Czech anthropology professor Ivo Budil observed in an excellent interview that what keeps contemporary society obedient to liberal elites is neither brute force, nor an overwhelming police apparatus, nor the fear of starving to death. Repression certainly exists, but it plays only a secondary role. The real driving force is the fear of losing social status—the fear of being cast out of the circle of the “better” people.
I would add that this obviously does not apply to society as a whole. Yet the overwhelming majority of the public can be of little concern to the true ruling class, regardless of who formally occupies the office of prime minister. Much of the public already distrusts and dislikes the intellectual-managerial class. If that sentiment deepens into outright hostility, it will change little. What truly matters is the segment of society just below the ruling class—the people who carry out its directives. If that layer were to fragment, the existing liberal oligarchy would lose its ability to govern.
Professor Budil does not frame the argument in quite these sociological terms, but the broader context makes it clear that this is what he is describing. The most compliant people are those who possess nothing except the feeling of belonging to the enlightened class. They have no real source of confidence beyond their perceived membership in the respectable elite. They have a room in a shared apartment, debts, and a corporate job they could lose at any moment. Yes, they enjoy a polished lifestyle, wear designer clothes, and take a Caribbean vacation every other year. But perhaps none of that truly brings them satisfaction—they simply cannot admit it aloud. In fact, there is strong reason to believe it does not satisfy them at all; research points in that direction. Yet they live in constant fear of losing something that does not actually make them happy. Every campaign waged by the parties of the governing five-party coalition rests on that anxiety.
If Professor Budil is right—and I believe he is—then it is misguided to expect meaningful change once people have “fallen low enough.” However far they decline, differences between social strata will remain, and the desire to belong to the supposedly superior one will continue to shape behavior.
The regime, however, could be fundamentally undermined if a large number of people developed self-confidence rooted in what they can actually do—people capable of managing their own lives, understanding what is happening in their own minds, and directing themselves accordingly. If that transformation were to reach even a significant portion of those who currently support the liberal oligarchy, the regime would begin to unravel. Orders issued from above are meaningless if there is no one willing to carry them out.