Early during the second world war, while all of Europe was locked in a death grip involving the liberal democracy of London, the fascism of Berlin, and the communism of Stalingrad, James Burnham published “The Managerial Revolution.” In it, he noticed that even though they were mortal enemies, they also shared a common, unhuman impulse.
The trend had already been working its leaven through the world’s governments for more than half a century. True to its enlightenment roots, it discounted and devalued the soul, the local, the individual and the unique. Rather than honoring these as the very heart of human existence, it saw them as irrelevant differences that could be tolerated only so long as they did not interfere with the rational uniformity imposed by the detached and scientific management of experts in increasingly specialized fields.
Stalinism imposed uniformity through a brutal centralized governing apparatus. Nazism imposed uniformity through collusion between government and business. London (and Washington) used the tools of democracy to build bureaucracies that were nominally under the control of the executive branch, but in reality, imposed uniformity through impersonal and anonymous bureaucrats.
In the fourscore years since Burnham’s book appeared, hot and cold wars between overt totalitarianism and the façade of liberalism have continued unabated—all while the managerial revolution has continued unrelentingly. Had we paid more attention to Burnham, we would have foreseen the global dominance of fast-food chains, defense industries, high finance, and big tech.
Lest I lose my reader in the weeds, it is time to cut to the chase: Our humanity is at stake. Therefore, understanding the essence of humanity is the first task in choosing sides. Can life be boiled down to adequate food, housing, and clothing? How much cultural cuisine are we willing to lose to put “a chicken in every pot”? How much should we suppress religious differences to have a “values-free” education? What free speech are we willing to silence to make everybody “nice”?
Put in these terms, the choices before us cut across political skirmish lines. This, too, is to be expected. Globalist managers vying for control know how to divide and conquer. The uniform talking points fed to media outlets keep liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans busy screaming at each other so that neither one notices that their common humanity is being peeled away layer by layer.
The 70/30 split in Wyoming politics does not have to be a death match. Neither does it have to be a bland blend or political bromide. There is a third, more humane, alternative. Vive la différence! The things that make us different don’t need to be relegated to a place of irrelevance to get along. What makes you human cannot be boiled down to mere biological needs and desires.
Basic needs are the things that unite you with the animal world. It is the soul, the local, the individual, and the unique that are the essence of your human nature. The pursuit of happiness requires cultivating these humanities—not in stamping out these differences.
Of course, Levi Strauss will not make as much money if some people prefer to wear lederhosen over blue jeans. Walmart will not make as much money if some prefer to get their groceries from a different store than the one from which they buy their tires. Taco Bell will not make as much money if some people prefer the cuisine of Mexico City while others choose the nuances of Cancun.
A few years ago, I could not understand why my extremely liberal friend was so upset when Walmart drove our local food market out of business. Now I get it. He was reacting the same way I react to threats directed at my local parish and against our small-town culture. I should have seen then that both of us were pushing back against the inhumane homogenization of our world.
I hope that you can see it, too. Once both the hyper-conservative and the hyper-liberal understand that globalist interests are seeking to bury them both, we will be motived to unite in a struggle to preserve our humanity. Real Republicans and Democrats—the grass roots of every party—can still have vigorous discussion and disagreement on many details. But what unites us is the truth that these details matter.
Jesus asked, “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25). Yes, it is. We are not cows in a feed lot, but human beings. We have souls, moral convictions, and wills that cannot be manipulated like lab rats. We seek eternal truths beyond the creature comforts. The soul, the local, the individual and the unique are not quirks to be tolerated, but the things that make us human.
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