Zionist Revisionists inverted Enlightenment progress into a narrative of spiritual decay

Evidence

Assar’s (and Jabotinsky’s) analyses of the evolution from Eastern to Western modes of thought followed the model set forth by the philosophers of the Enlightenment, who associated progress with technological advancements (the ability to master nature). Yet, while the latter and their followers viewed progress as a process that brings about greater knowledge and understanding of the world, and guarantees individuals greater freedom and control over their lives, to the Zionist Revisionists this was a narrative of the decay and, ultimately, the destruction of the human spirit. — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 539

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: A movement proudly Western and technophilic nonetheless read Enlightenment progress as spiritual destruction — a revealing inversion of the usual Western-teleology story.
• XREF: Connects to the reader’s known tendency to watch for anti-modernity currents within modernity itself; parallels the Victorians’ gendered silence-attachment in Hillel Schwartz.