The Delusions of the Modern World
My reflections on Revolt Against the Modern World by Julius Evola
Only a few books say anything worth remembering. After reading Revolt Against the Modern World, many powerful, counter-cultural ideas have stayed with me:
The absurdity of human progress
“Every part of reality is a symbol and every action is a ritual”
“Every law should point toward Heaven”
The reality of a hierarchical human nature
Belief in progress is little more than the worship of history. Moral progress is especially absurd, since all the “progress” actually means is a change in moral standards. There is no way to solve the human condition, not with human institutions, public policy, democracy, technology, etc. Moral “progress” is really just an attempt at morality engineering. This is nonsense, how can a person’s morality be directly quantified and measured? If it cannot be measured, how can it be engineered? As Evola points out, the belief in “progress” will always be materialistic since progress needs to be quantifiable and measurable. “Progress” in a moral sense will actually deny the spiritual aspect of life.
In some Protestant communities there is an unstated belief that pastors of large churches must be spiritually successful. Or worse, that their views must be more correct. But this is simply material progress yet again, the spiritual health of the congregants can not be measured but the number of bodies can. The spiritual giants of our age are likely ministering in churches in the middle of nowhere to a handful of parishioners. The only way for a minister to persist at this vocation is to have hope far beyond material reality.
As for technological progress, every piece of technology comes with a trade-off. The same plastics that make modern medicine possible are building up in every living person. Atomic power comes with the ability to annihilate civilization. AI can learn patterns no human could hope to notice but is also capable of implementing an Orwellian surveillance state. Technological progress is not permanent. Technology is deeply tied to the culture that developed it, because it needs that culture to maintain it. Computer systems, aircraft, skyscrapers etc are not long for this world if their maintainers disappear. This rapid technological “progress” can disappear just as quickly.
The reductionist materialism that pervades modern culture should be called the “just a” philosophy. As in consciousness is just a series of electro-chemical reactions or marriage is just a legal contract or a sunset is just a beam of light bending through the atmosphere. Evola’s answer is that “every part of reality is a symbol and every act a ritual.” It is a way of saying that everything we experience points to an eternal spiritual meaning. This is what everyone who gets married intuits, the ceremony is not just a couple of people standing in front of a crowd announcing their agreement to share property. It is a transcendent moment, the union of two distinct people into one. Marriage is also a daily act, a daily ritual to renew and develop the spiritual bond. The idea that all actions are rituals is reflected in Aristotle’s ethics that habit creates character. In Christianity, rituals take the form of liturgy. Liturgy forms the order of a church service but also the day to day life of the believer. Of course the answer to materialism's assertion that “nothing really matters” is that everything matters.
Modern, enlightened people believe they can and should create the laws that govern society. The expectation is that reasonable people will generally come to a compromise or a consensus. The reality is much closer to a blend of tribalism and relativism. If what is good and true is eternal, then why should the laws be in continuous flux? The laws of a society should be as constant as the laws of nature since neither humanity nor the universe are changing their fundamental characteristics. This is what Evola means by “every law should point towards heaven.” The law should reflect eternal, spiritual values and be completely beyond the reach of any person to change. Society should not be governed democratically, but by priest-kings who observe and obey the sacred values.
The final point of the modern world that Evola overturns is the belief in human equality. This is perhaps his most unpalatable view to contemporary people. Of course, Evola has been accused of being racist, but the idea of biological race determining human behavior is too materialistic for his philosophy. His view is that everything, every aspect of reality including every human being, is a part of a hierarchy. He praises the Hindu caste system as a remaining vestige of the passing traditional world. Years ago when Steve Jobs died, someone asked, “wouldn’t it be great if society was full of people like him?” Besides the obvious cringe-worthiness of the question, it has an important insight. No, a society full of stubborn, independently-minded leaders will devolve rapidly. A society simply cannot function if it consists of only leaders following their own idiosyncratic vision. In fact, these kinds of strong leaders must be rare because having too many of them will create chaos. The split between leaders and followers for any social creature must be skewed, e.g. 1 leader for every 1000 followers. For humanity, the ratio is probably based on whatever the average size of a village is historically speaking. Regardless of the actual ratio, humanity must have a dual character to its nature, those that are destined to lead and those that are destined to follow. It is the only way to naturally maintain societal order. Egalitarianism simply cannot for long be a part of any complex human society and is contrary to human nature and thriving.
Revolt Against the Modern World has ideas worth dwelling on.