The Popes and Democracy – Part VI. Conclusion: Return to Sanity 54. The Fatalism of History

An essence is absolute, but a motion is contingent. When, however, motion takes precedence over essence, as is the case in modern times, their respective attributes are automatically inverted (ours is indeed the Age of Inversion: in politics (where authority is supposed to come from below); in economics (see paras. 22 and 28); in morality (which is a feature of all declining civilizations); and in many other domains), and motion becomes absolute whilst essence is merely contingent. We find a practical application of this false concept in the belief, prevalent in the USA, that man can be improved; or in Russia, that man can be moulded to conform to the trends of history, which is really a motion. Thus, man no longer makes history, history is supposed to make man. History is regarded as a creative power, and man as the raw material. History is supposed to follow an inevitable course, and man is merely carried along with it. Man must "march with the times"; he must not be "old-fashioned", and so on. But let us make no mistake about it: the flow of history is not irreversible. It is not unrealistic, therefore, to advocate a return to past institutions. What is indeed unrealistic is to believe that today's political and social order is here to stay. It is already fast decaying from within, and it will inevitably be swept away by some disaster unless we change it ourselves before it is too late.