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Alain de Benoist and Charles Champetier
The French New Right was born in 1968. It is not a political movement, but a think-tank and school of thought. For more than thirty years-in books and journals, colloquia and conferences, seminars and summer schools, etc.-it has attempted to formulate a metapolitical perspective. Metapolitics is not politics by other means. It is neither a "strategy" to impose intellectual hege mony, nor an attempt to discredit other possible attitudes or agendas. It rests solely on the premise that ideas play a fundamental role in collective consciousness and, more generally, in human history. Through their works, Heraclitus, Aristotle, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, René Descartes, Immanuel Kant, Adam Smith, and Karl Marx all triggered decisive revolutions, whose impact is still being felt today. History is a result of human will and action, but always within the framework of convictions, beliefs and representations which provide meaning and direction. The goal of the French New Right is to contribute to the renewal of these sociohistorical representa tions. Even more now, this metapolitical impulse is based on a reflection about the evolution of Western societies in view of the coming 21st century. On the one hand, there is the growing impotence of political parties, unions, governments, classical forms of conquest and the exercise of political power, and, on the other, the rapid obsolescence of all antitheses (first and foremost, Left and Right) that have characterized modernity. Moreover, there is an unprecedented explosion of knowledge, which spreads with little regard for its consequences. In a world where closed entities have given way to interconnected networks with increasingly fuzzy reference points, metapolitical action attempts, beyond political divisions and through a new synthesis, to renew a transversal mode of thought and, ultimately, to study all areas of knowledge in order to propose a coherent worldview. Such has been the aim for over thirty years. This manifesto summarizes all of this. The first part (Predicaments) provides a critical analysis of the present; the second part (Foundations) outlines a view concerning man and the world. Both are inspired by a multidisciplinary approach that challenges most of today's intellectual antitheses. Tribalism and globalism, nationalism and internationalism, liberalism and Marxism, individualism and collectivism, progressivism and conservatism oppose each other with the same complacent logic of the excluded middle. For a century, these artificial oppositions have occluded what is most essential: the sheer size of a crisis that demands a radical renewal of modes of thought, decision and action. It is thus futile to seek this radical renewal in what has already been written. Yet, the French New Right has borrowed ideas from various theoretical sources. It has not hesitated to reappropriate what seems valuable in all currents of thought. This transverse approach has provoked the ire of the guardians of thought, concerned with freezing ideological orthodoxies in order the paralyze any new threatening synthesis. From the very beginning, the French New Right has brought together people interested in participating in the development of a community. In France, as in other countries, it constitutes a community of work and reflection, whose members are not necessarily intellectuals, but all of whom are interested, in one way or another, in the battle of ideas. The third part of this manifesto (Out looks) takes positions on current issues, debates and the future of peoples and civilization.
I. Predicaments
First and foremost, all critical thought attempts to put the age in which it develops in perspective. The present is a pivotal period-a turning point or an "interregnum," characterized by a major crisis: the end of modernity.
1. What is Modernity? Modernity designates the political and philosophical movement of the last three centuries of Western history. It is characterized primarily by five converging processes: individualization, through the destruction of old forms of communal life; massification, through the adoption of standardized behavior and lifestyles; desacralization, through the displacement of the great religious narratives by a scientific interpretation of the world; rationalization, through the domination of instrumental reason, the free market, and technical efficiency; and universalization, through a planetary extension of a model of society postulated implicitly as the only rational possibility and thus as superior. This movement has old roots. In most respects, it represents a secularization of ideas and per spectives borrowed from Christian metaphysics, which spread into secular life following a rejection of any transcendent dimension. Actually, one finds in Christianity the seeds of the great mutations that gave birth to the secular ideologies of the first post-revolutionary era. Individualism was already present in the notion of individual salvation and of an intimate and privileged relation between an individual and God that surpasses any relation on earth. Egalitarianism is rooted in the idea that redemption is equally available to all mankind, since all are endowed with an individual soul whose absolute value is shared by all humanity. Progressivism is born of the idea that history has an absolute beginning and a necessary end, and that it unfolds globally according to a divine plan. Finally, universalism is the natural expression of a religion that claims to manifest a revealed truth which, valid for all men, summons them to conversion. Modern political life itself is founded on secularized theological concepts. Reduced to an opinion among others, today Christianity has unwittingly become the victim of the movement it started. In the history of the West, it became the religion of the way out of religion. The various concurrent and often contradictory philosophical schools of modernity agree on one issue: that there is a unique and universalizable solution for all social, moral and political problems. Humanity is understood to be the sum of rational individuals who, through self-interest, moral conviction, fellowship or even fear are called upon to realize their unity in history. In this perspective, the diversity of the world becomes an obstacle, and all that differentiates men is thought to be incidental or contingent, outmoded or even dangerous. To the extent that modernity is not only a body of ideas, but also a mode of action, it attempts by every available means to uproot individuals from their individual communities, to subject them to a universal mode of association. In practice, the most efficient means for doing this has been the marketplace.
2. The Crisis of Modernity The imagery of modernity is dominated by desires of freedom and equality. These two cardinal values have been betrayed. Cut off from the communities which protected them, giving meaning and form to their existence, individuals are now subject to such an immense mechanism of domination and decision that their freedom remains purely formal. They endure the global power of the marketplace, technoscience, or communications without ever being able to influence their course. The promise of equality has failed on two counts: communism has betrayed it by installing the
e. Nazism. the role of "tribes" and of "networks. and incivility. fascism. the agents of the dominant ideology are reduced to the clichés-ridden discourse so common in the media in a world threatened by implosion-implosion. and the loss of all significant reference points.e. in which the countryside is abandoned for unlivable suburbs and monstrous megalopolises. and terrifying almost everyone.. technology has ensnared the lifeworld in a network of rationalism-a world replete with delinquency. Each generation confronts a world different from the one its fathers knew. virtual reality and media-hyped sports. The advent of the "primacy of quantity" signaled this transition from market economics to market societies. i. in which man is at war with himself and against all. the birth of sovereign spaces liberated from the domination of the modern. in a world deprived both of the past and the future. As for the ideology of progress. ethnic cleansing. while traditional social. which responds to human expectations by nourishing the promise of an ever improving world. violence. and where the solitary individual merges into an anonymous and hostile crowd. and the generalization of anxiety related to living in an always uncertain present. etc. multiplication of intra. the primacy of money has imposed the omnipresence of commodities. not explosion.e. Later. social chaos. ecological disasters. no longer offering hope. finally. This general crisis is a sign that modernity is reaching its end." revival of communities. modernity has given birth to the most empty civilization mankind has ever known: the language of advertising has become the paradigm of all social discourse. because modernity will not be transcended with a grand soir (a secular version of the Second Coming of Christ). Thus. the extension of the laws of commercial exchange.and supra-state conflicts.most murderous totalitarian regimes in history. liberalism also engendered modern individualism. The 20th century has sounded the death knell for most of these doctrines. and observing the growing malaise of contemporary societies. On the other hand. but by means of certain premodern values in a decisively postmodern dimension. Having nothing new to say. Liberalism: The Main Enemy Liberalism embodies the dominant ideology of modernity. The "end of ideologies" is an expression designating the historical exhaustion of the great mobilizing narratives that became embodied in liberalism. The destruction of the lifeworld for the benefit of instrumental reason.. political. produces not happiness but misery. It is only at the price of such a radical restructuring that anomie and contemporary nihilism will be exorcised. In the beginning. man has been transformed into an object of exchange in a context of mean hedonism. i. it turned commercial value into the essence of all communal life. and. Modernity proclaims rights without in any way providing the means to exercise them." to all spheres of existence. an unreal world of drugs. It was the first to appear and will be the last to disappear. and mass murder. the return of social violence. ruled by the "invisible hand. i. politics and society in which it had been formerly embedded. concern for the quality of life. precisely when the universalist utopia that established it is poised to become a reality under the form of liberal globalization. this enduring newness predicated on discrediting the fathers and old experiences. total wars among nations and permanent rivalry among individuals. growing opposition to social elitism. but with the appearance of thousands of auroras. the decline of established religions. Modernity will not be transcended by returning to the past. 3. while reserving access to them to a small minority. Combined with accelerated transformations of lifestyles and living contexts (nomoi). communism. whose concrete results were genocide. capitalism has trivialized it by legitimating the most odious social and economic inequalities in the name of equality. It exacerbates all needs and continually creates new ones. both from a false anthropology and from the descriptive as well as normative view based on a one-dimensional man drawing his "inalienable . which feeds the frustration and anger of all others. cultural or religious mediations become increasingly uncertain and undifferentiated. and material development have resulted in an unprecedented impoverishment of the spirit. economic growth. socialism. the politics of group identities.. The end of the 20th century marks both the end of modern times and the beginning of a postmodernity characterized by a series of new themes: preoccupation with ecology. nationalism. liberal thought contraposed an autonomous economy to the morality. The future appears unpredictable. it is in a deep crisis.
The public sphere dissolves into the private. Thus. the same stress on the emancipatory value of labor. Yet. it is the main obstacle to anything seeking to go beyond it. while representative democracy is reduced to a market in which supply becomes increasingly limited (concentration of programs and convergence of policies) and demand less and less motivated (abstention). non-market exchange. thus generating the security and stability indispensable to exchange. In its economic. Evolution selects those most apt to survive. to the law of money. is committed to the parallel goals of abstaining from proposing a model of the good life while seeking to neutralize conflicts inherent in the diversity of social life by pursuing policies aimed at determining. Finally. the iniquitous character of liberal domination generated a legitimate reaction: the appearance of the socialist movement. has necessitated the progressive strengthening of the welfare state. who no longer seek to overthrow the liberal system. The ravages of the market have also triggered the rise and growth of the welfare state. to a new version of "war of all against all" to select the "best." Aside from the fact that "pure and perfect" competition is a myth. From this viewpoint. despite their mutual hostility. spurred by the commercialization of social life. supplemented by the hypermodernism of human rights. what is just rather than what is good. The dissolution of communal bonds. all too often synonymous with a republic of judges. the same rationalism. which always implies arbitrariness of decisions and plurality of goals. the welfare state. Far from hindering liberalism. In the 20th century. anonymous and opaque redistributive structure. however. it ends up with an ideal "scientific" management of global society by technical experts. the disenchantment of the world. the same faith in progress. this movement became misdirected. But man is not satisfied with mere survival: he orders his life in a hierarchy of values about which liberals claim to remain neutral. The liberal state. it says absolutely nothing about the value of what is chosen: what is better or worse. liberalism has only realized more effectively certain objectives it shares with Marxism: the eradication of collective identities and traditional cultures. by purely juridical procedures. these statist interventions have allowed it to prosper by avoiding a social explosion.rights" from his essentially asocial nature continually trying to maximize his best interest by eliminating any non-quantifiable consideration and any value unrelated to rational calculation. in the final analysis. Seeking to form social bonds on the basis of a theory of rational choice that reduces citizenship to utility. liberalism denies the specificity of politics. reduces social life to a generalized competition. but only to prolong the indefinite extension of rights with no quid pro quo. but as a global system of production and reproduction of men and commodities. which is intangible. since it is entrusted with the redistribution necessary to mitigate the failures of traditional solidarity. the same primacy of economics. even the same universal egalitarianism. In the age of globalization. the same idea of an end of history. Under the influence of Marxism. This dual individualistic and economic impulse is accompanied by a Darwinian social vision which. which is nothing but an abstract. In almost all respects. liberalism and Marxism basically belong to the same universe and are both the heirs of Enlightenment thought: they share the same individualism. liberalism represents the central bloc of the ideas of a modernity that is finished. In return. the market and the state have appeared on an equal footing. liberalism no longer presents itself as an ideology. the latter seeking to subject inter-communal. since there are always power relations. and to turn homogenous economic space into a tool of its power. and the universalization of the system of production. the term "liberal politics" appears to be a contradiction in terms. transforming the members of society into nothing more than recipients of public assistance. political and moral forms. Throughout history. . has generalized irresponsibility.
and Open Being By nature. 2. the New Right proposes a vision of a well-balanced individual. which has generated deceptions. technology. which are his human limitations. but he is capable of being either one or the other. i. and ethics. the ideal of a "new man. The individual does not decide this inheritance. in particular in the educational sphere: in a society structured by abstract rationality. economics. which limits his autonomy and his plasticity. cognitive ability is the main determinant of social status. The question of "why" no longer makes sense. In the 20th century. but also allows him to resist political and social conditioning. In the liberal world. He can construct himself historically and culturally on the basis of the presuppositions of his biological constitution. nothingness. It rejects ideologies that emphasize only one of these factors.II. as well as institutions and traditions. Foundations "Know thyself. 1. the capacity for symbolism. which is measured in hundreds of millions of years. the human species appeared only in the last thirty seconds. Man: An Aspect of Life Modernity has denied any human nature (the theory of the tabula rasa) or it has related it back to abstract attributes disconnected from the real world and lived experience. The process of humanization has unfolded over umpteen thousands of generations. this utopia has resulted in totalitarianism and the concentration camps. But man is not just an animal: what is specifically human in him-consciousness of his own consciousness. Thus. first of all." infinitely malleable through the brutal and progressive transformation of his environment. because what is beyond human limitations is by definition unthinkable. or mechanical. man is not born like a blank page: every single individual already bears the general characteristics of the species. he is always able to go beyond himself or to debase himself. As an open and imperiled being. to any political. If one compares the history of organic life to one day (24 hours). which represent the essence of peoples' relations among themselves and with the world: politics. taking into account both inborn. He exists as such in the order of living beings. The key to any representation of the world. Imperiled. an anthropology. man is neither good nor bad. What lies beyond these limitations may be called God. which naturally are limited only by death. which provide a foundation for his existence and give his life meaning and references. Man can keep this permanent threat at bay by constructing social and moral rules. be it biological. but he can dispose of his heritage. To the extent that life is generated above all through the transmission of information contained in genetic material.. whereby activities are carried out through certain practical orders. personal abilities and the social environment. moral or philosophical engagement is. To deny man's biological determinants or to reduce them by relegating his specific traits to zoology is absurd. economic. syntactic language." said the oracle of Delphi. to which are added specific hereditary predispositions to certain particular aptitudes and modes of behavior. it has translated into the superstition belief in the all-powerful environment. humanity designates . As a consequence of this radical rupture. moral as well as political. The hereditary part of humanity forms only the basis of social and historical life: human instincts are not programmed in their object. the aptitude for objective observation and value judgment-does not contradict his nature. Man is an heir. Man is first and foremost an animal. or Being. abstract thought. Man: A Rooted. man always has freedom to make choices.e. Defined as the undifferentiated mass of individuals that constitutes it. the cosmos. but extends it by conferring on him a supplementary and unique identity. has emerged.
All cultures have their own "center of gravity" (Herder): different cultures provide different responses to essential questions. Communities are constituted and maintain themselves on the basis of who belongs to them. without being able to eliminate one to the benefit of the other. Neither peaceful nor belligerent. humanity is irreducibly plural: diversity is part of its very essence. Biological differences are significant only in reference to social and cultural givens. has been defeated by modern universalism and individualism. On the other hand. or political choices appears unfounded. great historical constructions have been possible only by establishing a har mony based on the recognition of the common good. Thus. and which should not be confused with "civil society. but rather of a spontaneous association whose most ancient form is undoubtedly the extended family. Membership in the collective does not destroy individual identity. contingent or secondary characteristics. obedience and assistance. even critically. and humanity. This is why all attempts to unify them end up by destroying them. neither good nor bad. human life is necessarily rooted in a given context. fraternity. Thus. atomization). 3. which are always crystallized in different forms according to time and place. it is the basis for it. The social bond." is defined. lack of differentiation) or excesses (secession. This idea is the basis of all totalitarianisms. they are the effects neither of illusion nor of transitory. Man is rooted by nature in his culture. or nationalist) vision that turns life into a perpetual war of individuals or groups.either a biological category (the species) or a philosophical category emanating from Western thought. From the sociohistorical viewpoint. In this sense. . This observation does not stem from relativism. They share the same essential aspirations. If aggressiveness is an essential part of the creativity and dynamism of life. He is a singular being: he always locates himself at the interface of the universal (his species) and the particular (each culture. as a model for individual actions. religious. and a horizontal reciprocity of gifts. not as the global effect of these actions. where the whole exceeds the sum of its parts and possesses qualities none of its individual parts have. The idea of a primitive "state of nature" in which autonomous individuals might have coexisted is pure fiction: society is not the result of a contract of men trying to maximize their best interests. neither beautiful nor ugly. rather. As for differences between cultures. Membership is all that is required. When one leaves one's original community. the reciprocity of rights and duties. It rests on shared consent and is prior to this model. the idea of an absolute. first and foremost. it is generally to join another one. friendship. Society: A Body of Communities Human existence is inseparable from the communities and social groups in which it reveals itself. man as such does not exist. They do not exist in the real world other than as concretely rooted people. and to the way they formulate their aspirations and goals. Human societies are both conflictual and cooperative. evolution has also favored in man the emergence of cooperative (altruistic) behaviors evident not only in the sphere of genetic kinship. whose autonomy the classical right parties have never recognized. but their common membership in the species always expresses itself in a single context. Some are inherited (native). and eternal law that ultimately determines moral. other are chosen (cooperative). cooperation and sharing. and love. All men have in common their human nature. groups of individuals. without which they would not be able to understand each other. The holistic conception. prior to the way individuals and groups see the world. There is the vertical reciprocity of rights and duties. contributions and distributions. The richness of social life is proportional to the diversity of the members: this diversity is constantly threatened either by shortcomings (conformity. The ironic belief in the possibility of eliminating these antagonisms within a transparent and reconciled society has no more validity than the hypercompetitive (liberal. universal. racist. The communities within which society is grounded are constituted by a complex net of intermediary bodies situated among individuals. each epoch). because his membership within humanity is always mediated by a particular cultural belonging. human existence unfolds in a tragic tension between these poles of attraction and repulsion.
" The public sphere. diversity and solidarity is arbitrary: it is not self-evident. because he can no longer identify himself with a model. the family no longer socializes)." reducing power to managerial efficiency. Power is never merely a means that has value only as a function of the goals it is supposed to serve. It always implies uncertainty. democracy seeks to facilitate peaceful confrontations at all levels of public life. modeled after papal ab- . this does not mean an individual morality is politically applicable. and its juridification. the great project of modern emancipation has resulted only in generalized alienation. a decision about goals. are by definition "unpolitical. they cannot envision a social relation not subject to a "neutral" regulatory authority. unity. to the mechanical application of juridical. citizen and foreigner. the first aim of all political action is civil peace: internally. The mixed form that now prevails is a proliferation of abstract juridical rules that gradually intersect every area of existence. since authority aims at a common good and is inspired by the collectivity's values and customs." This idea of the "good" precedes the idea of the "just"-not the other way around. Regimes which refuse to recognize the essence of politics. If the individual considers himself to be part of a community. In becoming more solitary. calling for prudence before everything else. and because there is no longer any way for him to understand his place in the social whole. friend and enemy. Compared with this aim. which are harsher. its reification. It has only submitted him to other constraints." Modern thought has developed the illusion of politics as "neutral. protection from foreign danger. whereby relations with others are permanently controlled in order to ward off the threat of implosion. Domestically. Politics: An Essence and an Art Politics is consistent with the fact that the goals of social life are always multiple. then he will behave as a citizen in a democracy. 4. equality. in reality. as well as the ability to make something of himself and to excel through education. It both acknowledges and distinguishes between such notions as public and private. but is a matter of the end result. deliberation and decision. He has become disconnected from meaning. The pure forms are exchange (a market system of the rule of the strongest) and submission (the totalitarian system of obedience to the all-powerful state). man has also become more vulnerable and more destitute. given over to reason or technology. technical or economic norms: the "government of men" ought to be modeled on the "administration of things. however. deinstitutionalization (thus. tribal. ethics. modernity has not liberated man from his original familial belonging or from local. and more demanding: a mechanistic. because they are further away. Its essence and its laws cannot be reduced to economics. the source of independence and liberty resides in the prince's unlimited sovereignty. which is the only form of government that offers him participation in public discussions and decisions. heir of the French jurists of the Middle Ages (the "légistes"). metaphysics. a plurality of choices. no longer having any mutual confidence. and the appropriation of the social bond by statist bureaucracies.which have associated community with the ideas of submission to hierarchy. and homogenous subjugation has replaced multiform organic modes. Because it recognizes the pluralism of aspirations and projects. or parochialism. along with the capacity for constraint. entanglement. but an art. Only a return to communities and to a politics of human dimensions can remedy exclusion or dissolution of the social bond. But. externally. always affirms a particular vision of the "good life. corporative or religious attachments. or the sacred. more impersonal. If there is morality in politics. Because modern societies tend to bring together individuals who experience each other as strangers. In the final analysis. The art of governing provides the power to arbitrate between various possibilities. which deny the plurality of goals or favor depoliticization. it is an eminently political form of government. Politics is not a science. command and obedience. abstract. separation. Individualism has resulted in disaffiliation. the choice between values such as liberty. security and harmony between all members of society. Diversity of worldviews is one of the conditions for the emergence of politics. According to Jean Bodin. This universalism and individualism have been deployed in two ways: the contract (politics) and the market (economics). aesthetics.
Before being a mechanism. revolutionary Jacobinism. utility. of local. The economy was thus devalued. which in turn generates disorder and violence. 5. but takes its support from it. It inspired the unified and centralized absolutist nation-state.) is a fairy-tale invented by liberalism. but have more or less always coexisted. The idea that economic exchange from barter to the modern market has always been regulated by the confrontation of supply and demand. regional. equal or joint sharing). and contrary to the presuppositions of liberalism and Marxism. Political unity proceeds from a recognized diversity. redistribution (centralization and distribution by a single authority). by the consequent emergence of an equivalent abstract (money) and of objective values (use values.. circulation and consummation of the goods necessary to the survival of individuals and groups. the elimination of intermediary bodies (denounced as "feudal"). Political unity does not deny this organic continuity. exchange values. rape of the Mother-Earth). to a market society. In all premodern societies. The liberal economy has translated the ideology of progress into a religion of growth: the "ever more" of consumption is supposed to lead humanity to happiness. It was developed through administrative and judicial unification. and the state defines itself first and foremost as a federation of organized communities and multiple allegiances. etc. finally. and not the reverse. For all that. which was inspired both imperial and federal constructions. They do not represent stages of development. and the gradual eradication of all local cultures. and this institution can be abstracted neither from its history nor from the cultures that have generated it. the existence of a delegation of sovereign powers never results in the people losing their ability to make or abrogate laws. one was rich because one was powerful.e. The principle of subsidiarity rules at all levels. families and associations. certain rules have presided over the production.solutist power. as an activity that threatened to destroy all harmony. The market is not an ideal model whose abstraction allows universalization. But it also led to a "republic without citizens. on the contrary. power being thus matched by a duty to share and to protect those under one's care. In this view. spirit and soul. but for the simple reason that it was only that. the people (or "states") are the ultimate repository of sovereignty. In their variously organized collectivities. Gullveig. the French New Right contraposes the legacy of Althusius. it is an institution. and exchange. the economy has never formed the infrastructure of society: economic over-determination ("economism") is the exception. Economics: Beyond the Marketplace As far as one goes back into the history of human societies." in which there is nothing left between atomized civil society and the managerial state. This is the concept of a "political theology" based on the idea of a supreme political organ-a "Leviathan" (Hobbes)-charged with controlling body. not because it was not useful. While . Tarpecia). Modern society is characterized by a hypertrophy of free market exchange. it favors totalitarian surveillance. and. The "fetishism of commodities" as a peculiarity of modern capitalism was clearly recognized as a danger: production of abundance of different goods arouses envy. national or supranational collectivities. money (Croesus. numerous myths associated with the curses of labor (Prometheus. leading from an economy with a mar ket. modern totalitarianism. the mimetic desire. not the rule. Moreover. and abundance (Pandora) reveal that early on the economy was perceived as the "damned part" of all society. The liberty of a collectivity is not antithetical to shared sovereignty. Eventually. the economic was embedded and contextualized within other orders of human activity (Karl Polanyi). but they are always subordinate to the general will expressed by the body of citizens. where the source of independence and liberty resides in autonomy. The three great forms of the circulation of goods are reciprocity (mutual gift-giving. which tolerated neither local power nor the sharing of law with neighboring territorial powers. it became absolutist monarchy. i. Ultimately. What is more. it must admit that there is something "opaque" in the social fabric: the perfect "transparency" of society is a utopia that does not encourage democratic communication. The rulers are above each citizen individually. politics is not re duced to the level of the state: the public person is defined as a complex of groups. To this model of political society.
etc. In a world of finite resources. As for fundamental liberties. good and bad. Against the "moral order. at once aristocratic and popular. Modernity has supplanted traditional ethics. the economy must be recontextualized within life. and force over wealth. toward which all individuals must strive in accord with a universal moral law. Since the Greeks. all the non-quantifiable elements that economic science has arbitrarily excluded from its calculations. in a more general way. Morality is indispensable to this open being that is man.it is undeniable that modern economic development has satisfied certain primary needs of a much larger number of people than previously possible. it is necessary to return to the origins of the economy ("oikos-nomos"). active. . the designation and evaluation of behaviors relevant to each of these categories varies with epochs and societies. admirable and despicable. The fact that Europeans have imposed by force a right to autonomy does not in any way imply that all the peoples of the planet must be held responsible for guaranteeing rights in the same way. honor over shame. For example. and the means of constraint sufficient to apply it. and each finding their place in the city's hierarchy. made wisdom prevail over force. This ideology is a contradiction in terms. which implies the social. All economic life implies the mediation of a large range of cultural institutions and juridical means. just and unjust can be found everywhere. based on the materialistic calculation of pleasure and pain (what is good is what increases pleasure for the greatest number). and. which would mean that I subscribe to a norm beyond my belonging to it. it is an anthropological consequence of his freedom. moral codes become attached to customs (mores). based on a unitary conception of the just. but they must be conquered and guaranteed. On the other hand. etc. human passion. society. unselfishness over greed. and the deontological morality (Kant). justice over injustice. each arising from different moral codes. Ethics: The Construction of Oneself The fundamental categories of ethics are universal: the distinctions between noble and ignoble. The French New Right rejects all purely moral views of the world. which include those of ecological balance. Thus. they are not decreed. duty over irresponsibility. expressed in the ancient tripartite model. All men have rights. But they cannot be seen only in terms of subjectivity. 6." which confuses the social with the moral norm. but it recognizes that no culture can avoid distinguishing between the ethical values of various attitudes and behaviors. Given the breadth of transformations it has brought about. Thus. a right expresses a relation of equity. it is not any less true that the artificial growth of needs through the seductive strategies of the system of objects (advertising) necessarily ends in an impasse.). Today. right or wrong" does not mean that my country is always right. by two kinds of bourgeois moral codes: the utilitarian (Bentham). which is at once a minimal moral code and a strategic weapon of Western ethnocentrism. In articulating general rules necessary for the survival of any society. a certain slowing of growth prefigures humanity's inevitable horizon. to the general laws of the human habitat in the world. productive. temperance over excess. subject to the principle of entropy. Thus. but that it remains my country even when it is wrong. Decommodification will be one of the main phenomena in the 21st century. outside a society to recognize it and to define the duties which represent the counterpart to it. and think together about order and its opposite. European tradition. The good citizen is one who always tries to strive for excellence in each of these virtues (Aristotle). but they would not know how to be entitled to them as isolated beings. This will to excellence does not in any way exclude the existence of several modes of life (contemplative. courage over cowardice. the commodification of the world from the 16th to the 20th century has been one of the most important phenomena in human history. respect for the harmony and beauty of nature. ultimately Europeans must sustain the plurality of forms of social life. This last approach supports the ideology of human rights. politics and ethics. the adage "my country. rectitude over guile. no right is conceivable outside a specific context in which to define it. This implies that I might eventually prove it wrong. ethics for Europeans have designated virtues whose practice forms the basis of the "good life": generosity over avarice. and cannot be dissociated completely from the context in which they are practiced.
concern for quality rather than productivity. ethical and political choices. but at the same time it has led to a loss of the reason for living. which makes it more complex and reinforces it." The dual theocentric split between the uncreated being and the created world is thus metamorphosed into a dual anthropocentric split between subject and object. which experiences periods of stagnation but not regression. and subdue it" (Genesis)." whose only reason for being is accelerating ever more the transformation of the world. who today reveals himself against the background of practical materialism. adopting a technomorphic mentality that increases his vulnerability. One can only avoid the relativism and nihilism of the "last man" (Nietzsche). by restoring some meaning. Politics. and the development of cognitive capacities have proceeded apace with the transformation of the environment. This network has neither a center of decision-making nor one of entry and exit.e.). technology has given humanity new means of existence. Olympian wisdom. Its axiom is simple: everything that is possible can and will be realized effectively. etc. But technology has been long regulated by non-technological imperatives: by the necessary harmony of man. the absence of specific natural defenses. submission of Promethean power. and should be reintegrated within the context of a vision of the world as pluriversum and continuum. efficiency. artificial procreation. Against scientific reductionism. each new generation is obliged to integrate itself in a world that the preceding one has not experienced. at once the subject and the object of his own manipulations (cloning. Thus. and by assuming some concrete certainties that have been tried and defended by self-conscious communities. Recent developments in technology (cybernetics and computers) are accelerating this systemic integration at a prodigious rate. has long supported the ideology of progress by demonstrating the growth of the powers of man over nature. and law intervene only afterwards to judge the desir able or undesirable effects of innovation. genetic fingerprinting. technoscience now is tackling man himself. arrogant positivism and obtuse obscurantism.000 years. the moral code. In the 20th century. and by reducing risks and uncertainties. by retrieving some shared values. but innovation is not desirable simply because of its novelty. The cumulative nature of technoscientific development. as well as by respect for nature as the home of Being. Technology: The Mobilization of the World Technology has been around from the very beginning. Technology is not neutral. there have been more upheavals than during the previous 15. . since the future seems to depend only on the indefinite extension of the rational mastering of the world. Having explored the infinitely small and then the infinitely large. as well as anticipations (the principle of prudence). and performance. 7. giving birth to an integrated "technoscience. the second unreservedly subjugated by the first.Apollo and Dionysius. which two millennia later Descartes revived when he urged man to "make himself the master and owner of nature. city and cosmos. Man is becoming the simple extension of the tools he has created. but it maintains and constantly expands the interaction of millions of terminals connected to it. The resulting impoverishment is more and increasingly perceived as the disappearance of an authentically human life on earth. symbolic or religious codes. For the first time in human history.. the Internet being the most well-known. it obeys a number of values that guide its course: operability. Knowledge and its application are not to blame. the deprogramming of instincts. i. re pudiation of hubris. The technological explosion of modernity is explained by the disappearance of ethical. Technophobia and technophilia are equally unacceptable. the general belief being that additional technology will be able to rectify the defects of existing technology. technological development should follow from social. Technology develops essentially as an autonomous system: every new discovery is immediately absorbed into the global power of the operative. etc. Modernity also has subjugated science (the contemplative) to the technological (the operative). It finds its distant roots in the biblical imperative: "replenish the earth.
power is defined as the ability to resist the influence of others rather than to impose one's own. but will be constituted as the ultimate collective form with which individuals are able to identify in addition to their common humanity. the matter and form of which only consti tute variations on the same theme. These civilizations will not supplant the ancient local. For the other. In a multipolar world. The main enemy of this pluriverse will be any civilization pretending to be universal and regarding itself entrusted with a redeeming mission ("Manifest Destiny") to impose its model on all others. They will probably be called upon to collaborate in certain areas to defend humanity's common interests. the current age is a new one in which ethnic. etc. Japanese. and one must always and everywhere reduce men to what they have in common. most notably with respect to ecology. linguistic or cultural differences coexist fully aware of their identity and the otherness that reflects it. provincial or national roots. different perceptions of time and space. the Westernization of the planet has represented an imperialist movement fed by the desire to erase all otherness by imposing on the world a supposedly superior model invariably presented as "progress. On the contrary. a new "Nomos of the Earth" is emerging-a new organization of international relations. this diversity is to be welcomed. Yet. and today. the maritime American power and the continental Soviet power. For one. Given the West's pretense to make the world over in its own image. first of Europe. The true wealth of the world is first and foremost the diversity of its cultures and peoples. and should be maintained and cultivated. yesterday. Undertaken under the aegis of missionaries. to its religion (the Crusades). It believes that a good system is one that transmits at least as much diversity as it has received. a process which cannot avoid generating a series of perverse effects. historical. Antiquity and the Middle Ages saw an unequal development of the great autarchic civilizations." Homogenizing universalism is only the projection and the mask of an ethnocentrism extended over the whole planet. The World: A Pluriversum Diversity is inherent in the very movement of life. a Russian and an Inca could live in the same epoch without being conscious of each other's existence.e. armies and merchants. The idea of an "end of history. The French New Right is profoundly opposed to the suppression of differences. South American. Consequently. Westernization and globalization have modified the way the world is perceived. North American. i. which flourishes as it becomes more complex. Those times are past. customs. integrating different levels of the visible and the invisible. ethnic groups. tribal.. The world is at once a unity and a multiplicity. Chinese. Indian.8. this biocultural diversity is a burden. modernization is gradually becoming disconnected from Westernization: new civilizations are gradually acquiring modern means of power and knowledge without renouncing their historical and cultural heritage for the benefit of Western ideologies and values. languages. The 21st century will be characterized by the development of a multipolar world of emerging civilizations: European. is obviously false. 9. A Greek and a Chinese. different laws . a multipolar order in which great cultural groups find themselves confronting one another in a shared global temporality. in a zero hour. For the first time in history. The Cosmos: A Continuum The French New Right adheres to a unitary worldview. to its economic and social model (development) or its moral principles (human rights). the world is a pluriversum. even religions has characterized the development of humanity since the very beginning. to its political principles (colonialism)." implying that they considered themselves their species' only representatives. The Renaissance and the Classical Age were marked by the emergence of consolidation of nation-states in competition for the mastery." characterized by the global triumph of market rationality by generalizing the lifestyle and political forms of the liberal West. Arabic-Muslim. two attitudes are possible. The plurality and variety of races. The 20th century witnessed the development of a bipolar world in which liberalism and Marxism confronted each other. Primitive tribes called themselves "men. then of the world. The West's conversion to universalism has been the main cause of its subsequent attempts to convert the rest of the world: in the past.
both in cosmological histories and in pre-Socratic thought. The past as well as the future always remain present in all their actuality. Thus. This ideal of reducing the world to utilitarian reason has been coupled with a linear concept of history endowed with a beginning (state of nature. as well as the idea that this world is only the reflection of another world. technological.. present and future are not distinct moments of a directional and vectored history. golden age. which manifests itself in all religions. the French New Right is im bued with a very long memory: it maintains a relation to the beginning that harbors a sense of what is coming. Microcosm and macrocosm interpenetrate and interact with one another. paradise on earth. and the disappearance of false dichotomies: subject and object. The cosmos (phusis) is the place where Being manifests itself. In undermining social systems that used to ascribe individuals their place in a clearly understood social order. by imposing a uniform mode of representation. but permanent dimensions of all lived moments. the French New Right rejects the absolute distinction between created and uncreated being. Fear of the "Same" has replaced fear of the "Other. III. into an agglomeration of means at the unlimited disposal of its ends. Today's epoch has transferred the ancient divine attributes to the human subject (the metaphysics of subjectivity). Confronted with the ersatz sectarianism of fallen religions. modernity has actually encouraged questioning identity and has stirred up a desire for reliance . transparent and conciliatory). Responsibility for these deplorable attitudes stems primarily from globalization (political. essence and existence. but is eternal. savage tri balizations. thereby transforming the world into an object. This presence-a fundamental category of time-is opposed to absence: forgetfulness of origins and occlusion of the horizon. convulsive and chauvinistic nationalism. This view of the world already found expression in European antiquity. always alive in hearts and minds precisely because it does not belong to yesterday. The "paganism" of the French New Right articulates nothing more than sympathy for this ancient conception of the world. the current weakening of the state has produced a greater void in France than in other Western nations." In France.) and an equally necessary end (a classless society. soul and spirit. etc. what tran scends the limits of his constitution. primitive communism. etc. For the French New Right past. and financial). rationality and sensibility. The French New Right fully recognizes this anthropological constant. For Clear and Strong Identities The unprecedented menace of homogenization which looms over the entire world leads to the pathological identities: bloody irredentisms. the reign of God. It believes the return of the sacred will be accomplished by the returning to some founding myths. economic. the place where the truth (aletheia) of mutual belonging in this cosmos reveals itself. which produced these attitudes in the first place. nature and supernatural. myth and logic.e. Man finds and gives sense to his life only by adhering to what is greater than himself. "Panta rhei" (Heraclitus): the opening to all is in everything. The disenchantment of the world translates itself into the closure of the modern spirit. i. this situation is aggravated by a crisis of the State which. has been the main symbolic social producer. the ultimate stage of progress. Against Indifferentiation and Uprooting. body and thought. Thus. By denying individuals the right to locate themselves within a collective and historical identity.of organization of its constituent elements. the Western system has given birth to un healthy forms of self-affirmation. etc. The question of identity will assume even greater importance in the decades ahead. as well as with certain neopagan parodies from the times of confusion. for two centuries. Positions 1. entry into an era of pure rationality. which is incapable of projecting itself above and beyond its materialism and constituent anthropocentrism.
nor by the desire to blend all races into an undifferentiated whole. propagandist. 2. there is no absolute qualitative difference among them. This means. By reducing the "Other" to the "Same" through a strictly assimilationist perspective. because the right to difference is a principle which has significance only in terms of its generality. on the whole. nation. They can be native (ethnic. one can distinguish races as either "superior" or "inferior". as well as native religions. one can be. which are neither transitory features leading to some higher form of unity. Differentialist anti-racism. and of Europe. The French New Right upholds equally ethnic groups. for instance. that an individual's value is deduced en tirely from the race to which he belongs. All three are false.) Rather. and in social evolutionism. Against Racism. The French New Right supports peoples struggling against Western imperialism. which finds its source in scientific positivism. according to which one can "scientifically" measure absolutely the value of human societies. One is only justified in defending one's difference from others if one is also able to defend the difference of others. owe their survival to their rejection of mixed marriages. a citizen of one's neighborhood. The former leads to the same conclusions as does the racism it denounces. (Thus certain peoples are seen as temporarily or permanently more "advanced" than others. Differentialist anti-racism makes every effort to restore an affirmative meaning to "the universal. for the "world" is not a political category. divided into "stages" corresponding to various stages of progress." but by starting from the recognition of "difference. The French New Right upholds the cause of peoples. For the Right to Difference The term racism cannot be defined as a preference for endogamy. (Such an explanation is a liberal fable suggesting irrationality as the source of all social ills. universalist anti-racism only acknowledges in people their common belonging to species and it tends to consider their specific identities as transitory or of secondary importance. but also political. that the right to difference cannot be used to exclude others who are different. to which the New Right subscribes. region. one cannot be a citizen of the world. racism is an erroneous doctrine. unified history. As opposed to differences as is racism. it is necessary to come back to the real meaning of words: racism is a theory which postulates that there are qualitative inequalities between the races. holds that the irreducible plurality of the human species constitutes a veritable treasure. Rather. that race constitutes the central determining factor in human history. The Jewish people. In regard to the universalist utopias and the withering of traditional identities. Citizenship implies belonging. which tends to describe the history of humanity as a single. languages. nor incidental aspects of private life. Nor is there a global paradigm outside mankind that would permit creating a racial hierarchy. the struggle against racism is not won by negating the concept of races. according to the nature of power devolved to each of these levels of sovereignty. linguistic). the struggle against racism is waged by the refusal of both exclusion and assimilation: neither apartheid nor the melting pot. If existing races vary from one another as regards this or that statistically isolated criterion. allegiance and participation in public life at different levels. then. Rather. rather." For the New Right. one rooted in time. Confronted with positions that are often simplistic. city.and recognition in the public scene. the French New Right affirms the primacy of differences. "Worldwide tourism" is merely a pathetic alternative to withdrawing into one's own shell. and regional cultures under the threat of extinction." not in opposition to "difference. or moralizing. it is evident that an individual receives his worth from those qualities which are his own. or. at one and the same time. By contrast. these differences are very substance of social life. generated by prejudice or "premodern" superstition. by definition.) In contrast to racism there is a universalist and a differentialist anti-racism. incapable of recognizing or respecting otherness for what it is. acceptance of the other as Other through a dialogic per- . Racism is not a disease of the mind. Wanting to be a citizen of the world is to link citizenship to an abstraction drawn from the vocabulary of the Liberal New Class. Finally. But modernity has not been able to satisfy this need for identity. such that. which arises from freedom of choice of individuals and of peoples. These three postulates may be held together or separately. universalist anti-racism is. Thus.
a large number of values and attitudes fall into feminine and masculine categories: cooperation and competition. The responsibility for current immigration lies primarily. against their will. first of all. two different ways of perceiving the Other and the world. and admits them todayon the condition that they divest themselves of their femininity. it would be illusory to expect their departure en masse. for the human race only insures its continuation through this distinction. the cultural differences which sometimes separate them from the populations receiving them. but should be acknowledged and recognized in the public sphere. schools. unions. economic-spontaneous or organized movements from poor and overpopulated countries to countries which are rich. This is a twisted form of male domination. Immigration is not desirable for the immigrants. religions. who are forced to abandon their native country for another where they are re ceived as back-ups for economic needs. affective and managerial. their mode of sexual destiny. For Cooperation By reason of its rapid growth and its massive proportions. with sometimes brutal modifications in their human and urban environments. The existence of a feminine and masculine nature is evident. The New Right proposes. Nonetheless. These determine. 3. for individuals. in social life. not with the immigrants. This communitarian politic could. concrete and abstract. and they constitute. The Jacobin national state has always upheld a model of assimilation in which only the individual is absorbed into a citzenship which is purely abstract. 4. etc. As regards the immigrant populations which reside today in France. in general. who are confronted.). difference inscribes itself in gender-masculine and feminine. a communitarian model which would spare individuals from being cut off from their cultural roots and which would permit them to keep alive the structures of their collective cultural lives. which in the past had excluded women from the arena of public life. humanity is not one. For the Recognition of Gender The distinction of the sexes is the first and most fundamental of natural differences. They should be able to observe necessary general and common laws without abandoning the culture which is their very own. lead to a dissociation of citizenship from nationality.spective of mutual enrichment. The state holds no interest in the collective identities nor in the cultural differences of these individuals. However. This model becomes less and less credible in view of the following factors: the sheer number of immigrants. and especially the profound crises which affect all the channels of traditional integration (parties. considered women as incomplete men. immigration such as one sees today in Europe constitutes an undeniably negative phenomenon. synthetic intuition and analytic intellection. persuasion and aggression. empathy and detachment. in order to overcome imbalances resulting from globalization. The modern concept of abstract individuals. Essentially. Against Immigration. but with the industrialized nations which have reduced man to the level of merchandise that can be relocated anywhere. But the cause is also symbolic-the attraction of Western civilization and the concomitant depreciation of indigenous cultures in light of the growing consumer-oriented way of life. Against Sexism. Being sexual from the very outset. The New Right believe that ethnocultural identity should no longer be relegated to the private domain. in the long run. it represents a mode of forced uprooting the cause of which is. It is obvious that the problems of the Third World countries will not be resolved by major population shifts. Thus the New Right favors policies restrictive of immigration. is just as prejudicial against women as traditional sexism which. stemming from an "indifferentialist" ideology which neutralizes sexual differences. etc. mediation and repression. . seduction and domination. detached from their sexual identity. for centuries. this does not preclude the fact that individuals of each sex may diverge from these categories due to genetic factors or sociocultural choices. Nor is immigration beneficial for the host population re ceiving the immigrants. the army. then. but rather two. Beyond mere biology. coupled with increased cooperation with Third World countries where organic interdependence and traditional ways of life still survive.
Rather. isolation from the real world. feminism falls into a malecentered trap as it adheres to "universal" and abstract values which are. the sacrifice of the real to the virtual. one becomes a woman")." the less one is able to "play a role. Average citizens have nothing but scorn for the "elite" and they are indifferent to the traditional political factions and agendas which have today become obsolete. As regards every major social issue. and the comfort of capital yield. For Autonomy from the Bottom Up In the process of globalization. and international organizations. In order to create a more "user friendly" society. It is not the welfare state that ought to decentralize in their favor. The further that those in power distance themselves from the average citizen. Likewise. wants sexual difference to play a role in the public domain and upholds specifically feminine rights (the right to virginity. At the highest levels of society. Against the New Class. its wastefulness. and all members would have to participate at every stage of the deliberations and of the democratic decision-making. masculine values. The more a society offers its citizens impersonal tasks to do. in the final analysis. its ineffectiveness.Some universalist feminists claim that masculine and feminine genders stem from a social construct ("One is not born a woman. this New Class provides the manpower for the media. differentialist feminism recognizes men as well as women by acknowledging the equal value of their distinct and unique natures. in their day to day lives. The system tends to close in upon itself. the less that society is open to workers of real quality. local communities would have to make decisions by and for themselves in all those matters which concern them directly. an inclination to corruption. Rather. to the contrary. The New Right supports a differentialist feminism which. the commodification of values. All the while the media draw attention away from the real world towards one of mere representation. the gulf widens between the rulers who repeat the usual technocratic discourse and those governed who experience. It also engenders abstract individualism. indifference to history. This New Class produces and reproduces everywhere the same type of person: cold-blooded specialists. the pains of day to day life. while the public feels indifferent toward or angry at a managerial elite which does not even speak the same language as they do. In this way. Against sexism and unisex utopianism. and its counter-productivity appear more and more evident. and the desire for shared values. Western civilization is promoting the worldwide domination of a ruling class whose only claim to legitimacy resides in its abstract manipulations (logico-symbolic) of the signs and values of the system already in place. one would have to avoid the anonymity of the masses. the less they feel the need to justify their decisions. nepotism and to buying votes. the New Class finds itself again confronted with a whole series of conflicts (between capital and labor. the less are individual achievements recognized and acknowledged by the public. Aspiring to uninterrupted growth of capital and to the permanent reign of social engineering. the more one is obliged to "fulfil a function. the public and the private) which it had attempted to avoid for over half a century. it is the local communities themselves that ought not to cede to the State power to intervene except in those matters for which they are not able or competent to make decisions. Since the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Bloc. All of this fits in with the tactic of mergers and the globalization of worldwide domination. . the less the private domain encroaches on the public domain. at the bottom of the social ladder. an incessant search for meaning. the consequences of all this. to maternity. a superficial humanitarianism. to abortion). utilitarian beliefs. equality and freedom. an obvious lack of culture. large national and multinational firms. and the reification of social relations. rationality detached from day to day realities." The New Class depersonalizes the leadership of Western societies and even lessens their sense of responsibility. Satisfying the people's (or populist) aspirations would entail giving more autonomy to structures at the lower end of the social ladder. sanctimonious babble. 5. we find technocratic double talk. giving them the opportunity to create or recreate specific nomoi.
this is only a technique to assure. it denotes a system whereby the people are sovereign. It is. Central.6. 7. . because they all belong to the same political body. does not imply that truth necessarily proceeds from majority vote. Europe (Western. the future belongs to large cultures and civilizations capable of organizing themselves into autonomous entities and of acquiring enough power to resist outside interference. Europe must organize itself into a federal structure. For the Strengthening of Democracy Democracy did not first appear with the Revolutions of 1776 and 1789. as opposed to a "European Nation" which is nothing more than a larger version of the Jacobin state. Rather. based upon belonging or membership. not derived from approval from above. the nation-state is now too big to manage little problems and too small to address big ones. it does not claim that all men are naturally equal. which relinquishes sovereignty without transferring it to a higher level. The principle of subsidiarity ought to be the keystone at every level. to the contrary. Nor does democracy refer to the political party system. A single currency ought to be managed by a central bank under the control of European political authority. it has constituted a constant tradition in Europe since the existence of the ancient Greek city and since the time of ancient German "freedoms. industry. Against Jacobinism. because it lacks the corollary of any possible inequality). as opposed to a Europe which will only be a big market unified by free trade. fundamental legal questions. as opposed to a "Europe of Nations. in order better to federalize with each other. but by the recognition of historical cultures. while recognizing the autonomy of all the component elements and facilitating the cooperation of the constituent regions and of individual nations. not by the negation. The second Thirty Years' War (1914-45) signaled. big economic issues. As opposed to the centralizing tradition. the fundamental principle is that of political equality. concluded by the Treaty of Westphalia. but based on the will and consent of all those who participate. Democracy is also the system best suited to take care of a society's pluralism: by peaceful resolution of conflicts in ideas and by maintaining a positive relationship between the majority and the minority. military affairs. Authority at the lower levels should not be delegated to authorities at the upper levels except in those matters which escape the competence of the lower level. thus. The only decisions that would come from the summit of this structure would be those relating to all the peoples and federal communities: diplomatic matters. etc. but rather a popular decision in favor of the common good. the start of the disintegration of the nation-state. as opposed to a bureaucratic and technocratic Europe. protection of the environment." a mere assemblage of national egos which cannot prevent future wars. and Eastern) must reorganize itself from the bottom up. Against Depoliticization. The existing states must federalize from within. European civilization will remake itself. by maintaining freedom of expression for minorities. European integration is equally necessary in certain areas of research. as opposed to all of the above. in close continental association with Russia. where the people are the subject of constituent power. In democracy. because the minority could be tomorrow's majority. In a globalized world. thus permitting all inhabitants to rediscover their common origins. Born out of absolute monarchy and revolutionary Jacobinism. but they may not relinquish that sovereignty." Democracy is not synonymous with the former "popular democracies" of the East nor with liberal parliamentary democracy today so prevalent in Western countries. as closely as possible. marked the establishment of the nation-state as the dominant mode of political organization. exercised through the vote. which can give birth to no form of government (equality of all human beings is an apolitical equality. a substantial equality. which confiscates all powers to establish a single level of control. an agreement between the people and their leaders. Democratic equality is not an anthropological principle (it tells us nothing about the nature of man). but only that all citizens are politically equal. The people may delegate their sovereignty to man agers whom they appoint. Democracy is not endless discussion and debate. Rather. Majority rule. For a Federal Europe The first Thirty Years' War. Each level of the association should have its own role and its own dignity. This principle is quite distinct from that of the legal equality of all people. and new communications technology.
now leads to nothing. corruption and technocracy. 8." in the Leninist sense of the term. Today. including those which never practiced slavery. Renewing the democratic spirit implies not settling for mere representative democracy. which can be counted out and measured. Each citizen must be involved in the pursuit of the common good. Add to all this the fact that the modern model of politics is obsolete: political parties are almost all reformist. but everything has a price (i. Now. due to new technologies. from the Latin tripalium. Functional. which uses unemployment and relocation of workers to weaken the negotiating power of salaried workers. Such productivity favors capital. there must be imposed the widest separation possible between wealth and political power. which is needed as a compensation for time put in working. but seeking to also put into effect. Non-voting and turning one's back on public issues rob democracy of its very meaning. it implies the possibility of a distinction. in this case between citizens and non-citizens. The objective. but rather the idea of a body of citizens politically united into a people. in trying to earn a living. a true participatory democracy ("that which affects all the people should be the business of all the people"). the disqualification of political parties. thereby giving to each citizen a role in the choice and control of his destiny. The self-absorbed consumer and the passive spectator-citizen will only become involved by the development of a radically decentralized form of democracy. It is modernity which. Because it is born of the constraints of necessity. and this work holds meaning for them only in terms of buying power. In a world of networks. but not revolution. beginning from the bottom. non-consultation of the people in cases of major decisions affecting their very lives. exclusion replaces . Each common good must be identified and upheld as such. and a illusory form of emancipation and of the autonomy of the individual ("freedom through work"). the common identity of the governors and the governed. The essential idea of democracy is neither that of the individual nor of humanity. Production serves to stimulate consumption. as closely as possible. the supreme authority in modern society. more often than not. it will be necessary to stop regarding politics as exclusively a state matter.." or "political takeover. Against Productivism. many of which have become machines geared primarily toward their election to office and whose candidates are often chosen only on the basis of their ability to be elected. this is "heteronomous" work that individuals perform most often by obligation than out of vocation. through its productivist goal of totally mobilizing all resources. rational. the interchangeability of political programs. we produce more and more goods and services with constantly fewer workers. etc. revolt may be possible. has the opportunity to be politically present through its action and participation in public life. an instrument of torture) has never occupied a central position in ancient or traditional societies. democracy is threatened by a whole series of offshoots and aberrations: the crisis of representation. "The seizure of power.e. as does the work accomplished wherein an individual may see an expression of himself. work does not exercise our freedom. This common identity is the expression of the identity of the people which. and monetized. has made of work a value in itself. the principal mode of socialization. Thus. Democracy is the system which situates within the people the source of power's legitimacy and then attempts to achieve. The procedure of referendum could also be useful. the dominance of lobbyists upholding their private interests over the common good. through its represent atives. at every level. To counteract the overwhelming power of money. For New Forms of Labor Work (in French travail. than rendered more and more useless. while most governments are more or less impotent. In Europe. In a salaried society. these gains in productivity result in unemployment and they destabilize some of society's very structures.As with all political principles. each one gives up his time. Work has thus been gradually monetized. existential difference between the one and the other can never be a difference of quality. The possibility of receiving certain services freely and then reciprocating in some way has totally disappeared in a world where nothing has any value. In order to achieve this. forcing individuals to work for others in order to pay those who work for them. today the indi vidual worker is not so much exploited. a world in which anything that cannot be quantified in monetary terms is held as negligible or non-existent).
A way has to be found out of the double impasse of ineffective governmental economies. it is imperative gradually to dissociate work from income. moreover. The possibility must be explored of establishing a fixed minimum stipend or income for every citizen from birth until death and without asking anything in return. Environmental laws ought to be enacted on an international scale. Priority should be given to selfsufficiency and to the needs of internal. and nations. on the other. but increasing also is the number of people whose buying power is stagnating or even diminishing. by strengthening a third sector (partnerships. For Local Communities The tendency to over-expansion and concentration produces isolated individuals who are thus more vulnerable and defenseless. Even the possibility of returning to full employment would demand a complete break with productivism and the gradual end of an era where payment by salary is the principal means of integration into social life. Thus. Economic thought is. and "chrématisque. the earning and appropriation of money. couched in mathematical formulas which claim to be scientific by excluding any factor that cannot be quantified. mutual societies. since they stimulate economic activity. sending shock-waves throughout the entire financial network. it is imperative to restore the economy to the service of individuals and their quality of life. the macroeconomic indices (GDP. In today's society. sabbaticals. This metamorphosis was brought about by the easy availability of credit. national and regional markets. The first steps should include: instituting.) for every type of "heteronomous" job: to work less in order to work better and in order to have some time for oneself to live and enjoy life. Widespread exclusion and social uncertainty are the logical con- . Against the Ruthless Pursuit of Current Economic Policies. all to the detriment of the condition of national economies and of the long-term interest of the people. Faced with arrogant wealth. and non-profit organizations. to canceling the debt of Third World countries. and cooperatives) as well as autonomous organizations of mutual aid based on shared responsibility. which aims only at growing larger still by capitalizing on the inequalities and sufferings that it itself engenders. accidents. Thus. The reduction of the length of the work week is a secular given which makes obsolete the biblical imperative: "You will labor by the sweat of your brow. and hypercompetitive market-oriented economies. Against Gigantism. etc. and drastically revising the entire system of economic development. while the immense world financial bubble bursts from time to time." which has as its goal to satisfy man's needs. the growth rate. or epidemics are here counted as positive. For an Economy at the Service of the People Aristotle made a distinction between "oeconomie. There needs to be an end to the international system of the division of labor. issuance of unreliable bonds. The ubiquity of capital allows the financial markets to control politics.alienation in a world ever globally richer. 9. widespread speculation. Industrial capitalism has been gradually overtaken by a financial capitalism whose goal is to realize maximum returns in the short run." Negotiated reductions in the length of the work week and the concomitant increase of new workers to share their work ought to be encouraged. the attraction and promise of goods grow ever larger. Economies become uncertain and even precarious. job training courses. the dominant role of international investors. widespread indebtedness of individuals. mutual funds that seek to make speculative profits. GNP. as well as the possibility of flexible adjustments (annual leaves. Local economies must be freed from the dictates of the World Bank and the IMF. at an international level. etc. voluntary membership. a tax on all financial transactions. firms. 10." whose ultimate end is production. on the one hand. etc. but where the number of poor people constantly increases (so much for the classical theory of trickle-down economics).) reveal nothing about the actual condition of a society: disasters.
as well as diversification of means of transportation: undoing the current tyranny of the private car. faced with bureaucracies that are reaching more and more rapidly their level of incompetence. but are in a constant state of renewal. Emphasizing rhythmic passing of the ages and of the seasons. Solidarity must no longer be seen as the result of an anonymous equality (poorly) guaranteed by the welfare state. great moments in life. theaters. they nourish symbolic imagination and they create a social bond. a link: working. surrendered to the aesthetic of the ugly: bedroom communities with no horizon. and free of the demanding imperatives of speed. first and foremost. neighborhoods constantly under hidden-camera surveillance and monitored by citizen patrols. etc. downtown areas given over totally to business and stripped of their traditional form of social life (cafés. but complex acts encompassing the totality of social life. modernity has often tried to "market" these cultural traditions for the only benefit of tourists ("folkloric" shows). return to families their natural vocation to provide education. Architecture and urbanism are practiced in the context of a local history and a particular geography which they should reflect. These traditions must never frozen in time. geometric expression of economic order. . taking into consideration ecological imperatives. cinemas. the population shift from rural areas and concomitant urban crowding. the village. we enter a world of all sorts of cooperative networks. public parks. socialization. are simply imposed from above and outside. Faced with traditional vertical pyramids of domination that inspire no confidence. the labyrinth of our passions and actions. moving about. not a fragmented life. or to the contrary. directed at the common good. This would entail the revitalization of an urbanism rooted in and harmonious with the local community. Fostering social interaction and a sense of celebration. residential areas totally lacking soul. the gradual dismantling of bedroom communities and areas that are now strictly commercial or business. It would also imply the opening up of rural areas. grim suburbs serving as municipal dumping grounds. permit individuals to interiorize social rules and laws which. the elimination of now ubiquitous advertising. the development of villages and moderatesized towns in a network centered around regional capital cities. Even worse. This will. However. the proliferation of anonymous "non-places" given over to visitors who are all in a hurry. shared values. been reduced by the existence today of a whole web of organizations supportive of deliberative and well-functioning communities which are forming at every level of social life: the family. run-down neighborhoods.sequences of this system. They no longer build homes for living in but rather for surviving in an urban environment spoiled by the law of maximum financial return on investment and cold practicality. the professions and in leisure pursuits. the revival of regional styles. endless malls which disfigure the approaches to every city. rather than as the cold. For Cities on a Human Scale Urbanism has. which has wiped out almost all possibilities of reciprocity and solidarity. living are not separate functions. for more than fifty years. the neighborhood. universities. a place is. It is only at this local level that one can create a standard of living worthy of hu man beings. disparate styles of apartment buildings. such traditions inculcate a sense of life's cycles and provide temporal landmarks. little by little. revitalizing public transportation. mobility and return on investment. Against Megalopolis. The re vitalization of local communities must also be accompanied by a renaissance of popular traditions that which modernity has largely caused to decline. Only responsible individuals in responsible communities can establish a social justice which is not synonymous with welfare. 11. The city needs to be rethought as the locus of all our potentialities. and the stages of the passing year. and mutual support. The former tension between a homogenous civil society and a monopolistic welfare state has. in turn.). today. This return to the local community will. the city. This standard of living would be supported by fundamental. increasing transportation of goods by rail. of its very nature. but rather as the result of a reciprocity implemented from the bottom up by organic communities taking charge of such matters as insurance and equitable distribution.
for the reduction of pollution. within several decades. This unprecedented decline of critical thought is still more aggravated in France by Parisian navel-gazing. and goods (to be more instead of to have more). Sound ecology calls us to move beyond modern anthropocentrism toward the development of a consciousness of the mutual coexistence of mankind and the cosmos. Fearing free choice by the people and disdaining their aspirations. no less rich. modern thought has slowly turned itself into a form of "thought police" whose purpose is to excommunic ate all those who diverge in any way from the currently dominant ideological dogmas. standards must be set. Former revolutionaries have rallied around the status quo while carrying over from their former lives a taste for purges and anathemas. One no longer reasons. The reduction of politics to the sound management of increasingly problematic growth excludes the possibility of radically changing society or even the possibility of an open discussion of the ultimate goals of collective action. The disregard shown for nature. Firms and corporations which pollute should be taxed in proportion to the damage done. to the depletion of most available resources and to a series of climatic and atmospheric disasters with unforeseen consequences for the human race. and takes the form of cleansing hysteria. one accuses. For an Integral Ecology In a finite world. worldwide. This "immanent transcendence" reveals nature as a partner and not as an adversary or object. A certain level of de-industrialization in the field of food-processing might favor local production and consumption as well as diversification of food sources. like growth itself. one prefers the ignorance of the masses. we have come to forget the traditional rules of civilized debate. Man has obligations to the animal and vegetal world. This does not diminish the unique importance of mankind. the exponential undermining of biodiversity. Approaches sympathetic to the cyclical renewal of natural resources must be sustained in the Third World and given priority in "developed" societies. Incapable of developing their own ideas or even of refuting the ideas of others. Rather than trying to understand the approaching new century. We must also affirm the importance of the concrete person over acquisition of wealth. Thus." Various ecological groups have upheld this position. Democratic debate thus finds itself reduced to nothing.12. A worldwide effort must be undertaken to establishing binding norms and guidelines for the preservation of biodiversity. all writings suspected of "deviation" or even of "drifting" are represented as consciously or unconsciously sympathetic to ideologies that are held to be highly suspect. eventually reach their limit. The rapid generalization of Western levels of production and consumption throughout the whole world could lead. The "megamachine" knows only one law-maximum return on investments. as fashioned by the media. One also begins to forget that freedom of opinion. all prove that "always more" is not synonymous with "always better. One no longer proves. but also against supposed intentions. there are limits to growth. which are nothing more than a means to exclude or to discredit opponents. power. Economic hubris and Promethean technology must be held in check by a sense of balance and harmony. Against Unbridled Technology. the alienation of man by the machine. one denounces. and no less diverse than the world we know today. enervating mawkishness or selective indignation. but it does deny to man his exclusive position that Christianity and classical humanism had assigned him. the depletion of our food supplies. these censors fight not only against opinions. We need to become more aware of our responsibilities as regards the organic and inorganic worlds in which we all move about. This new form of treachery relies upon the tyranny of public opinion. Resources. recycling old arguments. powerless and disillusioned by the failure of its objectives. All thoughts. This must be countered with the principle of responsibility. 13. they keep rehearsing outdated issues. one imposes. which demands that the present generation act in such a way that future generations live in a world which is no less beautiful. whose disappearance has largely been met with indifference. For Independence of Thought and a Return to Discussion of Ideas Incapable of renewing itself. One no longer discusses. The New Right advocates a return to critical thinking and strongly supports total freedom of ex - . In like manner. allows for no exceptions. which rejects totally the ideology of unlimited progress.
the New Right insists. and Torquemada. "disposable" ideas and the futility of passing fads. The New Right calls all free minds to join in a common front against the disciples of Trissotin. now more than ever. freed from the old divisions and fixed positions which block new approaches to old problems as well as new syntheses. Faced with censorship. The New Right advocates a return to debating issues. . on the need for a true renewal of critical thinking.pression. Tartuffe.
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Scarlett Greyson
Revolving Door
Who's coming and who's going. Tell us about your job move! Receive the Revolving Door Newsletter with expert analysis by email twice a week.
August 29, 2013: Scarlett Greyson has been named weekend morning anchor at KTBC in Austin, Texas. She had been weekend anchor and general assignment reporter at KAMC in Lubbock, Texas. (TVSpy)

subset: commoncrawl


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Showing news for 4th ODI: India v England at Kochi, Apr 6, 2006
Fourth One-Day International
2007: India v England, 2005-06
England in India, 2005-06
Apr 7, 2006: Matthew Hoggard has hailed the Indian one-day side as the best in the world, after they surpassed a 21-year-old West Indian record in Thursday's series-clincher at Cochi
England in India, 2005-06
Apr 6, 2006: Virender Sehwag will lead India in the next two one-day internationals against England after the selectors decided to rest Rahul Dravid
India v England, 4th ODI, Kochi
Dravid delighted with India's hot form
Apr 6, 2006: Rahul Dravid and Kevin Pietersen spoke to the media following India's four-wicket win at Kochi, which put India 4-0 in the series with three to play
India v England, 4th ODI, Kochi
Apr 6, 2006: Rahul Dravid made a brave decision to employ the second Powerplay in the 29th over. It was a move that could so easily have backfired but as it turned out, it was the masterstroke that swung the game India's way
India v England, 4th ODI, Kochi
Winning with plenty in reserve
Apr 6, 2006: This was yet another procession for an Indian side that has learnt to win matches without going anywhere near full throttle
India v England, 4th ODI, Kochi
Apr 6, 2006: India wrapped up the seven-match one-day series with their fourth win, completing their 15th successful run-chase on the trot
West Indies need to paper over bowling cracks
The hosts' pace attack, with a combined experience of 31 Tests and 56 wickets, is a candidate for being their weakest ever, yet India cannot simply show up and expect to win
Yasir's 13 going on 100, and 42-year-old centurions
Also, losing ten-fors, and back to back Tests at Lord's
Ashwin emulates Botham with ton and seven-for
Stats highlights from the fourth day's play in Antigua where Ashwin's maiden five-wicket haul outside Asia bowled India to an innings victory
Stats highlights from the first day of the Antigua Test, where Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan stole the show from the hosts
Loose West Indies succumb to Ashwin's wiles
One after another, the hosts' batsmen attempted questionable flicks and drives in their second innings, disregarding the drift and dip the offspinner was generating
West Indies need to paper over bowling cracks (62)
The hosts' pace attack, with a combined experience of 31 Tests and 56 wickets, is a candidate for being their weakest ever, yet India cannot simply show up and expect to win
Herath versus the mighty Australians? (45)
Sri Lanka's lead spinner must feel like a bus driver in charge of a spluttering vehicle as the hosts strive to challenge a strong Australian side
Cook braves criticism as England play it safe (39)
There was enough logic in Alastair Cook's decision not to enforce the follow-on to make it understandable at worst and reasonable at best
Australia seek returns on Mitchell Marsh investment (37)
Australia will be hoping that Mitchell Marsh grows from an emerging allrounder into a top-quality allrounder by the end of the Sri Lanka tour
Why close-catching standards have dropped (27)
Technique and anticipation are important for close-in fielding. Many of today's fielders lack both


text:
Users of Greenwich and Woolwich foot tunnels are being asked whether a law should be changed to allow cycling through the passages.
Around 80 per cent of cyclists ride their bikes through the narrow tunnels even though a bylaw currently prohibits cycling, skateboarding and rollerskating.
The Friends of Greenwich and Woolwich Foot Tunnels (Fogwoft) are seeking views on the best use of the tunnels, which are currently being refurbished.
They aim to find a way to reduce conflict between around 3,000 pedestrians and cyclists which pass through the passageways each day.
The informal survey will run until April 25 when any proposals will be submitted to Greenwich Council.
To have your say about the tunnels visit fogwoft.com/survey or email firstname.lastname@example.com
- UPDATE: Police arrest knife-wielding man 'throwing stuff off roof' in Erith
- EXCLUSIVE: Mum of teen stabbed to death in Brockley demands justice after accused killers go free
- 'People were angry about the bullshit': Greenwich Council remove 'disruptive' library campaigners from public meeting
- Northfleet father-of-three jailed after stabbing man with pair of scissors
- Police hunt man after sex assault on DLR train to Lewisham


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T-Shirt Quilts - Wide Quilt Backing - Wholecloth - FatBacks!® - 108" wide quilt backs - Custom Quilting - Christian Lane Quilters - J
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Originally Posted by sylvi76
Trying so hard to bf, poor baby can't latch on that well, so I'm trying to find a consultant to help me out. There is a LL meeting tomorrow night, is she too small to take to it? Wondering if I should try to get a private session in my house, or try the meeting??
Originally Posted by sylvi76
Best wishes to the mama's still due. Nothing compares, I had NO idea I'd be this in love.
Originally Posted by Dodo
Christine, I think that your baby's going to come soon. Painting the nursery at the last possible moment has to be a sign if there ever was one.
Originally Posted by mat4mel
whine, whine, whine..
so I was bored and was reading in the September due date thread.. looks like some women there will have their baby before me... that's soooo not fair! I have been focusing on staying busy all week, walking a lot.. today I just laid around the house and I think I noticed maybe 3 braxton hicks all day. is there a whimpering icon?
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|Most users ever online was 449,755, 06-25-2014 at 12:21 PM.