Machine Socialism and Ideology - Friedrich Georg Jünger

Machine socialism does not abolish the mechanical determination of the monetary system, does not destroy the power of capital working in concentration, and does not allow labour to become free. Its power only suffices to wrest the disposal of capital from the private capitalist. But now the collective itself appears as a capitalist, a capitalist more powerful, more implacable and more power-hungry than the whole stratum of private capitalists displaced by the collective. Its functionaries are ruthless in following the movement forward; they guide this movement along the path on which man is placed in the most precise way. The accumulations of capital and labour do not disappear; the powerful trusts, trade unions, monopolies and associations do not disappear. They continually expand, multiply to colossal proportions and become a parasitic organisation that devours man himself. Capital and labour were still in opposition to each other, but they left a free space in which the worker could assert his rights. Now that they begin to identify with each other, they become a polyp that swallows everything, sucks everything up, exploits everything. It is in the seamless union of apparatus and organisation that the technical collective achieves its greatest power. But what kind of view does the Earth offer to the observer? It is covered with huge armies of uniformed workers, joyless and hostile to each other. The concentration of forces in the workshop landscape continues unabated and without mercy. All available resources are poured into this movement, which knows no measure and recognises no boundaries. And in the titanic accumulators of the movement the means of destruction provided by science and technology gather everywhere. This movement is marked by unconcealed propaganda and advertising. Billboards etc. are distributed, the drums of ideology beat incessantly. But when a movement emerges with concentrated force, everything is rotten, everything reeks of rot. Ideology is already rotting and dancing in a motley mirrored dress.