Ellul Jacques. The Betrayal of the West

The Seaburry Press, 1978. — 207 p.Jacques Ellul is primarily known for his insightful critiques of Western culture. His recent books describe the "new demons" let loose on the contemporary world by the double-edged achievements of science and industry.
But, he asserts in this latest book, the critics have gone too far. The West is the victim os a betrayal — that of its own children. Its intellectuals, most notably those of the Left, are necessarily the products of a civilized society. Yet they so loudly reproach this civilization for the atrocities and the destruction of rich local culture which have accompanied its growth that we are deaf to the reasoned voice which proclaims our debts to this Western tradition.
The Betrayal of the West explores this need for defense as well as critique of our culture. It explains the origins of the contradiction at the heart of Western civilization and traces the course of this dialectic in three supreme chapters which correspond to the promise, the challenge, and, ultimately, the failure of the political left in Western societies.