The term “Establishment,” meaning originally the established Church in England, has now come to signify the men and women who are supposed to be the real rulers of that country. Among people who take an interest in these matters and for the most part draw their opinions from such journals as the Observer, Manchester Guardian, New Statesman and New Left Review, the word “Establishment” carries with it the idea of an entrenched minority of bigots; a steering group composed of upper class bankers and industrialists of “conservative” tendency, unregenerate and unprogressive churchmen, and illiberal men of learning; an elite which holds the real power in England long after it has ceased to represent—if it ever did—the best interests of the nation.
T. S. Eliot: “Island of traditionalism in a sea of imprecisions.”
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