Here is an excerpt from Thomas Merton’s Seven Storey Mountain (emphasis mine):
[Communism] was an easy and handy religion–too easy in fact. It told me that all the evils in the world were the product of capitalism. Therefore, all that had to be done to get rid of the evils of the world was to get rid of capitalism. This would not be very hard, for capitalism contained the seeds of its own decay (and that indeed is a very obvious truth which nobody would trouble to deny, even some of the most stupid defenders of the system now in force: for our wars are altogether too eloquent in what they have to say on the subject). An Active and enlightened minority–and this minority was understood to be made up of the most intelligent and vital elements of society, was to have the two-fold task of making the oppressed class, the proletariat, conscious of their own power and destiny as future owners of all the means of production, and to “bore from within” in order to gain control of power by every possible means. Some violence, no doubt, would probably be necessary, but only because of the inevitable reaction of capitalism by the use of fascist methods to keep the proletariat in subjection.
I read this and I could not stop myself from thinking about Ayn Rand and Atlas Shrugged. It was almost as if she accepted wholesale the mechanism for social change but directed it from the top down, rather than from the bottom up.
Read it again, modified only to change the ideological perspective:
[Capitalism] was an easy and handy religion–too easy in fact. It told me that all the evils in the world were the product of communism. Therefore, all that had to be done to get rid of the evils of the world was to get rid of communism. This would not be very hard, for communism contained the seeds of its own decay (and that indeed is a very obvious truth which nobody would trouble to deny, even some of the most stupid defenders of the system now in force: for our wars are altogether too eloquent in what they have to say on the subject). An Active and enlightened minority–and this minority was understood to be made up of the most intelligent and vital elements of society, was to have the two-fold task of making the oppressed class, the industrialists, conscious of their own power and destiny as future owners of all the means of production, and to “bore from within” in order to gain control of power by every possible means. Some violence, no doubt, would probably be necessary, but only because of the inevitable reaction of communism by the use of tyrannical methods to keep the industrialists in subjection.
Is this so far removed from Ayn Randian philosophy?
This betrays the lie in the Cult of Demos. It pits one team against the other, like it’s a sport. Whether you’re playing defense or playing offense, you’re still playing the same game. I think that’s why I took to Zippyist philosophical thought like a fish takes to water. He presents an actual alternative to our political realities. I read some political blogs, some religious blogs, and the ones that are angriest are the ones trying to wake up their chosen minority, that minority which is composed of all the most vital and intelligent elements of society, and seize power for themselves.
My friend, who has requested the alias Hambone, put it well when I described what i’m writing about here:
In order for the people in power to not be consumed with concern for losing power, they must rule based on right, not might.
In other words, they must be informed by some morality that is not their own. Ideology is jealous, Morality is just.
AMDG
Times-Dispatch of Vichy Earth 