Hello,
Evola was critical of the official views of National-Socialism on
race, as is clear from some of the texts published on
http://thompkins_cariou.tripod.com . However, National-Socialism was
far from being a monolithic entity; not all its representatives
uphold that materialist and biological view on race which Evola
criticised as being too close to scientific and social Darwinism;
not all of them followed in Darré's footsteps on these matters.
Evola's standpoint must have found an echo among some of them,
especially among some of the representatives of conservative-
revolution, whether writers or not, as shown, if need be, by the
project 'Sangue e spirito', a review which was meant to contribute
to strengthen the relationship between Germany and Italy in the
political and racial field; Evola was invited repeatedly to Berlin
during WW2 to finalise the programme of this review. However, this
project fell through. According to him, this failure was due to
Italian Catholic circles on one hand and to Italian official
racialist circles on the other hand, and, in any case, not to the
German side.
Evola's sympathies for Himmler's views are well-known to the Anglo-
Saxon readers of Evola, who, on the strength of the few excerpts of
Evola's political work which have been translated into English,
think that this Italian author was very critical of Hitler's views
on race. Evola was indeed very critical of them, as shown by the
chapter twelve of 'Il Mito del sangue', 'Adolf Hitler's racism'.
However, Evola's all-out criticisms of it should not hide the few
elements which those two different conceptions have in common. For
instance, in 'Heidnischer Imperialismus', France is described in
terms which should ring a bell to those who are familiar with 'Mein
Kampf': as a "decadent, Negerised and Semiticised" country,
the "first source of the modern insurrection of the slaves". The
leader of the Third Reich, just like Evola, was aware that 'pure
races' no longer exist, not to mention that, a few years before
Evola, he was also aware of the "practical and political advantages
which the use of the terms "race", "racial purity", "defence of
race", entails" ("Sintesi di dottrina della razza"). The idea,
developped by Evola in 'Sintesi di dottrina della razza', according
to which, in any people, there are different racial elements and,
once the different racial elements present in a given people are
determined and its higher and creative element is found, it is a
matter of defining it and of strengthening it, can be found roughly
in the second part of 'Mein Kampf'.
Thompkins&Cariou
--- In evola_as_he_is@yahoogroups.com, "Tony Ciopa"
<hyperborean@b...> wrote:
> One has to wonder whether it even makes sense to continue to apply
the word
> "racism" to Evola's position.
>
>
>
> In contemporary usage, "racism" has become the worse of the deadly
sins. It
> is the arbitrary and irrational prejudice in favor of the members
of one
> race or against some other race. In this sense it refers to no
reality,
> either biological or metaphysical, and so is absurd.
>
>
>
> Evola's position is also quite different from the NS
understanding. Already
> in 1933, he is critical of that position
> (http://www.thule-italia.com/ns/osservazioni.html ).
>
> Evola opposes the uneasy conjunction of a merely biological
understanding or
> race with an almost theological notion of racial predestination.
>
>
>
> As we have seen in this chapter, "race" does not belong to the
individual
> simply as a biological entity, but only to the "aristocratic" type
able to
> develop his full racial consciousness. And, as the linked paper
points out,
> there is an important distinction: "whether spirit gives form to
race, or
> race to spirit".
>
>
>
> Furthermore, Evola is opposed to any notion of predestination
(which he
> calls a protestant idea), since he denies any determination in
racial
> consciousness - it can "be preserved, . developed, and really bear
fruit,
> just as it can be squandered and destroyed."
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: evola_as_he_is@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:evola_as_he_is@yahoogroups.com]
>
> Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2005 7:45 AM
> To: evola_as_he_is@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: RE: [evola_as_he_is] Elements of Racial Education -- Chap
4
>
>
>
> As there are no wasted words in Evola's writings, it can be
difficult to
> summarize this work. Therefore, I am simply trying to make it
clear that I
> am picking out the main points of the essay and not adding in my
own
> opinions.
>
>
>
> In the past, I've indicated that I would not "accuse" Evola of
originality.
> However, as this essay lacks footnotes, it is impossible to me to
trace the
> sources of these teachings. Furthermore, as you point out, Evola
is no
> robot, since he contrasts the traditional teachings to modern
trends such as
> Lamarckianism and Marxism, ideologies unheard of in the
traditional texts.
>
>
>
> I am still not without hope that these summaries will provoke an
interest
> and discussion of 'The Elements .'. If that happens, it may be
appropriate
> to write in a more personal style.