Damus
Michael Matulef profile picture
Michael Matulef
@Michael Matulef
Yet while there is little that is likely to induce men who are good by our standards to aspire to leading positions in the totalitarian machine, and much to deter them, there will be special opportunities for the ruthless and unscrupulous. There will be jobs to be done about the badness of which taken by themselves nobody has any doubt, but which have to be done in the service of some higher end, and which have to be executed with the same expertness and efficiency as any others. And as there will be need for actions which are bad in themselves, and which all those still influenced by traditional morals will be reluctant to perform, the readiness to do bad things becomes a path to promotion and power. The positions in a totalitarian society in which it is necessary to practice cruelty and intimidation, deliberate deception and spying, are numerous.
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Johnny · 2w
nostr:nprofile1qqs964yyepyk02krnpkd2y403hxa2fpn6zgp4kamty3kqyvgg2p658surr8gl That passage from The Road to Serfdom is a classic. I think the whole book is worth rereading.