Because they can?
Speaking of gross materialism, I was just picking through a pile of Victoriana at Wikipedia and ran across UK statesman Robert Lowe (1811– 92), "a pivotal but often forgotten figure who shaped British politics in the latter half of the 19th century." I myself had never heard of the guy, but Lowe definitely should not be forgotten. He deserves to live in infamy.
Lowe was descended from clergy on both sides of his family. This no doubt contributed to his manifest loathing of humankind in general. He is best known for his bitter opposition to giving the vote to "respectable members of the working class" via the Reform Act of 1867 and for codifying the rules (such as they are) of capitalism via the Joint Stock Companies Act of 1856. He is regarded as the "father of modern company law."
>From all evidence, Lowe was a complete prick. In his grasping elitism and
almost feral selfishness, he was the perfect Victorian gentleman and a fine
illustration of why the capitalist ruling class struggles for MORE MORE
MORE. Lowe had an apparent horror of making any concessions to labor *at
all*, fearing that any sign of oligarchic weakness would lead to an
insatiable torrent of worker demands. As Wikipedia notes:
"Being a man of company law, Robert Lowe saw unions as a threat to the order, which as he drafted, allowed only for social participation through investment of capital. Not investment of labour. As it was the case that participation in Parliament was also only possibly through possession of property, Lowe was fearful that a change in one part of the world he understood would lead to another, ending in unforeseeable chaos. 'This principle of equality which you have taken to worship,' [Lowe stated,] 'is a very jealous power; she cannot be worshipped by halves, and like the Turk in this respect, she brooks no rival near the throne. When you get a democratic basis for your institutions, you must remember that you cannot look at that alone, but you must look at it in reference to all your other institutions. When you have once taught the people to entertain the notion of the individual rights of every citizen to share in the Government, and the doctrine of popular supremacy, you impose on yourselves the task of re-modelling the whole of your institutions, in reference to the principles that you have set up.'"
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Lowe%2C_1st_Viscount_Sherbrooke>
A nasty man was Lowe, but not stupid.
Carl
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