Revolt of the masses - Essay Example

According to the Revolt of the Masses by Jose Ortega the masses has been described in detailed to mean a multitude that is considered through the numbers. He accounts for the masses as a collection of numbers that are discriminative against the minority. He depicts on a new sociological order that he referred to as the masses, which he also says is not a just an ordinary person and is not associated with any particular caste or class. The description he gives to the masses is that they are those people who are products of historical development of the European nations, those who were born for the first time in Europe.

According to the description of Ortega to the masses is not enjoyable as he describes them as those who cannot be described by any discipline.The description Ortega gives to the masses is that they posses no quality that can be related to excellence and as he borrows from Goethe, he describes them as ‘to live as one pleases is plebian’.He assets that the mass man demands more than what is suppose to be accorded to them and have a feeling that it is their right to have it when only a century ago,a group of people considered minority considered that a privilege.

The contribution of Ortega in this case shows that he concluded that the nineteenths century provided grounds for the development of a unique lot that would constitutes a dominant social force come the twentieth century.This he said was not going to be a conduit for the development of aristocratic culture that had been the culture for a number the entire millennium. Who are the minorities? Contrary to the masses, Ortega had a different consideration for the minorities whom he described as those with qualifications unlike the masses whom he considered not to be qualified.

Ortega considers the minorities to be the most progressive people in the society and who endeavors to create stability in the way socio-political issues are managed. Whereas the masses are ignorant about what they should demand for, the minorities consider those that are demanded by the masses to be privileges (Gasset 111). The minorities are conscious of very many things in the societal set up and are perceived to be progressive in their dealings, which is pure contrary to the masses. The minority are considered to be better that the masses because they are more qualified, they use their qualification to rationalize issues and are involved in transcending the culture of totalitarianism and authoritarianism.

The minority have dedicated their efforts to ensure that there is ne order in the society that allows for justice for all, a system that will provide a level field for dealing with all people irrelevant of the societal status. These qualities were depicted by Ortega and decided to consider the minority as the most preferred people against the masses that seems to be mindful about themselves. Conclusion and assessment of Ortega’s View A careful read of Ortega’s literature would give one a sense of understanding of what the mass man is, Ortega describes the mass man as one who is self centered and do not have a feeling of the rest, they do not want to appreciates other culture or see them prosper and knowledgeable on anything.

They are very discriminative on everything the minority does; a classical example that can be related in this case is the presence of the Jews in Germany, the Jews were considered the minorities in and faced the most brutal discrimination in the world. Under the leadership of Adolf Hitler who also was a staunch Nazi sympathizer, most of the Jews in Germany were persecuted in millions and one incidence that can be quoted in this case is the holocaust incidence in which million of the people were killed.

Ortega’s views in the Revolt of the Masses clearly explained the aggression tendency of the masses towards the minority. Ortega explanation of the masses was later manifested in Europe when the minorities were discriminated against,