Total State by How Liberal Democracies Become Tyrannies by Auron MacIntyre (2024)

Author:How Liberal Democracies Become Tyrannies by Auron MacIntyre (2024)
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0000000000000
Published: 2024-05-09T18:58:20+00:00

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1. Francis, Leviathan and Its Enemies, p.33.

2. Francis, Leviathan and Its Enemies, p.68.

CHAPTER 7

Engineering Subjects for the Total State

The total state seeks to maximize efficiency and stability by exerting control in every domain of life within its ever-expanding borders. In order to accomplish this, it deploys a network of managerial elites in both the public and private spheres who apply an approved system of standardized techniques. The goal of the managers is not just to create more efficiency, but to shape the organizations, workers, and consumers they manage so their techniques can be more uniformly applied. The more homogeneous large bureaucracies can make those they manage, the easier it is to predict outcomes and expand their power.

The problem is that human beings are radically different. Even if you find a way to engineer a workplace or educational institution where everyone is uniform, those within eventually leave those organizations and go home to families and communities, which can impact their performance when they return. If an employee is devoutly religious with six children at home, he may refuse to work twelve hours on a Sunday or object to the new line of puberty blockers the company health-care plan is rolling out. It may also be difficult to convince his wife to enter the workforce, lowering the cost of labor. Just as a champion sailboat racer seeks to remove every rough surface from his hull to reduce drag, a manager seeks to make every employee as compliant and frictionless as possible.

This means it is not enough for managers to enforce uniformity inside their organizations. The state must actively seek to shape the private and public lives of its citizens in order to homogenize influences that could introduce variance and instability. This level of engineering requires a narrative superstructure that justifies intervention at almost every level of human interaction. The therapeutic approach to the human condition allows the state to mobilize social capital invested in concepts like science, mental health, and progress towards the goal of direct intervention in human development.

Man is deeply flawed. There is nothing new or shocking about this. It has been the subject of art, literature, and religious belief for as long as those things have existed. It does not mean that both the moral and material conditions of man cannot or should not be improved, but it does mean accepting the difficult truth that there are limits to what can be done. Wise leaders used to temper the expectations of their followers when it came to improvement. The poor would always be with us; suffering and loss would always be a part of life. Many of the most disastrous episodes in history have occurred when zealots foresee the prospect of heaven on earth and become determined to use any means necessary to achieve it.

The scientific revolution led many to think the power of reason could be harnessed to alleviate aspects of the human condition that had once been considered unassailable. Progress had, of course, been made

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