By Walt Garlington for the Saker Blog
One of the big lies in the United States is that there is no royalty here. It is true that it no longer adorns itself with all the traditional accoutrements of the past. But it is still with us (though in a distorted form), and reveals itself with stunning clarity at times.
A case in point is the arrival of LSU’s new football coach, Brian Kelly, who was greeted by assorted dignitaries, a security escort, uniformed marching band, and by the adoring people upon his arrival in Baton Rouge:
https://www.brproud.com/sports/geaux-nation/lsu-welcomes-new-head-football-coach-to-death-valley/
C. S. Lewis’s masterful summary of mankind’s hunger for hierarchy was very much on display:
Monarchy can easily be “debunked,” but watch the faces, mark well the debunkers. These are the men whose taproot in Eden has been cut: whom no rumour of the polyphony, the dance, can reach – men to whom pebbles laid in a row are more beautiful than an arch. Where men are forbidden to honour a king they honour millionaires, athletes or film stars instead: For spiritual nature, like bodily nature, will be served; deny it food and it will gobble poison.
By and large, government is conducted by a minority, whether it is the father of a family, the bishops and priests of the Church, or a representative assembly of a community. Aristocracy, per Mr Lewis, is the norm. The essential question is how to make sure the government exercises justice and the other virtues.
In the political context, since the fall of pagan Rome and the rise of the Christian Roman Empire, this has been accomplished by following a few simple rules: Baptize politics (people and processes) in the font of Christianity; make sure the political system is rooted in and respectful of the ancient customs and institutions of the people; make careful, prudent reforms only when needed (not because someone has a new theory he wants to test).
Following these precepts has led to remarkable outcomes in the reigns of Kings Edwin, Alfred, Athelstan, Edgar; Emperors Constantine, Theodosius, Justinian; and any number of other English, Roman, and European Orthodox kings. But when the aristocracy (private or public) falls into moral decay and governs unjustly, then we find parricide, schisms, and revolutions.
This has been precisely the response of the West to corruption in her aristocracy – to lecherous popes, absolutist kings, exploitive lords, etc. – which has led to rule by majorities, politicians who cater to their whims, and mechanistic theories of checks and balances. The forces of disorder unleashed in this process of reaction continue to bear poisonous fruit: gender confusion, BLM and other racial agitations, and so on.
Locking ourselves into older versions of the liberal order of autonomous individualism won’t help stem this tide, for such are themselves merely other outworkings of it, share the same spirit with it. However distasteful it may be to some, we must take steps to restore a more ‘illiberal’ order, one that recognizes and yields to immutable hierarchies of Truth, amongst which are notions like aristocracy and that a community worthy of the name has a distinct culture that must be defended against those who would try to undermine it.
An excellent model to look to for this work of restoration is King Vakhtang I of Georgia (+502). During his reign the Christian foundation of Georgia was emphasized and measures were undertaken to build it up and to protect it from alien belief systems:
The holy and right-believing king Vakhtang I ascended the throne of Kartli at the age of fifteen. At that time Kartli was continually being invaded by the Persians from the south and by the Ossetians from the north. The situation was no better in western Georgia: the Byzantines had captured all the lands from Egrisi to Tsikhegoji.
After his coronation, the young King Vakhtang summoned his court and addressed his dedicated servants with great wisdom. He said that the sorrowful circumstances in which the nation had found itself were a manifestation of God’s anger at the sins of the king and the people. He called upon everyone to struggle in unity and selflessness on behalf of the Faith and motherland.
. . .
During King Vakhtang’s reign the Georgian Church was first recognized as autocephalous. When the holy king banished the pagan fire-worshippers from Georgia, he also sent a certain Bishop Michael—who was inclined to the Monophysite heresy, which had been planted in Georgia by the Persians—to Constantinople to be tried by the patriarch. The bishop had disgracefully cursed the king and his army for rising up against the Monophysites. In fact, he was so infuriated that when King Vakhtang approached him to receive his blessing, he kicked him in the mouth and broke several of his teeth.
In the fantasy world of liberalism, followers of discordant belief systems like Orthodox Christians, militant Persian fire worshippers, and Monophysites who kick kings in the mouth can live together in harmony. But wise men like King-St Vakhtang understand that it is better for all considered if they are separated from one another, so that cultural clashes will not be ongoing, sapping the vitality of society that would be free to pursue higher ends if it were not otherwise distracted and weakened by unnecessary conflicts. King Vakhtang, having quieted the disturbances within Georgia, pursued those higher ends along with the Georgian people:
King Vakhtang built fortresses at Tukhari, Artanuji, and Akhiza; founded monasteries in Klarjeti at Artanuji, Mere, Shindobi, and Akhiza; and established many other strongholds, churches, and monasteries as well. He built a new royal residence in Ujarma and laid the foundations of the new Georgian capital, Tbilisi. His political creed consisted of three parts: an equal union of the Georgian Church with the Byzantine Church, national independence, and the unity of the Church and nation.
Even at his death he urged his people to pursue the highest end:
In the year 502 the sixty-year-old King Vakhtang was obliged to defend his country for the last time. In a battle with the Persians he was fatally wounded when a poisoned arrow pierced him under the arm. Before he died, King Vakhtang summoned the clergy, his family and his court and urged them to be strong in the Faith and to seek death for Christ’s sake in order to gain eternal glory.
What a poor alternative the leaders of the United States and the rest of the formerly Orthodox West offer to their peoples: shallow prating about party loyalty, socialist or capitalist utopias, cheap campaign slogans, celebrity endorsements, and other nonsense!
‘What can a man give in exchange for his soul?’
Aristocratic-minded men like John Randolph of Roanoke, Virginia, as their lives were coming to an end, were horrified as they watched the hierarchic political order they had established in the United States after their separation from Great Britain be pulled down by democratic levellers. But it was a process that they themselves began by ordaining a new era of liberal politics in 1776 (weak though it was at its birth, like a wet, wobbly calf); one that continues to breed destructive ideologies today; one that will take more than a Republican/populist sweep of the US House and Senate in 2022 and the Presidency in 2024 to undo. And one that in the end produces such fine, phony royalty as Biden, Harris, Mitch McConnell, and the rest of the political-sports-media superstar figures in the States.
Great article.
I’m not sold on monarchy being the only way to recognize hierarchy though. I think the US Constitution as it was originally intended (but not realized) was a good start. The Founders knew in their hearts that a natural hierarchy must be recognized, but they wanted to be edgy hipsters so they toyed with liberal language. That language (“all men are created equal”) was the transsexual camel’s nose under the tent that Leftists have been able to use to advance their agenda.
I find it fascinating how Russia and China are reverting back to tsarist and merchant empire modes. Hopefully they learn the lesson of the US and eventually remove all the liberal language that might give future liberals ideas about “systemic change.”
Was it or was it simply the fact that to the greatest degree we followed the old British form of government except we called the different branches by a different name, but they were simply one and the same and of course they refused to put the Constitution up for debate saying this is what we gave you take or leave it and seeing it had been cobbled up in secret no one knew what was in it.
In The Life of Washington it states that when Hamilton set up the treasury he stated that at the center of he had placed a group of wealth individuals who would build the factories, build the ships create the trade, etc. and of course these were the bankers, so we had our own City of London so even the way it was originally set up it was all about the wealthy and thus history repeats itself except we traded one king for a thousand petty tyrants.
Similar to how Russia is reverting back to a tsar and China to a merchant empire, the US was pretending to be something new while actually reverting back to germanic norms. Local governance but with nobles strongly represented and having a say in international affairs (senate was originally elected by state legislatures,) a leader with supreme power over the military but not much influence on peoples lives or legislation (they didn’t see how a veto would be so powerful because they didn’t foresee parties.)
A certain group was trying to subvert the US from the beginning, but that wasn’t the major impetus behind the new/old system. The Constitution was created in a Constitutional Convention that included representatives from 12 of the 13 colonies. Then it was ratified by popular vote, with the document having been published so they could read it.
What % of Americans or Aristocracy have Integrity? Who are the leaders with integrity & moral courage in America and our world? How can a nation or civilization be led by individuals without integrity? If there were leaders with integrity, they would state the reality and show moral courage.
What drives good outcomes for nation’s success? Good values, shared vision, pragmatism, execution, accountability,… Culture is the soul of a nation. Culture is defined by Values. The power of culture is deeply embedded in the vitality, creativity, and cohesion of a nation. Strategy without culture is powerless; but culture without strategy is aimless. Why is Integrity not one of nation’s core values?
The Western got corrupted, captured and focused on building a global empire. Why? The very fact integrity is not one of West’s core values, one can’t name West’s leaders with integrity, citizens with moral courage, … shows the sickness & darkness of the Western world.
While from a societal point of view, people of integrity are desirable as elites, from a power-political point of view, on the contrary, corruptible and blackmailable persons are in demand. This results in a fundamental contradiction with far-reaching consequences.
“True narcissists are self-serving and lack integrity. They believe they’re superior and thus not subject to the same rules and norms. Studies show they’re more likely to act dishonestly to achieve their ends. They know they’re lying, and it doesn’t bother them. They don’t feel shame.”
– Charles A. O’Reilly, Stanford University
Got Integrity?
Max: Again you make very valuable comments. Strong men with integrity are a deadly threat to capitalism. Martin Luther King and John Kennedy being but two examples. And capitalism knows how to eliminate men with integrity. That is what they pay the CIA for. That is our dilemma.
Regarding the issue of equality and hierarchy. The author does make a valid point about the vital psychological need for hierarchy. Hierarchy is natural and we can’t live without it. So what is this “equality” religion and how in heaven’s name do you fit that into a natural hierarchy?
Well Karl Marx leads us in the right direction with regard to reconciling the apparent contradiction between hierarchy and equality.
Karl Marx wrote – “Equality is a French term for the unity of the human essence.” This means, as currently understood, the term “equality” has a mythic dimension. It is a code word for something deeper which is as yet not understood. Although Marx did understand it. This is what makes his comment valuable.
So the issue orbits around the phrase “the unity of the human essence.”
When modern revolutionaries demand equality what they aspire to is not everybody being regulated into the same bland uniformity. What they are really seeking is to live in a society where nobody has the validity of their inner essence denied by the oppressive weight of external (ego driven) power structures. We all need to live in a society that recognizes and supports our own struggles for self actualization. It is just that political intellectuals have yet to integrate this deeper psychological dimension of the “unity of the human essence” into their political understanding of equality.
But the answer cannot lie in the past. In the past patriarchal power structures have been notorious for denying the validity of the essence of the workers, women and peasants, along with all captured slaves. Hierarchy has become contaminated with the nightmare of cruelty and exploitation. It has been a nightmare of ego domination, oppression and exploitation.
So what is needed is a natural spiritual hierarchy that is organized around a dedication to the unfolding of the inner essence of all members of society. This is what Mao Ze Dong meant when he invented the concept of being “politically correct”. In this way the psychological needs for both hierarchy and “equality” can be reconciled. It is my reading that this is in the process of emerging now, carefully step by step, and China is doing a good job of demonstrating this precise balance. Your thoughts?
Snow Leopard, good points. The key characteristics of our socio-economic system by design are hierarchy, polarization and exploitation. Why? To create a global empire where a few rule the world and humanity is enslaved. Sauron and Saruman will not succeed.
A mediocre individual tells. A good teacher explains. A superior character demonstrates. A true leader inspires. This automatically creates a natural hierarchy based on egalitarianism (equality). However, those with a lust for power have hijacked egalitarianism and through their malice & greed, created darkness. Their hierarchy (present one) is based on who serves them most by creating debt and increasing their power. Sauron, Saruman and their Orcs (individuals without conscience) can’t fool anymore. Empire’s Mt Doom (Debt) will collapse!
https://miro.medium.com/max/1400/1*oP7Nm77gg13o8lxdVABToQ.png
Please name a good American president or leader and one can name a president that was assassinated. What are the common characteristics among the presidents such as JFK, Abraham Lincoln, and presidential candidates like Huey Long, Robert Kennedy…who were assassinated? Who then goes into politics? Who controls CIA, military, ….? Narcissists, psychopaths, greedy…
“They’ve got a set of Republican waiters on one side and a set of Democratic waiters on the other side, but no matter which set of waiters brings you the dish, the legislative grub is all prepared in the same Wall Street kitchen.”
– Huey Long
Andrew Jackson defined the challenge and role of the government very well in his veto message regarding the Second Bank of the United States on July 10, 1832:
“It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes. Distinctions in society will always exist under every just government. Equality of talents, of education, or of wealth can not be produced by human institutions. In the full enjoyment of the gifts of Heaven and the fruits of superior industry, economy, and virtue, every man is equally entitled to protection by law; but when the laws undertake to add to these natural and just advantages artificial distinctions, to grant titles, gratuities, and exclusive privileges, to make the rich richer and the potent more powerful, the humble members of society-the farmers, mechanics, and laborers-who have neither the time nor the means of securing like favors to themselves, have a right to complain of the injustice of their Government. There are no necessary evils in government. Its evils exist only in its abuses. If it would confine itself to equal protection, and, as Heaven does its rains, shower its favors alike on the high and the low, the rich and the poor, it would be an unqualified blessing. In the act before me there seems to be a wide and unnecessary departure from these just principles….
Experience should teach us wisdom. Most of the difficulties our Government now encounters and most of the dangers which impend over our Union have sprung from an abandonment of the legitimate objects of Government by our national legislation, and the adoption of such principles as are embodied in this act. Many of our rich men have not been content with equal protection and equal benefits, but have besought us to make them richer by act of Congress. By attempting to gratify their desires we have in the results of our legislation arrayed section against section, interest against interest, and man against man, in a fearful commotion which threatens to shake the foundations of our Union. It is time to pause in our career to review our principles, and if possible revive that devoted patriotism and spirit of compromise which distinguished the sages of the Revolution and the fathers of our Union. If we can not at once, in justice to interests vested under improvident legislation, make our Government what it ought to be, we can at least take a stand against all new grants of monopolies and exclusive privileges, against any prostitution of our Government to the advancement of the few at the expense of the many, and in favor of compromise and gradual reform in our code of laws and system of political economy….”
– Andrew Jackson, Veto Speech Second Bank of the USA, 1832
One of my fav speeches. Complete veto speech with lots of wisdom here:
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/ajveto01.asp
It is time for good Americans to unite and do the right thing for humanity and America. What is the right thing for Americans to do?
@Snow Leopard.
There is no contradiction between hierarchy and equality in societal evolution. What Marx meant by “the unity of the human essence” was nothing else than the observation of human equality in the face of death.
The fact is that reality and hierarchy are the natural outcome of societal evolution :
1. Small bands of roaming individuals under the authority of an alpha-male were the habitual way of human life for millions of years (+- 10 to 30 individuals). In that model of group organization (society) brute force is instituting a pecking order from which equality is completely absent.
2. Small bands eventually transitioned to “the tribal model of society”. Two factors played a decisive role in this transition :
2.1. The power of mental abstraction gained by the human brain when it reached its present-day structure (the oldest remains of modern humans date some 300,000 years).
2.2. A contextual necessity, most probably the “Eemian abrupt climate warming” that occurred sometime between 130,000 and 120,000 Years ago, resulted in a rapid growth of population that destabilized the small band model of society and initiated a long period of trials and errors that gradually affirmed the new tribal model of society which everywhere on earth centers on groups of 150 individuals (average).
Why 150 ?
Research in group theory was initiated, just after 1970, by Robin Dunbar. He gave a good summary of the state of this new science, with his colleague Sosa, in this article from 2017. In short they conclude that “The differences in optimal community size may reflect the demands of different ecologies, economies and social contexts…”.
Tribes were — matriarchal — “non-power societies — governed at the unanimity — by socially equal individuals. As Dunbar and Sosa note 150 individuals gives an optimal community and their conclusions are confirmed by numerous kinds of contemporary small groupings that all naturally stabilize around the 150 number (120-180 individuals).
3. The tribal model of society was destabilized some 12,000 years ago, at the tail-end of what is called “The Younger Dryas”, when the climate warmed abruptly : the ice-cap covering north America got molten, world average temperatures increased by 5 to 7 degrees, the sea level rose by some 50 to 90 meters,… and this concluded in the climatic stability of the last 10,000 years.. Flora and fauna exploded supplying thus ample food to humans who multiplied uncontrollably and this is what destabilized the tribal model of society.
The transition, from non-power tribal societies to the power societies given by kingdoms empires and civilization, started sometime around 11,500 Before Present and lasted until around 5,000 BP.
This transition lasted thus some 6,500 to 7,000 years !
The reason for such a long time-span relates to the necessity of experimenting, through trial and error, until reaching a governing form that is able to reproduce its institutions over the long haul of many generations… This took nearly 7,000 years !
What we discover here is that humans do not go freely from societies of 150 individuals living socially equal lives to larger societies. The price to pay in larger societies is hierarchy, power, inequality, ideology, … !
What is most interesting is that for a very long time the men of power did not forget about this difficulty of reproducing their institutions. One of the measures that they instituted were “debt jubilees”. My last article was about that subject : “Debt jubilees merely treated societal symptoms … .
Debt jubilees disappeared sometime by the middle of the 1st century BC. and by Roman times this principle had been completely forgotten …
About matriarchy, you think just like the germans, england, merkel and hillary clinton. With women governing, society will be fairer! That’s what they say, but it’s a lie. With Merkel ruling, Europe and the German Saxons were taken over by unknown refugees, and social chaos broke out in Europe. France is chaotic. There is no city with 150 people! What is lacking in society today is the moral strength that women had and lost. It is the beautiful strength of the feminine. When she lost her moral strength, a woman became a second-rate man. Hierarchy in society is a fact, it brings movement. Whenever society has as its reference the Christian principles or healthy Islam, which is fraternity, charity, altruism, even imperfectly, but it certainly prospers and has cohesion and social health. We cannot stay on the fence. Any word the empire uses will be evil, even the word “democracy”.
If women had been in charge from the beginning, there would have only been 1 war in all of human history. It would have started in the paleolithic, and would still be going on today, with no one remembering what started it.
Thank you Iaodan; It is a pleasure to correspond with someone who can combine breadth of vision with a dedication to serious research. It seems like you and I are walking along different sides of the same street.
We could have a fruitful conversation about what Marx meant by the unity of the human essence but I must keep that for a later time. Please do let us all know when you have a completed book published. I would like to read it.
Re:
Orlov’s “Communities That Abide (2004):”
The problem in the US today is not just corruption by most the left leaning politicians are drug addicts – from the Clintons down. Maybe even some of the Republicans ones too – but they are more likely to be drunks.
Chemicals and corruption spells disaster.
When the opposing forces sort the current mess out there needs to a entrenched law of drug and alcohol testing of all Congress people and elected & appointed officials and civil service management, and those found taking drugs or drinking too much are fired.
The drug aspect is why many of them look crazy even before they open their mouths to say something.
And the political dynasties also have be limited.
We have a plan close to that, it has yet to be implemented.
Would be happy to help implement it.
Shall I bring the rope or will you supply it ?
No problem with rope, do you know a good undertaker?
There also needs to be an end of the mechanism for corruption – enforcing anti-trust laws to stop unnecessary amalgamations. Because BIG business can afford big bribes – smaller ones cannot.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_United_States_antitrust_law
Cross ownership of large corporations owning each other must end and de-mergers also must be implemented to also foster competition.
People like Warren Buffet and his business have engaged in substantial monopolistic practices. Thats why Berkshire has got so big and rich in the past 40 years. Price fixing mkts etc…
Amazon and Microsoft need to be looked at.
Alcohol, really? Congresscritters, Wall $treeters, and hosts of propaganda, I mean, news shows, of course, are probably amped up on stimulants such as the active ingredient of the real Coke Classic.
The Coke that changed to alcohol when you had an aspirin – I thought they changed the forumula for that in the 1960s ?
American football teams operate like Kingdoms.
One should see the rivalry between Florida State and the University of Florida.
You would think it was the Byzantines against the Persians.
Football is definitely a culture of serious, all-out rivalry, where some people bet the College Funds of their children’s future education in Vegas, or by way of a call to a bookie.
All enhanced by MSM as the ultimate distractions. Pay your taxes, and don’t focus on how wrong things have become.
That is Florida State University, in Tallahassee, Florida. The University of Florida is in Gainsville, Florida.
Anyways….lol. It’s all-out warfare.
I’d cut the people schmoozing Brian Kelly some slack because they are trying to make him feel at home so that he will work for them. Marching bands, football coach, perfect fit.
Where this psychology is real destructive is in the newsrooms. Trump invites his favorite FOX hosts, like Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, etc, into the WH to interview him, they get all giddy and he now has an acolyte for life. Trump is gone and our security state used their power of persuasion more destructively but I mention Trump because he was really good at it.
Gen Jack Keane, Daniel Hoffman, and the security state apparatus who are gutting our newsrooms, have their groupies but that is because the hosts are in awe of them, not because they are smooth operators. Our military and our spooks are our royalty. To some extent actors and sports figures but then many hold them in contempt.
People back in the day were granted land for their war efforts, today you get a big fat “thank you for your service” and nothing to pass down to the kids.
The Gulf War 1991 troops got a toxic vaccine that killed or injured most of them.
For their efforts. Thanks to Powell and H Bush.
“One of the big lies in the United States is that there is no royalty here.”
I will never forget the biography of the American industrialist family the Vanderbilts whose Matriarch of the family forced their poor daughter into a loveless marriage to a British Lord who was so broke his castles and land were returning to dust. Consuela’s mother wanted a British peerage and she got it by marrying her daughter accordingly. Don’t you find that odd that after the War of Independence and all that transpired a generation or 2 later an American family went and did this?
The hypocrisy and treason of so much that surrounds us is really quite unbelievable and so great essay and info Mr. Garlington thank you very much!
It was quite a normal thing in late Victorian and Edwardian Britain for financially strapped males of the “aristocracy” to rescue their fortunes by marrying wealthy American heiresses. Both sides got what they wanted from these arrangements: new money on the one hand, social status of the kind that money cannot buy on the other. There were then, as now, plenty of Americans who looked to the British as cultural role models. Don’t forget that at the time Britain was still a major financial and military power. The curious thing is that there was no movement the other way, i.e. wealthy American men importing upper-class English spouses.
Yes the other way may have improved things.
But American men would not have like the pomp and placitude of UK women.
Or wanted to conform to their values.
Historically it is a surprise Britain lets it military and financial power go but it has it indirectly in some ways.
Its loss started with WW1. The Romans wouldnt have.
But its decision to let the economic links with the main colonies happen when it tried to get into the Common Market, then EEC then EU which was a mistake as it could never compete with Germany particularly. Hence BREXIT. Churchill was the cause – wasnt the great statesman made out to be.
I also think there was a realization in UK that it had lost the technological edge by 1940, certainly by 1970.
To US and Germany. And also Russia was powering ahead too by 1960 – eg putting rockets into space.
The impression I got from my learning was their daughter Counseula didn’t get what she wanted at all. Her loveless marriage left her miserable her entire life. She had only her children and little else. Her mother was the only one going around with a big a smile on her face. I believe that’s called Vicarious living? Counseula i believe longed for America where her childhood was and a great point about things going the other way – not! Interesting. Regardless we are talking about American Royalty {most or many of whom were Christian} and that brooches another subject of some interest about how much of American Royalty went down with the Titanic? Some conspiracy websites like this one raises many questions:
https://www.henrymakow.com/questionssurround.html
Not one mention of the juice. End the FED and smash the billionaires.
The final determinations that work in people are nothing but money, which was long ago acquired by robbery of noble people, and who entrusted that money to their “service slaves” in order to trade. In the same God chose “special people” to entrust goodness to their service slaves so that they could trade that goodness, which destroys all other people.
The so-called American “revolution” of 1776 was led by Freemason George Washington, who was on the payroll of the Rothschild’s (who financed the “revolution” ?). All of his chief lieutenants were land and slave owners. In the Declaration of Independence the word ‘democracy’ was never mentioned. The US was created by the rich for the rich. How powerful the US aristocracy is can be seen in the assassinations of JFK, RFK and MLK. The aristocracy tolerates no real opposition.
“One of the big lies in the United States is that there is no royalty here.”
One can name a system in many ways, but its characteristics are what reveals its true nature.
When group of people is virtually unaccountable in-front the Law, while answers only to the King for the offenses among themselves is feudalism. The only advancement is that, today, this fact is not publicly advertised.
Today, royalties interact with commoners via multiple layers of proxies which makes system even more inefficient compared to open feudalism.To support such system, large military that pillage the World is necessary. For centuries it worked, now colonies are depleted or liberated. This is the root cause for present crisis in the west.
Crypto-feudalism will run on fumes (hidden resources), for some time, and than whiter and die. After number of convulsions. Hopefully, they wont pull all of us with them into Hell.
I, as a U.S. citizen, am not really all too concerned about whether the U.S.A., or any country for that matter, is a democracy or not. President Jimmy Carter confirmed that the U.S.A. stopped being a democracy long ago. All a “democracy” really does is let people of below average intellgence, crazies, and other undesirables participate in a country’s decision making process, partc. Actually, too much “democracy allowing the engagement of undesireables may be what is causing much of the political turmoil in the U.S.A. today. I’d be satisfied with a small smart set of people ruling the country who rule in the true interests of the masses for their long term future.
In the math of game theory is a scenario called “tragedy of the commons”. In it people go after their own personnal interests without regard to the collective environment. In the end everyone looses. There needs to be a group of people who are tasked to tend to the collective irregardless of the likelihood of gain or loss to any individual. Thus the whole can be maintained to the benefit of everyone. The real problem here in the U.S.A. is that no one is looking out for the collective. The small set of people, “the oligarchy”, that rules in the U.S.A. happens to be a psychotic group of individuals who are out for themselves, and are willing to trash America and the rest of the world for their short term personnal gain. These people have got to go, and need to be replaced with a more sensible, and emphatic group. Whether that is done by a democratic process, or some other way that does not matter.
Robert: You make so much sense. Are you aware that what you are advocating in terms of stable governance is pretty much exactly what the Chinese have now established?
I understand there are a lot of people in China, but given that China happens to be the world’s largest environmental pollutor at the moment, I’m not sure if China is truly looking out for the world collective either right now. I hardly call China’s recent economic expansion stable governance. The world’s major economies seem to be caught up in a crazy global competition requiring ever greater expenditures of energy and material resources thereby underming the very environment which all mankind and life on this planet depends on. Should China find a way to step away from this non-sensical competition, realign its manufacturing to be significantly less energy intensive and less resource demanding; i.e. put the world on an enviromentally sustainable path, China will certainly establish itself as the world’s leader. I hope they will, because right now China is probably the only major country in the world that could pull it off.
Robert, I don’t understand. By which metrics do you say that China is the world’s largest environmental pollutor.
The world bank’s latest numbers are as follows:
World Bank data released by the World Bank in March show the per-capita carbon emissions of China was 6.4 metric tons per citizen, 15th in the world, much fewer than major developed countries including the US (17.6), Canada (15.7), Australia (14.9) and South Korea (13.3). In 2018, the average CO2 emissions of high-income countries and regions was 10.3 metric tons per capita, while for China was 7.4.
I read a bunch of Chinese data and they are working hard but on various levels, soil degradation, reforestation, cleanup of sensitive areas and they are hitting all their targets. http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/zt_120777/ydqhbh/202111/t20211117_10449143.htm
Just a few weeks ago they also launched a whizz bang new satellite with an updated sensing system in order to be able to measure how they progress (and perhaps how others lie.)
As I mentioned, China has a lot of people. That makes them number one although their per Capita emissions is low. The big uptick in world carbon emssions came about when China expanded their export manufacturing; the U.S.A. being the largest consumer thereof. I would not say it is not all of China’s fault, but this out of control world competition in export manufacturing is what needs to stop. China is in the position to rein it in. Kudos to China for what they are doing for the environment.
The United States is occupied the International Private Bankers, who have used the levers of government and power of the media to distort the traditional, religious ethos of the nation into a mixed and corrupt amalgamation of false freedoms and promises which were only fashioned to secure and entrench their control. The athletes, movie stars, politicians are just decorations on a demonic cake. They are sold as modern day fairy tale “Horatio Algers” who have tamed the system to reap all its rewards and benefits; rather than manufactured entities to keep the massive hopeful that with a lucky break they too can climb the highest to western nirvana. But it is all a charade, a façade a front that hides the ugly monster behind the curtain that has devoured a nation and is eager to devour a planet.
Dead right amigo.
There is a difference between nobility of character and the egoistic nobility of egos.
Pretty obvious, that, if there ever was any nobility of character in the North American culture that became the United States, it quickly transformed into the nobility of egos, at least as far as the leadership class is concerned.
Indeed, any time someone shows nobility of character, they’re probably marked for removal. That is, assassinated.
I forget, maybe George Bernard Shaw said that America passed from barbarianism to decadence without passing through civilization.