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[“Civilizimi’’ Amerikan nga Julius Evola

-1945- American "Civilization"

by Julius Evola] English|Page 12

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ohn Dewey, i vdekur se fundmi, eshte duartrokitur nga shtypi

amerikan si figura me perfaqesuese e civilizimit amerikan. Dhe

kane te drejte. Teorite e tij jane teresisht perfaqesuese te vizionit

te njeriut dhe jetes te Amerikanizmit dhe demokracise te lidhur me

kete te fundit.

Thelbi i ketyre teorive eshte ky: aty kushdo mund te behet cfare te

doje, dhe limitet ia kushtezon vetem teknologjia dhe mjetet materiale

qe ka ne dispozicion. Analog me kete, nje person nuk eshte cka ai

eshte ne te vertete prej natyre, pas nuk ka ndonje diference te vertete

thelbesore mes njerezve, vetem diferenca ne kualifikime. Sipas kesaj

teorie, kushdo mund te behet cfare te doje, nese stervitet ne menyren

e duhur.

Keshtu ndodh me te ashtuquajturin 'self-made man'; ne nje shoqeri qe

ka humbur cdo sens tradite, nocioni i ngritjes ne ekzagjerim te vetes

dhe vlerave te vetes do te shtrihet ne cdo aspekt te ekzistenes

njerezore, duke perforcuar doktrinen egalitariane te demokracise se

paster. Nese baza per keto ide pranohet, atehere gjithe diversiteti

natyror eshte braktisur. Cdo person ka te drejten te kete potencialin e

te gjithe te tjereve dhe termat 'superior' dhe 'inferior' humbasin

kuptimin; gjithe stilet e jeteses jane te hapur ndaj te gjitheve. Gjithe

konceptimeve organike te jetes amerikanet i kundervene nje konceptim

mekanicist. Ne shoqerine amerikane nuk ka fytyra, por maska. Ne te

njejten kohe, mbeshtetesit e stilit te jeteses amerikan jane armiqesore

ndaj personalitetit.

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"Mendje-haptesia" amerikane,qe shpeshhere cilesohet si nje

karakteristike e mire, eshte nje aspekt tjeter i mungeses se formes se

brendshme. E njejta gje vlen edhe per "individualizmin". Individualizmi

dhe personaliteti nuk jane e njejta gje: njeri i perket botes te paforme

te sasise, tjetri i perket botes se cilesise dhe hierarkise. Amerikanet

jane nje refuzim i gjalle i aksiomes "Mendoj, pra jam (pra ekzistoj).":

Amerikanet nuk mendojne, prapeseprape ekzistojne. 'Mendja' Amerikane

eshte femijenore dhe primitive, i mungon forma karakteristike dhe

eshte e hapur ndaj cdo lloj standardizimi.

Ne nje civilizim superior si pershembull indo-arjanet, ata pa forme

karakteristike (apo pa kaste), qe i mungon edhe kasta e sherbetorit

apo shudras, diskriminohet nga shoqeria. Nga ky kendveshtrim,

Amerika eshte nje shoqeri te diskriminuarish. Ka nje rol per te

diskriminuarin. Eshte t'i nenshtrohet qenieve format dhe ligjet e

brendshme te te cilave jane te percaktuara ne menyre definitive. Por

ne fakt, te diskrimininuarit moderne deshirojne te behen vete

dominante dhe te vene boten nen kontrollin e tyre.

Ka nje opinion qe qarkullon gjere mbi ShBA-te, qe eshte "komb i ri"

me "nje te ardhme te ndritur perpara". Defektet amerikane jane vetem

'gabimet e rinise' apo 'dhimbjet e kockave kur rritesh'. Nuk eshte e

veshtire te shikosh qe miti i 'progresit' luan nje rol te madh ne kete

gjykim. Sipas idese qe cdo gje e re eshte e mire, Amerika ka nje rol

te privilegjuar mes kombeve te civilizuara. Ne Luften e Pare, Shtetet e

Bashkuara nderhyne per te luajtur nje rol ne 'boten e civilizuar'.

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Kombi 'me i evoluar' jo vetem qe ka te drejten, por detyren per te

nderhyre tek fatet e popujve te tjere.

Struktura e historise eshte ciklike, jo evolucionare. Civilizimet me te

reja nuk jane aspak 'superiore'. Ato mund te jene ne fakt me

dekadentet. Fazat e fundit te nje civilizimi jane cuditerisht te

ngjashme me fazat me primitive. Amerika eshte faza finale e Evropes

moderne. Guenon e quan Ameriken 'Perendimi i Larget', dhe me kete

do te thote qe Amerika perfaqeson deri ne piken e absurditetit,

aspektet me negative dhe budallaqe te Civilizimit Perendimor. Ajo cka

ne Evrope gjendet vetem ne forme te 'holluar', gjendet ne Amerike ne

forme 'te koncentruar', ku dalin simptomat e verteta te shperberjes dhe

regresit kulturor dhe njerezor. Mentaliteti amerikan mund te

interpretohet vetem si nje shembull regresi, qe e tregon veten tek

paaftesia mendore ndaj gjithe interesave me te larta dhe

pakuptueshmeria e ndjesive me te larta.

Mendja amerikane ka horizonte te limituara, e dedikuar ndaj vetem

asaj cka eshte e menjehershme dhe e thjeshte, me pasojen e

paevitueshme qe cdo gje behet banale, bazike dhe e niveluar drejt

poshtes derisa i mohohet gjithe jeta shpirterore. Jeta vete eshte

mekaniciste per Amerikanin. Kuptimi i 'Unit' ne Amerike i perket

teresisht nivelit fizik te ekzistences. Amerikani tipik nuk ka as dilema

e as komplikime shpirterore: ai eshte nje konformist dhe ndjekes i

natyrshem.

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Mendja primitive amerikane eshte nje mendje qe ne vetem ne

siperfaqe eshte mendje e re. Mendja amerikane eshte nje karakteristike

e nje shoqerie regresive.

Moraliteti amerikan

Sex-appeali i famshem i grave amerikane ka marre reputacionin nga

filmat, revistat dhe posterat me modele; ky sex-appeal eshte per pjesen

me te madhe fabrikim. Nje studim i fundit mjekesor ne Shtetet e

Bashkuara ka treguar qe diku tek 75% e grave amerikane nuk kane

ndjenja te forta seksuale, dhe gjejne me shume kenaqesi ne

ekzibicionizmin narcizist dhe tek kulti i fitnessit dhe shendetit ne

menyre gati sterile. Vajzat amerikane nuk kane 'probleme' me gjetjen e

maredhenieve seksuale, ato jane 'te lehta' per ate burre qe e shikon

aktin seksual si vetem dicka 'per te mbaruar pune'. Pasi eshte cuar ne

kinema apo per te kercyer, eshte gati e sjellshme qe gruaja amerikane

ta lere burrin ta puthe, por per ate kjo puthje nuk do te thote asgje.

Grate amerikane jane brenda tejet te ftohta dhe materialiste. Burri qe

kryen maredhenie me nje vajze amerikane eshte praktikisht borxhli

ndaj saj ne menyren me materialiste. Fundja, gruaja i ka bere nje

nder. Ne rastet e divorcit, ligji amerikan favorizon gati gjithnje gruan.

Grate amerikane nuk kane problem te divorcohen nese nuhasin nje

pazar me te mire. Ndosh shpesh neAmerike qe nje grua eshte e

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martuar me nje burre dhe ne koken e saj ajo eshte 'e fejuar' me

burrin e ardhshem, burrin qe do te martoje pas divorcit.

Media "jone" amerikane

Amerikanizimi i Evropes eshte i perhapur dhe i vetekuptueshem. Ne

Itali ka filluar qe ne vitet e pasluftes, dhe nese italianet nuk e presin

me entuziazem, te pakten e shohin si nje hap te natyrshem. Para disa

kohesh shkruajta dicka mbi rreziqet qe i kanosen Evropes -

Amerikanizmi dhe Komunizmi - dhe rreziku i pare eshte me tinezar.

Komunizmi nuk mund te jete rrezik pervecse nese merret pushteti me

dhune nga komunistet. Nga ana tjeter, Amerikanizimi fiton terren

nepermjet nje inflitrimi te ngadalte, duke futur ne mendjet tona

mentalitete dhe zakone qe ne vetvete jane te pafajshem, por jane nje

perversion themelor dhe degradim kunder asaj qe nuk mund ta luftosh

asgjekundi pervecse brenda vetes.

Dhe ne lidhje me kete lufte, shumica e italianeve duken te dobet.

Harrojne trashegimine e tyre kulturore dhe kthehen me gadishmeri nga

Amerika, sikur te ishte prind qe te meson per jeten. Kushdo qe

deshiron te jete modern duhet ta mase veten sipas standardid

amerikan. Eshte per gjynah qe nje shtet Evropian e ul veten kaq

shume. Adhurimi per Ameriken nuk ka te beje fare me nje interes

kulturor ne nje popull tjeter. Ne te kundert, servilizmi ndaj Amerikes te

con ne perfundimin qe asnje jete tjeter nuk vlen te jetohet pervec asaj

amerikanes.

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Mediat radiofonike jane te amerikanizuara. Pa asnje lloj kriteri ndaj

cfare eshte superiore e cfare inferiore, thjesht ndjek ate cka eshte

moda e momentit dhe se cfare tregu ka quajtur 'te pranueshme' - e

pranueshme, pra, per sektoret me te amerikanizuar te publikut, pra me

te degjeneruarit. Pjesa tjeter e jona terhiqet zvarre ne kete cmenduri.

Edhe stili i prezantimit ne radio eshte amerikanizuar. "Kush, pasi ka

degjuar programet radiofonike amerikane, nuk dridhet kur mendon se e

vetjma menyre per te shpetuar nga komunizmi eshte te vete-

amerikanizohesh?" Keto nuk jane fjalet e nje njeriu te rendomte, por

ato te sociologut Amerikan, James Burnham, profesor ne universitetin e

Princeton. Ky gjykim nga nje vete amerikan, duhet t'i beje radio-

programuesit italiane te turperohen.

Pasoja e mentalitetit demokratik 'le te beje gjithsekushi cfare te doje'

eshte intoksikimi i popullit te thjeshte i cili nuk eshte i afte per

vetvete, i cili kur nuk udhehiqet nga nje fuqi dhe nga nje ideal,

humbet shume shpejt sensin e identitetit.

Rendi industrial ne Amerike

Ne studimin e tij klasik te kapitalizmit, Werner Sombart tha qe faza e

fundit e kapitalizmit eshte faza e Fiat producto, pareat homo; pra faza

ku sistemi hyn ne formen e tij me ekstreme dhe vlera e njeriut eshte

e barabarte me efikasitetin e tij ne pune dhe vleren e mallit qe shet.

Doktrinat socialiste linden si reaksion ndaj faktit qe elementi njerezor

nuk merret fare ne konsiderate ne kete lloj sistemi.

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Nje faze e re ka filluar ne Shtetet e Bashkuara ku ka patur nje

uzurpim interesi ne te ashtuquajturat relata te punes. Ne pamjen e

pare duket si nje permiresim: ne realitet eshte nje fenomen i demshem.

Sipermarresit dhe punonjesit kane kuptuar rendesine e faktorit njerezor

ne nje ekonomi produktive dhe kane kuptuar qe eshte gabim te

injorosh njeriun e perfshire ne industri: motivet e tij, ndenjat e tij,

jeten e perditshme etj. Pra, nje shkolle e tere studimesh mbi relatat

njerezore ka dale nga industria, bazuar tek sjelljet e njeriut. Studime

si 'Human Relations in Industry' nga B. Gardner dhe G. Moore kane

dhene nje analize te detajuar te punetoreve dhe motiveve te tyre me

qellim qe te percaktojne mjetet me te mira per te hequr qafe faktoret

qe pengojne maksimizimin e prodhimit. Disa studime ama nuk vijne

nga dyshemeja e dyqanit, por nga menaxheret, mbeshtetur nga

specialiste nga kolegje te ndryshme. Dhe sa shume studime ka patur

deri tani! Ky lloj studimi ka nje qellim praktik: mireqenia psikologjike

te punetorit eshte po aq e rendesishme sa mireqenia fizike. Halli i

vertete eshte tek punetoret qe kane nje pune monotone qe nuk kerkon

perqendrim te madh, studimet sjellin vemendje tek 'rreziku i madh' se

mendja e tij mund te mos jete teresisht e fokusuar ke puna gjithe

kohes, dhe kjo reflekton keqazi tek qendrimi i tij ndaj punes.

Nuk harrohen as jetet private te punetoreve - prandaj vihet re rritja e

te ashtuquajturave konsultime personale. Specialiste thirren qe te heqin

ankthet dhe shqetesimet psikologjike dhe 'komplekseve' te

keqpershtatjes, deri ne piken ku japin keshilla tek ceshtjet me private.

Nje teknike psiko-analitike qe perdoret ketu eshte te lejosh subjektin te

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'flase lirisht' dhe t'i quash katarsisin e perjetuar ne kete moment si

rezultat te suksesshem.

Asgje nga te lartpermendurat nuk ka te beje me permiresimin

shpirteror te njeriut apo me problemet e verteta njerezore, ashtu si nje

Evropian do t'i kuptonte ne kete 'epoke ekonomie'. Ne anen tjeter te

Perdes se Hekurt, njeriu trajtohet si kafshe barre dhe bindja e tij

mbahet nepermjet terrorit dhe urise. Ne Shtetet e Bashkuara njeriu

shihet gjithashtu vetem si nje faktor pune dhe konsumi, dhe asnje

faktor i brendshem i tij nuk neglizhohet dhe cdo faktor i ekzistences

se tij trajtohet si faktor pune dhe konsumi. Ne 'Vendin e te Lireve', ne

te gjitha mediat, njeriut i thuhet qe ka arritur nje grade lumturie te

papare kurre me pare. Por ai harron kush eshte, nga vjen, dhe jeton

vetem per te tashmen.

Demokracia amerikane ne industri

Ka nje diskrepance te madhe - dhe ne rritje - midis parullave te

ideologjise dominuese politike dhe strukturave ekonomike te kombit.

Nje rol te madh ne studimet ndaj njeriut e luan 'morfologjia e

biznesit'. Studimet vertetojne pershtypjen qe biznesi amerikan eshte

shume i ndryshem nga ideali demokratik i propagandes se Shteteve te

Bashkuara. Biznesi amerikan ka nje strukture piramidale. Bizneset e

medha menaxhohen njesoj si ministrite e qeverise dhe organizohen ne

menyre te ngjashme. Ato kane trupa kontrolluese dhe koordinuese qe

ndajne liderat e bizneseve nga masa e punetoreve. Ne vend qe te

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behen me fleksible ne kuptimin social, "elita" e menaxhereve behet

gjithnje e me autokratike - dicka qe duhet dhe tek politikat e jashtme

te ShBA-se.

Kjo eshte, si shume gjera te tjera, nje iluzion amerikan. Amerika:

'vendi i mundesive', ku cdo mundesi eshte aty per ate qe mund ta

kapin, nje vend ku kushdo mund te ngrihet nga rreckat tek luksi. Ne

fillim kishte nje frontiere te hapur drejt te ciles mund te udhetonte

kushdo. Ajo frontiere e hapur nuk eshte me tani, por 'limiti eshte

qielli', shprehje qe vlen per potencialin e palimituar te industrise dhe

tregetise. Por ashtu sic kane thene Gardner dhe Moore dhe shume te

tjere, edhe ketu limitet po mbyllen. Duke pare se si puna po

specializohet gjithnje e me shume, dhe rendesia gjithnje me e madhe e

'kualifikimeve' per te gjetur pune ben qe siguria e jeteses qe eshte

afermendsh per amerikanin e sotem nuk do te jete me afermendsh per

femijet e tyre. Pra, ne te ashtuquajtur demokraci e Shteteve te

Bashkuara, burimi i vertete pushtetit i ketij vendi, pra industria dhe

ekonomia po behen gjithnje me jo-demokratike.

Problemi atehere eshte: a duhet te ndryshohet realiteti ne menyre qe

t'i pershtatet ideologjise, apo e anasjellta? Deri se fundmi kerkasa ka

qene qe te behet e para; britma kerkon nje kthim tek 'Amerika e

vertete' e biznesit pa rregullime dhe individit te lire nga kontrolli i

qeverise qendrore. Sidoqofte, ka edhe ata qe deshirojne te limitohet

demokracia ne menyre qe t'i pershtasin teorine politike realitetit

komercial. Nese maska e 'demokracise' amerikane hiqet, do te behet e

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qarte deri ne cfare mase kjo 'demokraci' eshte vetem nje instrument i

nje oligarkie qe vepron ne menyre indirekte, duke siguruar qe

mashtrimet dhe abuzimet e saj ndaj shumices te pranohen nga kjo

shumice, pasi ata e mendojne kete lloj hierarkie nje hierarki te drejte.

Kjo dileme e 'demokracise' se Shteteve te Bashkuara do te sjelle nje

dite disa zhvillime interesante.

Artikulli i Julius Evola "Civilta" Americana ("Qytetërimi" Amerikan) u botua për herë të parë në 1945 dhe u ribotua në 1983 nga Fondacioni Julius Evola në Romë.

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(English)

he recently deceased John Dewey was applauded by the

American press as the most representative figure of American

civilisation. This is quite right. His theories are entirely

representative of the vision of man and life which is the premise of

Americanism and its 'democracy'.

The essence of such theories is this: that everyone can become what

he wants to, within the limits of the technological means at his

disposal. Equally, a person is not what he is from his true nature and

there is no real difference between people, only differences in

qualifications. According to this theory anyone can be anyone he

wants to be if he knows how to train himself.

This is obviously the case with the 'self-made man'; in a society

which has lost all sense of tradition the notion of personal

aggrandisement will extend into every aspect of human existence,

reinforcing the egalitarian doctrine of pure democracy. If the basis of

such ideas is accepted, then all natural diversity has to be abandoned.

Each person can presume to possess the potential of everyone else and

the terms 'superior' and 'inferior' lose their meaning; every notion of

distance and respect loses meaning; all life-styles are open to all. To

all organic conceptions of life Americans oppose a mechanistic

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conception. In a society which has 'started from scratch', everything

has the characteristic of being fabricated. In American society

appearances are masks not faces. At the same time, proponents of the

American way of life are hostile to personality.

The Americans' 'open-mindedness', which is sometimes cited in their

favour, is the other side of their interior formlessness. The same goes

for their 'individualism'. Individualism and personality are not the

same: the one belongs to the formless world of quantity, the other to

the world of quality and hierarchy. The Americans are the living

refutation of the Cartesian axiom, "I think, therefore I am": Americans

do not think, yet they are. The American 'mind', puerile and primitive,

lacks characteristic form and is therefore open to every kind of

standardisation.

In a superior civilisation, as, for example, that of the Indo-Aryans, the

being who is without a characteristic form or caste (in the original

meaning of the word), not even that of servant or shudra, would

emerge as a pariah. In this respect America is a society of pariahs.

There is a role for pariahs. It is to be subjected to beings whose form

and internal laws are precisely defined. Instead the modern pariahs

seek to become dominant themselves and to exercise their dominion

over all the world.

There is a popular notion about the United States that it is a 'young

nation' with a 'great future before it'. Apparent American defects are

then described as the 'faults of youth' or 'growing pains'. It is not

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difficult to see that the myth of 'progress' plays a large part in this

judgement. According to the idea that everything new is good, America

has a privileged role to play among civilised nations. In the First

World War the United States intervened in the role of 'the civilised

world' par excellence. The 'most evolved' nation had not only a right

but a duty to interfere in the destinies of other peoples.

The structure of history is, however, cyclical not evolutionary. It is

far from being the case that the most recent civilisations are

necessarily 'superior'. They may be, in fact, senile and decadent. There

is a necessary correspondence between the most advanced stages of a

historical cycle and the most primitive. America is the final stage of

modern Europe. Guenon called the United States 'the far West', in the

novel sense that the United States represents the reductio ad

absurdum of the negative and the most senile aspects of Western

civilisation. What in Europe exist in diluted form are magnified and

concentrated in the United States whereby they are revealed as the

symptoms of disintegration and cultural and human regression. The

American mentality can only be interpreted as an example of

regression, which shows itself in the mental atrophy towards all

higher interests and incomprehension of higher sensibility.

The American mind has limited horizons, one conscribed to everything

which is immediate and simplistic, with the inevitable consequence

that everything is made banal, basic and levelled down until it is

deprived of all spiritual life. Life itself in American terms is entirely

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mechanistic. The sense of 'I' in America belongs entirely to the

physical level of existence. The typical American neither has spiritual

dilemmas nor complications: he is a 'natural' joiner and conformist.

The primitive American mind can only superficially be compared to a

young mind. The American mind is a feature of the regressive society

to which I have already referred.

American Morality

The much-vaunted sex appeal of American women is drawn from films,

reviews and pin-ups, and is in large print fictitious. A recent medical

survey in the United States showed that 75 per cent of young

American women are without strong sexual feeling and instead of

satisfying their libido they seek pleasure narcissistically in

exhibitionism, vanity and the cult of fitness and health in a sterile

sense. American girls have 'no hang-ups about sex'; they are 'easy

going' for the man who sees the whole sexual process as something in

isolation thereby making it uninteresting and matter-of-fact, which, at

such a level, it is meant to be. Thus, after she has been taken to the

cinema or a dance, it is something like American good manners for the

girl to let herself be kissed - this doesn't mean anything. American

women are characteristically frigid and materialistic. The man who

'has his way' with an American girl is under a material obligation to

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her. The woman has granted a material favour. In cases of divorce

American law overwhelmingly favours the woman. American women

will divorce readily enough when they see a better bargain. It is

frequently the case in America that a woman will be married to one

man but already 'engaged' to a future husband, the man she plans to

marry after a profitable divorce.

"Our" American Media

Americanisation in Europe is widespread and evident. In Italy it is a

phenomenon which is rapidly developing in these post-war years and

is considered by most people, if not enthusiastically, at least as

something natural. Some time ago I wrote that of the two great

dangers confronting Europe - Americanism and Communism - the first

is the more insidious. Communism cannot be a danger other than in

the brutal and catastrophic form of a direct seizure of power by

communists. On the other hand Americanisation gains ground by a

process of gradual infiltration, effecting modifications of mentalities

and customs which seem inoffensive in themselves but which end in a

fundamental perversion and degradation against which it is impossible

to fight other than within oneself.

It is precisely with respect to such internal opposition that most

Italians seem weak. Forgetting their own cultural inheritance they

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readily turn to the United States as something akin to the parent

guide of the world. Whoever wants to be modern has to measure

himself according to the American standard. It is pitiable to witness a

European country so debase itself. Veneration for America has nothing

to do with a cultured interest in the way other people live. On the

contrary, servility towards the United States leads one to think that

there is no other way of life worth considering on the same level as

the American one.

Our radio service is Americanised. Without any criterion of superior

and inferior it just follows the fashionable themes of the moment and

markets what is considered 'acceptable' - acceptable, that is, to the

most Americanised section of the public, which is to say the most

degenerate. The rest of us are dragged along in its wake. Even the

style of presentation on radio has become Americanised. "Who, after

listening to an American radio programme, can suppress a shudder

when he considers that the only way of escaping communism is by

becoming Americanised?" Those are not the words of an outsider but

of an American sociologist, James Burnham, professor at the University

of Princeton. Such a judgement from an American should make Italian

radio programmers blush for shame.

The consequence of the 'do your own thing' democracy is the

intoxication of the greater part of the population which is not capable

of discriminating for itself, which, when not guided by a power and

an ideal, all too easily loses sense of its own identity.

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The Industrial Order in America

In his classic study of capitalism Werner Sombart summarised the late

capitalist phase in the adage Fiat producto, pareat homo. In its

extreme form capitalism is a system in which a man's value is

estimated solely in terms of the production of merchandise and the

invention of the means of production. Socialist doctrines grew out of a

reaction to the lack of human consideration in this system.

A new phase has begun in the United States where there has been an

upsurge of interest in so-called labor relations. In appearance it would

seem to signify an improvement: in reality this is a deleterious

phenomenon. The entrepreneurs and employers have come to realise

the importance of the 'human factor' in a productive economy, and

that it is a mistake to ignore the individual involved in industry: his

motives, his feelings, his working day life. Thus, a whole school of

study of human relations in industry has grown up, based on

behaviourism. Studies like Human Relations in Industry by B. Gardner

and G. Moore have supplied a minute analysis of the behaviour of

employees and their motivations with the precise aim of defining the

best means to obviate all factors that can hinder the maximisation of

production. Some studies certainly don't come from the shop floor but

from the management, abetted by specialists from various colleges. The

sociological investigations go as far! as analysing the employee's social

ambience. This kind of study has a practical purpose: the ma

intenance of the psychological contentment of the employee is as

19

important as the physical. In cases in which a worker is tied to a

monotonous job which doesn't demand a great deal of concentration,

the studies will draw attention to the 'danger' that his mind may tend

to wander in a way that may eventually reflect badly on his attitude

towards the job.

The private lives of employees are not forgotten - hence the increase

in so-called personal counselling. Specialists are called in to dispel

anxiety, psychological disturbances and non-adaptation 'complexes',

even to the point of giving advice in relation to the most personal

matters. A frankly psycho-analytic technique and one much used is to

make the subject 'talk freely' and put the results obtainable by this

'catharsis' into relief.

None of this is concerned with the spiritual betterment of human

beings or any real human problems, such as a European would

understand them in this "age of economics". On the other side of the

Iron Curtain man is treated as a beast of burden and his obedience is

maintained by terror and famine. In the United States man is also

seen as just a factor of labour and consumption, and no aspect of his

interior life is neglected and every factor of his existence is drawn to

the same end. In the 'Land of the Free', through every medium, man is

told he has reached a degree of happiness hitherto undreamed of. He

forgets who he is, where he came from, and basks in the present.

20

American "Democracy" in Industry

There is a significant and growing discrepancy in the United States

between the shibboleths of the prevailing political ideology and the

effective economic structures of the nation. A large part of studies of

the subject is played by the 'morphology of business'. Studies

corroborate the impression that American business is a long way from

the type of organization which corresponds to the democratic ideal of

U.S. propaganda. American businesses have a 'pyramid' structure. They

constitute at the top an articulate hierarchy. The big businesses are

run in the same way as government ministries and are organized

along similar lines. They have co-ordinating and controlling bodies

which separate the business leaders from the mass of employees.

Rather than becoming more flexible in a social sense the "managerial

elite" (Burnham) is becoming more autocratic than ever - something

not unrelated to American foreign policy.

This is the end of yet another American illusion. America: the 'land of

opportunity', where every possibility is there for the person who can

grasp it, a land where anyone can rise from rags to riches. At first

there was the 'open frontier' for all to ride out across. That closed and

the new 'open frontier' was the sky, the limitless potential of industry

and commerce. As Gardner, Moore and many others have shown, this

too is no longer limitless, and the opportunities are thinning out. Given

the ever increasing specialization of labour in the productive process

and the increasing emphasis on 'qualifications', what used to seem

21

obvious to Americans - that their children would 'go further' than they

would - is for many people no longer obvious at all. Thus it is that in

the so-called political democracy of the United States, the force and

the power in the land, that is to say the industry and the economy,

are becoming ever more self-evidently undemocratic.

The problem then is: should reality be made to fit ideology or vice-

versa? Until recently the overwhelming demand has been for the

former course of action; the cry goes out for a return to the 'real

America' of unfettered enterprise and the individual free of central

government control. Nevertheless, there are also those who would

prefer to limit democracy in order to adapt political theory to

commercial reality. If the mask of American 'democracy' were thereby

removed, it would become clear to what extent 'democracy' in America

(and elsewhere) is only the instrument of an oligarchy which pursues

a method of 'indirect action', assuring the possibility of abuse and

deception on a large scale of those many who accept a hierarchical

system because they think it is justly such. This dilemma of

'democracy' in the United States may one day give place to some

interesting developments.

Julius Evola's article "Civilta" Americana (American "Civilization") was first published in 1945, and reprinted in 1983 by the Julius Evola Foundation in Rome.