When Elite Ideas Become Weapons

I recently spoke with Richard Hanania about Part 3 of Devils by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Devils (also translated as Demons or The Possessed) by Dostoevsky was published in 1872. Dostoevsky depicts a generation of older aristocrats and intellectuals who enjoy promoting progressive ideals without confronting their consequences, while their radicalized sons take those ideas to nihilistic extremes, culminating in murders, mob violence, fires, and suicides. At the center are figures like Pyotr, a cold manipulator who binds his group of left-wing radicals through collective guilt; Stavrogin, a charismatic psychopath whose moral emptiness destroys everyone around him before destroying himself; and Stepan, an aging intellectual who finally achieves self-awareness. You can read my written discussions of Part 1 here, Part 2 here, and Part 3 here. Richard and I go deeper into the story. See my previous conversations with Richard about Part 1 here and Part 2 here.