Collectivism, “Philosopher-Kings,” and Science Fiction

by Dr. Gerard Emershaw

In my new book The Real Culture War: Individualism vs. Collectivism & How Bill O’Reilly Got It All Wrong, I argue that the Real Culture War is oversimplified when it is conceived as being between conservatives and progressives. The Real Culture War pits Individualism versus Collectivism. Individualism is the view that the basic metaphysical unit of social analysis is the individual. Individualism states that human beings have intrinsic value and possess the natural rights to life, liberty, and property. This view was held by the Founding Fathers. Collectivism is the view that the basic metaphysical unit of social analysis is the collective—society. Collectivism states that human beings only have value in virtue of their relationship to the collective. This view was held by Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, and Mao as well as American leaders Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Al Gore, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. Varieties of Collectivism include Communism, Fascism, Progressivism, Environmentalism, Neoconservatism, Racism, Religionism, Corporatism, and Labor Unionism. New strains of Collectivism on a grander scale are now growing in the form of Centralized Banking and Globalism.

Collectivism is often mischaracterized as something akin to a hive mind. However, the truth is that Collectivism is hierarchical. Guiding collectivized societies are always Philosopher-Kings (PKs)—self-appointed elites who exempt themselves from the rules of the collective. PKs are—in the words of talented artist and editor Stephanie Schmidt (who is responsible for the beautiful book cover pictured above)—“selfish individualists”; they regard themselves as inherently valuable yet view most others as possessing value only as part of the collective. For most of history, individuals suffered within collectivist societies—under tyrants who assumed power through violence, under nepotistic monarchs who justified their power as God’s will, under ideologue technocrats who promised utopia but delivered economic ruin and oppression, and under militaristic nationalists who turned entire nations into war machines and entire populations into cannon fodder.

The true nature of these Collectivist PKs has been skillfully revealed in several works of science fiction. One of the most apt attitudes of the PK was stated by George Orwell in his chilling parable Animal Farm: “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.” The rules in Collectivist societies are meant to be followed by the masses, but not by the elites. These rules were never applied to the nobles, the elite members of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union or Maoist China, the elite members of the Nazi Party in the Third Reich, or to the leaders and cronies of any Collectivist government. This is why Al Gore believes that it is acceptable for him to fly around the world on jets and live in a mansion that runs on fossil fuels. Worrying about “carbon footprint” is our problem, not his.

One of the most fearsome and memorable Collectivist life forms in science fiction are the Borg from the “Star Trek” universe. The Borg are a hybrid collectivist race of cybernetic humanoids. While during their earliest appearances the Borg were presented as being a pure form of Collectivism with no hierarchical arrangement, the writers later introduced the Borg Queen. The Borg Queen is a cybernetic Individual who coordinates the drones in the Borg Collective and brings “order to chaos.” The Borg Queen uses ‘I’ instead of ‘we’ and enjoys a metaphysical and psychological existence that is separate from the rest of the Collective. The Borg Queen—which has been shown to be replaced when a previous Queen dies—leads the Borg in their universal Collectivist goal of adding all intelligent life into their Collective. And destroying that life which cannot be “assimilated.”

An earlier and perhaps even more internationally famous fictional alien Collectivist race are the Daleks from “Doctor Who.” The Daleks are cybernetic organisms consisting of a hateful genetically modified Kaleds from the planet Skaro encased in a robotic tank-like shell that makes them look like angry genocidal trash cans. The Collectivist Daleks—like the Borg—share thoughts in a “hive mind” fashion. Also like the Borg, the Daleks were created by and initially led by an Individual—Davros. Later, the Daleks were led by Dalek Prime—the Dalek Emperor—who was one of the original Daleks and the main leader of the “Revolution” that deposed Davros. Nevertheless, it is possible that the Daleks cannot truly be viewed as a society at all. They can instead be viewed as instantiations of a simple algorithm—“Exterminate!” In essence, the Daleks are more a destructive force than a government or a race. They seek to collectivize all life by destroying it. If they were to succeed and become the only intelligent life remaining in the universe, one could assume that they would then turn on each other, effectively proving to be nothing but an apocalyptic force—more machine than living creature.

Collectivist PKs have been presented in a more modest form in two more recent popular science fiction works. In the popular Hunger Games novels and film adaptations, the PKs of the ruling class do not face possible starvation. Their children are also not forced to compete in the Hunger Games. Similarly, in the recent science fiction/horror film The Purge, the “New Founding Fathers” of the United States have implemented a twelve-hour period each year where the citizens may “release the beast” and purge their primal hatred. During these twelve hours, no crimes that are committed will be prosecuted, and no emergency assistance will be provided by police, fire departments, etc. However, not all Americans are subject to this. “Government officials of ranking 10” have been granted immunity from the Purge. In essence, only the masses need to fear being robbed, raped, or murdered during the Purge. High ranking PKs are hypocritically given protection under the law.

Collectivist PKs seek to collectivize the masses as a means to their own selfish ends. They invariably believe themselves to be superior human beings—i.e. Nietzschean Supermen. Unless and until these PKs are resisted, human beings are enabling the PKs to enslave them.

(For a much more detailed discussion of Collectivist PKs, read my new book The Real Culture War: Individualism vs. Collectivism & How Bill O’Reilly Got It All Wrong. Available now on Amazon in both print and Kindle.)