2005-01-09 - 9:00 p.m.

I recently picked up a collection of essays by Bertrand Russell called "In Praise of Idleness" that I've found both entertaining and engaging. I want to share a paragraph out of one of the essays, which is titled 'The
Ancestry of Fascism', that seems to have considerable relevance today
even though it was first published in 1935.

"The decay of reason in politics is a product of two factors: on the
one hand, there are classes and types of individuals to whom the world
as it is offers no scope, but see no hope in Socialism because they
are not wage earners; on the other hand, there are able and powerful
men whose interests are opposed to those of the community at large,
and who, therefore, can best retain their influence by promoting
various kinds of hysteria. Anti-Communism, fear of foreign armaments,
and hatred of foreign competition, are the most important bogeys. I do
not mean that no rational man could feel these sentiments; I mean that
they are used in a way to preclude intelligent consideration of
practical issues. The two things the world needs most are Socialism
and peace, but both are contrary to the interests of the most powerful
men of our time. It is not difficult to make the steps leading up to
them appear contrary to the interests of large sections of the
population, and the easiest way of doing this is to generate mass
hysteria. The greater the danger of Socialism and peace the more
Goverments will debauch the mental life of their subjects; and the
greater the economic hardships of the present, the more willing the
sufferers will be to be seduced from intellectual sobriety in favour
of some delusive will o' the wisp."

I've been scratching my head now for quite some time about why those
who have the most to gain from Socialism are the same ones who oppose
it most fiercely. The only conclusion that I've come to is similar to
Russell's - they are victims of a forced 'debauchment of their mental
life' by those most interested in maintaining the status quo.

Going along with this, I just read an interesting research paper from
a social psychologist over at Cornell University that demonstrates the
remarkable skill that those in power have achieved in generating mass
hysteria today. The paper was about the effects of government-issued
terror warnings on presidential approval ratings and it shows how
people are strongly influenced by their perception of insecurity to
support those currently in power. Fascinating�

Russell concluded at the end of this essay on Fascism that, "so long
as unreason prevails, a solution of our troubles can only be reached
by chance; for while reason, being impersonal, makes universal
co-operation possible, unreason, since it represents private passions,
makes strife inevitable."

So, to all you advocates of reason, keep up the good work! You are a
force against Fascism and the Heroes of Socialism.