An ‘Ism’ for All Seasons

An ‘Ism’ for All Seasons A t the time when the Soviet empire collapsed in ignominy and the totalitarian system in Russia itself disintegrated, people asked: What will take its place in the minds of intellectuals and all those who believed in a utopia on earth? What “ism” would become paramount among the discontented of the West? We now know the answer: pessimism. Communism was, in its origins, a critique of society, until it built monstrous societies of its own where criticism was not allowed. Pessimism too is a critique of society, also a habit of mind, an inMr. Johnson is the British historian and journalist. His most recent book is Art: A Monsieur Pessimisme Intellectuals and their camp followers have found a new ideology incarnate consistency, and self-righteousness, and affords huge intellectual and emotional satisfaction to its believers. It appeals particularly to the large number of people in modem society who emerge with credentials from our educational system but who may never acquire the money or power that free enterprise offers in such abundance to the imaginative and daring. Such people become teachers, in schools and universities, work in the lower ranks of government, national and local, are myriad in the media and entertainment, and, in their own way, are collectively important in forming opinion. University professors are the elite of this category, their success in academic pursuits giving them a high opinion of their own worth and importance. Yet, somehow, this is not reflected in their earning power, their ability to command men and women, and their control over events. Must there not be something fundamentally wrong with a society that gives such little practical recognition to their worth? ■ THE WEST ■ In the past, this feeling of outrage was expressed in the quest for an alternative society and a determination to build it through political or revolutionary action. That alternative has gone. No one believes in it anymore. The intelligentsia is stuck with the market system, the only one that works at all, because it fits in with human nature and all its imperfections. Forced to live with the market, but hating it all the same, unwilling prisoners (and beneficiaries) of a capitalism they cannot change but that is infinitely distasteful to them, they submit with relish to a pessimism that gives them relief from their feeling of powerlessness. PAUL JOHNSON stinctive reflex, a paranoid psychosis, easy to acquire and to express, highly infectious, which can be made to apply to everything the established order does and produces. The case of the current war against terrorism is a perfect example of how the ideology of pessimism works. Opposition to terrorism, as such, is universally agreed. All agree it needs to be fought, somehow and in some way. But there agreement ends and pessimism takes over. Recall the sequence. First President Bush had no “evidence” that al-Qaeda was behind 9/11, still less that bin Laden was its mastermind. The pessimists wrung their hands at Bush’s ignorant, intemperate, Texas-cowboy approach. Again, there was no “evidence” that alQaeda was linked to the Taliban. To attack the Taliban was a fatal error, sure to ignite Karl Popper, in his analysis of pseudoscientific theories like Marxism and Freudianism, pointed out that their attraction lay in their apparent universality: They could be made to apply to almost any human event, collective or individual, providing explanations sufficiently coherent to satisfy educated people disinclined to inquire too deeply into difficult phenomena, and who merely want a quasi-religious creed in which to believe. Pessimism fits beautifully into this category. It applies to everything, simple or complex. It has coherency, ROMAN GENN an incendiary Islam against America. To invade Afghanistan was a strategic error of incalculable consequences. The invasion begun, it was clearly going badly. After a week, a fortnight, it was already seen to be a failure. Then, the Taliban having unaccountably collapsed and fled, America faced an endless guerrilla campaign, “another Vietnam.” Iraq was a similar story. The war was strategically misconceived, relying too much on air power because Bush was unwilling to face the countless casualties a land war would involve. After a week, a fortnight, it had clearly gone wrong, and the allies would be engulfed in endless fighting in Baghdad and Basra,

“another Stalingrad.” Then Saddam’s

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Paul Johnson

Mr. Johnson is a prominent author and historian.

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An ‘Ism’ for All Seasons A t the time when the Soviet empire collapsed in ignominy and the totalitarian system in Russia itself disintegrated, people asked: What will take its place in the minds of intellectuals and all those who believed in a utopia on earth? What “ism” would become paramount among the discontented of the West? We now know the answer: pessimism. Communism was, in its origins, a critique of society, until it built monstrous societies of its own where criticism was not allowed. Pessimism too is a critique of society, also a habit of mind, an inMr. Johnson is the British historian and journalist. His most recent book is Art: A Monsieur Pessimisme Intellectuals and their camp followers have found a new ideology incarnate consistency, and self-righteousness, and affords huge intellectual and emotional satisfaction to its believers. It appeals particularly to the large number of people in modem society who emerge with credentials from our educational system but who may never acquire the money or power that free enterprise offers in such abundance to the imaginative and daring. Such people become teachers, in schools and universities, work in the lower ranks of government, national and local, are myriad in the media and entertainment, and, in their own way, are collectively important in forming opinion. University professors are the elite of this category, their success in academic pursuits giving them a high opinion of their own worth and importance. Yet, somehow, this is not reflected in their earning power, their ability to command men and women, and their control over events. Must there not be something fundamentally wrong with a society that gives such little practical recognition to their worth? ■ THE WEST ■ In the past, this feeling of outrage was expressed in the quest for an alternative society and a determination to build it through political or revolutionary action. That alternative has gone. No one believes in it anymore. The intelligentsia is stuck with the market system, the only one that works at all, because it fits in with human nature and all its imperfections. Forced to live with the market, but hating it all the same, unwilling prisoners (and beneficiaries) of a capitalism they cannot change but that is infinitely distasteful to them, they submit with relish to a pessimism that gives them relief from their feeling of powerlessness. PAUL JOHNSON stinctive reflex, a paranoid psychosis, easy to acquire and to express, highly infectious, which can be made to apply to everything the established order does and produces. The case of the current war against terrorism is a perfect example of how the ideology of pessimism works. Opposition to terrorism, as such, is universally agreed. All agree it needs to be fought, somehow and in some way. But there agreement ends and pessimism takes over. Recall the sequence. First President Bush had no “evidence” that al-Qaeda was behind 9/11, still less that bin Laden was its mastermind. The pessimists wrung their hands at Bush’s ignorant, intemperate, Texas-cowboy approach. Again, there was no “evidence” that alQaeda was linked to the Taliban. To attack the Taliban was a fatal error, sure to ignite Karl Popper, in his analysis of pseudoscientific theories like Marxism and Freudianism, pointed out that their attraction lay in their apparent universality: They could be made to apply to almost any human event, collective or individual, providing explanations sufficiently coherent to satisfy educated people disinclined to inquire too deeply into difficult phenomena, and who merely want a quasi-religious creed in which to believe. Pessimism fits beautifully into this category. It applies to everything, simple or complex. It has coherency, ROMAN GENN an incendiary Islam against America. To invade Afghanistan was a strategic error of incalculable consequences. The invasion begun, it was clearly going badly. After a week, a fortnight, it was already seen to be a failure. Then, the Taliban having unaccountably collapsed and fled, America faced an endless guerrilla campaign, “another Vietnam.” Iraq was a similar story. The war was strategically misconceived, relying too much on air power because Bush was unwilling to face the countless casualties a land war would involve. After a week, a fortnight, it had clearly gone wrong, and the allies would be engulfed in endless fighting in Baghdad and Basra,

“another Stalingrad.” Then Saddam’s