Particularly disastrous has been the fusion of the rights doctrine with mass democracy and the parallel growth exhibited by these two. Hans Hermann Hoppe has observed that a mass democracy comprised of an infinite number of interest groups making infinite rights claims is simply a form of low-intensity civil war. Likewise, Welf Herfurth has demonstrated how the very meaning of “democracy” has changed over time whereby earlier definitions of this concept, even in their modern liberal variations, have been abandoned and “democracy” has simply become a pseudonym for the limitless right to personal hedonism.

  A paradoxical effect of the infinite expansion of the rights doctrine has been the simultaneously infinite growth of the state. Fustel de Coulandges described the political order of pre-modern Europe:

  At the top of the hierarchy, the king was surrounded by his great vassals. Each of these vassals was himself surrounded by his own feudatories and he could not pronounce the least judgment without them…The king could neither make a new law, nor modify the existing laws, nor raise a new tax without the consent of the country…If one looks at the institutions of this regime from close quarters, and if one observes their meaning and significance, one will see they were all directed against despotism. However great the diversity that seems to reign in this regime, there is, however, one thing that unites them: this thing is obsession with absolute power. I do not think any regime better succeeded in rendering arbitrary rule impossible.

  Benoist contrasts this with subsequent political developments in European civilization:

  The end of the feudal regime marked the beginning of the disintegration of this system under the influence of Roman authoritarianism and the deadly blows of the centralized state. Little by little, hereditary royalty implemented a juridicial-administrative centralization at the expense of intermediary bodies and regional assemblies. While the communal revolution sanctioned the power of the nascent bourgeoisie, the regional parliaments ceased to be equal assemblies and became meetings of royal officers. Having become absolute, the monarchy supported itself upon the bourgeoisie to liquidate the resistances of the nobility.

  Indeed, it could be argued that a similar process is presently transpiring whereby the New Class (or what Sam Francis called the “knowledge class” or what Scott Locklin regards as simply a new upper middle class) is aligning itself with the central government for the purpose of destroying the traditional WASP elite and marginalizing the traditional working to middle classes just as the nascent bourgeoisie of earlier times aligned itself with absolute monarchies against the nobility.

  The growth of the rights doctrine has of course brought with it the explosive growth of rights-enforcement agencies and bureaucrats as any small business owner or self-employed person who has dealt with Occupational Health and Safety Administration would agree. Likewise, the autonomy of regions, localities, and the private sector has been nearly entirely eradicated in the name of creating rights for an ever expanding army of grievance groups and their advocates. Benoist discusses how the rights doctrine has also resulted in the phenomenal growth of the legal system. Today, there is virtually no aspect of life that is considered to be beyond the reach of state regulation or prohibition. Says Pierre Manent:

  In the future, if one depends principally upon human rights to render justice, the ‘manner of judging’ will be irreparable. Arbitrariness, that is to say precisely what our regimes wanted to defend themselves against in instituting the authority of constitutionality, will then go on increasing, and will paradoxically become the work of judges. Now, a power which discovers that it can act arbitrarily will not delay in using and abusing this latitude. It tends towards despotism.

  Far more dreadful than the use of “rights” as a pretextfor enlarging civil bureaucracies and creeping statism in domestic and legal matters has been the application of the “human rights” ideology to international relations. Benoist points out the irony of how the military imperialism that the decolonialization movements were ostensibly supposed to end has been revived under the guise of “humanitarian intervention.” The doctrine of “humanitarian intervention” not only contravenes the international law established by the Peace of Westphalia but as well the Charter of the United Nations: “It suggests that every state, whatever it be, can intervene at will in the internal affairs of another state, whatever it be, under the pretext of preventing ‘attacks on human rights.’” The effect of this doctrine is the simple sanctioning of aggressive war without end.

  Plato’s observation that a democratic regime on its deathbed is most typically characterized by a combination of individual licentiousness and creeping political tyranny would seem to be apt assessment of our present condition. As one Facebook commentator recently suggested:

  Barbarism. Take a picture, we need to get it down for future civilizations. They need to know how the dialectic works: the negation of parental and local authority does NOT lead to freedom, or does so only briefly. That negation is in turn negated by a soft totalitarianism, now becoming harder and more crystallized in order to fill the vacuum of authority. If we record it for them, when some future Neo-Enlightenment philosopher promises liberty and equality circa 2800 CE, he can be properly dressed down before he does any damage.

  Hear, hear!

  Bibliography

  Julius Evola

  Cremo, Michael A. Human Devolution: A Vedic Alternative to Darwin’s Theory. Torchlight Publishing, 2003.

  Evola, Julius. Eros and the Mysteries of Love: The Metaphysics of Sex. English translation. New York: Inner Traditions, 1983. Originally published in Italy by Edizioni Meditterranee, 1969.

  Evola, Julius. Revolt Against the Modern World: Politics, Religion, and Social Order in the Kali Yuga. English translation by Guido Stucco. New York: Inner Traditions, 1995. From the 1969 edition. Originally published in Milan by Hoepli in 1934.

  Evola, Julius. The Yoga of Power: Tantra, Shakti, and the Secret Way. English translation by Guido Stucci. New York: Inner Traditions, 1992. Originally published in 1949.

  Pomeroy, Wardell. Dr. Kinsey and the Institute for Sex Research. New York: Harper & Row, 1972.

  Sharaf, Myron. Fury on Earth: A Biography of Wilhelm Reich. Da Capo Press, 1994.

  Wegierski, Mark. The New Right in Europe. Telos, Winter93/ Spring 94, Issue 98-99.

  Aleister Crowley

  “An Account of A.’.A.’.” In Gems from the Equinox. St. Paul, MI: Llewellyn, 1974, pp. 31-41.

  “An Appeal to the American Republic.” In The Works of Aleister Crowley. Des Plaines, IL: Yogi, n.d., pp. 136-40.

  Atlantis: The Lost Continent. Malton, ON, Canada: Dove, n.d.

  The Book of the Law. York Beach, ME: Weiser, 1976.

  “Concerning the Law of Thelema.” In The Equinox, Vol. III, No. 1, New York: Weiser, 1974, pp. 225-38.

  The Confessions. London: Arkana - Penguin, 1989.

  The Heart of the Master. Montreal, PQ: 93 Pub., 1973.

  “An Intimation with Reference to the Constitution of the Order.” In The Equinox, Vol. III, No. 1, pp. 239-46.

  “Khabs Am Pekht.” In Gems from the Equinox, pp. 99-110.

  The Law Is for All. Phoenix, AZ: Falcon, 1983.

  “The Law of Liberty.” In The Equinox, Vol. III, No. 1, pp. 45-52.

  Liber Aleph: The Book of Wisdom or Folly. York Beach, ME: Weiser, 1991.

  “Liber Porta Lucis.” In Gems from the Equinox, pp. 651-55. “Liber Trigrammaton.” In The Law Is for All, pp. 339-44.

  “Liber Tzaddi vel Hamus Hermeticus.” In Gems from the Equinox, pp. 657-62.

  The Magical Record of the Beast 666. Montreal, PQ: 93 Pub., 1972.

  Magick in Theory and Practice. Secaucus, NJ: Castle, 1991.

  Magick without Tears. Tempe, AZ: Falcon, 1973.

  “The Message of the Master Therion.” In The Equinox, Vol. III, No.1, pp. 39-43.

  “An Open Letter to Those Who May Wish to Join the Order.” In The Equinox, Vol. III, No. 1, pp. 207-24.

  The Scientific Solution of the Problem of Government. Ordo Templi Orientis, 1936.

  The Secret Rituals of the O.T.O. Publication information not available.

  “Thien Tao.” Konx Om Pax. Des Plaines, IL: Yogi, n.d., pp. 53-67.

  Corneliu Codreanu

  Barbu, Zeev (2003). “Romania: The Iron Guard”, in Aristotle

  Kallis (ed.), The Fascism Reader. London: Routledge, p.195-201.

  Hari, Johan (2009). “Blood, Rage & History: The World’s First Terrorists.” The Independent, October 12, 2009.

  Hunter, Jack (2009). “Casualties of Diversity.” Taki’s Magazine, November 15, 2009.

  Junger, Ernst (1993). “On Danger.” New German Critique, No. 59 ( Spring/Summer 1993).

  Payne, Stanley G. (1995). A History of Fascism 1914-1945. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, pp. 277-289.

  Preston, Keith (2011). “The Nietzschean Prophecies: Two Hundred Years of Nihilism and the Coming Crisis of Western Civilization.” The Radical Tradition: Philosophy, Metapolitics & the Conservative Revolution, edited by Troy Southgate (Primordial Traditions, 2011).

  Preston, Keith (2006). Propaganda by the Deed, Fourth Generation Warfare and the Decline of the State: An Examination of the History of the Decline of the State’s Monopoly on Violence and Warmaking. Archived at http://attackthesystem.com/propaganda-by-the-deed-fourth-generation-warfare-and-the-decline-of-the-state/

  Primo de Rivera, Jose Antonio (1936). “Carta a los militares de Espana.” Archived at http://www.rumbos.net/ocja/jaoc0189.html

  Van Creveld, Martin (1999). The Rise and Decline of the State. Cambridge University Press.

  Volovici, Leon (1991). Nationalist Ideology and Antisemitism: The Case of Romanian Intellectuals in the 1930s. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1991.

  Alain De Benoist

  Benoist, Alain. The Problem of Democracy. London: Arktos, 2011. Benoist, Alain. Beyond Human Rights. London: Arktos, 2011

  Faye, Guillaume. Archeofuturism – European Visions of the Post-Catastrophic Age. London: Arktos, 2010.

  Faye, Guillaume. Why We Fight: Manifesto of the European Resistance. London: Arktos, 2011.

  Faye, Guillaume. Convergence of Catastrophes. London: Arktos, 2012.

  O’Meara, Michael. New Culture, New Right: Anti-Liberalism in Postmodern Europe, (Second Edition). London: Arktos, 2013.

  Hoppe, Hans Hermann. Democracy: The God That Failed: The Economics and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy and Natural Order. Piscataway, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2001.

  Kuehnelt-Leddihn, Erik von. Leftism Revisited: From de Sade and Marx to Hitler and Pol Pot. Washington, D.C.: Regnery Gateway, 1990

  Sunic, Tomislav. Against Democracy and Equality: The European New Right, (Third Edition). London: Arktos, 2010.

  Sunic, Tomislav. Homo Americanus: Child of the Postmodern Age. Charleston: SC: Book Surge Publishing, 2007.

  Sunic, Tomislav. Postmortem Report: Cultural Examinations from Postmodernity - Collected Essays. Shamley Green, UK: The Paligenesis Project, 2010.

  [1] Ian Buruma, “The Anarch at Twilight”, New York Review of Books, Volume 40, No. 12, June 24, 1993. Hilary Barr, “An Exchange on Ernst Junger”, New York Review of Books, Volume 40, No. 21, December 16, 1993.

  [2] Nevin, Thomas. Ernst Junger and Germany: Into the Abyss, 1914-1945. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1996, pp. 1-7. Loose, Gerhard. Ernst Junger. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1974, preface.

  [3] Nevin, pp. 9-26. Loose, p. 21

  [4] Loose, p. 22. Nevin, pp. 27-37.

  [5] Nevin. p. 49.

  [6] Ibid., p. 57

  [7] Ibid., p. 61

  [8] Maurice Barrès (September 22, 1862 - December 4, 1923) was a French novelist, journalist, an anti-semite, nationalist politician and agitator. Leaning towards the far-left in his youth as a Boulangist deputy, he progressively developed a theory close to Romantic nationalism and shifted to the right during the Dreyfus Affair, leading the Anti-Dreyfusards alongside Charles Maurras. In 1906, he was elected both to the Académie française and as deputy of the Seine department, and until his death he sat with the conservative Entente républicaine démocratique. A strong supporter of the Union sacréi(Holy Union) during World War I, Barrès remained a major influence of generations of French writers, as well as of monarchists, although he was not a monarchist himself. 9. Nevin, pp. 58, 71, 97.

  [9] Nevin, pp. 58, 71, 97.

  [10] Schilpp, P. A. “The Philosophy of Bertrand Russell”. Reviewed Hermann Weyl, The American Mathematical Monthly, Vol. 53, No. 4 (Apr., 1946), pp. 208-214.

  [11] Nevin, pp. 122, 125, 134, 136, 140, 173.

  [12] Ibid., pp. 75-91.

  [13] Ibid., p. 107.

  [14] Ibid., p. 108.

  [15] Ibid., pp. 109-111.

  [16] Ibid., pp. 114-140.

  [17] Ibid., p. 145.

  [18] Ibid., p. 162.

  [19] Ibid., p. 189.

  [20] Ibid., p. 209.

  [21] Junger, Ernst. Eumeswil. New York: Marion Publishers, 1980, 1993.

  [22] Sourcebook, p. 331

  [23] Schmitt, Crisis, pp. 2-3

  [24] Schmitt, Crisis, p. 25

  [25] Schmitt, Crisis, p. 35

  [26] Sourcebook, p.337

  [27] Peter Gay, The Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Paganism (New York and London: W.W. Norton and Company, 1966), pp. 8-9, 62-63.

  [28] Gay, pp. 59-127.

  [29] Georg W.F. Hegel, The Philosophy of History, (Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 1991).

  [30] Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto (New York: International Publishers, 1948.)

  [31] Peter J. Bowler, The Non-Darwinian Revolution: Reinterpreting a Historical Myth. (Baltimore and London: Johns-Hopkins University Press, 1988), pp. 9-10, 43-44, 24-28, 40-45.

  [32] Bowler, pp. 9-14.

  [33] Bowler, pp. 132-158.

  [34] Bowler, pp. 166-173.

  [35] Gay, pp. 63-64, 103, 105, 407-419.

  [36] Werner J. Dannhauser, “Friedrich Nietzsche,” History of Political Philosophy, edited by Joseph Cropsey and Leo Strauss. (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1963, 1972) Third edition, 1987, pp. 829-831.

  [37] Friedrich Nietzsche, A Nietzsche Reader (London and New York: Penguin Books, 1977), pp. 202-203.

  [38] Houston Stewart Chamberlain, Foundations of the Nineteenth Century. Vol. I. Trans. John Lees. (New York: Howard Fertig, Inc., 1968).

  [39] Simone De Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity, (Secauscus, New Jersey: Citadel Press, 1948).

  [40] Michel Foucault, Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason, (New York: Vintage Books, 1965), Originally published in 1961.

  [41] Keith Preston, “The Nietzschean Prophecies: Two Hundred Years of Nihilism and the Coming Crisis of Western Civilization,” The Radical Tradition: Philosophy, Metapolitics & the Conservative Revolution, edited by Troy Southgate (Primordial Traditions, 2011).

  [42] Ibid.

  [43] Werner J. Dannhauser, “Friedrich Nietzsche,” History of Political Philosophy, edited by Joseph Cropsey and Leo Strauss. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1963, 1972, Third edition, 1987, pp. 829-831.

  [44] Michael Kleen, “Nietzsche and Ortega Juxtaposed,” Strike-the-Root.Com, August 18, 2010. Archived at http://www.strike-the-root.com/nietzsche-and-ortega-juxtaposed

  [45] Michael Kleen, “Nietzsche and the State,” Strike-the-Root.Com, July 15, 2010. Archived at http://www.strike-the-root.com/nietzsche-and-state

  [46] Charles Bufe, “Introduction,” The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, by Henry Louis Mencken. San Francisco: See Sharp Press. Originally published in 1908.

  [47] Alvin W. Gouldner, The Future of Intellectuals and the Rise of the New Class. New York: Continuum Publishing Service, 1979.

  [48] Scott Locklin, “Social Classes: The Upper Middle Class,” AlternativeRight.Com, August 17, 2010. Archived at http://www.alternativeright.com/main/blogs/zeitgeist/social-classes-the-upper-middle-class/

  [49] Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, Leftism Revisited: From De Sade and Marx to Hitler and Pol Pot. Washington, D.C.: Regnery Gateway, 1990.

  [50] Chris George, “Wisdom and Vision,” New Kind of Mind, April 11, 2011. Archived at http://www.newkindofmind.com/2011/04/wisdom-and-vision.html

  [51] I am grateful to Michael Parish for this insight.

  [52] Jahn, Karl (2000). “Distributism.” Archived at http://karljahn.tripod.com/tan/ distributism.htm. Accessed on October 8, 2012.

  [53] Dorothy Day. “Articles on Distributism-2.” The Catholic Worker, July–August 1948, 1, 2, 6.

  [54] Bradshaw, Brendan (1974). The Dissolution of the Religious Orders in Ireland under Henry VIII. London: Cambridge University Press.

  [55] George Orwell. “Second Thoughts on James Burnham” in Polemic No 3 May 1946.

  [56] Chesterton, Gilbert Keith. Eugenics and Other Evils. Reprinted by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1st edition (November 20, 2012). Originally published in 1917.

  [57] Babinski, Edward T. “Chesterton and Univeralism.” Archived at http://www.tentmaker.org/biographies/chesterton.htm. Accessed on March 12, 2013.

  [58] Friedman, David D. “G. K. Chesterton-An Author Review,” The Machinery of Freedom: Guide to Radical Capitalism. Second Edition. Archived at http://daviddfriedman.com/The_Machinery_of_Freedom_pdf. Accessed on March 12, 2013.