Incisive and accurate re: liberalism and communism as twin heresies separated at birth. A few thoughts on the tragedy of WWI: War fervor in England manifested as a nationalistic frenzy. I understand it was the same in other combatant nations. The aristocratic caste led this "mass delusion." This calls into question any identification of national aristocracies with pre-liberal value systems. By this point the Western aristocracies must already have been thoroughly infected with crypto-religious faith in the Enlightenment project, with the exception of Austria-Hungary--the one protagonist wiped off the face of the globe in the aftermath. The tragedy, perhaps, resulted from each national aristocracy's fervent belief that THEY were the anointed apostles of the eschaton. War as an escalation of jostling for colonial influence and goods--bringing it all back home to the fields of Flanders? This dovetails with the military reality of the arms race between Wilhelmine Germany and England... which continued through the end of WWII and then morphed into the Cold War.
Now / still / again we find ourselves in an arms race vs a rival center of the great Enlightenment heresy. (That's all the AI hype is really about: better weapons systems.) I disagree that China is uninterested in the LIO. I suspect they see themselves as a better leader for it, and they may be right, given the CCP's advantage of a realpolitik-based outlook unencumbered by lip service to human rights. At any rate let's all pray that the global financial system collapses first. Better a second 1929 than a second 1914.
Very well written, insightful and it makes complex issues understandable. Thank you for your thoughts.
Rare as they are, ha ha... but thank you.
Incisive and accurate re: liberalism and communism as twin heresies separated at birth. A few thoughts on the tragedy of WWI: War fervor in England manifested as a nationalistic frenzy. I understand it was the same in other combatant nations. The aristocratic caste led this "mass delusion." This calls into question any identification of national aristocracies with pre-liberal value systems. By this point the Western aristocracies must already have been thoroughly infected with crypto-religious faith in the Enlightenment project, with the exception of Austria-Hungary--the one protagonist wiped off the face of the globe in the aftermath. The tragedy, perhaps, resulted from each national aristocracy's fervent belief that THEY were the anointed apostles of the eschaton. War as an escalation of jostling for colonial influence and goods--bringing it all back home to the fields of Flanders? This dovetails with the military reality of the arms race between Wilhelmine Germany and England... which continued through the end of WWII and then morphed into the Cold War.
Now / still / again we find ourselves in an arms race vs a rival center of the great Enlightenment heresy. (That's all the AI hype is really about: better weapons systems.) I disagree that China is uninterested in the LIO. I suspect they see themselves as a better leader for it, and they may be right, given the CCP's advantage of a realpolitik-based outlook unencumbered by lip service to human rights. At any rate let's all pray that the global financial system collapses first. Better a second 1929 than a second 1914.