“And in times of crisis, conventional wisdom becomes the absolute truth of ruling elites. It gives them the confidence to go on because it eliminates the need for thought or doubt, which in turn allows the elites to categorize any attempts at either as naïveté or treason. The average man, witness to a barbaric massacre, is left to scratch about in search of some new means of communication which will allow him to express the obvious.”

Saul, John Ralston. Voltaire's Bastards (p. 202). Free Press. Kindle Edition.

“Between the newly ordained Jesuit, the young Marxist, the fresh staff officer, Enarque or MBA, there is no appreciable difference. All five are dominated by method and each of their methods arises from a common source. Appearances suggest that there must be some serious differences among them, since they regularly do battle with each other on behalf of their countries or professions. The differences must lie, therefore, in the content which they subject to their universal method. Or perhaps their rivalry is the result of their respective interests which, if the ferocity of their battles tells us anything, differ greatly. Yet when you examine these differences or the content involved or even their respective interests, you search in vain for any remarkable contradictions. All that separates them are the positions they occupy. They defend the structural interests assigned to them by their system. And even then, if you remove the screen of ideology, the ends they seek are pretty much of a kind.”

Saul, John Ralston. Voltaire's Bastards (p. 108). Free Press. Kindle Edition.

“Because the managerial élites are now so large and have such a dominant effect on our educational system, we are actually teaching most people to manage, not to think. Not only do we not reward thought, we punish it as unprofessional.”

-John Ralston Saul

“I’ve talked about ideology and utopia as if they were one and the same. Is there no difference between them? Not really. Utopia is perhaps more of a literary term. But it expresses the real intent of the ideologue. Of course, no ideologue would be caught dead admitting to an Utopian ideal. That would imply hope when what he is delivering is truth. He doesn’t even see himself as an ideologue.”

Saul, John Ralston. The Unconscious Civilization (Kindle Locations 268-271). Free Press. Kindle Edition.