This seems to me a very odd way to come at this quote.
At the core is an analysis of civilization, which may
be right or wrong, but is certainly grounded in Keynes's
experiences of the WWI and its aftermath.  His discovery
that civilization is a "thin and precarious crust" may
leave us seeing the young Keynes as naive, but he was
certainly not alone, and it is certainly honest to share
his awakening with us.  I do not think any serious person
can doubt that civilization is a thin a precarious crust.
My favorite illustration of this is Montreal's 'night
of terror', because if even in Canada ... well, you get
the idea.  Keynes then attributes the maintenance of
civilization to the skill and guile of an elite.  Now
he may be wrong about this -- I think he is -- but what
he is praising is the civilization, and guile earns
credit only derivatively, as it promotes civilization.
And be honest now: if a guileful elite were requisite for
the maintenance of civilization, would it not take an odd
lack of compassion to prefer the alternative?

Alan Isaac



On 6/5/2014 5:51 AM, Rob Tye wrote:
> Keynes promoted guile which is unequivocally
> deception.