Alcala 1958

the confused "L ibe ra l"was to survi ve ,he had to embra ce a ster ner rule of lif e. A few of them ret urn ed to well -test ed forms of be lie f, bu t mo st of them pre fer redto make the ir ac t of fai th in the Marxi stsub­ stit ute for re lig ion and ob jec tiv emo ra lity . Th ere are sev era l rea son s why ma ny bef uddle dlib era ls cho se the tota lita rianway of commu nisman d not the Chr istia nway .' In the fir st pla ce, commu nism is a man- ma de substit ute fo r re lig ion. As such, it doe s not vio lat e the "in teg rit yof hum an­ ity " by requ iri ngsubmi ssi on to the com­ ma ndm ent sof a sup rahumanBe ing . It is, mo reo ver , com pletel y ear thb oun d in its ma ter iali sman d in its exc lus ive inte rest in the thi ngs of sen se. Th is makes it con­ gen ial to the "L ibe ral "wh o ha s come to ide nti fy ev er yt hing spi ritu al with the ghost lyand eth ere alfan tas iestha t "scie nce" cannot me asu re. True, some dis con cer tin g rumors are afloa tto the ef fe ct that thi s man-made reli­ gio nof Ma rx, Le nin , Stal in and Khrushch ev ma y lead to a hel l on eart h rath er than to a he av en. But wh en you talk it ov er with a "p rog res sive,"you dis cov er that concen ­ trat ion cam ps an d sla ve lab or and MVD liquid ati on sar e on ly the ma lic iou sgos sip of "F asc ist rea cti onari es. " In secure rtim es, suc hpat hetic self -decep ­ tio n on the par t of con fus ed "L ibe ral s" mi gh t awaken on ly pit y in the hearts of less gu llib le cit ize ns . For some yea rs past, how eve r, thi s sad bef udd lem ent ha s pro­ vid ed a happ y hunti ng gro und for cynic al Commun istag ita tor s,who despise the ver y inn oce nts the y de ce ive . 6 Th is ea ge r acc eptance of Communist dec eit by mu dd led"L ibe ral s"can be und er­ stood onl y as an ext rem ely com plic ate d ' William Roe pke, "The Mala dy of Progr essiv- ism," Fre ema n 1:68 7-91 , July 30, 1951 , compe ­ tent ly out line s cert ain step s by which many mora l "Lib eral s"move towar ds total itaria nism . 6 Eug ene Lyons, The Red Deca de (In dia nap olis : Bobbs-Me rrill, 19 41 ), has colo rful ly deli nea ted the case hist orie s of some of these inn ocen ts dur ing thei r formativeyears. ral" ive, ce . ed e s li f, refer ed st - t li io jective lity. l s s dled ls chose rian nis i i n . 5 c , nism ute li ion. e t rity - iring is ion - ents u an . ver, l t ly o d t ialis ive s . is - i l i ral" tify thing al ly al tasies science" re. , certing s t t - , i , talin s ev e . rogres ive," er - i s ations l li ious i s ist tio aries." es, ti - e i rals" t e l le i ns. r, le ent - y ting al ist tors, the innocents the ive. 6 is c ist led " i rals" - ely li ated 5 i m," Freeman 1:687-91, July 30, 1951, compe• l li s i any l " l " i nis . 6 i napoli : r il , 41 ), lly ted i ts i ative y i

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mat e democratic change, he ca n succ ess­ ful ly avo id the exc ess esof a So cia lis tsta te. 4 The fif th main div isi onof moder n"Lib ­ era ls" is the one tha t must gi ve us mos t con cer n. Th is cla ss of "L ibe ral s" ma y und erm ineour dem ocr aticins titu tionsmor e eff ective ly than any amoun t of sab ota ge or other use of for ce and vio len ceby pro­ fession al rev olu tion arie s.Th ese "L ibe ral s" ha ve come to be known by var iou snam es, the mos t acc ura te of wh ich app ear s to be tot ali tar ian "L ibe ral ." Sh ou ld thi s appel ­ lati on look like a con tra dic tion in terms, the fau lt mus t be sou ght ,no t in the wor ds them selv es,but in the per son sto whom the y mus t be appli ed . While "L ibe ral s"ma y beco me dev ote es of tota lita rian ism in dif fer en t wa ys, mo st of them tak e firs t to the pat hs of rel igi ou s, mor al, or inte llec tua l libe ral ism . The y be gin by tota lly rejecting the ob jectiv e mor al ord er or by red uc ing it to an empty form­ ula of vacuou s, tho ugh per hap s nom ina lly ino ffe ns ive ,cli ches. Ne xt th ey con tinue on their con fus ed jou rne y by placin g un­ bou nded reli anc eon the irre pre ssib legood ­ nes s of "hum an ity " (not, of course , the int rin sic goo dne ss of huma n nat ure , sin ce any ref ere nce to nat ure smack s of scho las­ tic obs cur ant ism ) and on "human ity 's" ind estruct iblecap aci tyfor "p rog res s." Eve n fo r a few yea rs aft er the catas ­ trophe of Wor ld Wa r I, it see me dthat thi s hum ani tar ian ph ilo sop hy of lif e mi gh t pro ve ade qua teto the ne ed s of post- war pag an soc iet y. Howe ver , the fun dam ent al empti nes s of thi s humanit ari an ism was rev eal ed, and its mo st cheri she d illu sions sha tter ed, in the ris e of Hit ler 's rac ial bar­ bar ism . We ll -b red bu t tho rou ghl y un­ fou nded sen timent alit y sto od no chan ce again st the storm troo per 'snaile dboo t. If 4 Nich olas S. Tim ashe ff, Th ree Wo rld s (Mil wau­ ke e: Bruce , 1946 ) prov ides a read able anal ysis, not only of true libe rali sm, but also of Com­ mun ist and Fasc ist total itari anism . See also Emme t J. Hughes, Th e Churc hand the Libe ral Soc iety (Pr inc eto n:Prin ceton Univ ersit yPres s, 19 44 ), Chapt er 15, "Th e Fait h of Demo cracy ." l i es of a list te. 4 i io - l . i i rals" ine atic tions i ly t ge c l ce - al ti aries. s i rals" i s es, te i s litarian i ral." l - diction s, t, sel es, s s t lied. i rals" e t es f l rianism e t , i ious, l, l t al liberalism. They ll j ti e l cing - s, s i l y ff nsive, es. t i e g - e res ible - s anity" , , ri sic s , nce s - antism) anity's" tible city f rogres ." s - l d itarian il s hy t equate s i ty. r, ental tines s i arianism led, is ed i s ed, 's i l - is . ll - ghly - ed i e tality ce st 's d t. 4 icholas S. Timasheff, Three Worlds (Milwau• kee: Bruce, 1946) provides a readable analysis, not only of true liberali m, but also of Com- i iani . h i t i eton : y , ), ."

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