CREDO NEW. 2009. N 1 (57).
- In the Gripe of Ideals
- Bureaucratism a Bugaboo
- The Monstrous Truth
To believe in the best that comes from outside and at once is inherent in humans. The Messianic motifs always sounded within the humanistic tradition. But is it possible to introduce into a society an ideal which, though in tune with the general line of the historical progress, is “allogenic”, alien to it and does not respond to its inner needs and demands? Can one not merely speed up history but also make it turn off its road and enter on a path not in tune with logic of its development?
By the example of The Russian socialist revolution, the author demonstrates that any attempt to lay violent hands on history and to carry out in a society revolutionary transformations unavoidably ends with a social catastrophe. It is quite feasible to purposely raise the shoots of the new and touch up their natural growth by redirecting the existing tendencies into another, more desirable course. However, it is impossible to engender the tendencies from scratch and inculcate in the society the forms which cannot arise by themselves and are incompatible with its institutions and determinations.
Any ideal should be “touchable”, that is, have deep roots and supports in the society. Otherwise it will turn inevitably into a lure for reckless fanatics ready to sacrifice in the name of this chimera not only themselves, but anybody within their reach. Not to mention adventurers and power-hungry persons adroitly exploiting human dream and parasitizing on believe in the bright tomorrow.
Messianic project of social transformation being implemented by the state imminently leads to totalitarianism and, as a straightjacket, restrains any initiative and autonomy of civil society. This, in turn, gives birth to total bureaucratism eroding all the levers of governing the society. In the issue, the messianic state once inspired with radiant ideals is now not so much concerned about them as seeks to secure its self-preservation which, thereby, turns into a single and all-absorbing ideal.
Keywords: messianism, totalitarianism, ideals, revolutionary transformation, bureaucratism.
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