In a recent interview for the popular Czech podcast Tomáš Lukavec, we discuss – among other things – the frightening decline of education and sophistication shown by the current power elite. This actually opens up an even more interesting question: Why were the previous power elites so educated and sophisticated? Now we see that this is not at all obvious.
My explanation is based on the concept of human capital. When someone has spent decades studying and learning cultural codes (devoting themselves to self-cultivation), that is their investment and they protect that investment. That’s why he supports a situation where only those who have spent decades doing just that can get to the top. Of course, this favors the rich, because the poor didn’t have the opportunity to devote time to it, they had to go to a job. However, at the same time, it creates a certain value. It created a diplomatic class able to conduct complex strategies, to negotiate and prevent some wars. This is what Western diplomats looked like in the 1990s, and today’s Russian diplomacy is still a reminder of that time. I do not deny that Lavrov is our enemy, but he cannot be denied education, sophistication and strategic thinking.
This mechanism favouring education over primitivism lasted from the Austrian Empire through the Masaryk Republic (1918-38) and the communist system until the 1990s.
Only in recent decades has it been replaced by a different model where the underlying capital is mob mentality and possibly blind obedience.People like Foreign Minister Lipavsky without a university degree or Defence Minister Cernochova with her flamboyantly adolescent behaviour have no reason to promote sophistication and education.They are certainly not invested in it.