What this new American elite has in common with its ancient predecessors is that the common folk values that held the state together in its earlier form have come to be replaced with an emphasis on expedience and utility, all exercised for the benefit of the state — not necessarily the people. In order to justify this, states usually resort to promoting a universalist philosophy or religion. In fact, there is evidence that the first monotheistic cult was promoted by an Egyptian pharaoh who wanted to bring all his subjects under a unifying single god.

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When you have a supreme spiritual mandate, in our case “equality,” it can be used to justify almost any action undertaken to promote it. From the Inquisition to the torture chambers of the Lubyanka, men operated under this principle of service to a higher cause. Old rules and customs, such as the US Constitution and Bill of Rights, mean little to those engaged in promoting the one true faith. It is, in effect, a license to exercise power unfettered, and as always this tends to draw in some unsavory characters.

This is why we see the growth of an arrogant state that violates our Constitution and engages in shows of force designed to cow and humiliate lowly citizens. It is why we now have elite military units firing automatic weapons from helicopters above our cities. I suspect these are preventative measure, to let the people know that they had better not get in the way of the plans of their superiors.