The Opium of the Intellectuals

by Raymond Aron

The ‘American way of life’ is the negation of what the European intellectual means by the word ideology. Americanism does not formulate itself as a system of concepts or propositions; it knows nothing of the ‘collective saviour’, the end of history, the determining cause of historical ‘becoming’, or the dogmatic negation of religion; it combines respect for the constitution, homage for individual initiative, a humanitarianism inspired by strong but vague beliefs which are fairly indifferent to the rivalries between the Churches (only Catholic ‘totalitarianism’ is considered disquieting), the worship of science and efficiency.

he must betray his mission in order to remain faithful to the State.

but they subject millions of workers to the logic of mass production, and they risk turning human beings into machines.

The liberal democracies do not represent a ‘Christian’ civilisation. They have developed in societies whose religion was Christian, and they have been inspired to a certain extent by the absolute value which Christianity gives to the individual soul.

Communism comes into conflict with Christianity because it is atheist and totalitarian, not because it controls the economy. It arrogates to itself the sole right to educate the young. The Communist State allows religious rites to be celebrated and the sacraments to be administered; but it does not consider itself neutral, it calls religious beliefs superstitions, doomed to disappear with the progress of socialist construction. It enrols the hierarchy in political crusades; ‘popes’, priests, bishops and Metropolitans are invited to lead the campaign in favour of peace,

That is where ideology comes in—the longing for a purpose, for communion with the people, for something controlled by an idea and a will. The feeling of belonging to the elect, the security provided by a closed system in which the whole of history as well as one’s own person find their place and their meaning, the pride in joining the past to the future in present action—all this inspires and sustains the true believer, the man who is not repelled by the scholasticism, who is not disillusioned by the twists in the party line, the man who lives entirely for the cause and no longer recognises the humanity of his fellow-creatures outside the party.