Our Civilization Is Locked In The Grip

Venereal: From Venus, The Goddess Of Love, This Word Refers To The Reality Of Desire. With The Rise Of Protestantism And Science, The Word Disease Was Tacked On In A Revealing Combination Of Categorization And Moralizing. Which Disease? The Disease Of Love.

Not Only Is The Napoleonic Dream Stronger Today In Our Imaginations Than It Has Ever Been, But One Can Already Feel The Slow Falling Away Of Moral Opprobrium From Our Memory Of Hitler. In Another Fifty Years We May Well Find Ourselves Weighed Down By A Second Monstrous Dream Of Pure Grandeur To Match That Of The Emperor. Two Men Who Dared. Two Men Who Were Adored. Two Men Who Led With Brilliance. Two Men Who Administered Fairly And Efficiently. Two Men Who Were Modest In Their Own Needs But Surrounded By Lesser Beings Who Profited From Their Situation And Came Between The Hero And The People.

In General, Democracy And Individualism Have Advanced In Spite Of And Often Against Specific Economic Interest. Both Democracy And Individualism Have Been Based Upon Financial Sacrifice, Not Gain. Even In Athens, A Large Part Of The 7,000 Citizens Who Participated Regularly In Assemblies Were Farmers Who Had To Give Up Several Days' Work To Go Into Town To Talk And Listen.

Now Listen To The First Three Aims Of The Corporatist Movement In Germany, Italy And France During The 1920s. These Were Developed By The People Who Went On To Become Part Of The Fascist Experience: (1) Shift Power Directly To Economic And Social Interest Groups; (2) Push Entrepreneurial Initiative In Areas Normally Reserved For Public Bodies; (3) Obliterate The Boundaries Between Public And Private Interest -- That Is, Challenge The Idea Of The Public Interest. This Sounds Like The Official Program Of Most Contemporary Western Governments.

It Is The Considered Opinion Of Most Members Of Our Rational élites That, In Any Given Difference Of Opinion With Reality, Reality Is Wrong.