Psychic Litmus – Folha de S. Paulo, February 6, 1978
by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
This article is not strictly about human rights but about a particular psychology (or rather, a psychosis) that Carter has been promoting internationally with great fanfare.
Of course, I will not address the whiny or festive support—depending on the mood of the various circles—that this campaign receives in leftist circles. Since leftism is the great beneficiary of the worldwide “Carterian” wave favoring subversives and terrorists, it is perfectly normal that the entire left should be sympathetic to it.
What particularly attracts my attention, however, is that countless non-leftists take an illogical stance on this issue, which I will discuss next.
By non-leftist, I mean here especially the bourgeois, large, medium, or small, perfectly jealous of his individual interests, and who follows with a hurried and vague gaze the news concerning trifles that lie outside that circle. Does he have religious or political convictions? He doesn’t know. The only sign that they might exist is that he prays from time to time to escape the business or health problems he is going through. Does he have political, social, and economic convictions? Deep down, only one: Brazil is a peaceful land where there will never be any tragic changes. Just don’t worry, immerse yourself in your work, earn money, and then enjoy a small part of the profits.
In short, me first, Brazil second, and the world last: this is the airy, noble, and astute mindset of these lovely people.
Curiously, I don’t know by what magic the human rights bug has bitten these perfectly egocentric people. Whenever a terrorist is about to be killed, this type of bourgeois is ready to support any voice that rises to save the condemned from the application of the law. If a subversive who threatened their country with social war is arrested, the bourgeois of the aforementioned type begins to root for the delinquent’s impunity as soon as they hear about it.
Someone might say that such attitudes stem solely from fear of excesses in the repression of subversives or terrorists. Who could support such excesses?
Of course, no one can support excesses, but the vast bourgeois vein I am referring to is not limited to opposing excesses. It has a soft spot for the pure and simple impunity of the guilty, or almost as much.
Being nonpartisan, I do not get involved in specific issues, so I will not discuss political “openings” here. However, I cannot ignore the fact that some people on every continent demand them. I can easily perceive in the tone of their voices as they pronounce the elastic word “opening” that it often carries the connotation of “impunity.” It is this desire, most often unacknowledged, for the impunity of terrorists and subversives that constitutes the great psychological characteristic of these bourgeois. They only detach themselves from the sphere of personal interests when pleading for such impunity.
What a curious crack in the wall of their selfishness! People who seem utterly devoid of ideals, with no horizon beyond their own navels, suddenly reveal a soft spot for terrorism and subversion!
The reader should not doubt that a large share of those who comprise Mr. Carter’s cheerleading squad in America and beyond (oh, much more outside than inside) consists of people like this. While this cheerleading clique is visibly dwindling, its loyal squads, who neither retreat nor surrender, are comprised of people like this. And as long as there are mindsets like this on earth, there will be people who like to have in their homes, surrounded by flowers, preferably of paper, a comic strip of the secular and ecumenical “saint” who, amid his Georgia peanuts, devised the “slogans” calling for human rights with a vague philosophical, or perhaps theological, flavor that circulate the world.
Do not be fooled, however, dear reader. This type of bourgeois does not exist only outside your personal sphere. You can find him in the house across the street, in the bus passenger next to you, in the apartment building where you live, perhaps even in your own apartment. Perhaps even within yourself.
To clarify this last possibility, all you need to do is take a short, simple, straightforward, irrefutable test. If you are outraged, furious with this article, and feel the exclamation “that Pli-i-i-nio is just like that!” buzzing inside you, then you are one of them. With me, you want no openness, understanding, or dialogue. All of this plays only into the hands of the terrorists!
But this is only a symptom for internal evaluation. How can we recognize this state of mind in others, not in ourselves?
I can also offer you a definitive test.
In a group, comment on any terrorist attack or subversive act. Rail against it as you see fit. But then make it clear that such and such mitigating circumstances would warrant a “generous” pardon for the guilty parties. Perhaps some “hothead” will expressly support you. This is of little importance for our purposes because this particular group of the bourgeoisie is never made up of “hotheads.” Some of those present may discreetly approve, and that is somewhat important. Above all, others may finally change their behavior toward you for the rest of the gathering. They will start looking at you kindly, pay more attention to what you say (especially if what you say is relatively trivial), and delightfully respond to your questions. This characterizes the type of bourgeoisie that forms the core of the dwindling “Carterian” forces.
If you want further proof that leads to total, complete, and definitive certainty about the test, tell your interlocutors about some misfortune that has befallen someone who is not subversive or communist. In such a case, your “softened” interlocutor will not pay attention to you, will not share your compassion, and will change the subject as soon as possible.
Your man will be characterized, dear reader. He will display all the typical traits of the bourgeoisie I am referring to.
In the following article, I will share a series of facts that are capable of eliciting such reactions among the bourgeoisie. Like litmus paper, they will reveal the degree of “Carterian” acidity they contain when in contact with different mentalities.
