http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-3-77-1542.jsp
from which -
"I never imagined when I wrote my first book on Strauss that the unscrupulous elite that he elevates would ever come so close to political power, nor that the ominous tyranny of the wise would ever come so close to being realised in the political life of a great nation like the United States. But fear is the greatest ally of tyranny."
**********
Therein lies the fundamental error of the Straussian watchers.
...
For a few moments, as the entire neo-con thing leapt to the fore of discussions about why the US was embarking upon what appears to be a reckless, wholly new style of gun barrel foreign policy, I took seriously the idea that "the republic" had been hijacked by a group of nefarious characters, these Straussians, hell bent on world domination.
This opinion quickly faded however, once I remembered that, like other 'great powers' before it, the US's history of engagement has consisted mostly of in-group aggression against those unfortunate enough to be members of out-groups - a habit of action first localized on the continent during the Indian wars and the importation of slave labor for economic enrichment and Euro-American jouissance, and later exported to nearly the entire globe as resources and opportunity permitted.
Although the 'sinister figures of knowledge' element of the Straussian story is interesting and not unimportant as a clue to understanding the motivations of key players such as Wolfowitz, investigation into this matter yeilds no new information about the trajectory of the US in the world.
Rather than saying that the present phase of aggression is entirely the consequence of Straussian influence, I believe it's more accurate to say that the pre-existing moral climate, political situation and worship of power - even amongst those who've never read Strauss - provided a fertile climate for these ghouls to ascend when the dark stars aligned, so to speak. To grab a handy historical reference, Tiberius
built upon the foundation Caesar laid.
What makes the Straussians dangerous is not this fantasy of their having seized the control levers of a
great republic, perverting it for their evil ends, but the elaborate and carefully reasoned system of apologetics and self congratulation they're apparently immersed in.
This hermetically sealed worldview, in which they believe themselves to be the vanguard of the human species, ironically makes them uniquely stupid as hegemonists go. Listen to CIA and State Department warnings about the potential consequences of invading Iraq? There's no need, my luminescent intellect has provided all the answers.
This is the true danger: a profound deafness and blindness to outsider knowledge (indeed, as we've seen
with Rumsfeld, a complete disbelief that outsiders have any knowledge). This makes the Straussians a kind of wild bunch I don't believe we've seen before. The imperialism is an old story. The complete stupidity, a by-product of the belief in complete competence, is new.
When I say 'stupid' I don't mean of course that Wolfowitz, for example, finished his academic career without the usual honors awarded to clever students and isn't a clever fellow. I mean that his imperialist 'street smarts' are somewhere near zero.
Because he and his colleagues don't listen. To anybody.
When people with access to unprecedented military resources behave not just destructively (as we've seen for generations) but foolishly we face a complex of dangers that will build upon each other with increasingly speed.
As we are now seeing.
DRM
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