3: New Forms of Democratic Belief
The natural evolution of the world slowly pursues its course, largely indifferent to the attempts of legislators to regulate it. It is vanity for a politician to believe he shapes the world, as his ability to rule depends on his peoples' willingness to follow his lead. Political strife arises when legislators pull in the wrong direction, and revolution occurs when they have gone too far.
The Conflict Between Capital and Labor
The conflict between labor and capital is a new problem, and will likely be one of the most difficult to resolve. In all countries, the working classes are discontented with the arrangement that has perpetuated thus far and are feeling their power to negotiate wit those who own the factories and farms on which their work is hired.
In the author's time, the industrial revolution was in its infancy, and there arose significant demand for labor, such that there was a shortage of workers. In this situation, employers become as bidders in a market for scarce goods - and laborers, who furnish the good, have become aware of their value.
It is remarked, with some irony, that it is people from poorer nations that are invading the wealthier ones, though as welcome invaders to supply labor to the industrial sector. Naturally, this gives rise to some consternation upon the domestic laborers, as the immigrant competition is very strong and quite willing to do work longer hours, attend less pleasant duties, and accept less pay for doing so. This upsets the equilibrium of the market for labor.
In a political sense, this is quite upsetting to the socialists, whose belief in the equality of labor is undone by such disparity. The promise of more pay for less work, which is the lure of socialism to the working classes, cannot be realized in a market where labor is plentiful and cheap. Thus, the situation dilutes their power as negotiators between labor and capital.
Le Bon considers the Chinese "invasion" of America and the difficulty that workers of the white race are facing given the influx of cheap labor form abroad, and it can already be seen in Europe where Chinese immigrants are "founding colonies" in London, Cardiff, and Liverpool. Their appearance anywhere has always lowered wages.
(EN: Le Bon terminates this meditation rather abruptly, stating that immigration is "a problem for the future" and considering the matter no further.)
The Evolution of the Working Classes
He then considers the rise of the syndicalist movement and corporations and the conflicts between the two. These two forces create collectives of men, like factions within a state, that are in constant conflict with one another.
He observes that certain corporations are comparable to some of the smaller nations in terms of their capital resources and number of employees. Entire towns are controlled by companies, and their foreign operations are run in the manner of colonies.
Syndicalism, meanwhile, is the organization of the workers. It is not a political movement, but a commercial alliance among tradesmen. It is likened to corporations in that some syndicates (trade unions) have as many members as some small nations - though, like corporations, the syndicates have only a commercial interest.
In another sense, syndicalism does aspire to politics. They have no love of socialists, and have attacked them on a number of occasions, as the socialists would have all labor controlled by the state whereas the syndicalist would entirely eliminate the state and divide society into small professional groups that are self-governing.
(EN: In more modern thought, syndicalism is regarded as a form of capitalism, with the syndicates representing "labor corporations" similar that act not as trade unions, but as contracting firms, and have found a relatively peaceful and symbiotic relationship with the owners of capital.)
While he does see some collaboration among socialists, syndicalist, and anarchists, they are like the revolutionary clubs of the French revolution. They have one desire in common - the suppression of the ruling class and the pillage of their wealth - and are otherwise not only different but incompatible in their interests.
The corporations and syndicates care nothing for the democratic principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity. They are merely negotiating parties over the profits of commercial activities. And while they have ongoing squabbles there is a clear recognition that they have common interests - as profit comes from production, and production requires both labor and capital. In essence, their whole argument revolves around how the profit should be apportioned.
And while this is largely an economic debate among private parties, the number of people involved in the conflict leads politicians to feel that society has a stake in the negotiations. And the warring factions are meanwhile hopeful of obtaining the use of government force to assist in their negotiations.
Government by Administrative Castes
It has been mentioned that most countries in Le Bon's time were mostly republics - and the power of government changes from one agenda to the next with each election. In extreme cases, a country that is "pulled to and fro" in this matter could have no stability - how then do republics manage to work with any degree of consistency?
Le Bon's explanation s simply this: "the ministers who have the appearance of governing really govern the country only to a very limited extent. Strictly limited and circumscribed, their power is exercised principally in speeches which are hardly noticed."
He then mentioned that there is an "anonymous power: in any community, against which a minister cannot prevail, which the author refers to as the "caste of functionaries" - in effect, the people who actually get things done in a community. Unless they consent to comply with government's demands, law is just so much ornate language - and those with the power to do things, or refuse to do them, wield power over those who wish to command them.
The anonymity of this power is not meant to connote an organized clandestine society - they are anonymous simply because they are not organized, but are merely an aggregate of all the people who have the power of action, and who generally have reasons for the actions they take that have nothing to do with political motives: they do things because they are a practical method of achieving what they want. They can be restrained or impeded, but they cannot be directed for long.