Yeah, he always did give me the creeps.
The old Fabian strategy was to get socialist-minded people elected into government. Bit by bit, slowly over time, they would edge a country closer to socialism. The Democrats have been doing this for decades. Food stamps, welfare, social security, medicare, bit by bit the US has been getting close to socialism.
But the whole job cannot be done that way.
No, the Fabian approach will get you part of the way, but there comes a point of danger to the strategy -- but it is also a point of opportunity. When 51% of the population pays no taxes, then the situation is full of danger, because productive citizens begin to see the situation as untenable. However, with 51% of the population liking the situation, there is an opportunity for sudden, decisive action.
In left-wing discourse, ‘Blanquism’ refers to a conception of revolution generally attributed to Louis Auguste Blanqui which holds that socialist revolution should be carried out by a relatively small group of highly organized and secretive conspirators. Having taken power, the revolutionaries would then use the power of the state to introduce socialism or communism. It is considered a particular sort of ‘putschism’ - that is, the view that political revolution should take the form of a putsch or coup d’etat.
The approach of Blanqui was disdained by Marx, Lenin and others. Too sudden, they said. Not practical, they said. The people would not be ready, they said.
But the Fabian approach has made the people ready. Now, a small group of radicals from Chicago, suddenly thrust into power at a moment of crisis, can complete the task.
A true coup d'etat. But a coup de le monde, in fact.
It’s the same concept Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy seemed to employ. Psychohistory. Only of course stretched way beyond what is feasible (ie across thousands of years and not counting singularities).
The Fabians have a name for their way of doing things and it is called the Third Way.
Yeah, he always did give me the creeps.