ABSTRACT
Given that it is true (as proposed in Chapter 2) that totalitarian movements govern with the help of “mythic politics”, is it equally true, as is habitually suggested, that the political life of the opponent camp is immune to this form of politics? This suggestion has been called into question in the preceding chapters by discussions on civil religion, nationalism and mass mobilisation. If we would like to track down in Western capitalist democracies an existing mythic politics sprung from anti-totalitarian liberalism, we need, however, to search outside the sphere of politics (as delimited in secular, modern societies). In passing, commenting upon the conspicuous presence of some mythic, liberal notions, and upon the unfortunate lack of interest in the history of liberal utopianism, the chapter goes through various arenas, activities and discourses (in the cultural industry, in the world of advertisements and shopping, in the public economics discourse, etc.) as promising candidates for staging the myth-and-ritual politics of liberal capitalism. The prevalence of mythic politics enables the rational, non-mythic look of liberalism (centrism) in the sphere of politics proper. Towards the end of the chapter, two proposed, provocative terms – “capitalist religion” and “capitalist totalitarianism” – are examined.
