What history will think of our times is something that only history will tell. But it is a good guess that it will select collectivism as the identifying characteristic of the 20th century. For, even a quick survey fo the developing pattern of thought during the past 50 years shows up the dominance of one central idea: that Society is a transcendant entity, something apart from and greater than the sum of its parts, possessing suprahuman character and endowed with like capacities. It operates in a field of its own, ethically and philosophically, and is guided by stars unknown to mortals. Hence, the individual, the unit of Society, cannot judge it by his own limitations nor apply to it standards by which he measures his own thinking and behavior. He is necessary to it, of course, but only as a replaceable part of a machine. It follows, therefore, that Society, which may concern itself paternalistically with individuals, is in no way dependent on them.
Frank Chodorov, The Rise and Fall of Society, p. xvii (The Ludwig von Mises Inst. 2007) (orig. copyright 1959).
Not much has changed since then.
