Essay - Jose Ortega Y Gasset, Once A 'Liberal' Legislator in the...

Jose Ortega y Gasset, once a "Liberal" legislator in the doomed Spanish Republic, wrote Revolt of ***** Masses 70 years too soon. This elitist book, although seriously flawed, makes numerous excellent points, demands to be read in these opening years of the 21st Century, and should be quoted, frequently, publicly, and with great fervor. ***** felt that man has come to de*****d things *****out taking responsibility. However, at ***** same time, Nietzsche's book, Disadvantages and Advantages of History does not explicitly examine the nature of morality, the master/slave relationship, or related questions. Instead, it questions the relationship of hist*****ical knowledge to life in ***** present. By "present," Nietzsche does ***** mean some specific century or decade, but rather the present we perpetually find ourselves in as human beings. He also discusses the possibility of people living like animals because ********** do not knowledge of history. By comparing G*****set and Nietzsche, it clear that the human race has some dilemmas in taking responsibility for their actions and what surrounds him.

***** that case, Ortega y Gasset postulates that "mass man" has come to dem***** privilege without *****. With no idea of the workings of modern life, ***** man expects it served up ***** him on a silver platter. Mass man pays no homage to the "men of excellence" who create, who move society forward, ***** shoulder responsibility. "Anarchist-influenced unions gave higher priority to leisure and free time for self-development than ***** high wages ***** economic gains" (Gasset p. 50). This is not the behavior which Ortega y ***** attributes to mass man. Th***** is ***** behavior of his "men of excellence."

***** this example of Gasset argu*****t, it is ***** that the human race ***** a difficult time of taking *****.

Examining ***** evidence it is eas***** to find that when people are free, they ***** ***** free to be excellent. In the "open source" community, it is also easy ***** ***** "men of *****."

People find other individuals free from corporate domination, who, w*****hout remuneration, have created one of the most sophisticated and reliable software systems for the ***** market today. Linux has been described as far more stable, efficient, and powerful than any Microsoft Windows product. Again, freedom breeds excellence. *****e paradigm of domination and power-over does not exist in the open ***** community ***** way it ***** in a commercial environment.

*****, Ortega y G*****set has served up an apt description of the "t*****pical" American, who watches 35 hours of TV each week ***** feels the ideas he absorbs from Rush Limbaugh, Jerry Falwell, Matt Drudge, and t***** late news equal the work ***** serious scholars and intellectuals. Most of Americans ***** long since abdicated our power and responsibility to "*****body else." People do not really trust our government, but expect somebody ***** ***** fix it. Americans are the "mass man" ***** demands more government services, fewer taxes, and a higher quality of living, while refusing to volunteer our time in our communities. In other words, Gasset was