Dear Friends,
It seems to me, progressivism is a mind virus that has infected the elite across the world, but in Europe it’s showing symptoms. By elite I am using Pareto’s definition. Progressivism is of the same viral family as communism, fascism, and Marxism. They elevate envy, greed, pride and gluttony, just as a virus might exacerbate mucus in the lungs. Meanwhile, the symptoms that are now manifesting in Europe are in the early stages. Riots, censorship, and normalized terrorism are only a few examples of the slow motion train wreck the EU has become. The more they rule against the interests of the people, the more they have to suppress the ability of the people to legitimately fight back. This makes me worry civil war could be on the horizon, and the EU might react as the Iranians, or China would.
The mind virus of progressivism is the capturing idea that the administrative state is the best way to order a state. They argue it’s the administrators who enact the laws passed by the ignorant legislators and signed by the corrupted executives. So why not bypass the ignorant and corrupt and have the best educated, the best motivated, and doggone it, the best people to do it instead? The arguments follow from that point. This seems to many to be a great idea. In Mein Kampf, Hitler said that the legislature is a bunch of wire-pullers. Only when government is accountable for the results of its policies can a government be called good. Then he went on to be an unaccountable despot. That seems to be the path of elitist ideologies though, to claim authority based on accountability, then do the opposite.
This family of mind viruses, Marxism, socialism, fascism and progressivism, are based on pride, envy, greed and gluttony. They start at these emotions and elevate them to the fore. Pride is paramount because the rest are based on it. So pride is inculcated in the elite. When someone who is prideful sees another who has what the prideful wants, they envy. Envy drives them to destroy. Why shouldn’t the prideful have everything they want? Pride itself justifies greed. Moreover, what good is greed if one can’t imbibe as one sees fit? Gluttony is the natural outcome of met greed. These emotions lead an elite infected with them to see themselves as entitled. Entitled to be the leaders of society, nations, and the world. This causes the elite to devise ever more ways of running other people’s lives.
Running everyone else’s lives is a big job. It takes a big government. Then again, elitists and especially those infected with the mind virus of progressivism have justified totalitarian government. The administrative state self-justifies its own unlimited power. Often the objective justification is that an administrative state is unbiased, educated, and accountable. But in practice it’s often none of those things. Accountable to the people least of all. This is manifested in Europe, China, and North Korea. The EU has shut down much of its power production due to green policies, is fighting a war on farming to save the planet, and is protecting immigrant child abusers while abusing their defenders. This has generated a backlash. We see it in the rise of populist “far right” parties across Europe.
The administrative state is nothing if not unaccountable. As the people vote for less, the administrators enact regulations bypassing elections. The EU is chiseling away at the national veto. As the people become convinced all the legal avenues to get their grievances addressed are closed, violence might result. I worry that the elite in the EU have been unaccountable for so long, believe they are saving the world, and see feedback as opposition, so they are likely to overreact. Tiananmen Square is an example they might follow. Not that the elite in the EU want this. They can’t help themselves. They’re infected with a mind virus. The EU war plans with Russia are going sideways, closing that avenue of distraction. This makes the infected more dangerous and the virus could turn deadly.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
