In Russia after 1917 the communist ideology seemed to be taking over from all the others; it frightened the establishment even in the USA. We now see the dwarf behind the giant’s mask; in Russia as elsewhere communists have remained a small minority. As each new ideology first appears on the world scene, and as… read more »
Evidence for the persistence of the earlier ideologies comes from the persistence of behaviour-patterns; once established in social practice these show an endurance not always recognised. Although often changing their form of expression they continue to exercise influence even though overlaid, even repressed, by later developments; imperialism, for example, continues while national self-determination spreads, although… read more »
Jean Baptiste Colbert, Minister in charge of finance under Louis XIV, asked the merchants what he could do for them; they added to the common stock of cliches with the reply: “Laissez-nous faire.” Or so the story goes. After generations as an unassimilated immigrant the phrase has now been naturalised as the demand for a… read more »
Cal McCrystal writes about a book, due out later this year, from the Centre for New Religious Movements at King’s College, London, which estimates that there are 400-500 cults in Britain. Scientology is now an old story and so are the Moonies, but we had not previously encountered the Bugbrooke Christian Fellowship, which bans Christmas,… read more »
Whiteway Colony, the social history of a Tolstoyan community, by Joy Thacker. Published by Joy Thacker, Fairhaven, Whiteway, Stroud, Glos. 13.99 pounds. Reviewed by George Walford. This community has a particular interest for IC. The early members included Francis Sedlak, escapee from Czechoslovakia via the Foreign Legion, and partner of Nellie Shaw (herself a founder-member)…. read more »
The communist parties work in the belief that if they could only gain power they could establish a society which, if not fully communist, would be nearer to that condition than is existing society. Given power they would, they believe, be able to lead, drive, educate or manipulate the general body of the people into… read more »
A main theme of systematic ideology is that the major ideologies form a determinate series, in the sense that the people who move along the range develop the successive ideologies in a predictable order. But in doing this they do not abandon the earlier ones; these are, so to speak, carried along with them so… read more »
When people first come into contact with systematic ideology they often draw attention to a discrepancy between the basic “model” put forward and the actual behaviour of the groups whose behaviour that model is to explain. Systematic ideology holds that the behaviour of each of the main political groups (Fascist, Conservative, Liberal, Labour, Communist, Anarchist)… read more »
At Friends House, on October 3, 10, 17, George Walford delivered a series of three public lectures on systematic ideology. This was a new departure for the WS, whose meetings devoted to systematic ideology had previously been (semi-) private. The speaker did not use the protostatic-paradynamic series of terms for the major ideologies, but referred… read more »
Anarchism offers a society in which everybody will be able to do what they want, provided only that they don’t interfere with the freedom of others. Yet most people do not support it. Anarchism claims to fight for the free spirit of humanity against oppression and coercion, but it remains a small movement of protest,… read more »