Monday 10 January 2011

Elite 'Cult of the Expert' Erodes


by Staff Report

The New Year usually starts with a new set of resolutions about things to do and what needs to be avoided. While most make resolutions concerning their physical health, not much attention is given to financial health or investment planning, say experts. – Times of India

Dominant Social Theme: It is necessary to listen to an expert.

Free-Market Analysis: In this article, we want to examine the dominant social theme of "expertise." This meme is much in the news these days because the Internet itself is making the elite's promotion of the "expert" increasingly untenable. Whether it is vaccinations (see other article this issue), archeology (a network of drowned cities around the world that are as yet resolutely unexplored) or high-finance itself, the truth-telling of the Internet is undermining the common wisdom and providing alternatives to expert perspectives.

It is important for investors, especially, to understand that the cult of the expert is gradually being eroded. This has important social consequences because modern Western societies are built around the idea that certain individuals have wisdom beyond others. Television is an incredible promoter of the cult of the expert and women are a special target because they are more often at home during the day. Daytime TV, in fact, bombards women with "experts."

The idea is to inculcate the perception that one is not qualified to make life decisions at any level. TV talk shows are to be seen as ministries of helplessness in this regard. Human action must not be taken before the appropriate professional is consulted. As the cult of the expert erodes, society will change. Even fundamental building blocks may begin to be challenged – and economic opportunities may change radically as a result. Those who can anticipate how the erosion of the cult of the expert will affect their societies will have an advantage when it comes to investing and professional situations.

There are other kinds of expertise that parallel economic expertise. Medical expertise is largely built around a base of pharmaceutical prescriptions because the power elite is much invested in Big Pharma. Scientific expertise is concentrated in areas that support the power elite's portfolio as well – military products, especially. Advertising expertise involves the promotion of a portfolio of multinational corporations. Political expertise concentrates on ways to advance a false right-left dichotomy that proposes public solutions to private problems at every level. Historical expertise often revolves around the "great-man" theory.

We can see in so many areas that the "expert" is merely the individual who has acquired the training (and degrees) necessary to properly promote the agenda of the Anglo-American power elite. It is an agenda that revolves around centralizing power and authority in order to expand global governance. When people refer to an "expert" they are referring to someone who has obtained advanced degrees in educational disciplines that promote the elite's centralizing agenda.

Conclusion: It might be said that the only real expert is the individual himself – and the only determinant of expertise is the way a decision interacts with the market in a real-life context. In a sense, therefore, experts and expertise are a kind of dominant social theme – promoted by the elite. People are taught to defer to those who have advanced degrees and illusory "authority." Doctors, scientists, lawyers and politicians – all are to be seen as experts, repositories of hard-won knowledge not available to the ordinary citizen. But in the end, the Invisible Hand will have the final say, not the "expert." The market is the final arbiter. The higher authority is natural law, not an advanced degree.

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