What is aristocracy? How can a modern person defend aristocracy as a viable system of government, let alone pretend that an aristocratic regime could be fair and just to all under its control? Do we not all know that, as Churchill famously said, “Democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried”?

To begin with it is essential that we frame the question adequately. This can be difficult to do, as every modern Western regime has presented itself as “a Democracy”, even the most autocratic and totalitarian; and we have been raised and educated by the state to regard democracy as the only possible just system of government – regardless of outcomes.

The following four short texts, each around 100 pages and three of the four available via Kindle, move from an examination of the origin of the democratic ideal, to the nature of politics itself, to the moral hazards inherent in democracy, and finally to the metaphysical underpinnings of the modern world.

All of this is just scratching the surface. This list is meant as a starting point, not as a full study course. Depending on what kind of feedback I get – if any, I will be happy to recommend more to interested parties.

The Problem of Democracy

by Alain De Benoist

The Concept of the Political

by Carl Schmitt

From Aristocracy to Monarchy to Democracy

by Hans-Hermann Hoppe

The Crisis of the Modern World

by Rene Guenon