The State Itself Becomes More And More

The Successful Politician Owes His Power To The Fact That He Moves Within The Accepted Framework Of Thought, That He Thinks And Talks Conventionally. It Would Be Almost A Contradiction In Terms For A Politician To Be A Leader In The Field Of Ideas. His Task In A Democracy Is To Find Out What The Opinions Held By The Largest Number Are, Not To Give Currency To New Opinions Which May Become The Majority View In Some Distant Future.

We Must Shed The Illusion That We Can Deliberately "create The Future Of Mankind." This Is The Final Conclusion Of The Forty Years Which I Have Now Devoted To The Study Of These Problems

The Conservatives Have Already Accepted A Large Part Of The Collectivist Creed-a Creed That Has Governed Policy For So Long That Many Of Its Institutions Have Come To Be Accepted As A Matter Of Course And Have Become A Source Of Pride To "conservative" Parties Who Created Them. Here The Believer In Freedom Cannot But Conflict With The Conservative And Take An Essentially Radical Position, Directed Against Popular Prejudices, Entrenched Positions, And Firmly Established Privileges. Follies And Abuses Are No Better For Having Long Been Established Principles Of Folly.

The Task Of The Political Philosopher Can Only Be To Influence Public Opinion, Not To Organize People For Action. He Will Do So Effectively Only If He Is Not Concerned With What Is Now Politically Possible But Consistently Defends The "general Principles Which Are Always The Same." In This Sense I Doubt Whether There Can Be Such A Thing As A Conservative Political Philosophy. Conservatism May Often Be A Useful Practical Maxim, But It Does Not Give Us Any Guiding Principles Which Can Influence Long-range Developments.

Our Hopes Of Avoiding The Fate Which Threatens Must...[be To Make]adjustments That Will Be Needed If We Are To Recover And Surpass Our Former Standards...and Only If Every One Of Us Is Ready To Individually Obey The Necessities Of Readjustment Shall We Be Able To Get Through A Difficult Period As Free Men Who Can Choose Their Own Way Of Life. Let A Uniform Minimum Be Secured To Everybody By All Means; But Let Us Admit At The Same Time That With This Assurance Of A Basic Minimum All Claims For A Privileged Security For Particular Classes Must Lapse.