Rousseau's Equation

The General Will is Inerrant

The philosopher of the French Revolution, Rousseau, is the one who told us that the General Will is never mistaken. Since then, the revolutionaries of each era believe they represent the General Will and are, therefore, inerrant. This is a statement about authority: there is no inerrant Word of God, but there is an inerrant human will.

Rousseau also told us that humans are naturally peaceful. It is civilization that corrupts humans and makes them greedy and warlike.

So here is Rousseau’s equation as used today: Western Civilization is evil, and humans, before encountering Western Civilization, were peaceful and kind to each other. You will see this played out in literature and pop-culture. The latest is Avatar and the series of sequels we will be punished with.

I have my own critiques of Western Civilization. It is a mixture of belief and unbelief. But I am aware enough to know this is true of any civilization and of the human condition without civilization.

The Rousseau-Marx-Freud religion uses this equation to dismiss anything from “the West” and to assume that anything non-West is inherently good. That, coupled with their belief in the inerrancy of the human will, gives you the zeal with which they persecute anyone who disagrees with them. To disagree with them is to disagree with the inerrant will of revolution.