The pacifist and therefore antimilitarist character of the Revolution is easily grasped in light of the preceding chapter.
1. Science Will Bring an End to War, The Military, and Police
In the technological paradise of the Revolution, peace has to be perpetual, for science has shown that war is evil, and technology can overcome all its causes.
Accordingly, there is a fundamental incompatibility between the Revolution and the armed forces. These will have to be abolished. In the universal republic there will only be a police force which will be abolished as soon as scientific and technological advances have completed the eradication of crime.
The uniform, by its mere presence, implicitly testifies to some truths that, although undoubtedly somewhat generic, are certainly of a counter-revolutionary character
2. The Doctrinal Incompatibility Between the Revolution and the Uniform
The uniform, by its mere presence, implicitly testifies to some truths that, although undoubtedly somewhat generic, are certainly of a counter-revolutionary character:
– the existence of values that are greater than life itself and for which one should be willing to die – which is contrary to the socialist mentality, wholly characterized by abhorrence of risk and pain and by adoration of security and utmost attachment to earthly life;
the existence of values that are greater than life itself and for which one should be willing to die – which is contrary to the socialist mentality, wholly characterized by abhorrence of risk and pain and by adoration of security and utmost attachment to earthly life
– the existence of morality, for the military condition is entirely based upon ideas of honor, of force placed at the service of good and turned against evil, and so on.
3. The Temperment of the Revolution is Contrary to the Military Life
Lastly, there is a temperamental antipathy between the Revolution and the military spirit. The Revolution, before it has full control, is verbose, declamatory, and scheming. The resolution of matters in a direct, drastic, straightforward way—the military way— displeases what we could call the present temperament of the Revolution. We stress present in allusion to the current stage of the Revolution among us, because there is nothing more despotic and cruel than the Revolution when it is omnipotent. Russia has provided an eloquent example of this. But even there the divergence remained, since the military spirit is quite different from that of the executioner.
* * *
Having analyzed the revolutionary utopia in its various aspects, we close the study of the Revolution.
Russia (Nobility editor: and Nazi Germany) has provided an eloquent example of this. But even there the divergence remained, since the military spirit is quite different from that of the executioner.
Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, Revolution and Counter-Revolution(York, Penn.: The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property, 1993), Part I, Ch. XII, pp. 69-70.
