ABSTRACTS

Introduction

The Ideology and Morphology of the Elite
Who belongs to the elite? What is the elite like? How many kinds of elite are there? What is their dirty? Do they fulfil their duty? Some questions by way of an introduction.
 

Symbol

The Grail
Freemasonry
The distinct meanings of the Grail and the symbols of freemasonry as guide-posts on the different ways to the long desired human perfection.
 

Elite and Society

Lajos Eff:
What Seems to Be a Plot?
Facts and symptoms behind the appearance of a conspiracy. Thoughts on the mission and responsibility of the upper class.

Christopher Lasch:
The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy
In his last work Christopher Lasch argues that democracy today is threatened not by the masses, as José Ortega y Gasset (The Revolt of the Masses) had said, but by the elites. Extracts from the book.

György Egely:
Second Type War
Vision of a hidden, bloodless but not less devastating form of war taking place nowadays.

Eva Bogdán:
The New Clothes of the Emperor. Do the Chosen Always Keep their Secret?
Secrets about the elites, their origin, activity and interests and the interaction between them and mass society.

Csaba Vass:
Mr. Szelényi and the Intellectuals Reigning in No Way
Study on the global colonization going on these days and the defection of the clerks. On the basis of the classic work written by Iván Szelényi and György Konrád the author analyses the social stratification in Hungary with especial regard to the interconnection between economy, political power and the origin and role of the elites.

Katalin, Mitró:
When I Was a Child Butter Was Much Better
Thoughts on development and progress based on Feyerabend's propositions.

László Bóna:
The Dregs of the Elite and the Elite of the Dregs
The markets of misery in Budapest on the borderland between existence and non-existence, as the mirrors of wealth.

Gábor Tulok Mángorló:
Elite-Nursery
The new generation and the founding fathers. Revolution and collapse at the weekly magazine 'Hungarian Orange'.
 

Elite and Economy

Gabriella Józsa:
Endgames
The economic background of an international political game with the result that the rich are growing richer and the poor are growing poorer.

Ulrich Duchrow:
The Ideology of the Global Dominance of Finance and the Media's Role 
'The goal of global capitalism is the accumulation of money via (supposedly) self-regulating markets. This is why money is at the centre of the ideology. It is shrouded in secrecy and treated as the Holy of Holies.' Extract from the book entitled 'Alternatives to Global Capitalism' by Ulrich Duchrow.

Zoltán Ariel Mitev:
Tobacco
The Influence of advertising on tobacco consumption.
 

Elite and Environment

László Hollós:
Eco-elite
Is there an eco-elite in Hungary? Who and why beiongs to this elite? What is the role of them? Inquiry among the representatives of the Hungarian environmental movement.
 

Elite and Culture

Eszter Götz:
Thought son Initiation
Why are the eternal rituals of initiation indispensable to the wholeness of human life in its every period?

György Szegő:
Secession
Symbols of life, fertility, death and rebirth in the secessionist architecture of Budapest at the turn, of the century. Extracts from the book just published, entitled 'Creation and Metamorphosis' written by György Szegő.

The Women's Three Wishes -- Skin, Fur and Jewel Can Come True on One Spot
Selections from the September 1993 and April 1996 issues of the monthly magazine 'Elite'

Consumption
Thoughts on the concept and nature of consumption. Extract from the book entitled. 'The System of the Objects' by jean Baudrillard.

Transculture in the Lagoon
Report on an exhibition of the Venetian Biennial Festival. The reality of life and death at the end the millennium in the mirror of visual art.
 

Pattern Language

Holy Ground
'What is a church or temple? It is a place of worship, spirit, contemplation, of course. But above all, from a human point of view, it is a gateway. A person comes into the world through the church. He leaves it through the church. And, at each of the important thresholds of his life, he once again steps through the church.' Extract from the book entitled 'Pattern Language'.

World-Watch-Video
The task and the solutions.
Compositions written by the students of applied arts on the subject of sacred places.
 

Ways and Ways out

Imre Lázár:
'Eco-city-state' and Its Neighbourhood
Politics, ecopolitics and political ecology. Essay on the place and role of ecopolitics in the political ecosystem. The dream of 'Manor-house Hungary' the network of the strong and healthy local communities as a strategy for Human survival