and the risk of public policy becoming captive to it. Eisenhower was concerned about the conflict between the people in general and specialists, and he meant that every American should be alert to balance the needs of science and the public. He was concerned about the dilemma that scientific and technological advances present to modern society, as they force democratic societies to increasingly depend on a rarified elite to understand and manage the very complexity that they help to create and accelerate. The term “scientific-technological elite” has become a pejorative term, and Eisenhower's use of it made it safe for anyone to invoke it to question those with influence and their motives.

“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Technocracy

Technocracy has been the subject of debate, with many arguing that it poses a potential threat to freedom and democracy. Technocracy is often defined as a system of government or management in which “experts” are in control of decision-making. Critics of technocracy raise concerns about its intersections with elite domination and minoritarian rule, as well as its potential to undermine public citizenship and deep democracy. The technocracy movement, which was active in the United States and Canada in the 1930s, favored technocracy as a system of government over political democracy. However, critics argued that the socially desirable goals that technology made possible could be achieved without the sacrifice of existing institutions and values. Some have also raised concerns about the “tyranny of targets” associated with technocracy, highlighting the potential for depoliticisation as a governing strategy. In a technocracy, the decision-making power is often in the hands of “experts” who are not elected, which has led to concerns about the lack of accountability and the potential for bad policy ideas to be implemented without public consent.

Source: Scientific-Technological Elite