Idea Title:  How to Win Friends and Influence People

We have all heard of Dale Carnegie, writer of self-help books like “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” What his book amounts to is Christianity without Christ.

The values expressed in Dale Carnegie’s book are pure Christianity without the virtue of Christianity, without the motive of Christianity.  He is preaching Christianity without Christ.  However, he is not the only one doing that.  His book has sold millions of copies and has greatly influenced the culture of the US.  Many people are writing similar books and making great fortunes.  There is no shortage of would-be saviours and messiahs who are mainly concerned with their own well-being even though they pretend to be dedicated to the well-being of others.

These Dale Carnegie values have their roots in our 2,000 year old Judeo Christian civilization.  Dale Carnegie is one of the end-products of our 2,000 year old Judeo-Christian civilization, although not one of those end-products we need be particularly proud about, even though we may secretly admire his prodigious financial success.

The motive of Dale Carnegie’s book is not to teach people to be virtuous in order to enjoy the Beatific Vision of God for all eternity in an after-life, but rather to gain untold wealth, power and prestige and the ability to manipulate one’s fellow human beings to one’s own advantage in this life. 

By giving the impression of love, well-wishing, kindness, consideration, concern, encouragement, and by emphasizing the virtues of the other person and ignoring his vices, by praising him and inflating his ego with the final and ultimate goal of having those people under one’s power and influence so that they may be exploited, that is the final goal of Dale Carnegie’s teachings.  Dale Carnegie teaches you how to get people under your thumb.  He really doesn’t want your friendship at all but he certainly does want to influence you.

Dale Carnegie’s book preaches love of one’s neighbour, but for the wrong motive.  He wants his neighbour to trust him so that his neighbour may more easily be exploited and taken advantage of.

Dale Carnegie’s book is about how to win friends and influence people to one’s own advantage and usually to the disadvantage of those being exploited.  In the end, it is an “I win, you lose” situation that Dale Carnegie is talking about.

What Dale Carnegie is preaching comes close to the psychopathic.  And it is said that in order to survive nowadays in the US it helps to be partly psychopathic, to be easily able to identify temporarily with others, to have no conscience, no sense of right and wrong, no guilt, no remorse and along with all that there is often a lust for power, power over one’s fellow human beings. 

In extreme cases, the psychopath may lust for the power of life and death over his fellow human beings.  That is why psychopaths are so often attracted to the political and military professions.  In the political and military professions these psychopaths wear the mantle of respectability and honour and glory.  No one, not even for a second, ever thinks to blame these psychopaths for the millions upon millions who die.  Instead, when hostilities come to a temporary end, statues are erected in their honour, volumes of praise are written about them, and they are looked up to and admired and respected. Ruthless business tycoons sometimes fall into this same psychopathic category.

Because of the millions upon millions upon millions of civilians and ordinary soldiers, airmen and seamen who died in the 20th century, more than ever died in all of history before, we may conclude that the main body of our world leaders in the 20th century was quite mad because it is our world leaders who are responsible for the present chaotic state of the world and no one else.  The 21st century doesn’t look any better and the future looks far from promising.

Doestoesvki said:”If there is no God, then everything is permissible.” And according to the prophet Nietzsche (1844-1900), the idea that there is a God is a dead idea and no one any longer believes in the idea of God.  Nietzsche made his famous prophetic pronouncement about the death of God at a time when most people were still church-goers.  He foresaw the trend of history, for the trend of modern history started with the terrible bloodbath of the French Revolution, when everything was permissible.

The blame for the extremes of the bloody French revolution lay not so much with Louis XVI (as virtuous a man as any) as with the values and influence of the Marquis de Sade and of course messiahs like Rousseau and Robespierre.

We have rejected the culture of life and instead we live in the age of the culture of death which began with the death of God.  For example, it is estimated that 50,000,000 babies are aborted every year in keeping with the culture of death.  We do not have to go back to the Mayans and the Aztecs for history as turned full cycle and the modern America of today is already back once more with the culture of death of the Mayans and the Aztecs.  In truth, let’s face it, we are no better than uncivilized barbarians. Yesterday, almost 200 people died in Baghdad.  And, in spite of everything, we are still attempting to win friends and influence people.