When we study history, it isn’t difficult to see repeating patterns. Not that events or eras actually recur, but–humans being what we are–contending impulses and beliefs about the proper way to construct a society often create situations that look familiar. Sometimes, eerily so.
The other day, I was reading an essay on Spinoza, and I was struck by the following paragraphs:
Much of Spinoza’s philosophy was composed in response to the precarious political situation of the Dutch Republic in the mid-17th century. In the late 1660s, the period of ‘True Freedom’ – with the liberal and laissez-faire regents dominating city and provincial governments – was under threat by the conservative ‘Orangist’ faction (so-called because its partisans favoured a return of centralised power to the Prince of Orange) and its ecclesiastic allies. Spinoza was afraid that the principles of toleration and secularity enshrined in the founding compact of the United Provinces of the Netherlands were being eroded in the name of religious conformity and political and social orthodoxy. In 1668, his friend and fellow radical Adriaan Koerbagh was convicted of blasphemy and subversion. He died in his cell the next year. In response, Spinoza composed his ‘scandalous’ Theological-Political Treatise, published to great alarm in 1670.
Spinoza’s views on God, religion and society have lost none of their relevance. At a time when Americans seem willing to bargain away their freedoms for security, when politicians talk of banning people of a certain faith from our shores, and when religious zealotry exercises greater influence on matters of law and public policy, Spinoza’s philosophy – especially his defence of democracy, liberty, secularity and toleration – has never been more timely. In his distress over the deteriorating political situation in the Dutch Republic, and despite the personal danger he faced, Spinoza did not hesitate to boldly defend the radical Enlightenment values that he, along with many of his compatriots, held dear.
The ability of our own era’s “Prince of Orange” to capture the GOP nomination is evidence that the assault on Enlightenment values is alive and well these many centuries after Spinoza.
Whether enough of us are willing to “boldly defend” those ideals–which lie at the very heart of America’s constitutional system–remains to be seen.
Polybius (200-118 BC) wrote about the cycle of government and its natural progression over time from Rulers by Fiat, to Oligarchy and then Democracy. We may pick our starting point, but to him the cycle continued. Below is a quote, a brief summary really, of his thought. I think of it often when I consider today’s political landscape.
“Such is the cycle of political revolution, the law of nature according to which constitutional change, are transformed, and finally revert to their original form. Anyone who has a clear grasp of this process might perhaps go wrong, when he speaks of the future of a state, in this forecast of the time it will take for the process of change to take place, but so long as his judgment is not distorted by animosity or envy he will very seldom be mistaken as to the stage of growth or decline which a given community has reached, or as to the form into which it will change. Above all, in the case of the Roman state this method of examination will give us the clearest insight into the process whereby it was formed, grew, and reached the zenith of its achievement as well as the changes for the worse which will follow these. For this state, if any ever did (as I have already pointed out), takes its foundation and its growth from natural causes, and will pass through a natural evolution to its decay. . .”
Care to guess which cycle we are in today? Scary.
Sheila,
“Whether enough of us are willing to “boldly defend” those ideals–which lie at the very heart of America’s constitutional system–remains to be seen.”
I believe it’s there.
The following is from “The Revolution of Nihilism: Warning to the West” by Hermann Rauschning, Alliance Book Corporation, New York, 1939:
“The dictatorship will be overcome without doctrine—not in the nihilist sense but the reverse, the readiness to accept and incorporate all that is constructive and creative. There is beginning to grow up what i might call the ETHICAL FRONDE. Against this fronde the totalitarian policy of National Socialism will come to grief. A state, a society, a nation, even the smallest community, has no lasting quality if it is without an ethical basis.” [pages 117-118]
“And the system reveals an insuperable weakness—its artificiality , which could not withstand any serious test. Not one of the tasks of national renewal has found a genuine solution capable of enduring. In every field substitutes for genuine solutions have been made to serve. In some of the most elementary tasks the leaders have clearly not even realized the flimsy character of their work. The easy victories of National Socialism, which has never had to face any powerful opposition, have not only given it a feeling of irresistible strength but prevented its strength from being effectively tested.” [page 116].
Doesn’t this sound awfully familiar?
We as a species have two major impediments to enlightenment: We have not evolved such that we are still basically selfish & prone to violence. Secondly, our lifespans are so short that we “forget” past events that are destined to recur. (Think Easter Island & the Myan civilizations that over populated & exhausted their resources. Or, the rise & demise of, the easiest example, Hitler)
Wray,
Polybius (200-118 BC) wrote about the cycle of government and its natural progression over time from Rulers by Fiat, to Oligarchy and then Democracy. Care to guess which cycle we are in today? Scary.
This is no guess. After 45 years of monitoring the deep systemic forces, I believe we’re somewhere between oligarchy and democracy. Whether we move toward oligarchy or democracy in the U.S. will be determined in the next few months. The jury is still out on this one.
J. Michael,
I’m sure you understand that, ultimately, you have to “blow the whistle— JUST at the right time.”
It seems that the human race is destined to repeat the cycle of seeking power over others through aggression as long as we continue to exist. We don’t learn from history and therefore it continues to repeat.
The few intelligent people ‘with the ability to recognize when self-serving elites are seeking and accumulating even more power over the masses’ unfortunately do not seem able to convince those masses that they are losing what little power they have or had over their own lives.
We never learn.
Marv, I believe that we have become much more of a plutocracy over the past fifty years and the speed towards plutocratic power has increased dramatically in the past 10-15 years.
Nancy,
The “speed toward plutocratic power” is now increasing at an exponential rate. Trump is forcing the issue. One important benefit that we have is that he is doing it out in the open.
All attempted coups eventually have to come out in the open. In this case, he’s forced the issue prematurely.
Our only hope is to take advantage of the present situation. There is no time to waste. This is the most favorable time. You can’t wait for the conventions or the November elections. Then it will be too late.
Forgive me for injecting something far less serious into an otherwise serious and excellent discussion, but if you have Netflix, there is a very good movie that takes place in the Netherlands in the time period you mention and features the political battle between Orangists and Republicans (their term) as a significant subplot. It’s called Admiral
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt2544766/
While it’s hard to argue with professional thinkers like quoted here another perspective is that always humanity is culturally adapting to a continuously changing environment.
We are facing massive environmental upheaval. Besides the new real climate that we are choosing to create other “climates” are also changing.
Religion is losing its grip on society as there is less unknown that requires Faith to explain. The majority in America is becoming inevitably a minority. We have reached population wise the limits of our share of the Universe to sustain us. We’ve reached the limits of extreme wealth distribution. The Middle East is returning to their historical position of trying to survive on worthless land. Education has failed to keep up with the need. Entertainment has become ubiquitous. Computers and container multi mode shipping have eliminated the possibility of local markets and now everything is global. However we’ve failed to globalize government.
Massive change is upon us forcing us to change but into what? That’s what culture must answer- into what?
Marv; the following quote from your comments may be true but…BUT…if Trump becomes president what must we suffer, how long must we suffer and what will be left of America and Americans by the time thinking people “…incorporate all that is constructive and creative.”? When “What goes around comes around” takes centuries, people (Trump followers) fight only for what appears to be immediate gratification for THEIR wants. As my 16 year old grandson pointed out a few weeks ago; Trumps followers see a quick solution to their view of problems but will be forced to accept the war(s) Trump wants to declare. Millions at this time are unknowingly throwing away their freedom and the rights of entire groups of people with both hands to put our own “Prince of Orange” into the White House primarily to oust that Black man. Who will be left to fight, what will be left to fight with…or fight for?
“The dictatorship will be overcome without doctrine—not in the nihilist sense but the reverse, the readiness to accept and incorporate all that is constructive and creative.”
Pete,
“Massive change is upon us forcing us to change but into what? That’s what culture must answer- into what?”
But what about the sociological implications? As you have mentioned before that’s not your forte. How can you effect any positive change if the socio/political situation “goes to hell.”
First things first.
This lament is as old as mankind. In my favorite version, Pete Seeger asked, “When will they ever learn?”
All,
Good discussion & perceptions. We have before us an unknown. Not just the localized Trump issue. World wide communication is enlightening the underprivileged who heretofore were isolated physically & mentally. Now we are moving into an age of communication unprecedented since Gutenberg invented the printing press. That contributed to the Rennaisance. What we will get with the Internet is unknown but the ach & impact will extend far beyond the parochialism of Trump.
JoAnn,
You’re reading me wrong. It’s my fault. I’m for stopping Trump from becoming the President. That’s my aim. And I believe he can only be stopped if the Tea Party is discredited before both the Republican and Democratic conventions convene in July.
Trump can’t be stopped at THIS POINT IN TIME by any Democrat named Clinton or Sanders. Trump’s HORSE is the Tea Party. That’s his “Achilles heel.” If he loses his HORSE then he will become “fair game” for either Clinton or Sanders.
I’m confident I can take out his “political horse.” I haven’t missed a “shot” before. That’s why I was asked to be a featured speaker at the Sun Tzu “Art of War” Conference in Nashville back at the end of February.
We all have different capabilities. I will admit that it’s very hard to understand mine since no one else has it.
Alfred Lord Tennyeson wrote, “The old order changeth yielding place to new And God fulfills himself in many ways Lest one good custom should corrupt the world. ” History tells us greed and power are sought by many a person with disregard for others. Trump is a case in point.
Sheila: I refer you to another example of a voice from the past whose words could have been talking about current events. Google Martin Luther King Jr’s sermon from 1959 entitled,
“Tough Mind and Tender Heart.” Could he have been foreseeing the political scene as we know it today? Or, has nothing changed since 1959?
Marvin. My point is that first things have come. The fact that the environment to which we had adapted went away. We are hanging and must find a new culture to work within the new environment. What we come up with and settle on will be our response and at the moment knowbody knows what it will be.
I’m hoping for more functional.
Marc, when may we expect you to take the shot that takes down Trump’s Tea Party horse? I’m intrigued and hopeful.
Oops, typo. I am referring to Marv, not Marc.
Wayne,
“Marv, when may we expect you to take the shot that takes down Trump’s Tea Party horse? I’m intrigued and hopeful.”
How about this afternoon. Like in the movie “Independence Day” (1996) starring Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith, you first have to destroy the protective shield surrounding the SPEARHEAD of the MOVEMENT created by the local media, more specifically in this case—The Florida Times-Union. That might take a while. But we have two months to finish the FULL mission.
After destroying the protective shield, another movie that is an excellent metaphor or analogy is the “Battle of the Bulge” starring Henry Fonda. As in the movie, you must then take action against the SPEARHEAD of the MOVEMENT, which in our case is NO LONGER PROTECTED, and more specifically, the leader of the spearhead— PETER RUMMEL who operates out of Jacksonville, the location of the spearhead. If the spearhead is a vital node, a successful engagement will set off a “chain reaction” or “cascading effect” within the underlying system of the MOVEMENT.
As I have mentioned before, we’re ONLY dealing with the “stage-managed” re-creation of the Nazi hatred in Germany by GORDON McLENDON [ I was in-house General Counsel for the Mclendon Corporation] and BUNKER HUNT. All we really need now is a “stage-managed” antidote for this one, which is called THE TRUTH.
As I have mentioned before in this Blog, months before the TEA PARTY was created I had warned in the June 30, 2008, edition of The Nation that Barak Obama would be facing a dangerous “ICEBERG” if elected President.
All,
We’re still preaching to the choir. Our sermon is an excellent one for sure. How do we reach the gazillions of lemmings who are leaping off the cliff to follow a crazy man? They don’t read or listen to what we read and listen to. Their focus is on hate radio and Fox noise. We all may pay dearly for it. What exactly is it that we need to do…and fast?
America one time during it’s formation years had Thomas Paine, who was considered a founding philosopher of the Revolution. Paine began to critique rather harshly and deservedly the power of Religion over the intellect he was turned on.
The Salem witch trials 1692-93 were contemporaneous with Spinzoa and only 100 years before Thomas Paine. Religious authority could during the witch trials supersede or work in conjunction with Civil Authority.
Even today in the 21st Century people in various parts of the world people can be condemned to death for apostasy, or just being the wrong religion. Large parts of our world do not have freedom of religion. Religious Police can enforce secular and often draconian penalties.
“All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.”
― Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason
Betty, you have your feet squarely on the ground especially when you write “We’re still preaching to the choir. Our sermon is an excellent one for sure. How do we reach the gazillions of lemmings who are leaping off the cliff to follow a crazy man? They don’t read or listen to what we read and listen to. Their focus is on hate radio and Fox noise. We all may pay dearly for it. What exactly is it that we need to do…and fast?”
I suspect the majority of US voters (from both sides of the political aisle) are not ‘people of words/letters’, are not ‘intellectuals’ (whatever that means), and are not acquainted with the various schools of philosophical thought. I’d think the Democrat party might consider, seriously consider returning to being ‘the party of the people’ as FDR recognized so well.
Most folks, whether Democrat or Republican, are more interested in receiving their paychecks than in religious doctrine or special interest identity politics.
Whether enough of us are willing to “boldly defend” those ideals–which lie at the very heart of America’s constitutional system–remains to be seen.
I would take this post and specifically the last/above sentence more seriously if the folks on this forum didn’t support an administration that has come down hard on whistle-blowers. More so than any other preceding administration.
Speaking of historical perspectives..
Vietnam —-> Iraq
We have not learned a thing. Blind faith in/of leadership seems to be a recurring theme in history.
BSH,
Thanks! Whatever it is that we need to do, and however it is that we plan to do it, we need to get busy. We Dems are well known for shooting ourselves in the foot. The fractured Republicans are unifying while we are coming apart at the seams. It’s time to get our act together and get moving in a fast hurry.
Meh. Before we decide we have to overcome the results of democracy, perhaps we should ask whether the people deserve any better.
As we are in a new world environment the solutions that worked before no longer will. My understanding of history is that it’s not unusual for situations like we’re in to devolve into extremes. Thus we have right wing extremists like Rubio and Cruz vying with left wing extremists like Bernie and Fascist extremists like Trump all offering to be saviors. ” I’m your only hope” which frightened people flock to like the lifeboats on the Titanic.
As safety is by far our number one priority when frightened, and frightening people are the easiest thing to brain wash folks into, and with extremists all hoping to turn our chaos into their power, what we have is to be expected.
Our choice is who wins us over.
I’m hoping for moderation to triumph. Steady as she goes. It pulled us out of the valley of Bush and so I see no evidence that it won’t continue to lead us out of the current chaos of the Universe evolving around us.
Third term Obama would have been perfect but that has been denied us by the 1952 electorate.
We have to accept the next best closest thing.
The ship is out of the shoals and back on course. We need to make good our promises in Paris last year. We need to build on our health care progress. We need to continue progress out of baby sitting the Middle East. We need to work hard on education. We need to restore Congress and the Supreme Court back to functional servants of we the people. We need to put the NRA and Evangelicals and fossil fuel companies back into perspective and focus on the greater good again.
We can if we don’t panic.
Betty,
“We’re still preaching to the choir. Our sermon is an excellent one for sure. How do we reach the gazillions of lemmings who are leaping off the cliff to follow a crazy man?
You must PROVE to them that they’re “LEAPING OFF THE CLIFF to follow a CRAZY man who is leading an even CRAZIER movement. That truth is the antidote.
We have to tell the lemmings who are about ready to jump off the cliff not to do it because the truth is that Trump is a scare-monger, among other things. The promises he is making are not his to make and he will not deliver them if elected. A president is not elected dictator; he has both congressional and constitutional restraints, and, ultimately, judicial restraints. The fundamental fact is that Trump doesn’t know what he is talking about, though he blusters away as though he does. When the electorate awakens and he is disastrously defeated this fall, the Republican Party will never be the same and will, in my opinion, have to call a grand conclave to set forth what they believe and see if what they come up with avoids failing as a party as their predecessor Whigs failed in 1854.
Gerald,
Good points.
Right, Gerald and Marv. It’s time for action.
I ran across another example of “The Circle of Political Life” overnight. Why TCM channel chose to run the movie, “George Wallace” from 3:00 to 6:00 a.m., rather than during prime time when it would have the most viewers, could be a political statement in itself.
While many of us have been busily comparing Trump to Hitler, which is a warranted comparison, we have forgotten our own good-old-boy George Wallace. While Trump hasn’t yet been as blatant as Wallace; I could see him using the same overt tactics if elected president – when he is given the authority to pull out all the stops. Should that happen; who could order in the National Guard to attempt to control him and his determination to separate the races? There is no “one doorway” where he could make his stand to prevent his unwanted people from entering the country. And remember, Wallace failed in his attempt after much posturing and blustering – and who postures and blusters louder, longer and with more vengeance than Trump? And how many lives were lost and/or destroyed during his violent attempts to preserve segregation during his administration? Another time when the world was watching this country use racism against our own people, led by a loud-mouth bigot.