Andrew Lobaczewski - Political Ponerology: A Science on the Nature of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes Страница 42

106 Historically, pathocracies target the intelligentsia for elimination first. As

!obaczewski points out, this wasting of the best minds and talents eventually

leads to catastrophe. [Editor’s note.]

POLITICAL PONEROLOGY

239

homeland later gradually became critical, using the most em-

phatic of language. They were first to deny that the ruling sys-

tem was Communist in nature, persuasively pointing out the

actual differences between the ideology and reality. They tried

to inform their comrades in still independent countries of this

by letters. Worried about this “treason”, these comrades trans-

mitted such letters to their local party in those other countries,

from where these were returned to the security police of the

country of origin. The authors of the letters paid with their lives

or with years of prison; no other social group was finally sub-

jected to such stringent police surveillance as were they.

Regardless of whatever our evaluation of Communist ideol-

ogy or the parties might be, we are presumably justified in

believing that the old Communists were quite competent to

distinguish what was and what was not in accordance with their

ideology and beliefs. Their highly emphatic statements on the

subject, quite popular among Poland’s old Communists circles,

are impressive or even persuasive.107 Because of the operational

language used therein, however, we must designate them as

overly moralizing interpretations not in keeping with the char-

acter of this work. At the same time, we must admit that the

majority of Poland’s prewar Communists were not psycho-

paths.

From the point of view of economics and reality, any sys-

tem wherein most of the property and workplaces are state

owned de jure and de facto is state capitalism and not Commu-

nism. Such a system exhibits the traits of a primitive nine-

teenth-century capitalist exploiter who had an insufficient grasp

of his role in society and of how his interests were linked to his

workers’ welfare. Workers are very much aware of these traits,

especially if they have collected a certain amount of knowledge

in connection with their political activities.

A reasonable socialist aiming to replace capitalism with

some system in conformity with his idea, which would be

based on worker participation in the administration of the work

place and the profits, will reject such a system as the “worst

variety of capitalism”. After all, concentrating capital and rul-

107 “A hoard of sons of bitches who climbed up to the feeding trough upon

the backs of the working class.”

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NORMAL PEOPLE UNDER PATHOCRATIC RULE

ership in one place always leads to degeneration. Capital must

be subject to the authority of fairness. Eliminating such a de-

generate form of capitalism should thus be a priority task for

any socialist. Nonetheless, such reasoning by means of social

and economic categories obviously misses the crux of the mat-

ter.

The experience of history teaches us that any attempt to re-

alize the Communist idea by way of revolutionary means,

whether violent or underhanded, leads to a skewing of this

process in the direction of anachronic and pathological forms

whose essence and contents remain inaccessible to minds util-

izing the concepts of the natural world view. Evolution con-

structs and transforms faster than revolution, and without such

tragic complications.

One of the first discoveries made by a society of normal

people is that it is superior to the new rulers in intelligence and

practical skills, no matter what geniuses they seek to appear to

be. The knots stultifying reason are gradually loosened, and

fascination with the new rulership’s non-existent secret knowl-

edge and plan of action begins to diminish, followed by famili-

arization with the accurate knowledge about this new deviant

reality.

The world of normal people is always superior to the devi-

ant one whenever constructive activity is needed, whether it be

the reconstruction of a devastated country, the area of technol-

ogy, the organization of economic life, or scientific and medi-

cal work. “They want to build things, but they can’t get much

done without us.” Qualified experts are frequently able to make

certain demands; unfortunately, they are just as often only con-

sidered qualified until the job has been done, at which point

they can be eliminated. Once the factory has started up, the

experts can leave; management will be taken over by someone

else, incapable of further progress, under whose leadership

much of the effort expended will be wasted.

As we have already pointed out, every psychological anom-

aly is in fact a kind of deficiency. Psychopathies are based

primarily upon deficiencies in the instinctive substratum; how-

ever, their influence exerted upon the mental development of

others also leads to deficiencies in general intelligence, as dis-

POLITICAL PONEROLOGY

241

cussed above. This deficiency of intelligence in a normal per-

son, induced by psychopathy, is not compensated by the special

psychological knowledge we observe among some psycho-

paths. Such knowledge loses its mesmerizing power when

normal people learn to understand these phenomena as well.

The psychopathologist was thus not surprised by the fact that

the world of normal people is dominant regarding skill and

talent. For that society, however, this represented a discovery

which engendered hope and psychological relaxation.

Since our intelligence is superior to theirs, we can recognize

them and understand how they think and act. This is what a

person learns in such a system on his own initiative, forced by

everyday needs. He learns it while working in his office,

school, or factory, when he needs to deal with the authorities,

and when he is arrested, something only a few people manage

to avoid. The author and many others learned a good deal about

the psychology of this macrosocial phenomenon during com-

pulsory indoctrinational schooling. The organizers and lectur-

ers cannot have intended such a result. Practical knowledge of

this new reality thus grows, thanks to which the society gains a

resourcefulness of action which enables it to take ever better

advantage of the weak spots of the rulership system. This per-

mits gradual reorganization of societal links, which bears fruit

with time.

This new science is incalculably rich in casuist108 detail; I

would nevertheless characterize it as overly literary. It contains

knowledge and a description of the phenomenon in the catego-

ries of the natural world view, correspondingly modified in

accordance with the need to understand matters which are in

fact outside the scope of its applicability. This also opens the

door to the creation of certain doctrines which merit separate

study because they contain a partial truth, such as a de-

monologica l interpretation of the phenomenon.

The development of familiarity with the phenomenon is ac-

companied by development of communicative language, by

108 Casuistry (argument by cases) is an attempt to determine the correct re-

sponse to a moral problem, often a moral dilemma, by drawing conclusions

based on parallels with agreed responses to pure cases, also called paradigms.

Casuistry is a method of ethical case analysis. [Editor’s note.]

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NORMAL PEOPLE UNDER PATHOCRATIC RULE

means of which society can stay informed and issue warnings

of danger. A third language thus appears alongside the ideo-

logical doubletalk described above; in part, it borrows names

used by the official ideology in their transformed modified

meanings. In part, this language operates with words borrowed

from still more lively circulating jokes. In spite of its strange-

ness, this language becomes a useful means of communication

and plays a part in regenerating societal links. Lo and behold,

this language can be translated and communicated in relations

with residents of other countries with analogous governmental

systems, even if the other country’s “official ideology” is dif-

ferent. However, in spite of efforts on the part of literati and

journalists, this language remains only communicative inside;

it becomes hermetic outside the scope of the phenomenon,

uncomprehended by people lacking the appropriate personal

experience.

The specific role of certain individuals during such times is

worth pointing out; they participate in the discovery of the

nature of this new reality and help others find the right path.

They have a normal nature but experienced an unfortunate

childhood, being subjected very early to the domination of

individuals with various psychological deviations, including

pathological egotism and methods of terrorizing others. The

new rulership system strikes such people as a large scale socie-

tal multiplication of what they knew from personal experience.

From the very outset, such individuals saw this reality much

more prosaically, immediately treating the ideology in accor-

dance with the paralogistic stories well known to them, whose

purpose was to cloak the bitter reality of their youthful experi-

ences. They soon reach the truth, since the genesis and nature

of evil are analogous irrespective of the social scale in which it

appears.

Such people are rarely understood in happy societies, but

they were invaluable then; their explanations and advice

proved accurate and were transmitted to others joining the net-

work of this apperceptive heritage. However, their own suffer-

ing was doubled, since this was too much of a similar kind of

abuse for one life to handle. They therefore nursed dreams of

escaping into the freedom still existing in the outside world.

POLITICAL PONEROLOGY

243

Finally, society sees the appearance of individuals who have

collected exceptional intuitive perception and practical knowl-

edge in the area of how pathocrats think and how such a system

of rule operates. Some of them become so proficient in their

deviant language and its idiomatics that they are able to use it,

much like a foreign language they have learned well. Since

they are able to decipher the rulership’s intentions, such people

then offer advice to people who are having trouble with the

authorities. These advocates of the society of normal people

play a irreplaceable role in the life of society.

The pathocrats, however, can never learn to think in normal

human categories. At the same time, the inability to predict the

reaction of normal people to such an authority also leads to the

conclusion that the system is rigidly causative and lacking in

the natural freedom of choice.

This new science, expressed in language derived from a de-

viant reality, is something foreign to people who wish to under-

stand this macrosocial phenomenon but think in the categories

of the countries of normal man. Attempts to understand this

language produce a certain feeling of helplessness which gives

rise to the tendency of creating one’s own doctrines, built from

the concepts of one’s own world and a certain amount of ap-

propriately co-opted pathocratic propaganda material. Such a

doctrine, for example, would be the American anti-Communist

propaganda. Such twisted and distorted concepts makes it even

more difficult to understand that other reality. May the objec-

tive description adduced herein enable them to overcome the

impasse thus engendered.

In countries subjected to pathocratic rule, this knowledge

and language, especially human experience, create a mediating

concatenation in such a way that most people could assimilate

this objective description of the phenomenon without major

difficulties with the help of active apperception. Difficulties

will only be encountered by the oldest generation and a certain

proportion of young people raised in the system from child-

hood, and these are psychologically understandable.

I was once referred a patient who had been an inmate in a

Nazi concentration camp. She came back from that hell in such

exceptionally good condition that she was able to marry and

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NORMAL PEOPLE UNDER PATHOCRATIC RULE

bear three children. However, her child rearing methods were

so extremely iron-fisted as to be reminiscent of the concentra-

tion camp life so stubbornly persevering in former prisoners.

The children’s reaction was neurotic protest and aggressiveness

against other children.

During the mother’s psychotherapy, we recalled the figures

of male and female SS officers to her mind, pointing out their

psychopathic characteristics (such people were primary re-

cruits). In order to help her eliminate their pathological mate-

rial from her person, I furnished her with the approximate sta-

tistical data regarding the appearance of such individuals

within the population as a whole. This helped her reach a more

objective view of that reality and re-establish trust in the soci-

ety of normal people.

During the next visit, the patient showed to me a little card

on which she had written the names of local pathocratic nota-

bles and added her own diagnoses, which were largely correct.

So I made a hushing gesture with my finger and admonished

her with emphasis that we were dealing only with her prob-