George Walford: The Cosmic Situation
When we turn to consider the respective identifications of the two main ideological classes with the non-social world (what Walsby terms their cosmic situations), we find a reversal of the identifications which they respectively exhibit with existing society. The eidostatics, (positively identified with existing society), are negatively identified with the non-social world, and the eidodynamics, (negatively identified with existing society), are positively identified with the non-social world.
The Left regard existing society as the source of poverty, insecurity, war, and the other major ills from which we suffer. They regard the non-social world in much the same way as the Right regard the social, as something presenting no particular problems and exercising no very great effect, either for good or ill. They are, for example, greatly concerned with poverty. In combating it they concentrate their efforts upon ensuring a more equitable distribution of the commodities available (an intra-social matter) rather than upon producing a greater supply of commodities (an activity directed toward the non-social world, the source of raw materials). Their behaviour implies that they assume the non-social world to be so far under control that it presents no serious problems. As they sometimes phrase it: “the problem of production has been solved.” The Left, the eidodynamics, display toward the non-social world that attitude of acceptance, of taking for granted, that we have come to recognise as indicative of positive identification.
The eidostatics, on the contrary, tend to see the non-social world as the source of the ills from which we suffer, and accordingly it is toward this world that their efforts are mainly directed. They tend to concern themselves with efforts to establish and exercise control of the non-social world, sometimes by prayer, sometimes by industry. They concern themselves with the production of goods, an activity directed toward the non-social world, rather than with questions concerning the fairness of their distribution within society. Toward the non-social world the Right display that active concern which we recognise as indicative of a negative identification.
Continue reading An Outline Sketch of Systematic Ideology (1977):
The Walsby Society | Introduction | Ideology and the Left | The Field of Ideology | Assumption and Identification | Definition of an Ideology | Ideological Groups | The Major Ideologies | Ideological Development | Intellect | The Group Situation | The Cosmic Situation | Political Individualism and Collectivism | Economic Individualism and Collectivism | Personal Ideological Structure | Social Ideological Structure | Conclusion | Papers on Systematic Ideology