Manufacturing “The Totalitarian Party”
November 13, 2016
The rioting, shootings, vandalism, assaults on police, setting fire to buildings and police cars, forced shut-downs of private businesses, denunciations of capitalism, and the general mayhem being perpetrated by the lousy, hateful, violent little snots on college campuses, in Portland, New York, LA, and elsewhere, reminded me of a passage in F.A. Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom that seems to describe them perfectly. It is from Chapter 10, “Why the Worst Get on Top,” pp. 138-139, where Hayek discuses why “the worst elements of society” tend to become so prevalent and supportive of the state in all collectivist regimes. Such regimes will:
“. . be able to obtain the support of all the docile and gullible, who have no strong convictions of their own but are prepared to accept a ready-made system of values if it is only drummed into their ears sufficiently loudly and frequently [i.e. “sexism! racism! homophobia! sexism! racism! homophobia!!].”
“It will be those whose vague and imperfectly formed ideas are easily swayed and whose passions and emotions are readily aroused who will thus swell the ranks of the totalitarian party.”
Or as a friend once put it: “Government is like a septic tank. The big chunks always float to the top.”
A Bit of Irony