Last Sunday afternoon, after cycling for 40 minutes, Rigo and I sat down read the Aesop's fables. He is already very advanced in reading the book, and there is La Fontaine waiting. On that occasion the fable was that of the dying peasant and his children, also known as the treasure in the vineyard. At that moment, he realized that the German sociologist, Robert Michelshad taken Aesop to illustrate the conclusion of his book on political parties. Now far from the sphere of scientific research and teaching, it was thought to share here in Readings, THE DEBATE, this discovery that was made while reading the Greek Aesop with Rigo.
Let us first return to some notes on the German sociologist and his position between autocracy (RAE: “Form of government in which the will of a single person is the supreme law”) and democracy: “Robert Michels stated, in the social sciences, the law iron of oligarchy: In every social organization an oligarchy tends to form and it seeks its reproduction, until it is replaced by another (Robert Michels, The Political Parties. A sociological study of the oligarchic tendencies of modern democracy. Amorrortu editors . Buenos Aires, 1969) … Suffice it to remember the fable that Michels includes in his final conclusion: “It is not my intention to deny that every revolutionary movement of the working class and every movement sincerely inspired by a democratic spirit, can have a certain value as contributions to the weakening of oligarchic tendencies. The peasant in the fable tells his children on his deathbed that there is a treasure hidden in the field. After the old man's death the sons dug everywhere to discover the treasure; They will not find it, but their tireless work improves the land and provides them with relative well-being. The treasure in the fable could well symbolize democracy. Democracy is a treasure that no one will ever discover by deliberate searching; but if we continue our search by working tirelessly to discover the undiscoverable, we will carry out work that will have fertile results in the democratic sense” (Michels, 1969: 192-193). And this is where you can read how Michels brings forth Aesop, the Greek. Let's return to the sociological conclusion.
Of Michels and democracy
In this sense, following Michels in his conclusion, acontra sensu, of his law of the tendency towards oligarchy in every social organization and therefore in the system of political parties, the need for a democratic regime that ensures two essential principles: “1) The ideological tendency of democracy towards criticism and oversight. 2) The effective opposite tendency of democracy towards the creation of increasingly complex and differentiated parties; that is, increasingly based on the competence of the less” (Michels, 1969: 194). It can be argued, based on this definition of democracy, that THE POSSIBILITY OF ALTERNANCE AND THE FREEDOM OF SUFFRAGE is an exercise in institutionalized social criticism. And, the only way to remove the authoritarian and autocratic perpetuation of an oligarchy in power.
Paragraphs: From Aristotle to Freud
As a hypothesis, it could be proposed that for Robert Michels it was difficult to refer to Aristotle when he had discovered the logic of autocracy in all social organization, a product of the iron law of oligarchy. So, what better than another Greek admired by Aristotle himself, Aesop, to illustrate his conclusion of democracy. This hypothesis could lead to an analysis of Michels' work, perhaps, from an Aristotelian perspective. Or, maybe, just maybe, go to another countryman of the sociologist, and propose an analysis of the unconscious, based on a failed act, from a Freudian perspective. There is Henri Lefevre as a way forward (“Hegel, Marx and Nietzsche”). Now adding Sigmund Freud and Robert Michels. It will undoubtedly be one of the lines of research that will be deepened if there is a return to scientific research. Or maybe, just maybe, and just maybe, you go straight to literature and seek to walk some visualized paths along that path.
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