Notebooks: 1936-1947 (New York Review Books Classics)

by Victor Serge

The ideological (and psychological) superstructures have become so complex, so weighty, so rich in the more than two thousand years of continuous Western civilization, that they have acquired considerable involuntary creative or destructive autonomy in relation to the economy; to a large extent they live on themselves (a striking example: religion in Russia). (Other examples, nationalities and their traditions.) 2. Psychology highlights the fact that although man obeys social determinism, he bears within him mental burdens accumulated since his origin. (All in all, civilizations are recent.) 3. Certain of these burdens, whose power is incommensurable, predate humanity, date back to the animal state. 4. A correct vision of history must take into account the psychology of societies and individuals, even in the analysis of specific events. In daily life we must take into account the characteristics and mentality of groups, of masses, of personalities, and each of us of our own personality, which is difficult but not impossible, and in any case necessary.