Andrew Lobaczewski - Political Ponerology - A Science on the Nature of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes

reality. Such restraint also enables us to avoid an error which

poisons minds and souls all too effectively, namely superim-

posing a moralizing interpretation upon the activity of patho-

logical factors. We also avoid emotional entanglements and

better control our own egotism and egocentrism, thus facilitat-

ing objective analysis of phenomena.

If such an attitude strikes some readers as being close to

moral indifference, we should reiterate that the here-adduced

method of analyzing evil and its genesis gives rise to a new

type of reasoned distance from its temptations, as well as acti-

vating additional theoretical and practical possibilities for

counter-acting it. Also, we should give thought to the astonish-

ing and obvious convergence between the conclusions we can

derive from this analysis of the phenomena and certain ideas

from ancient philosophies, well stated in the Christian Bible:

“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye

judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it

shall be measured to you again.” (Mat. 7:1-2)

These values, unfortunately often overshadowed by a gov-

ernment’s immediate needs, as well as the activity of our in-

stinctive and emotional reflexes goading us to revenge and

punishment of others, find at least partial rational justification

in this new science. Practicing such rigorous understanding and

behavior can only confirm these values in a more evident and

scientific manner.

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PONEROLOGY

This new discipline can be applicable to many walks of life.

The author has utilized these accomplishments and tested their

practical value in the course of individual psychotherapy upon

his patients. As a result, their personality and future were rear-

ranged in a manner more favorable than if it were based on

earlier skills. Bearing in mind the exceptional nature of our

times, when multi-faceted mobilization of moral and mental

values must be effected to counteract the evil threatening the

world, in the coming chapters, the author shall suggest the

adoption of just such an attitude, whose end result ought be an

act of forgiveness heretofore unheard of in history. Keep in

mind also that understanding and forgiveness does not exclude

correction of conditions and taking prophylactic measures.

Disentangling the Gordian Knot of present times, composed

of the macrosocial pathological phenomenon threatening our

future, may appear impossible without the development and

utilization of this new discipline. This knot can no longer be

cut with a sword. A psychologist cannot afford to be as impa-

tient as Alexander the Great. That is why we have here de-

scribed it within the indispensable scope, adaptation, and selec-

tion of data, so as to enable clarification of the problems to be

discussed later in the book. Perhaps the future will make it

possible to elaborate a general theoretical work.

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

May the reader please imagine a very large hall in an old

Gothic university building. Many of us gathered there early in

our studies in order to listen to the lectures of outstanding phi-

losophers and scientists. We were herded back there – under

threat - the year before graduation in order to listen to the in-

doctrination lectures which recently had been introduced.

Someone nobody knew appeared behind the lectern and in-

formed us that he would now be the professor. His speech was

fluent, but there was nothing scientific about it: he failed to

distinguish between scientific and ordinary concepts and

treated borderline imaginings as though it were wisdom that

could not be doubted. For ninety minutes each week, he

flooded us with naive, presumptuous paralogistics and a patho-

logical view of human reality. We were treated with contempt

and poorly controlled hatred. Since fun-poking could entail

dreadful consequences, we had to listen attentively and with

the utmost gravity.

The grapevine soon discovered this person’s origins. He had

come from a Cracow suburb and attended high school, al-

though no one knew if he had graduated. Anyway, this was the

first time he had crossed university portals, and as a professor,

at that!

“You can’t convince anyone this way!” we whispered to

each other. “It’s actually propaganda directed against them-

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INTRODUCTION

selves.” But after such mind-torture, it took a long time for

someone to break the silence.

We studied ourselves, since we felt something strange had

taken over our minds and something valuable was leaking

away irretrievably. The world of psychological reality and

moral values seemed suspended as if in a chilly fog. Our hu-

man feeling and student solidarity lost their meaning, as did

patriotism and our old established criteria. So we asked each

other, “are you going through this too”? Each of us experienced

this worry about his own personality and future in his own

way. Some of us answered the questions with silence. The

depth of these experiences turned out to be different for each

individual.

We thus wondered how to protect ourselves from the results

of this “indoctrination”. Teresa D. made the first suggestion:

Let’s spend a weekend in the mountains. It worked. Pleasant

company, a bit of joking, then exhaustion followed by deep

sleep in a shelter, and our human personalities returned, albeit

with a certain remnant. Time also proved to create a kind of

psychological immunity, although not with everyone. Analyz-

ing the psychopathic characteristics of the “professor’s” per-

sonality proved another excellent way of protecting one’s own

psychological hygiene.

You can just imagine our worry, disappointment, and sur-

prise when some colleagues we knew well suddenly began to

change their world view; their thought-patterns furthermore

reminded us of the “professor’s” chatter. Their feelings, which

had just recently been friendly, became noticeably cooler, al-

though not yet hostile. Benevolent or critical student arguments

bounced right of them. They gave the impression of possessing

some secret knowledge; we were only their former colleagues,

still believing what those “professors of old” had taught us. We

had to be careful of what we said to them. These former col-

leagues soon joined the Party.

Who were they, what social groups did they come from,

what kind of students and people were they? How and why did

they change so much in less than a year? Why did neither I nor

a majority of my fellow students succumb to this phenomenon

and process? Many such questions fluttered through our heads

POLITICAL PONEROLOGY

35

then. It was in those times, from those questions, observations

and attitudes that the idea was born that this phenomenon could

be objectively studied and understood; an idea whose greater

meaning crystallized with time.

Many of us newly graduated psychologists participated in

the initial observations and reflections, but most crumbled

away in the face of material or academic problems. Only a few

of that group remained; so the author of this book may be the

last of the Mohicans.

It was relatively easy to determine the environments and

origins of the people who succumbed to this process, which I