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postmodern putin

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The Machiavellians: Defenders of Freedom

by James Burnham

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read in October 2026

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postmodern putin said: " Burnham masterfully weaves together the great lineage of realist political thinkers—Mosca, Sorel, Michels, Pareto, and Machiavelli himself—to uncover the true mechanics of political power. No matter the time, place, or intentions of those involved, t Burnham masterfully weaves together the great lineage of realist political thinkers—Mosca, Sorel, Michels, Pareto, and Machiavelli himself—to uncover the true mechanics of political power. No matter the time, place, or intentions of those involved, the cold, hard truth about politics remains constant: in all human societies, there are rulers, and there are ruled; nothing can ever change this. This applies equally to the most authoritarian regimes and to those that are purportedly the most democratic. The great ruled masses are always fickle and too disorganized to ever truly govern themselves. Any great social revolution brought about in the name of the people must have leaders. These leaders replace those they overthrow, but the masses are never given the reins of power to make decisions. The will of the people is always embodied in a select few, who inevitably pursue their own interests, no matter which ideology they happen to appeal to. A society's history is the history of its elites: their internal conflicts, their successions, and the formulas they use to justify their rule.

Burnham calls the Machiavellians "defenders of freedom" because they understood that liberty exists only when the ruling class makes enough room for an "opposition" within its ranks. This opposition is composed of elites themselves. As Burnham sees it, ruling classes that suppress meaningful opposition forces quickly dissolve, as the more numerous Class I elites—whose tendencies lead to creative combinations and the manipulation of economic, social, and political structures to make and remake empires—eventually become careless and detached from their governing duties. To Class I belong the myth-makers, those who conjure and express the "derivations" handed down to the masses. What these elites once espoused through Christianity has now become the tenets of the democratic religion and its many derivatives: socialism, syndicalism, radicalism, pacifism, humanitarianism, and solidarism. Nevertheless, the rigid consolidation of power and its exclusive hoarding from new contenders create the conditions for violent revolution. As long as opposition can express itself and new elites can rise into the ruling class, a society can be said to be in good health.

What separates the Machiavellians from other political theorists is their—as Mosca calls it—logical, scientific approach to politics. They are under no illusions about the wishful fantasies found in ideas concerning an imaginary social contract or the inevitable historical trajectory of Progress. They see politics for what it truly is: a never-ending struggle for power. Underlying every political ideology is the secret that it can never fully correspond to the empirical reality of any particular political situation. Ideologies express an author’s conception of how they would like society to look, but they cannot account for the endless contingencies governing human social life. They are myths—powerful myths, to be sure—but they are non-logical in practice. This makes plain the bleak reality that all of politics entails a degree of manipulation and deception, a truth especially evident in the derivations of the democratic religion. ...more "

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— Oct 18, 2026 12:07PM

Oct 18, 2026 08:09PM · see review

postmodern putin is currently reading

The Essential Paul Gottfried: Essays From 1984-2024: Essays from 1984–2024

by Paul Edward Gottfried

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— Oct 19, 2026 10:07AM

Oct 05, 2026 09:07PM

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New Science

by Giambattista Vico

bookshelves: philosophy, currently-reading

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(page 297 of 560)
— Aug 13, 2026 10:57PM

Aug 09, 2026 07:38PM

postmodern’s Quotes

“Feminism liberated women from the natural dignity of their sex and turned them into inferior men.”
― Francis Parker Yockey, Imperium: Philosophy of History & Politics

tags: dignity, feminism, inferior, liberation, men, sex, women

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