Cataclysm of Extreme Ignorance
In Eric Voegelin's seminal work, Hitler and the Germans, the term "radical stupidity" is used to encapsulate the profound and dangerous intellectual and moral failure that allowed the rise of Hitler and the Nazi movement in Germany.
Understanding "Radical Stupidity" in Voegelin's Context
Voegelin uses "radical stupidity" to describe a systemic incapacity to recognize the reality of the situation and the disastrous consequences of the Nazi ideology. This "stupidity" is not just ordinary ignorance or lack of knowledge, but a deep-rooted inability to perceive and judge critically. It involves a fundamental distortion or breakdown in the capacity for ethical reasoning and critical insight within German society.
The Context in "Hitler and the Germans"
- Political and Social Blindness: Voegelin argues that the German people and many political leaders were complicit in their own downfall by succumbing to seductive ideological fantasies, mass hysteria, and totalitarian propaganda. This radical stupidity was manifest in their failure to resist or critically engage with the extreme nationalism, racism, and violent authoritarianism of National Socialism.
- Spiritual and Existential Dimension: Voegelin saw this stupidity as symptomatic of a crisis of order and meaning in modern society. The loss of religious and metaphysical orientation made people vulnerable to simplistic and destructive ideologies. Hence, the stupidity was "radical" because it was entrenched in the spiritual and intellectual roots of the culture.
- Collective Failure: Rather than simply blaming Hitler himself, Voegelin emphasized the role of the German masses and elites who enabled the rise of Nazism through their failure to critically discern and oppose it. "Radical stupidity" thus refers to a collective phenomenon of willing self-deception and moral blindness.
The Modern Implications
- Voegelin contends that our entire ruling elite is afflicted by this radical stupidity, consisting of persons who are neither thinkers nor listeners and are therefore stupid and even dangerous.
- He suggests that our reason, disconnected from spirit, is now grounded on erroneous propositions.
- The speaker questions the direction of the world's financial bankruptcy and the lack of reason and spirit to stop the slide into universal chaos.
- Voegelin argues that Western Civilization is rapidly unraveling due to the abandonment of its twofold heritage: reason drawn from the ancient Greeks and spiritual grounding from the ancient Israelites.
- The "loss of reality" leads some men to set themselves up as God, promising to eliminate poverty, war, disease, and other problems.
- Hesiod, as cited by Voegelin, identifies three kinds of men: those who think things through, those who listen to the thinkers, and those who neither think nor listen, who are stupid and even dangerous.
- The descent into chaos is progressive and may accelerate at any moment.
- According to Voegelin, one cannot de-divinize oneself without dehumanizing oneself.
- The author notes that the brutality of daily thought and disconnection from spirit would be apparent to a medieval or ancient person, yet we are largely unaware of what we have lost.
- The speaker refers to a latter-day history full of chaos and betrayal.
- The speaker expresses concern about the radical stupidity of leaders and the potential for a major derailment.
- Despite comparative wealth and comfort, we are increasingly unhappy and imbibing anti-depressants at an astonishing rate.
- In the Hebrew understanding, a fool is one who creates chaos and disorder.
The modern implications of Voegelin's work reveal a critique of the ruling elite, who, like the Germans of the past, are afflicted by this radical stupidity, being persons who are neither thinkers nor listeners, leading to potential dangerous consequences. The global financial bankruptcy and the widespread use of antidepressants point towards a loss of reason, spirit, and ethical judgment, resembling a latter-day history marked by chaos and betrayal, similar to the rise of tyranny in German history, as described by Voegelin.
