An analysis of an excerpt from "The Golden Bough" and its relevance to Ron Paul. by sandman
(libertarian)
Thursday, December 20, 2007
THE MAGICIAN'S PROGRESS
Thus, so far as the public profession of magic affected the constitution of savage society, it
tended to place the control of affairs in the hands of the ablest man: it shifted the balance of
power from the many to the one: it substituted a monarchy for a democracy, or rather for an
oligarchy of old men; for in general the savage community is ruled, not by the whole body of
adult males, but by a council of elders. The change, by whatever causes produced, and whatever
the character of the early rulers, was on the whole very beneficial. For the rise of monarchy
appears to be an essential condition of the emergence of mankind from savagery. No
human being is so hide-bound by custom and tradition as your democratic savage; in no state
of society consequently is progress so slow and difficult. The old notion that the savage is the
freest of mankind is the reverse of the truth. He is a slave, not indeed to a visible master, but
to the past, to the spirits of his dead forefathers, who haunt his steps from birth to death, and
rule him with a rod of iron. What they did is the pattern of right, the unwritten law to which he
yields a blind unquestioning obedience. The least possible scope is thus afforded to superior
talent to change old customs for the better. The ablest man is dragged down by the weakest
and dullest, who necessarily sets the standard, since he cannot rise, while the other can fall.
The surface of such a society presents a uniform dead level, so far as it is humanly possible
to reduce the natural inequalities, the immeasurable real differences of inborn capacity and
temper, to a false superficial appearance of equality. From this low and stagnant condition of
affairs, which demagogues and dreamers in later times have lauded as the ideal state, the
Golden Age, of humanity, everything that helps to raise society by opening a career to talent
and proportioning the degrees of authority to men's natural abilities, deserves to be welcomed
by all who have the real good of their fellows at heart. Once these elevating influences have
begun to operate - and they cannot be for ever suppressed - the progress of civilisation
becomes comparatively rapid. The rise of one man to supreme power enables him to carry
through changes in a single lifetime which previously many generations might not have sufficed
to effect; and if, as will often happen, he is a man of intellect and energy above the common,
he will readily avail himself of the opportunity. Even the whims and caprices of a tyrant
may be of service in breaking the chain of custom which lies so heavy on the savage. And as
soon as the tribe ceases to be swayed by the timid and divided counsels of the elders, and
yields to the direction of a single strong and resolute mind, it becomes formidable to its neighbours
and enters on a career of aggrandisement, which at an early stage of history is often
highly favourable to social, industrial, and intellectual progress. For extending its sway, partly
by force of arms, partly by the voluntary submission of weaker tribes, the community soon
acquires wealth and slaves, both of which, by relieving some classes from the perpetual
struggle for a bare subsistence, afford them an opportunity of devoting themselves to that disinterested
pursuit of knowledge which is the noblest and most powerful instrument to ameliorate
the lot of man.
Intellectual progress, which reveals itself in the growth of art and science and the spread of
more liberal views, cannot be dissociated from industrial or economic progress, and that in its
turn receives an immense impulse from conquest and empire. It is no mere accident that the
most vehement outbursts of activity of the human mind have followed close on the heels of
victory, and that the great conquering races of the world have commonly done most to
advance and spread civilisation, thus healing in peace the wounds they inflicted in war. The
Babylonians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Arabs are our witnesses in the past: we may yet
live to see a similar outburst in Japan. Nor, to remount the stream of history to its sources, is
it an accident that all the first great strides towards civilisation have been made under despotic
and theocratic governments, like those of Egypt, Babylon, and Peru, where the supreme
ruler claimed and received the servile allegiance of his subjects in the double character of a
king and a god. It is hardly too much to say that at this early epoch despotism is the best
friend of humanity and, paradoxical as it may sound, of liberty. For after all there is more liberty
in the best sense-liberty to think our own thoughts and to fashion our own destinies-
under the most absolute despotism, the most grinding tyranny, than under the apparent freedom
of savage life, where the individual's lot is cast from the cradle to the grave in the iron
mould of hereditary custom.
So far, therefore, as the public profession of magic has been one of the roads by which the
ablest men have passed to supreme power, it has contributed to emancipate mankind from
the thraldom of tradition and to elevate them into a larger, freer life, with a broader outlook on
the world. This is no small service rendered to humanity. And when we remember further that
in another direction magic has paved the way for science, we are forced to admit that if the
black art has done much evil, it has also been the source of much good; that if it is the child
of error, it has yet been the mother of freedom and truth.
An analysis of this essay, taken from The Golden Bough (1922), draws a parallel to the modern politic. Sir James George Frazer, its author and a scholar in ancestral methods of worship and ritual, sums up the progression of savage mankind by comparing the rule of the ablest man via monarchy versus the rule by an oligarchy of old men via democracy. He demonstrates that in a state of democracy mankind cannot flourish in a society whose surface presents a uniform dead level and a false superficial appearance of equality. Modern examples would include our current Social Security system, the Department of Education (No Child Left Behind), the welfare system, etc. These programs were designed to benefit mankind, but in reality, have actually hindered it, though our current polity of demagogues and dreamers has lauded it as the ideal state. He then postulates that mankind can progress in society under the rule of the ablest man and opines that even under absolute despotism or the most grinding tyranny we as individuals have in the best sense , liberty to think our own thoughts and to fashion our own destinies, than conversely, under the apparent freedom of savage life. He cites the conquering rule of the Greeks, the Romans, the Arabs and the theocratic rule of Egypt, Babylonia and Peru where gains of intellectual and economic progress were self evident under this model.
Enter Ron Paul and the battle of ideologies. In a metaphoric sense, the meteoric rise of Ron Paul puts him in the category comparable to (T)he rise of one man to supreme power and a man of intellect and energy above the common. He has taken the principles of the Constitution, transcending it to a power greater than himself - an ideology of hope for the democratic savage. His campaign slogans of freedom, peace and prosperity resonate within this magical doctrine and have galvanized an ever growing patriotic movement.
In contrast, there is a competing ideology propagated by a council of elders - call them the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, or the Bilderburg Group - who rule with a rod of iron. They quest for their One World Government or New World Order by using stratagem to gain servile allegiance - whether it is a War on Terror or a catastrophic global warming scare - and using democracy as the model for control.
But as the essay highlights, (O)nce these elevating influences have begun to operate - and they cannot be for ever suppressed - the progress of civilization becomes comparatively rapid, the ideology of hope represented through Ron Paul can emancipate mankind from the thraldom of tradition and ... elevate them into a larger, freer life, with a broader outlook on the world. The competing ideology, on the other hand, is doomed to failure, for the model maintains its democratic shortcomings. This is the black art, the child of error, which has brought the ideology of Ron Paul to the fore. And as the late, great, Victor Hugo so elegantly stated, "One resists the invasion of armies; one does not resist the invasion of ideas".
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I agree, but keep in mind that and imposed empire of ideas, is still imperialism.
I say let Ron Paul do his work. I dont think he wins now. But the forces awakened by Internet + his ideas, can not be stopped easily.
I think that using an inspired text as this excerpt from the Golden Bough, is really appropiate for this time. Good work posting that, i resent a little that is used for "political purpose", but in this case, i guess you can get away with that :)
