Invading armies can be resisted, Victor Hugo once wrote, but nothing can stop an idea whose time has come. Hugo’s famous sentiment captures the arrogant historicism of the Left, which is convinced that its agendas are ” progressive” and that its progress is the destiny of mankind. But what about a false idea whose time has come? And not through any synchronicity with historic process but because it speaks directly to human weakness: resentment; envy; or merely a wish to believe that ordinary mortals can create heaven on earth? What if such impulses are so strong that large numbers of human beings are destined to believe bad ideas — despite their destructive consequences — to the end of time?
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