Kuehnelt-Leddihn spent his life studying the history of leftism and tracing its destructive influence throughout the world. Although he admired the United States, he clearly saw what leftism had done to it. Were he alive today, I believe he would define the neo-conservatives not as conservatives, but as leftists. I believe he would also define George’s Bush crusades as a blind, crude leftist attempt to remake the world. So, then, Bush, contrary to his “conservative” credentials, is more of a leftist than a rightist.
From a lifetime of thought, Kuehnelt-Leddihn distilled leftism into a list. Here is part of it.
* Messianism assigned to one group: a nation, a race, a class.
* Centralization: elimination of local administrations, traditions, characteristics, etc.
* Totalitarianism: pervasion of all spheres of life by one doctrine.
* Brute force and terror, not authority, an endogenous force.
* Ideological one-party state.
* Militarism: conscription, people’s armies.
* Territorial expansionist tendencies as a form of self-realization.
* Exclusiveness: no other deities tolerated.
Perhaps “messianism” is the most troublesome characteristic on that list. Every empire has used as a justification for its abuses the belief it is “saving the world.” People as far apart as Aesop and Jesus both commented that “all tyrants call themselves benefactors.” “Saving the world” is always an excuse for trying to conquer it.
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