1. -
So why wasn't the Establish-
ment willing to forgive and
forget when a right-wing radi-
cal like David Duke stopped
advocating violence, took off
note: TV pundits, who regularly
have face lifts twice a year,
bitterly attacking Duke for his
alleged face lift. And nobody
laughed!)
priestcraft or State Church
constituted the opinion-mold-
ers who apologized for that
rule. Now, in a more secular
age, we have technocrats,
the Klan robes, and started 'social scientists," and media
working within the system? If it What Is Right-Wing intellectuals, who apologize for
was OK to be a Commie, or a Populism? the State system and staff the
Weatherman, or whatever in The basic right-wing ranks of its bureaucracy.
your wild youth, why isn't it OK populist insight is that we live Libertarians have often
to have been a Klansman? Or in a statist country and a statist seen the problem plainly, but
to put it more precisely, if it world dominated by a ruling as strategists for social change
was OK for the revered Justice elite, consisting of a coalition they have badly missed the
Hugo Black, or for the lion of of Big Government, Big Busi- boat. In what we might call
the Senate, Robert Byrd, to ness, and various influential 'the Hayek model," they have
have been a Klansman, why special interest groups. More called for spreading correct
not David Duke? The answer is specifically, the old America of ideas, and thereby converting
obvious: Black and Byrd be- individual liberty, private prop- the intellectual elites to liberty,
came members of the liberal erty, and minimal government beginning with top philoso-
elite, of the Establishment, has been replaced by a coali- phers and then slowly trickling
whereas Duke continued to be tion of politicians and bureau- on down through the decades
a right-wing populist, and crats allied with, and even to converting journalists and
therefore anti-Establishment, dominated by, powerful corpo- other media opinion-molders.
this time even more dangerous rate and Old Money financial And of course, ideas are the
because 'within the system." elites (e.g. the Rockefellers, the key, and spreading correct
It is fascinating that there Trilateralists); and the New doctrine is a necessary part of
was nothing in Duke's current Class of technocrats and intel- any libertarian strategy. It
program or campaign that could lectuals, including Ivy League might be said that the process
not also be embraced by paleo- academics and media elites, takes too long, but a long-
conservatives or paleo-liber- who constitute the opinion- range strategy is important,
tarians: lower taxes, disman- molding class in society. In and contrasts to the tragic fu-
tling the bureaucracy, slashing short, we are ruled by an up- tility of official conservatism
the welfare system, attacking dated, twentieth-century coali- which is interested only in the
affirmative action and racial tion of Throne and Altar, ex- lessor-of-two-evils for the cur-
set-asides, calling for equal cept that this Throne is various rent election and therefore
rights for all Americans, in- big business groups, and the loses in the medium, let alone
cluding whites: what's wrong Altar is secular, statist intellec- the long, run. But the real error
with any of that? And of course tuals, although mixed in with is not so much the emphasis
the mighty anti-Duke coalition the secularists is a judicious on the long run, but on ignor-
did not choose to oppose Duke infusion of Social Gospel, ing the fundamental fact that
on any of these issues. Indeed, mainstream Christians. The the problem is not jusf W e / -
even the most leftist of his op- ruling class in the State has lectual error. The problem is
ponents grudgingly admitted always needed intellectuals to that the intellectual elites
that he had a point. Instead, apologize for their rule and to benefit from the current sys-
the Establishment concen- sucker the masses into sub- tem; in a crucial sense, they
trated on the very 'negative servience, Le., into paying the are part of the ruling class.
campaigning" that they profess taxes and going along with The process of Hayekian con-
to abhor (especially when di- State rule. In the old days, in version assumes that every-
rected against them). (Ironic most societies, a form of one, or at least all intellectu-
I
January1992 7
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