Collective effort is the 'modus operandi' for getting things done;
particularly monumental things which will stand for centuries as symbols
of human enterprise. Our fellowship has emphasised that the sovereignty
of the individual and the acceptance of this idea is the key to the future.
It is understood from this that all co-operation will arise from enlightened
self interest or the volunteer spirit inspired by altruism and service
to others. We obviously don't like conscription in any form, or mass conformity
to the will of an ideology or a leader.
Nora Wahln was an American woman, living in Germany before the war. She under took a study of the labour and youth welfare system which had recently been set up in that country. At one point an official was showing her an Autobahn under construction. He was proud of the achievement in progressive road building; he said " it's wonderful isn't it? " She agreed and said it was. He sensed reservation in her tone of voice and then asked "Now tell me what you really think". She said " it's built with conscript labour". He replied that all great works including the Great Wall of China had been built in this way, and concluded his case saying that every man, woman and child must be gathered up in mighty sacrifice to one resolute will when great things are to be accomplished.
We of F.O.R.T. seek a "regeneration of the Western Soul" and this presumably means that the great artistic, cultural, economic and spiritual achievements of our past will find new modern equivalents arising from our regenerated consciousness. At the same time we lay stress on the value, uniqueness and inviolate sanctity of the private citizen thus implying that no sovereign individual can be sacrificed for any greater good simply because one leader or group in power have the kind of vision which can only be realized through conscript labour.
The city of St. Petersburg, generally regarded as a beautiful place today because Peter the Great was obsessed with the idea that Russia, as the western nation he wished to create, must have a western maritime capital - a seaport - and in the construction of this city of dreams tens of thousands of conscripted 'moujiks' died a miserable death in the icy waters of the Neva. St. Petersburg is built on what was formerly a Baltic swamp.
Under a society guided by the Fortian ethic, St. Petersburg would never have been built, nor would the great wall of China, nor would have the the pyramids of Egypt - and the list could be extended for some distance, so the question now arises; what right have we to claim that we hold the key to the regeneration and spiritual renaissance of western society if we are at one and the same time preaching the kind of individualism which will make all the great achievements dependent on the whim of greedy, selfish and self-centred sub contractors and their ilk?
A civilisation made up of totally self centred people pursuing enlightened self interest to the nth degree and with no social conscience and no urge to to serve their fellow man unless there was a profit in the deal would very soon collapse in on itself. The private homes of the affluent would become mini-fortresses employing guards and retainers and the dispossessed, the victims of social Darwinism would form a volatile and dangerous criminal underclass, living a wretched existence and snapping at the heels of their superiors. It would be the proletarian nightmare predicted by Karl Marx come true. A probable outcome of this landscape would be warlordism; the more successful owners of private empires would acquire large armies of desperate 'proles' and this form of allegiance would become tribal or feudal if it survived into a second generation.
So obviously looking after number one cannot be the whole picture and we never claimed that it was. The degree of freedom in a civilized society is directly linked to the level of social responsibility and altruism to be found amongst its people.
Irresponsible individuals have made a legal framework necessary so that the inner control that they lack will be made good by external control and legal constraints. The kind of society where all people are totally responsible and sensitive towards others would need very few laws and little outside authority.
The other side of the Fortian ethical coin lays emphasis on duty in the statement " Honour, Chivalry Service and Nobility ". Education for social responsibility in the home and the school will create responsible citizens innately disposed to serve the needs of others and in this cultural climate the idealism of free men and women will become a major factor in realizing great visions and in helping the needy.
A population which is motivated to serve others , to protect the week and to be honourable in its dealings is a national investment of greater value than a concentration of every known form of natural resource.
Having said all this I still have to admit what even in this ideal society, the Pyramids, The Great Wall of China and the city of St Petersburg would never have arisen. But who cares; - we would still have the Empire State building, the Eiffel tower, The Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Channel tunnel and most of the world's great gothic cathedrals.
David Duffy
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