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

queen bee does not affect her nuptial flight in time because the

weather has been particularly bad, she begins laying unfertil-

ized eggs which will hatch nothing but drones. The bees con-

tinue to defend their queen, as required by their instinct; of

course, and when the worker bees die out the hive becomes

extinct.

At that point, only a “higher authority” in the shape of a

beekeeper can save such a hive. He must find and destroy the

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SOME INDESPENSIBLE CONCEPTS

drone queen and insinuate a healthy fertilized queen into the

hive along with a few of her young workers. A net is required

for a few days to protect such a queen and her providers from

being stung by those bees loyal to the old queen. Then the hive

instinct accepts the new one. The apiarist generally suffers a

few painful stings in the process.

The following question derives from the above comparison:

Can the human hive inhabiting our globe achieve sufficient

comprehension of macrosocial pathological phenomenon

which is so dangerous, abhorrent, and fascinating at the same

time, before it is too late? At present, our individual and collec-

tive instincts and our natural psychological and moral world

view cannot furnish all the answers upon which to base skillful

counteractive measures.

Those fair-minded people who preach that all we have left

is to trust in the “Great Apiarist in the sky” and a return to His

commandments are glimpsing a general truth, but they also

tend to trivialize particular truths, especially the naturalistic

ones. It is the latter which constitute a basis for comprehending

phenomena and targeting practical action. The laws of nature

have made us very different from one another. Thanks to his

individual characteristics, exceptional life-circumstances, and

scientific effort, man may have achieved some mastery of the

art of objectively comprehending the phenomena of the above-

mentioned type, but we must underscore that this could only

occur because it was in accordance with the laws of nature.

If societies and their wise people are able to accept an ob-

jective understanding of social and sociopathological phenom-

ena, overcoming the emotionalism and egotism of the natural

world view for this purpose, they shall find a means of action

based on an understanding of the essence of the phenomena. It

will then become evident that a proper vaccine or treatment can

be found for each of the diseases scourging the earth in the

form of major or minor social epidemics.

Just as a sailor possessing an accurate nautical map enjoys

greater freedom of course-selection and maneuvering amid

islands and bays, a person endowed with a better comprehen-

sion of self, other people, and the complex interdependencies

of social life becomes more independent of the various circum-

POLITICAL PONEROLOGY

83

stances of life and better able to overcome situations which are

difficult to understand. At the same time, such improved

knowledge makes an individual more liable to accept his duties

toward society and to subordinate himself to the discipline

which arises as a corollary. Better informed societies also

achieve internal order and criteria for collective efforts. This

book is dedicated to reinforcing this knowledge by means of a

naturalistic understanding of phenomena, something heretofore

comprehended only by means of excessively moralistic catego-

ries of the natural world view.

In a wider perspective, a constantly improving grasp of the

laws governing social life, and its atypical secluded recesses,

must lead us to reflect upon the failings and deficiencies of

those social doctrines expounded to date, which were based on

an extremely primitive understanding of these laws and phe-

nomena. The distance is not far between such considerations

and a better understanding of the operations of these dependen-

cies in former and existing social systems; the same applies to

substantive critiques thereof. A new idea is about to be born

based upon this ever-deepening comprehension of natural laws,

namely the building of a new social system for nations.

Such a system would be better than any of its predecessors.

Building it is possible and necessary, not just some vague fu-

turistic vision. After all, a whole series of countries is now

dominated by conditions which have destroyed the structural

forms worked out by history and replaced them with social

systems inimical to creative functioning, systems which can

only survive by means of force. We are thus confronted with a

great construction project demanding wide-ranging and well-

organized work. The earlier we undertake the job, the more

time we will have to carry it out.

CHAPTER III

THE HYSTEROIDAL CYCLE

Ever since human societies and civilizations have been cre-

ated on our globe, people have longed for happy times full of

tranquility and justice, which would have allowed everyone to

herd his sheep in peace, search for fertile valleys, plow the

earth, dig for treasures, or build houses and palaces. Man de-

sires peace so as to enjoy the benefits accumulated by earlier

generations and to proudly observe the growth of future ones

he has begotten. Sipping wine or mead in the meantime would

be nice. He would like to wander about, becoming familiar

with other lands and people, or enjoy the star-studded sky of

the south, the colors of nature, and the faces and costumes of

women. He would also like to give free rein to his imagination

and immortalize his name in works of art, whether sculptured

in marble or eternalized in myth and poetry.

From time immemorial, then, man has dreamed of a life in

which the measured effort of mind and muscle would be punc-

tuated by well-deserved rest. He would like to learn nature’s

laws so as to dominate her and take advantage of her gifts. Man

enlisted the natural power of animals in order to make his

dreams come true, and when this did not meet his needs, he

turned to his own kind for this purpose, in part depriving other

humans of their humanity simply because he was more power-

ful.

Dreams of a happy and peaceful life thus gave rise to force

over others, a force which depraves the mind of its user. That is

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85

why man’s dreams of happiness have not come true throughout

history. This hedonistic view of “happiness” contains the seeds

of misery and feed the eternal cycle whereby good times give

birth to bad times, which in turn cause the suffering and mental

effort which produce experience, good sense, moderation, and

a certain amount of psychological knowledge, all virtues which

serve to rebuild more felicitous conditions of existence.

During good times, people progressively lose sight of the

need for profound reflection, introspection, knowledge of oth-

ers, and an understanding of life’s complicated laws. Is it worth

pondering the properties of human nature and man’s flawed

personality, whether one’s own or someone else’s? Can we

understand the creative meaning of suffering we have not un-

dergone ourselves, instead of taking the easy way out and

blaming the victim? Any excess mental effort seems like point-

less labor if life’s joys appear to be available for the taking. A

clever, liberal, and merry individual is a good sport; a more