One casts around for something to read or listen to and finds:
1. I apologise for mentioning them again, but Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell ask, a few days ago, 'Can Europe Function Without Trump?' I do not want to listen to it: I can read the John Gray piece (below) in a fraction of the time it takes to listen to a broadcast; but here are the headlines: Campbell: “This is a rupture, not a transition.” Stewart: “The world is fundamentally changed. The US is becoming almost as much of a threat to the West as China.” Naturally, these boys now talk about “fascism”, “Munich,” “appeasement” all the time. That’s the level of sophistication one gets from studying French and German at Cambridge and PPE at Oxford. They are exercised by Carney on Middle Powers and chunter on in service of the continuation of the old hypocritical corporate-collectivist anti-populist order.
2. Philip Zelikow reviews David Marsh’s book, Can Europe Survive? (Yale University Press) for the Times Literary Supplement, on January 9th, and asks 'Can Europe Recover Its Dynamism?' Marsh thinks apparently things got worse after 1989, but Zelikow prefers 2007 as his turning point. The piece is dull, but probably the sort of high truffle oil one expects from the Hoover Institute by someone who was involved in events.
3. David Wengrow for the London Review of Books blog, on January 23rd, comes closer to my theme. He writes 'Against the Grotian Tradition', and his argument is: “
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An interesting article James, as usual. You are obviously correct to point out that there is much wisdom in the ancients but I’m far from convinced that any of them other than the physical technologists have put much on civilisation’s dinner tables.
An interesting article – thanks.
I like the idea of peripeteia. We seem to have a peripeteian Government at the moment, the trouble is that most sensible people can see that their policy x will lead to y even if it’s a surprise to them :/
Stewart & Campbell – prime berks.
Stewart who put men in women’s prisons
Campbell, soaked in the blood of innocents.
No wonder such as the BBC adore them
The idea of “progress” was adopted from the Enlightenment onwards by intellectual elites who abandoned the Christian analysis of human nature, and the Christian remedies for our fallen nature. The results are now plain for all to see, but thankfully the fightback is gaining momentum.
I’m not a Christian/religious but the idea that human imperfections can be completely eliminated by laws, institutions etc seems absurd to me. Absurd and obscene.
Anyone who thinks the BBC/Guardian are anything but a serious menace to society, has to be more than a bit sus.
The Mail on Sunday has a good article about our reverse progress as the writer describes how the removal of her landline has ruined her quality of life by reducing the quality of her phone calls. She quite rightly points out that in emergency when there is a power failure an internet phone does not work. Bad weather can leave people with out power for over a week and in those areas there may not be good mobile coverage, but then where do the phone masts get their power from…oh, the failed grid. While BT bleat about outdated equipment, no spares etc. is the real motive to get at all the copper cable and flog it while copper prices are high?
Interesting thought but unlikely I’d say – the majority of the copper is in the last 1-3 miles from exchange to house, and the effort cost in removing that would likely exceed the scrap value. Any of the backhaul exchange network links have been fibre optic for many, many years.
A more plausible reason is likely the land value of the exchange sites…
But the idea of Progress is seductive. Particularly to those politicians that promote their ideas which may or may not result in foreseen consequences.
As an example I give you Net Zero. Part of a technological change that supports Progress into a glorious future… and will end in tears. The seeds of anagnorisis are already showing but some zealots cannot see anything but progress.
There never was reason to assume things only get better. And they clearly cannot if the rulers impose disfunctional rules and taxes.
The self regarding elites have behaved like children in a toy shop. No thought to where the toys came from or might come from in future just convinced they deserve everything they see. To stretch the analogy, the voters were expected to be content out in the cold and rain watching their games through the window.
Scribblings by the old order are boring. The simple facts are they have damaged Europe by their policies and now seek to blame anyone else. The voters, the workers and especially President Trump.
Although many voters are still too embarrassed to admit they supported the old elites, so they don’t vocalise it, I feel sure they are coming to understand the cause of our decline.
Ah, progress…
One of the shibboleths of all left-wing, woke, marxo-fascist regimes.
The Soviet Union, under Stalin’s watchful leadership, progressing towards communism.
Mao’s Great Leap Forward.
The current idea of progress towards that multicultural, vibrant society with Pride marches in one street and burqa-clad women in another, Somalian refugees welcome with open arms and everything is hunky-dory just as long as you don’t talk about the gang rape of teenage girls.
25% abortion rate, progressing towards 30%, probably euthanasia soon, initially just on a voluntary basis but no doubt great progress can be made in that area too.
Surveillance cameras everywhere with real crime detection rates at about zero, but at least the police will come out if you tweet about something you don’t like.
So, yes, undoubtedly, we have seen a lot of progress. A few more decades and we’ll be like downtown Mogadishu, or South Africa if we are lucky.
The future you describe is already here.
Yes, I have noticed it too…
Regardless, I’m up for the fight.
The “Critical Stage” is called SLEEPWALKING. —-To Mass Immigration and Phoney Planet Saving Collapse.