Strauss and NOBLE LIES

http://mises.org/misesreview_detail.aspx?control=251&sortorder=issue

Shorris notes that Leo Strauss, whose teaching stressed careful study of the classics of political philosophy, was a proponent of the "noble lie." In this view, the masses are incapable of governing themselves. An intellectual elite must be in control; but, to secure the acquiescence of the people, it must often deceive them for their own good.

Less flamboyantly, WikiPedia says "Strauss noted that thinkers of the first rank, going back to Plato, had raised the problem of whether good and effective politicians could be completely truthful and still achieve the necessary ends of their society. By implication, Strauss asks his readers to consider whether "noble lies" have any role at all to play in uniting and guiding the polis."

Shorris seems to me probably right about Strauss’s view of the noble lie, but for the wrong reasons. Shorris places great emphasis on Strauss’s doctrine of secret writing. Great philosophers like Maimonides, Strauss maintained, concealed their radically subversive views in their books. Their true doctrine emerges only through hints: the alert reader must note the deliberately inserted contradictions by which the philosopher reveals his true views to those fit to receive them.

Contrary to Shorris, though, the view that philosophers teach a secret doctrine is by no means identical to the claim that rulers must lie to the masses;

EUPHEMISMS AS NOBLE LIES or SECRET WRITING

Strauss and SECRET WRITING

On the Gold Rush 21 DVD Mr Brimelow alluded to Straussian symbols and terminology that allow the aristocracy to communicate with one another...

"they threaten our freedom and our way of life" = USD reserve currency standard

"promoting democracy" = forcing WTO, IMF, WB down peoples throats, no flat tax, i.e. Russia

The two examples above are just conjecture on my part. Anyone taken a look at this before or has anyone written anything on the subject?

I haven't read Strauss, which is his best book?

By Straussian terminology Brimelow is referring to the deceptive use of language, exoteric rhetoric designed to mislead the masses, with an esoteric meaning intelligible to the elites.

Strauss was a political philosopher at the University of Chicago whose many disciples include some prominent neoconservatives. His reading of classical texts was based on the premise that great writers engage in "secret writing," intelligible only to an elite readership. His best known books include __The City and Man__ and __Natural Right and History__.

Strauss and NEOCONS

There's a huge bibliography on Strauss and on his influence on the neocons. A couple examples:

http://www.logosjournal.com/xenos.htm

And from the website of John Brimelow's brother, Peter:

http://www.vdare.com/macdonald/030918_neoconservatism.htm