Friday, August 21, 2009

About That Behavioral Energy Czar

The leadership theme was reinforced by the theoretical
writings of, Mosca, Pareto, and Michels, especially Pareto's
theory of the Circulation of Elites. All these arguments
emphasized the vital role of active minorities and the futility of
expecting that the masses would ever, left to themselves,
accomplish anything. Further corroboration came from Le
Bon's sensational best-seller of 1895--it would remain
perpetually in print in a dozen languages--The Psychology of
Crowds, which analyzed the "irrational" behavior of humans in
groups and drew attention to the group's proclivity to place
itself in the hands of a strong leader, who could control the
group as long as he appealed to certain primitive or basic
beliefs. (30)

The initiators of Fascism saw anti-rationalism as high-tech. It
went with their fast cars and airplanes. Fascist
anti-rationalism, like psychoanalysis, conceives of itself as a
practical science which can channel elemental human drives in
a useful direction.

What's old is new again. I don't call him O Duce for nothing. Follow the link and read the article if you don't know who the star of this little ditty was.
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