The genuine destroyer of civilizations is psychopathic philosophies. Most of which come from the premise that a person, or group, or “movement” can be perfect, “sans pure et sans reproache”, and thus immune to criticism or any sort of alteration or correction.Be particularly wary of those who claim “The old ways must be swept away, cleansed with fire so we may build paradise.” One must always ask these psychos “Paradise for whom?” because it sure as heck won't be for anyone but them. Goodness knows we saw that demonstrated more than once during the 20th century alone. Yet these guys think that under their reign they won't make the same mistakes made during previous attempts at a progressive utopia. But they will. They always do. And in the end it brings terror and death.
Modern-day progressivism operates on the basic principles of a psychopathic philosophy:
1. Civilization is inherently evil.
2. Our philosophy is irrefutably good.
3. We are therefore perfect.
4. Thus, we have the privilege of deciding everyone else’s lives, up to and including the time and manner of their deaths.
5. Anyone who disagrees with our premise is evil and must be destroyed.
6. We will not kill those who obey us- unless it would amuse us to do so at some point.
Although a charismatic leader can be the trigger that sets off the bomb, it isn’t individuals who you need to worry about, as much as it is the philosophy that the individual latches on to. Stalin and Mao didn’t create Communism, Genghis and Timur were the results of blood feuds within tribalist cultures, and Hitler didn’t create German National Socialism, he just gave it a name.
Mass movements tend to begin with “philosophers” who rarely go on to lead them. Plato, Marx, Alinsky, Qutb, to name just a few. (I could list a dozen who sent Germany and the world into a nightmare, beginning in the mid-19th Century.)
“Charismatic” leaders don’t tend to be the philosopher type. They are by nature opportunists who seize on something that’s already there for self-aggrandizement, and to punish the world for not giving them what they think is their just due.
If you want to stop such men from creating holocausts (Genghis killed about 40 million, for instance), first keep watch for philosophies that they will be able to use to justify their actions.
From that alone I think we can safely say that their vision of 'paradise' would be considered hell for everyone else. We're certainly seeing that play out in the socialist paradise of Venezuela, where their once thriving and robust economy is now a shambles thanks to the leadership of their departed hero Hugo Chavez. How anyone in the Venezuelan government can claim everyone is better off in comparison to the pre-Chavez days eludes me. Argentina is another example, though it hasn't fallen as far as Venezuela. But given the present political climate there it won't be much longer before it's on par with Venezuela. Such is the promise of the progressive socialist state.
I would hate to think the US is on the same path to destruction, but we are being lead by a charismatic leader who believes our laws, our constitution, and our institutions are something to be ignored in his quest to “fundamentally transform America.” Too bad his fundamental transformation means turning it into an economic basket case, a diplomatic pariah, and a militarily weak nation all in order to appease our enemies. How's that been working for everyone?