Weber- Politics as a vocation

“Whosoever contracts with violent means for whatever ends--and every politician does--is exposed to its specific consequences. This holds especially for the crusader, religious and revolutionary alike. Let us confidently take the present as an example. He who wants to establish absolute justice on earth by force requires a following, a human 'machine.' He must hold out the necessary internal and external premiums, heavenly or worldly reward, to this 'machine' or else the machine will not function. Under the conditions of the modern class struggle, the internal premiums consist of the satisfying of hatred and the craving for revenge; above all, resentment and the need for pseudo-ethical self-righteousness: the opponents must be slandered and accused of heresy. The external rewards are adventure, victory, booty, power, and spoils. The leader and his success are completely dependent upon the functioning of his machine and hence not on his own motives.”   “…Whoever wants to engage in politics at all, and especially in politics as a vocation, has to realize these ethical paradoxes. He must know that he is responsible for what may become of himself under the impact of these paradoxes...”

I choose these two excerpts from the speech because they highlight how political leaders in defense of their territories are legally allowed to use violence and force perpetuated by their followers against those resistant to their beliefs and causes. The price paid is not cheap, the “human machine “tasked with carrying out this mandate have to be adequately compensated since politics is their vocation and they will not give their support without reward.  Any person interested in pursuing politics as a vocation will be faced with this ethical dilemma; as such politics is not a vocation for the faint hearted individual.

How does Weber’s early writing on technical leadership, rationalization, and bureaucracy anticipate Junger’s later writings on technology? Weber in his speech and the excerpt noted above spoke of the “following, a human machine” driven by internal cravings for revenge and satisfying hatred and resentment against their perceived enemies. These followers, or human machines also thrive on the “adventure, victory booty, power and spoils” reaped from their perpetuation of violence. These followers operate like a well oiled, specialized machine.

In his writings Junger also speaks of the growing integration of technology in life and the growth of the lumpenproletariat, a mass of alienated, homeless persons who became the well oiled killing machines utilized by the Nazis. According to Junger “The masses kill with machines, they tear apart and trample underfoot; by contrast, the lumpenproletariat is directly familiar with the joys of torture. The masses are moved morally; they unite in situations of excitement and indignation. They must be convinced that the opponent is evil and that they are prosecuting justice against this evil. The lumpenproletariat is beyond moral valuations and thus always and everywhere ready to seize the opportunity, i.e., with every disturbance of the social order regardless of origin. The lumpenproletariat therefore functions beyond the more limited space of politics; instead, one must regard the lumpenproletariat as a kind of underground army reserve that the social order keeps on alert. “