It goes beyond the "necessary, but not sufficient" formulation, and he addresses the "what about Einstein, then?" issue that Ben Stein's movie Expelled doesn't take on:

I do think Darwinism led to Nazism, in a sense. But that's because I see Nazism as one of many responses to modernism. And Darwin, for good and ill, represents the rise of modern science — along with Einstein and others. Nazism and Communism and Progressivism were all impossible without the industrial revolution, Darwinism, relativism, mechanized warfare, mass production, etc. They were reactionary responses to these things. Those responses amounted to an express rejection of the conservative and libertarian vision of society, which is why they were leftwing.

Nazism was reactionary in that it sought to repackage tribal values under the guise of modern concepts. So was Communism. So are all the statist and collectivism isms. The only truly new and radical political revolution is the Lockean one.

(I am re-reading Liberal Fascism, which I had promised to pass along promptly to my husband. When I was done with it I re-read the pages I'd dog-eared. Then I re-read the introduction. Then I accidentally re-read the Mussolini chapter. Now I'm in the Hitler section, and I might as well re-do the whole thing. It's like tying one shoe, and then having to tie the other, because otherwise they'll be uneven.)

Posted by: Attila Girl at 07:45 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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