Growing out of Alastair Crooke’s talk at the Night Falls Conference: Night Falls in the Evening Lands: The Assange Epic on 9 March, is this essay posted to Al-Mayadeen on the 12th.
Great stuff. Alastair Crooke is a fantastically well-educated, well-spoken, and knowledgeable man, and his conversations with Andrew Napolitano are one of the week's highlights.
Karl, you will likely be disappointed but I no longer think nor operate at that level of abstraction. I am or have become much more concretistic in my thinking, probably reflecting some quant inner self.
Power, money, self-preservation, dominance, maintenance of the prior are probably the major units of work in my thinking, to the extent I engage in any.
I busy myself, outside MoA and associates, that be you and Serge, not Simplicius nor Seymour Hersh in my AUM and provisioning for two girls we are now putting through graduate schools, one a niece who lost her mother at 14 months, the other a Philippino orphan who we are trying to get admitted to a nearby university as a foreign student. We have supported her since age five and some of AUM has to support everybody. I also specialize in the various Asian cuisines, South and South East, all the way down to Java.
Life takes us down different paths based upon our interests that at times get changed by outside forces over which we have no control. My daughter giving birth at age 40 last year was such an event.
Western "elites" increasingly inhabit nothing more the fluid space of narratives and advertisements in order to continue to prosper from exploiting the riches of the world, the minerals and all other resources they had not yet acquired. Recently western elites have been called bluff.
Let's be reasonable. Every thinking person lives in his own environment of ideas and experiences. Let's debate them with our neighbors, and in larger circles. Thereby the greed of western governments and their media becomes exposed, be it in Ukraine, or in Palestine.
(Besides Plato, a philosophically inclined person might consider the approach of the Bayesian Epistemology useful.)
I'm inclined to the form of social organization seen in the East, Africa and the Indigenous Americas where the main organism is the community, not the individual. I see Russia having that form of social organization, too.
As ever, a superb article. Thank you so much, I have gained so much from your postings over the years. I had read Crooke's article --since I respect his insights, especially in the area of the Middle East-- and he has been kind of enough to quote him on occasion. If I put Crooke and Todd together there is much to think about.
"Words no longer need to have objective meanings in this market. Everything is about ‘attention’, however achieved. True or false. That’s what the advertisers wanted. Words could mean what those in power say they mean. The ‘truth’ behind the narrative became irrelevant.
What mattered was the force of a narrative, now divorced from meaning, to compel a singularity of messaging, and to demand that belief in the new order be reflected, not just in compliance, but in assimilation of the messaging into personal conduct in life. Critical thinking was disallowed as denoting an enemy; a threat to be crushed."
A great way of summing up. However, the "truth" behind the narrative is always relevant --as narratives become increasingly disconnected from reality and the pain level of cognitive dissonance rises. For some years I was a media strategist for Toyota's ME and North Africa division here in Japan--and kept on arguing this point. Naturally, they didn't listen much. Now they are suffering.
Once again thank you. You have stirred up my ever diminishing pot of intelligence.
Putin met with the opposition's Duma members to complete his post-election meetings. The transcript isn't complete yet, but I expect something similar to the meeting Sunday night. His speech to the FSB Board & troops who've been fighting on the borders and exposing terrorists within Russia I decided not to pursue.
Indeed — the fabric of reality. I suppose we all, or, most of us, went through this moment, as you described it: “initially they may think themselves to be alone—they have their Winston Smith moment and wonder why their friends and family can’t see what they can”. The only small problem with Winston Smith moment is — as the novel ends — “He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.” Thank you, Karl.
Yes, many problems with that book, one of which you illustrate. There's some curious verbiage in the Todd interview with his assumptions about Russia and how it socio-cultural facets function. His reliance on Weberian thought is a weak point as much of it's fallacious; same with Durkheim. I'd say he's ignored the very important work by Graeber and Wengrow dealing with societal organization and how equalitarianess is possible and an even more likely mode of organization globally. I don't want to get too deep into a critique of Todd's work without having read it all, so I'll stop here.
I hope Crooke's video address to the Assange conference becomes available. I've asked around to see if that can occur sooner rather than later.
I do like Graeber but I am not so sure if his answer is the answer. The Occupy Movement failed on many levels, I think, and one was a refusal to create a coalition. It seems to me that this is the most important task, but is there a way? I am not so sure.
Yes, generating solidarity or forming a coalition is very difficult to do today thanks to the intensive efforts over the generations to split society using divide and rule methods--the Culture Wars--that began before the USA was a nation in pitting white slaves against black slaves so they wouldn't form a coalition and overthrow the slavers. And there were many other efforts previous to that in most of Europe. We're still plagued by that first use of division to rule here, meaning it's been a massive success for the 10%. Why did the Populist Party fail in the 1890s after doing so well at the state level? The inability to form coalitions with labor and blacks to become completely independent of either the Rs or Ds and thus win the Big Ticket. We won't ever know what might have been if they'd continued organizing instead of fusing with Bryans corrupt Democrat Party machine. The Populist Movement from about 1875-1900 was the one best chance to oust the two-party system--and women then couldn't yet vote for the Presidential ticket. A study of that Movement shows how to organize, and it was replicated somewhat during the Great Depression of the 1930s but was killed by WW2. Post-WW2, the Anti-Communist Crusade suppressed all dissent until it reflowered in the 1960s-70s. And all the while more divide and rule points to divide and rule were implemented.
The polarization of Western society is very keen and makes forming coalitions hard as planned. What's needed is recognition of that planning and step forward to initiate dialog with those you think that possible and talk to them not over or around them. Start with the pocketbook because we all feel that, and that can break the ice. And most important, keep in mind the most important thing that need's changing is economic policy, not social policy.
My basic problem is that we have forgotten the history of ideas, reinterpreting ‘the world’ and our human situation only on positive terms. But how else to think it? I am not an activist, or a doer, I have no idea what we can do, I just want to understand what the hell is going on. And it is not easy. In your site, you straddle between these two sides and I really like it. Thank you.
A superb post- featuring of course Crooke’s brilliant essay. Always a rewarding investment of my available reading time- although there have been a fair number of times where I’ve exceeded my time allotment- no regrets to speak of so far and wading into the comments section has been greatly rewarding- my deepest thanks for your engagement with members of the “Gymnasium” This post is the most intimidating “plunge” for me- all the philosophers and deep thinkers being referenced and quoted here are mostly just names (at least I recognize most of them 🙄) with the exception of Carl Jung - I did get familiar with his concepts of synchronicity and the possible relevance of quantum mechanics and the implications for physics and our understanding of existence- I was a pretty dedicated “space cadet” 30+ years back. I can sense Jungian concepts in Crooke’s thinking- I’m also reminded of Baba Ram Dass’ famous motto- “Be Here Now!” This points to the Truth that only the Now is Real - past and future exist in individual minds as memories or speculations - their “reality” is a subject for debate and possible consensus. Now suppose you factor in the phenomenon of “paired “ quantum particles that will move in opposition to each other instantly regardless of distance. Synchronicity? Walks like a duck…… a good go figger for sure! 🤓
Heidegger was interviewed by Der Spiegel in 1966 and permitted its contents to be published only after his death (ten years later) — the interview was published under the title “Nur noch ein Gott kann uns retten” (Only a god can save us now). Heidegger’s influence has been enormous on Continental philosophy — despite savage attacks on him from the usual suspects — including Sartre, Derrida etc and doubtless Todd (have not read his book).
Hieidegger was among the first, and most eloquent, thinkers to discuss the dangers of the impact of modern technology on political statecraft and human freedom. The longish interview covers a wide area, including specifics on his wartime Nazi party membership, but contains a bold and striking question:
“And which of us can say whether one day in Russia and in China age-old traditions of a “thinking” will not awaken that will assist human beings in making a free relationship to the technological world possible?”
Did a quick search of my translation of Todd's book and found no reference to Heidegger, although very late i the book there's a reference to Hegel. There's a refreshing look at the realm of history in the book I cited for Lubica that you can find on this thread. I read it as I began my path to becoming a historian after my career in food service and entertainment. Science is a tool, not a be-all/end-all. There's also advice for historians not to allow "presentism" to color their work, particularly when writing about the very distant past.
The issue for Heidegger is the replacement of moral and cultural values by something that is unchallengeable and the gateway to ontological truth. Clearly we see
this with the restructuring of the world through a single “scientific script” that permits no discussion (eg covid19, climate change, transgenderism etc).
This “science” becomes a tool, yes, but in the hands of an elite (whose roots are not evident) which already has institutional control, it is the tool of Absolute Control — meaning people’s ordinary live. I realize this is a bit to the side of your primary focus and others’ here, but it ‘s my interest: cultural history.
What I found stunning in this passage (which I just found) was Heidegger’s location of a possible future world with greater personal freedom in Russia and China. The conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and perhaps soon in the Taiwan Straits are not simply materialistic (military, economic, financial) but at a deeper level are anchored by beliefs and ideas. Heidegger’s own well-known pessimistic conclusions here take an unexpected turn — to exactly where we seem to be today.
Agreed. At lunch today, my wife showed me the proposals to legalize LSD for use in treating anxiety. Then there's the proposal to use ecstasy to treat PTSD. IMO, both are phake pharma-science aimed at expanding control and satisfying its greed.
The differing manners of structuring society and the fundamentals involved is somewhat akin to the current MoA discussion thread. Organized as a commonweal aimed at improving and benefitting everyone is generally the Asian and African way, and decidedly not the Western way where those at the top seek to benefit only themselves through plundering their own society, something Bastiat observed 170+ years ago.
So, yes, today's conflict is ideological in a similar manner as the Anti-Communist Crusade was and still is regarding China. Societal elan based on egalitarian ideals is to be fought by the West--look what the proto-West did to Jesus and his quest.
Bastiat is infallible, indeed. The French intellectual contribution in statecraft imho is richer than the English (Locke, Smith etc) — one of the masterpieces written at the time of the French Revolution is The Ruins by Comte de Volney. He asks himself, contemplating the ruins of Palmyra in front of him, why empires which were so vibrant and thriving are reduced to ruins. …
“Who knows whether one day, on the banks of the Seine or the Thames or the Zuiderzee, where now the whirl of sensation and pleasure is more than one can take in, a future traveler like me might sit down amid silent ruins and weep, alone amidst the ashes of our civilization and the memory of Europe’s greatness?”
The Ruins was translated into English by Thomas Jefferson who later hosted Volney at Monticello. Today’s intellectual class is slight indeed, by comparison, and any publication hopes rests in the hands of people who applaud the genocide in Gaza. A sobering reality. Thankfully, private printing is an incredibly robust alternative (Ron Unz has several wonderfully produced volumes in print now).
First, congratulations! You made top of the list at sitrepworld.info....
One of my favourite pieces of yours of late. The following remark might sound critical but it is not meant that way: I noticed with both your language and the Crooke and Todd pieces (and with many other authors these days) that each voice has to somewhat reinvent their own terms of reference in order to communicate their insights. Again, this is not to criticize the authors per se, rather I think it reflects the sort of end times we are in principally because our civilizational Centre did not hold.
Very interesting, and insightful, are Todd's remarks about the binding factor of Protestantism in the era of Anglo-Nordic dominance (as opposed to earlier era more dominated by Catholic, or Holy Roman, culture), and its eventual fading explaining much of what we see unfolding today. Crooke has a way of insinuating traditional transcendentalism from Islamic and bedrock religious perspectives into his geopolitical analysis which is both unusual and, clearly, his personal passion. But all together, do they describe the same world?
It is as if with each piece, including yours, we peer into our world through a glass darkly. We all have experience and perspectives in common; we must, because we live in the same time and culture; and yet we lack shared vocabulary and understanding. Just as the religious approach went from Todd's zombie to the zero state - another great insight - so it seems that the same is now true for Western civilization. We have the trappings and remnants, but the vases of cultural quintessence have indeed broken, so although the spirit still lingers as Crooke nicely described, it can no longer be well contained and transmitted from one generation to the next.
Crooke wrote a book, "Resistance: The Essence of the Islamist Revolution," published in 2009, which clearly influences his current thoughts. I discovered a French PDF of Todd's book that translates well enough which is provided somewhere on this thread.
I'll wait for a properly translated version. I find the machine translations too difficult to parse. I find it amusing how often Todd insists that he is not voicing a personal opinion but simply following data (which he very intelligently finds and highlights) as if the ability to derive meaning from data is a purely objective process. Methinks he doth protest do much!
But I also agree with a throwaway remark he made about Russia, I think from the book review, namely that Russia has the same problems with modernity which it has not yet managed to overcome - hence the push to generously subsidize making babies for example. One can argue that thinkers like Dugin are offering a path through modernity to something better on the other side which somehow joins ever-progressing technicity with bedrock traditional Russian character and spirit, but this is far from being a widespread cultural sea change yet or done deal.
That said, they are still in recovery mode following an extremely punishing twentieth century. But it looks like in this perhaps final Putin Presidency they will begin to find their sea legs in a truly new way of both being modern and being themselves and charting new courses, which we all must do in this realm wherein continuous change is the only true constant.
Within some indigenous cultures, women performed labor tasks, mothered, and governed in what was quite possibly a universal arrangement tens of thousands of years old. Most anthropologists admit that there was a point in the past when Goddesses and matriarchal social arrangements were the norm that subsequently overthrown by Male Sky Gods and patriarchal social relations, but the dating of that happening is very wide. However, it's clear women and their societies were capable of building a sustainable population base.
Well, you always know who the mother is....the father one can never be sure of! If there is no private property transfer in the mix (when you live in communal tribal situations), then fatherhood has nothing to do with transferring wealth/property and class/status to their offspring. That said, most situations with male chiefs tend to keep track of male heirs. I spent time with a matriarch chief (Mi'kmaq) but I didn't get to see how they function in any official capacity. We were talking about dreaming.... They say their tribe has been around for much longer than 10,000 years, from before the ice age. They also say the Chinese came from them, not the other way around.....
Presumably, yes, just as Zionism will, which is what I thought of when reading that same passage that prompted your question. The point is with such ideas is to refute them to death again and again, generation after generation, which as we've seen isn't easy to do. IMO, it's important to destroy the real underlying ideology for both and for other extremisms--Exceptionalism. Erase that ideology and the world becomes a much better place.
Yes, I almost included Zionism in my post. These ideas must be shown to youth as harmful and negative. This, like poverty elimination, must be an ongoing struggle.
Yes, giving an equal chance to all of society in all nations as is done in Russia, China and elsewhere IMO is key to solving many problems. Make governance meritocratic and inclusive of participatory democracy, and national harmony is likely to ensue.
Harmony is excellent; unfortunately, it's not universal. I call it Progressive-Conservatism. It was very popular during the Great Depression, the reforms of that era were mistaken as Liberal.
In these times of radical change, I think an Olympic perspective on history and consciousness must be taken. There is this individualist alienated consciousness that reflexively disregards the past as though history began after WW2. That myopia is systematically promoted, as the default consciousness, to use software lingo. If the mass of humanity is to carry out it's world historic task, the default consciousness must be altered. The settings must be changed.
Again, this raises the issue of leadership and organization. The movement back to a more collective, historical consciousness must be done collectively on a grand scale, not merely by a few bold individuals, although that is possible and necessary at the outset.
Yes, Baud's book's first chapter on Russia's military was an excellent read, but Todd's combo of historical-anthropological outlook also has me interested given its devastating critique of the West its title announces.
I note on the title page an excerpt from Raymond Aron's "The Opium of the Intellectuals," which is yet another book I'd never heard of but is clearly an important work. It can be freely downloaded here, https://archive.org/details/RaymondAronTheOpiumOfTheIntellectuals
Great stuff. Alastair Crooke is a fantastically well-educated, well-spoken, and knowledgeable man, and his conversations with Andrew Napolitano are one of the week's highlights.
Thanks for sharing this Karl.
Karl, you will likely be disappointed but I no longer think nor operate at that level of abstraction. I am or have become much more concretistic in my thinking, probably reflecting some quant inner self.
Power, money, self-preservation, dominance, maintenance of the prior are probably the major units of work in my thinking, to the extent I engage in any.
I busy myself, outside MoA and associates, that be you and Serge, not Simplicius nor Seymour Hersh in my AUM and provisioning for two girls we are now putting through graduate schools, one a niece who lost her mother at 14 months, the other a Philippino orphan who we are trying to get admitted to a nearby university as a foreign student. We have supported her since age five and some of AUM has to support everybody. I also specialize in the various Asian cuisines, South and South East, all the way down to Java.
Life takes us down different paths based upon our interests that at times get changed by outside forces over which we have no control. My daughter giving birth at age 40 last year was such an event.
Western "elites" increasingly inhabit nothing more the fluid space of narratives and advertisements in order to continue to prosper from exploiting the riches of the world, the minerals and all other resources they had not yet acquired. Recently western elites have been called bluff.
Let's be reasonable. Every thinking person lives in his own environment of ideas and experiences. Let's debate them with our neighbors, and in larger circles. Thereby the greed of western governments and their media becomes exposed, be it in Ukraine, or in Palestine.
(Besides Plato, a philosophically inclined person might consider the approach of the Bayesian Epistemology useful.)
I'm inclined to the form of social organization seen in the East, Africa and the Indigenous Americas where the main organism is the community, not the individual. I see Russia having that form of social organization, too.
As ever, a superb article. Thank you so much, I have gained so much from your postings over the years. I had read Crooke's article --since I respect his insights, especially in the area of the Middle East-- and he has been kind of enough to quote him on occasion. If I put Crooke and Todd together there is much to think about.
"Words no longer need to have objective meanings in this market. Everything is about ‘attention’, however achieved. True or false. That’s what the advertisers wanted. Words could mean what those in power say they mean. The ‘truth’ behind the narrative became irrelevant.
What mattered was the force of a narrative, now divorced from meaning, to compel a singularity of messaging, and to demand that belief in the new order be reflected, not just in compliance, but in assimilation of the messaging into personal conduct in life. Critical thinking was disallowed as denoting an enemy; a threat to be crushed."
A great way of summing up. However, the "truth" behind the narrative is always relevant --as narratives become increasingly disconnected from reality and the pain level of cognitive dissonance rises. For some years I was a media strategist for Toyota's ME and North Africa division here in Japan--and kept on arguing this point. Naturally, they didn't listen much. Now they are suffering.
Once again thank you. You have stirred up my ever diminishing pot of intelligence.
Thanks for your reply. You'll want to look at my long paragraph answer to Lubica on this thread.
Thank you Karl.
Putin met with the opposition's Duma members to complete his post-election meetings. The transcript isn't complete yet, but I expect something similar to the meeting Sunday night. His speech to the FSB Board & troops who've been fighting on the borders and exposing terrorists within Russia I decided not to pursue.
Indeed — the fabric of reality. I suppose we all, or, most of us, went through this moment, as you described it: “initially they may think themselves to be alone—they have their Winston Smith moment and wonder why their friends and family can’t see what they can”. The only small problem with Winston Smith moment is — as the novel ends — “He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.” Thank you, Karl.
Yes, many problems with that book, one of which you illustrate. There's some curious verbiage in the Todd interview with his assumptions about Russia and how it socio-cultural facets function. His reliance on Weberian thought is a weak point as much of it's fallacious; same with Durkheim. I'd say he's ignored the very important work by Graeber and Wengrow dealing with societal organization and how equalitarianess is possible and an even more likely mode of organization globally. I don't want to get too deep into a critique of Todd's work without having read it all, so I'll stop here.
I hope Crooke's video address to the Assange conference becomes available. I've asked around to see if that can occur sooner rather than later.
I do like Graeber but I am not so sure if his answer is the answer. The Occupy Movement failed on many levels, I think, and one was a refusal to create a coalition. It seems to me that this is the most important task, but is there a way? I am not so sure.
You merit a longer answer than I have time for currently. I'll be back to edit my reply.
Thank you. I really enjoy our conversation.
Yes, generating solidarity or forming a coalition is very difficult to do today thanks to the intensive efforts over the generations to split society using divide and rule methods--the Culture Wars--that began before the USA was a nation in pitting white slaves against black slaves so they wouldn't form a coalition and overthrow the slavers. And there were many other efforts previous to that in most of Europe. We're still plagued by that first use of division to rule here, meaning it's been a massive success for the 10%. Why did the Populist Party fail in the 1890s after doing so well at the state level? The inability to form coalitions with labor and blacks to become completely independent of either the Rs or Ds and thus win the Big Ticket. We won't ever know what might have been if they'd continued organizing instead of fusing with Bryans corrupt Democrat Party machine. The Populist Movement from about 1875-1900 was the one best chance to oust the two-party system--and women then couldn't yet vote for the Presidential ticket. A study of that Movement shows how to organize, and it was replicated somewhat during the Great Depression of the 1930s but was killed by WW2. Post-WW2, the Anti-Communist Crusade suppressed all dissent until it reflowered in the 1960s-70s. And all the while more divide and rule points to divide and rule were implemented.
The polarization of Western society is very keen and makes forming coalitions hard as planned. What's needed is recognition of that planning and step forward to initiate dialog with those you think that possible and talk to them not over or around them. Start with the pocketbook because we all feel that, and that can break the ice. And most important, keep in mind the most important thing that need's changing is economic policy, not social policy.
My basic problem is that we have forgotten the history of ideas, reinterpreting ‘the world’ and our human situation only on positive terms. But how else to think it? I am not an activist, or a doer, I have no idea what we can do, I just want to understand what the hell is going on. And it is not easy. In your site, you straddle between these two sides and I really like it. Thank you.
A superb post- featuring of course Crooke’s brilliant essay. Always a rewarding investment of my available reading time- although there have been a fair number of times where I’ve exceeded my time allotment- no regrets to speak of so far and wading into the comments section has been greatly rewarding- my deepest thanks for your engagement with members of the “Gymnasium” This post is the most intimidating “plunge” for me- all the philosophers and deep thinkers being referenced and quoted here are mostly just names (at least I recognize most of them 🙄) with the exception of Carl Jung - I did get familiar with his concepts of synchronicity and the possible relevance of quantum mechanics and the implications for physics and our understanding of existence- I was a pretty dedicated “space cadet” 30+ years back. I can sense Jungian concepts in Crooke’s thinking- I’m also reminded of Baba Ram Dass’ famous motto- “Be Here Now!” This points to the Truth that only the Now is Real - past and future exist in individual minds as memories or speculations - their “reality” is a subject for debate and possible consensus. Now suppose you factor in the phenomenon of “paired “ quantum particles that will move in opposition to each other instantly regardless of distance. Synchronicity? Walks like a duck…… a good go figger for sure! 🤓
Heidegger was interviewed by Der Spiegel in 1966 and permitted its contents to be published only after his death (ten years later) — the interview was published under the title “Nur noch ein Gott kann uns retten” (Only a god can save us now). Heidegger’s influence has been enormous on Continental philosophy — despite savage attacks on him from the usual suspects — including Sartre, Derrida etc and doubtless Todd (have not read his book).
Hieidegger was among the first, and most eloquent, thinkers to discuss the dangers of the impact of modern technology on political statecraft and human freedom. The longish interview covers a wide area, including specifics on his wartime Nazi party membership, but contains a bold and striking question:
“And which of us can say whether one day in Russia and in China age-old traditions of a “thinking” will not awaken that will assist human beings in making a free relationship to the technological world possible?”
Did a quick search of my translation of Todd's book and found no reference to Heidegger, although very late i the book there's a reference to Hegel. There's a refreshing look at the realm of history in the book I cited for Lubica that you can find on this thread. I read it as I began my path to becoming a historian after my career in food service and entertainment. Science is a tool, not a be-all/end-all. There's also advice for historians not to allow "presentism" to color their work, particularly when writing about the very distant past.
The issue for Heidegger is the replacement of moral and cultural values by something that is unchallengeable and the gateway to ontological truth. Clearly we see
this with the restructuring of the world through a single “scientific script” that permits no discussion (eg covid19, climate change, transgenderism etc).
This “science” becomes a tool, yes, but in the hands of an elite (whose roots are not evident) which already has institutional control, it is the tool of Absolute Control — meaning people’s ordinary live. I realize this is a bit to the side of your primary focus and others’ here, but it ‘s my interest: cultural history.
What I found stunning in this passage (which I just found) was Heidegger’s location of a possible future world with greater personal freedom in Russia and China. The conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and perhaps soon in the Taiwan Straits are not simply materialistic (military, economic, financial) but at a deeper level are anchored by beliefs and ideas. Heidegger’s own well-known pessimistic conclusions here take an unexpected turn — to exactly where we seem to be today.
Agreed. At lunch today, my wife showed me the proposals to legalize LSD for use in treating anxiety. Then there's the proposal to use ecstasy to treat PTSD. IMO, both are phake pharma-science aimed at expanding control and satisfying its greed.
The differing manners of structuring society and the fundamentals involved is somewhat akin to the current MoA discussion thread. Organized as a commonweal aimed at improving and benefitting everyone is generally the Asian and African way, and decidedly not the Western way where those at the top seek to benefit only themselves through plundering their own society, something Bastiat observed 170+ years ago.
So, yes, today's conflict is ideological in a similar manner as the Anti-Communist Crusade was and still is regarding China. Societal elan based on egalitarian ideals is to be fought by the West--look what the proto-West did to Jesus and his quest.
Bastiat is infallible, indeed. The French intellectual contribution in statecraft imho is richer than the English (Locke, Smith etc) — one of the masterpieces written at the time of the French Revolution is The Ruins by Comte de Volney. He asks himself, contemplating the ruins of Palmyra in front of him, why empires which were so vibrant and thriving are reduced to ruins. …
“Who knows whether one day, on the banks of the Seine or the Thames or the Zuiderzee, where now the whirl of sensation and pleasure is more than one can take in, a future traveler like me might sit down amid silent ruins and weep, alone amidst the ashes of our civilization and the memory of Europe’s greatness?”
The Ruins was translated into English by Thomas Jefferson who later hosted Volney at Monticello. Today’s intellectual class is slight indeed, by comparison, and any publication hopes rests in the hands of people who applaud the genocide in Gaza. A sobering reality. Thankfully, private printing is an incredibly robust alternative (Ron Unz has several wonderfully produced volumes in print now).
Yes, Dr. Hudson also had to form his own printshop.
First, congratulations! You made top of the list at sitrepworld.info....
One of my favourite pieces of yours of late. The following remark might sound critical but it is not meant that way: I noticed with both your language and the Crooke and Todd pieces (and with many other authors these days) that each voice has to somewhat reinvent their own terms of reference in order to communicate their insights. Again, this is not to criticize the authors per se, rather I think it reflects the sort of end times we are in principally because our civilizational Centre did not hold.
Very interesting, and insightful, are Todd's remarks about the binding factor of Protestantism in the era of Anglo-Nordic dominance (as opposed to earlier era more dominated by Catholic, or Holy Roman, culture), and its eventual fading explaining much of what we see unfolding today. Crooke has a way of insinuating traditional transcendentalism from Islamic and bedrock religious perspectives into his geopolitical analysis which is both unusual and, clearly, his personal passion. But all together, do they describe the same world?
It is as if with each piece, including yours, we peer into our world through a glass darkly. We all have experience and perspectives in common; we must, because we live in the same time and culture; and yet we lack shared vocabulary and understanding. Just as the religious approach went from Todd's zombie to the zero state - another great insight - so it seems that the same is now true for Western civilization. We have the trappings and remnants, but the vases of cultural quintessence have indeed broken, so although the spirit still lingers as Crooke nicely described, it can no longer be well contained and transmitted from one generation to the next.
Crooke wrote a book, "Resistance: The Essence of the Islamist Revolution," published in 2009, which clearly influences his current thoughts. I discovered a French PDF of Todd's book that translates well enough which is provided somewhere on this thread.
I'll wait for a properly translated version. I find the machine translations too difficult to parse. I find it amusing how often Todd insists that he is not voicing a personal opinion but simply following data (which he very intelligently finds and highlights) as if the ability to derive meaning from data is a purely objective process. Methinks he doth protest do much!
But I also agree with a throwaway remark he made about Russia, I think from the book review, namely that Russia has the same problems with modernity which it has not yet managed to overcome - hence the push to generously subsidize making babies for example. One can argue that thinkers like Dugin are offering a path through modernity to something better on the other side which somehow joins ever-progressing technicity with bedrock traditional Russian character and spirit, but this is far from being a widespread cultural sea change yet or done deal.
That said, they are still in recovery mode following an extremely punishing twentieth century. But it looks like in this perhaps final Putin Presidency they will begin to find their sea legs in a truly new way of both being modern and being themselves and charting new courses, which we all must do in this realm wherein continuous change is the only true constant.
Within some indigenous cultures, women performed labor tasks, mothered, and governed in what was quite possibly a universal arrangement tens of thousands of years old. Most anthropologists admit that there was a point in the past when Goddesses and matriarchal social arrangements were the norm that subsequently overthrown by Male Sky Gods and patriarchal social relations, but the dating of that happening is very wide. However, it's clear women and their societies were capable of building a sustainable population base.
Well, you always know who the mother is....the father one can never be sure of! If there is no private property transfer in the mix (when you live in communal tribal situations), then fatherhood has nothing to do with transferring wealth/property and class/status to their offspring. That said, most situations with male chiefs tend to keep track of male heirs. I spent time with a matriarch chief (Mi'kmaq) but I didn't get to see how they function in any official capacity. We were talking about dreaming.... They say their tribe has been around for much longer than 10,000 years, from before the ice age. They also say the Chinese came from them, not the other way around.....
Does not all this also apply to the idea of Nazism? Is it not also an idea that will remain?
Presumably, yes, just as Zionism will, which is what I thought of when reading that same passage that prompted your question. The point is with such ideas is to refute them to death again and again, generation after generation, which as we've seen isn't easy to do. IMO, it's important to destroy the real underlying ideology for both and for other extremisms--Exceptionalism. Erase that ideology and the world becomes a much better place.
Yes, I almost included Zionism in my post. These ideas must be shown to youth as harmful and negative. This, like poverty elimination, must be an ongoing struggle.
Yes, giving an equal chance to all of society in all nations as is done in Russia, China and elsewhere IMO is key to solving many problems. Make governance meritocratic and inclusive of participatory democracy, and national harmony is likely to ensue.
How Confucius of you.
Harmony is excellent; unfortunately, it's not universal. I call it Progressive-Conservatism. It was very popular during the Great Depression, the reforms of that era were mistaken as Liberal.
Good one, Karl.
In these times of radical change, I think an Olympic perspective on history and consciousness must be taken. There is this individualist alienated consciousness that reflexively disregards the past as though history began after WW2. That myopia is systematically promoted, as the default consciousness, to use software lingo. If the mass of humanity is to carry out it's world historic task, the default consciousness must be altered. The settings must be changed.
Again, this raises the issue of leadership and organization. The movement back to a more collective, historical consciousness must be done collectively on a grand scale, not merely by a few bold individuals, although that is possible and necessary at the outset.
I'm looking forward to that Baud book too.
Yes, Baud's book's first chapter on Russia's military was an excellent read, but Todd's combo of historical-anthropological outlook also has me interested given its devastating critique of the West its title announces.
You haven't come across an English or Spanish translation of Todd's most recent book, have you?
No, and I just did another search. Success! I found a French PDF and used Yandex translate to make it English, although the translation quality is rather rough but useable. If you find a better translation platform, please let me know. https://everywherenobody.files.wordpress.com/2024/02/la-defaite-de-loccident-emmanuel-todd-z-library.pdf
I note on the title page an excerpt from Raymond Aron's "The Opium of the Intellectuals," which is yet another book I'd never heard of but is clearly an important work. It can be freely downloaded here, https://archive.org/details/RaymondAronTheOpiumOfTheIntellectuals
Nice! I knew you were the person to ask.