Politically, therefore, any expanding empire or civilization reaches a
point at which absolute monarchy, exercising unquestioned authority,
makes and enforces public policy by the use of the military or with its
help.
Many commentators write as though the essence of civilization was its
art galleries, concert halls, its universities and its libraries. Such
agencies are the trappings, decorations and fringes of a civilization.
There is no justification for such a selective approach. The strong
right-arm of every civilization has been its wealth (money) and its
martial equipment (its guns).
Success in politics has been described as the art of selecting the
possible and bringing it to fruition. Every community is more or less
fragmented by deviations, contradictions, confrontations and conflicts.
These fragmentations begin in the personality and extend through the
entire social structure--from the individual, through the family, such
voluntary associations as the sports club, the trade union, the
merchants' association, the educational system, the political party, the
municipal or the national government.
Unrestrained and undirected social fragmentation leads to conflict,
destruction, perhaps to chaos. Success in politics rests on an
understanding of the chaos and its causes and an integration of
conflicting forces behind specific programs and around charismatic
personalities.
One aspect of the problem is especially disturbing and baffling to the
uninitiated.
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