I’ve never actually met Jamie Glazov, although we’ve filled many screens with our email correspondence, often in connection with his excellent discussions on Frontpagemag.com. Now, having read his fine book United in Hate; The Left’s Romance With Tyranny and Terror, I have a much better sense of who he is: a refugee from Communist tyranny, a serious thinker about the crisis we’re in, and a remarkably sensitive analyst who is one of the few to have put proper emphasis on the close relationship between our current jihadi enemies and the radical leftists who have worked for our destruction for such a long time.
United in Hate should be a basic text for students of modern mass movements, and of totalitarianism. He’s got a keen eye for evil, and relentlessly goes to the black heart of the matter: “The believers worshiped Lenin not despite but because of the terror he inflicted.” Man is indeed more inclined to do evil than to do good, which is the starting point for Machiavelli’s politics. Glazov knows that well, and he despises those many politicians and intellectuals who have fallen into line for the tyrants; he hates tyranny and is driven to understand why it has so often succeeded. In case after case, he documents the enthusiasm of tyranny’s followers. From Lenin and Stalin to Mao and Castro and Pol Pot, he catalogues the adulation of their supporters in the free countries of the West.
This terrible history is not well understood by students of recent generations, and United in Hate would be invaluable for that reason alone. But it is much more, because Jamie spends considerable time on a subject that seems at first blush to be totally out of place in such a book: love. And why does he spend so much time on it? Because he understands that human love is the antithesis of the total control that the tyrants of the Left, and their newfound allies in the armies of militant Islam, strive to impose on the world. “The individual’s right to pursue happiness…interferes with the building of the perfect, unified social order; human joy and cheer are tacit endorsements of the present order that both leftist and Islamist utopians want to destroy.” And the most subversive of all human passions is love.
As he points out in a wonderfully compact paragraph, the greatest novels about modern tyranny “all powerfully depict totalitarian society’s assault on…personal love.” But as Huxley, Orwell and Zamyatin all remind us, total tyranny is impossible; subversion invariably sets in. Erotic passion overcomes both the seduction of tyranny and the tyrant’s threat to annihilate all those who fight him. “And that is why love presents such a threat to the totalitarian order: it dares to serve itself.” Against the cult of death that underlies all modern dictatorships, love is the most powerful form of the life force. As Freud intuited, modern politics in its most extreme form is a battle between Eros and Thanatos.
The compulsion to extinguish spontaneous love, as Jamie tells us, is the point of intersection between the ideologies of the Left and the jihadis. Some of the most fascinating pages of United in Hate spell out the details. Jamie reminds us of things we failed to appreciate at the time, as for example the details of the will of the leading 9/11 terrorist, Mohammed Atta. No women were to be present at his funeral, and were to be banned from ever visiting his grave. Moreover, his shame about his own body was spelled out: “He who washes my body around my genitals should wear gloves so that I am not touched there.”
Thus, an Islamist terrorist felt no shame about mass murder, but could not bear the thought of a woman at his grave. I have often said that the grim rulers of contemporary Iran are devoted to extirpating fun, which bears out Jamie’s point. If a boy and girl dare to touch each other in public, the wrath of the state comes down on them. And of course the women are always blamed for any sign of sexual pleasure; throughout the Islamic world women are blanketed in clothing that obscures their bodies, and women are beaten by men from cradle to grave.
Some years ago I was asked by a Hollywood producer whether I thought it was safe for him to make a movie starring an Arab terrorist. Why not? I asked. If he’s the hero of the movie, the terrorists will love it. Well, he replied, the FBI thinks it’s dangerous. Not at all, I argued; if you’re really afraid of getting them angry, stop making movies about sex.
Among the many benefits of reading United in Hate, once you’ve done it, you’ll understand what drives our enemies, whether secular Leftists or fanatical jihadis. You’ll understand what makes them hate us, and what they intend for us. It’s an important piece of work. Read the whole thing, as they say…lots of folks are; it’s doing very well on Amazon, as it should.
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Accomplice to Evil: Iran and the War Against the West
The Iranian Time Bomb: The Mullah Zealots’ Quest for Destruction
The War Against the Terror Masters: Why It Happened. Where We Are Now. How We’ll Win.
Tocqueville on American Character: Why Tocqueville’s Brilliant Exploraton of the American Spirit is as Vital and Important Today as it was Nearly Two Hundred Years Ago
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Freedom Betrayed: How America led a Global Democratic Revolution, Won the Cold War and Walked Away
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23 Comments
1. vb:My first reaction after hearing about Atta post 9/11 was that he was probably driven crazy by having a mini-skirted, attractive female student contradict him in class. I know a student in Germany who was harassed by a Muslim who lived in the same graduate residence. He was provoked by visits she had from her boyfriend, and she was so frightened that she moved.
Apr 3, 2009 - 3:26 am 2. Steve Schippert:Shame on me for not having read his book yet. To be corrected in short order. Jamie is indeed a good man, Michael.
Apr 3, 2009 - 6:57 am 3. simpletom:Mr. Glazov’s connection between love and hate is the lynchpin! Here is an excerpt from a blog entry on One Cosmos, which says it better than I:
“…love is the highest freedom, for “it is the sole element in human existence that cannot and may not be demanded. One can demand effort, veracity, honesty, obedience, the fulfillment of duties, but love may never be demanded. Love is and remains for all time a sanctuary of freedom, inaccessible to all compulsion. For this reason, the highest commandment — ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind… and love your neighbor as yourself’ — is not a command, but a divine-human plea. For love cannot be commanded; it can only be prayed for.”
This is also the American secret, for it is the one nation that is founded upon the primacy of spiritual liberty, which is to say, the possibility of genuine vertical (godly) and horizontal (neighborly) love. Just as man was not created for the sabbath but the sabbath for man, American citizens are not here to serve the state, but the state is here to nurture spiritual liberty that we may grow in love, wisdom, and compassionate action — or goodness, truth, and beauty. At least until Obama got here.”
Apr 3, 2009 - 7:00 am 4. Why They Hate Us « ACT Northern Virginia/Richmond/DC Metro Chapter. Dedicated to the Defense of our freedom from Islamic Ideology.:[...] continue reading this article, click here. [...]
Apr 3, 2009 - 7:45 am 5. rrpjr:Frontpage has some terrific essays and symposia on the psycho-sexual origins of Islamic hate. Also, Pierre Rejov’s documentaries on Jihadism and interviews with failed suicide bombers are most revealing of the sexual obsessions of the young men.
Apr 3, 2009 - 7:50 am 6. HamidK:One can buy sex, but can’t buy love. In fact, it’s a combination of social restrictions that derail a culture from its natural romantic seabed into a cheap bordello house of nation. It initially starts with the women in economic misery, since the people have their wisdom on their eye and the women tendency for living now with that attraction is much greater than the men, then you have a national prostitute industry under the totalitarian rule, even to the point that they become a full-fledged whore exporter to supply the clients from the developed countries who have the bucks & the gut to satisfy their erotic passion from where you call them liberal democracies, and I call them irresponsible liberal capitalism. The rest of the set of evil forces in this story goes along with drug addiction, corruption in all its forms, moral backwardness rooted in the political & economical (so-called!) elites. These exclusive elites have their reason for all that: lubricant of the running wheel of depression whose outcome is the saving of their interest.
Self-sufficient! If you want to radicalize it, just bring it under the umbrella of Islam, a faith that knows nothing of a female, but a second-degree property of the male, enough to eradicate a lovely culture that might nurture the humanity, art, progress & so on.
Apr 3, 2009 - 1:31 pm 7. lc:Radical…sublime.
Vincero!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VATmgtmR5o4
Apr 3, 2009 - 6:45 pm 8. MiamaMan:Mr. Ledeen
I also read “United in Hate”. It will be a classic. Don’t miss, if you have, the book that influenced Glazov, which is a classic written in 1951 by Eric Hoffer “The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements”. Also from Hoffer “Reflection on the Human Condition” entertain the issue of good and evil.
I am one that does not believe good trumps evil in the world, good may or may not win at the end, but humanity is not out the woods yet. This experiment is yet to be assured of success.
Apr 4, 2009 - 4:24 am 9. Terry Gain:Why They Hate Us
The better question is why we hate ourselves.
Last November the people of the United States elected as President a man who this week called the liberation of Iraq a distraction.
While America went to the mall the military families of the United States made incalculable sacrifices which not only resulted in the removal from power of a genocidal Stalinist (who today, post sanctions, would be developing nuclear weapons)but the liberation of 25 million people and the defeat, with the help of Iraqis fighting along side, of the self described enemies of America who attacked us on 9/11.
How is that anyone so utterly clueless and hateful of America as to describe the giving of blood and treasure for the liberation of others and the defeat of our primary enemy as a distraction could be elected to lead the country?
And where does this fool think al Qaeda would have been sending their volunteers these past few years if they had not been sent to fight America in Iraq. Hint: two places that begin with A.
Apr 4, 2009 - 7:18 am 10. frank:I’ve been reading “into” Glazov interviews for some time now, and each one dealing with leftism or tyranny leads to a probing by JG of the a sinister self-hating element these movement share. I always hoped he would write major work, and now he has. He’s nailed it. It warms my heart,as do all of you blogging back herein
Apr 4, 2009 - 10:10 am 11. mohammed:that see it too.
this hate claptrap is only important for justifying another invasion. seeing how broke america is that isn’t happening soon. keep it in the bag pal.
Apr 4, 2009 - 12:01 pm 12. Alireza:OK Dr. Ledeen you said:
“….If a boy and girl dare to touch each other in public, the wrath of the state comes down on them. And of course the women are always blamed for any sign of sexual pleasure; throughout the Islamic world women are blanketed in clothing that obscures their bodies, and women are beaten by men from cradle to grave.”
I believe “FUNDAMENTALISM” is not the monopoly of Islamic Republic. Please take a moment and read this just-published news by BBC out of Israel that two ultra-Orthodox Jewish newspapers have altered a photo of Israel’s new cabinet, removing two female ministers. Link:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7982146.stm
They show the cabinet members before and after pictures! Now you want to tell me this is only a monopoly of Ahmadinejad?
Apr 4, 2009 - 12:20 pm 13. Will:It’s time to get our priorities straight. Right from wrong.
Apr 4, 2009 - 1:00 pm 14. Andrew A:One thing needs to be emphasised about Jamie’s theme of Love being subversive to tyranny: Particularly subversive is private love between individuals. Private love motivates particular individuals to take actions that benefit other individuals. Tyranny is therefore subverted three times: firstly as the motivator behind the benefit, secondly as the source of the benefit, and thirdly as a its recipient.
Apr 5, 2009 - 2:11 am 15. Ira Zad:They will hate us even more now that we are letting them have nuclear weapons.
Apr 5, 2009 - 8:15 am 16. harry:Check this out in London’s Financial Times, US conceding to Iran on Nukes:
http://fairuse.100webcustomers.com/mayfaire/ft00.htm
Hasn’t Hollywood already glorified Islamic terrorists in the movie “The Siege”? The terrorist has sex with the character played by Annette Bening, not exactly torture Abu Ghraib style. The bad guy is a General played by Bruce Willis who turns parts of Brooklyn into a Warsaw type ghetto for Arab Americans. The terrorist while not seen as a hero is portrayed with concern on the part of the makers of the movie. I felt too much empathy was bestowed upon the terrorist and typical Hollywood consternation against the military. Hollywood perverts life. It romanticizes everything. People are manipulated by Hollywood movies. Mr. Ledeen do you really want Hollywood to create another terrorist to adore? Thoughts and ideas can become real, why bring such thoughts to reality?
Apr 6, 2009 - 8:15 pm 17. morton from vienna:I am what you would call a “leftist” though I am not and I agree with Mr. Obama on every single little thing.
He is right in engaging Iran. We don’t care if they have nuclear weapons. Sure they say they want to bomb us but they won’t. This we all know, because
We should try to get along with everyone. If we were a great nation, we would!!!!
Apr 8, 2009 - 11:17 pm 18. Alireza:Wow! I’m beginning, for the record, to like this Roger Cohen. Is he really Jewish? I think AIPAC and the Israeli machinery should trash this guy NOW!
This guy is truly a new fresh air of ideas that has been and still absent in resolving Israel’s issues. Now that Iran is heading to hopefully get rid of its wacky president, we will face a new leadership in Israel that is coming from the same DNA as Ahmadinejad.
Roger Cohen: You are a bad boy! Soon you’ll be called “Al Roger Cohen”, as Dr. Ledeen calls Al Reuter…LOL.
Here is his new article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/opinion/09iht-edcohen.html?_r=1
Apr 9, 2009 - 1:16 pm 19. May Pelletier:Mohammad
Mohammad sounds just like his namesake. JG book is for him, looking in the cracked mirror. It is him, alright, he just won’t admit it is him. All he feels is shame and the shame overwhelms anything he sees or feels. He is lost and needs our prayers.
Apr 11, 2009 - 2:12 pm 20. Banned by Huffpo:Stopping by the library on the way home to check it out.
Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
Apr 22, 2009 - 8:18 am 21. Margaret:In 1786 Thomas Jefferson and John Adams asked amassador Adja of Algiers why Islamists hated America. He answered that Islam was founded on the laws of their prophet Muhammad; it was written in their Quran that all nations that do not recognize Islamic authority were sinners; that it was Muslims right and duty to make war upon sinners and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners and that every Muslim slain in battle would go to paradise.
In 1800 America paid 20 percent of government revenues in tribute and ransom for American sailor hostages and enslaved
prisoners. This had existed for ten centuries in the Meditrranean and African coastlines.
Jerrerson became President in 1801 and in 1805 he deployed Americans best warships to the Muslim Barbary Coast and the USA Marines marched from Egypt to Tripolatania, defeating the Islamists and releasing Amerian prisones. This is commeorated in the Marine hymn”from theshores of Monetezuma to the shores of Tripoli we will fight our countries battles on the land as on the sea”
Taken from US Veteran Dispatch, Jan.2007
Apr 22, 2009 - 12:51 pm 22. Margaret:I don’t know what you mean by moderation?
Apr 22, 2009 - 12:54 pm 23. Margaret:Where do I find Comment #8262?
Apr 22, 2009 - 12:58 pm