Absolute certainty, utter conviction—these, then, are signs of the demonic.
. . . .
We begin to see how power corrupts as the guiding whisper becomes a demonic voice obliterating all others. The seed comes with sure and uncanny knowledge. But while a god is omniscient, a human becomes a know-it-all, and so Hitler had no use for exchange with others. There was nothing they could teach him.
. . . .
To show this omniscience he [Hitler] memorized masses of facts—locations of regiments and reserves, displacement and armature of ships, kinds of vehicles—all of which he used to overpower his questioners and embarrass his commanders. This information “proved” his transcendence and disguised his lack of thought and reflection and his inability to hold a conversation.The demonic does not engage; rather, it smothers with details and jargon any possibility of depth.
Beyond underlining the critical importance of Eros for the future of civilization, this metaphor (along with the marriage of the Virgin and the Dynamo in the previous chapter) contains an implicit politics. Being a loving spouse implies caring, respect, mutuality, reciprocity, and interdependence.
As a narrative, all history has to do with “some major achievement or failure of men living and working together, in societies or nations or any other lastingly organized groups”
Looking at the shape of international politics in the future, it’s clear—bipolarity is inevitable. A cold war is a choice.
There is a tragic rule of twenty-first-century life, a rule of double amnesia: the right tends to act as though the nineteenth century never happened, while the left tends to act as though the twentieth century never took place.
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