There is no record of a dying civilization reassessing its values (or lack of values, in our case) and altering its trajectory. Whether the type of moral order that Professor Barber has in mind actually exists, or might someday exist somewhere on the planet, is certainly worth debating. But what is not worth debating is whether such a moral order might make an appearance on American soil. History is about many things, but one thing it is not about is miracles.Counterpunch
The Moral Order: A Dying Civilization: A Dying Civilization
Morris Berman | Historian
(h/t Kevin Fathi via email)
A thoughtful article but Berman's claim that "There is no record of a dying civilization reassessing its values (or lack of values, in our case) and altering its trajectory" would seem to go a bit too far.
ReplyDeleteSome historical examples of value re-assessment could be the French Revolution, the revolution of 1848, and the radical movements of the 1960s. In each case, those promoting value reassessment lost and the values of bourgeois capitalism continued. But doesn't it demonstrate the existence of important forces within our "civilization" seeking to drastically change its values? (Is that not the purpose of this website?)
Maybe Berman's key point can be reduced to the observation that once a group gains control of the state and can impose its ideology on the population, it's extremely difficult to overthrow it.
Jim
@ Jim
ReplyDeleteI thought that Berman's view was a bit too pessimistic. But this is short summary of his recently published book, Why America Failed: The Roots of Imperial Decline (2011), which I have not read, so I don't know his whole rationale.
I do agree in general, however, that neoliberalism is a dead end, and it has become the governing American narrative into which Americans are inculcated "religiously."