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March 12, 2009

Islamo-Leninism

Theodore Dalyrymple credits education and rising standards of living for the persistence of ideology.

If this is true, then ideology should flourish where education is widespread, and especially where opportunities are limited for the educated to lose themselves in grand projects, or to take leadership roles to which they believe that their education entitles them. The attractions of ideology are not so much to be found in the state of the world—always lamentable, but sometimes improving, at least in certain respects—but in states of mind. And in many parts of the world, the number of educated people has risen far faster than the capacity of economies to reward them with positions they believe commensurate with their attainments. Even in the most advanced economies, one will always find unhappy educated people searching for the reason that they are not as important as they should be.

That last line should be engraved in stone over every access road to every university in Canada. Classic Dalyrymple. As usual, too much to quote so off you go. His observation of a unity of theory and praxis in both Qutb’s Islamism and Marxism-Leninism is particularly apt.

There are many other parallels between Leninism and Qutb’s Islamism, among them the incompatibility of each with anything else, entailing a fight to the finish supposedly followed by permanent bliss for the whole of mankind; a tension between complete determinism (by history and by God, respectively) and the call to intense activism; and the view that only with the installation of their systems does Man become truly himself. For Qutb’s worldview, therefore, the term Islamo-Leninism would be a more accurate description than Islamofascism.

Then he takes a kick at environmentalists. Satisfying.

Posted by Ghost of a flea at March 12, 2009 06:44 AM

Comments

"Islam" would be a more accurate description than "Islamo-Leninism". It is not as if only the wacko brigade believe that dar-al-Islam will ultimately beat the stuffing out of dar-al-Harb.

For that matter, mainstream Christianity also believes in a final fight to the finish followed by permanent bliss for the whole of mankind; a tension between complete determinism (by history and by God, respectively) and the call to intense activism; and the view that only with the installation of its system does Man become truly himself.

The key difference is, Christians don't think it is their duty to hasten along the End of History by precipitating Armageddon. That happens on God's timetable.

Mohammed's timetable is a little more malleable, and can be jumpstarted.

Posted by: Chris Taylor [TypeKey Profile Page] at March 12, 2009 08:02 AM

Upon being falsely called a "right wing extremist" by a quasi-socialist Hamas-supporting liberal, I find there is some consolation in remembering that in fact they wouldn't know a right-wing extremist if they were kissing his ass.

Posted by: urthshu [TypeKey Profile Page] at March 12, 2009 10:23 AM

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