Monday, August 31, 2020

The Dissolution of Liberal Universalism — Alastair Crooke


Occasionally, Alastair Crooke hits one out of the park and this post is one of those. He reiterates a point that Alexander Dugin ("Putin's brain" NOT) makes foundational in The Fourth Political Theory. He argues that the twentieth century was about fascism and communism, and that that dichotomy no longer exists. Presently, the historical dialectic has shifted to the conflict between liberalism and traditionalism, which will occupy at least the first part of the twenty-first century, as civilizational states assert themselves against liberalism as a homogenizing force based on 18th century Enlightenment European values and ideology that negates the traditions of civilizational states.

I think he is essentially correct about this historical conflict between liberalism and traditionalism, but I disagree that fascism and communism no longer exist as key players on the world stage. Fascism is again on the rise within liberalism as a paradox of liberalism, the illiberalism of demanding that all conform to an "exceptional" way of life. Communism remains an ideal, attempts to actualize it prematurely having failed owing to the level of collective consciousness not being elevated enough to sustain it.

Whatever, Alastair Crooke has put his finger on an underlying dynamic that is shaping world events. While he doesn't mention Alexander Dugin, he does cite Samuel Huntington.
In a way, these woke generations are paraphrasing Samuel Huntington, who writing in his Clash of Civilizations, asserted that “the concept of a universal civilization helps justify Western cultural dominance of other societies and the need for those societies to ape Western practices and institutions.” Universalism is the ideology of the West for confronting other cultures. Naturally, everyone outside the West, Huntington argued, should see the idea of one world as a threat.
There are two sides (at least) in a dialectical argument. I am not taking either side, and personally am happy to see the "conversation" taking place not only intellectually but also in history. I also think that is a transformational process that will extend over perhaps hundreds of years. 

Strategic Culture Foundation
The Dissolution of Liberal Universalism
Alastair Crooke | founder and director of the Conflicts Forum, and former British diplomat and senior figure in British intelligence and in European Union diplomacy

See also

Open Culture
The Story of Fascism: Rick Steves’ Documentary Helps Us Learn from the Hard Lessons of the 20th Century

Medium
We Don’t Know How to Warn You Any Harder. America is Dying.
Umair Haque

Counterpunch
The Empty Theater
Kenn Orphan

7 comments:

Andrew Anderson said...

Communism remains an ideal, attempts to actualize it prematurely having failed owing to the level of collective consciousness not being elevated enough to sustain it. Tom Hickey

Yeah,yeah, blame the people and not the flawed (and repeatedly failed) system you'd impose on them.

Communism is not called a Christian heresy for nothing, Tom. So you'd do well to find out WHY that is.

For one thing, "From each according to their ability, to each according to their need" is NOT according to the Bible - manna gathering during the Exodus notwithstanding, being a temporary expedient while living in the wilderness.

Rather, per the Bible:
1) Justice, including rights for the poor, e.g. gleaning rights, and roughly equal land ownership is REQUIRED
AND
2) Mercy is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Also, a system that requires perfect people is stupid when what is needed is a system that PERFECTS people as much as they can be on Earth.

Tom Hickey said...

44 All the believers were together and had everything in common.
45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.

ACTS 2: 44-45 (NRSV)

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.

ACTS 4:32 (NRSV)

5But a man named Ananias, with the consent of his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property; 2with his wife’s knowledge, he kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3‘Ananias,’ Peter asked, ‘why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? 4While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, were not the proceeds at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to us* but to God!’ 5Now when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard of it. 6The young men came and wrapped up his body,* then carried him out and buried him.

After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

Peter said to her, ‘Tell me whether you and your husband sold the land for such and such a price.’ And she said, ‘Yes, that was the price.’

Then Peter said to her, ‘How is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test?

Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.’

Immediately she fell down at his feet and died. When the young men came in they found her dead, so they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

ACTS 5:7-10(NRSV)

Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us.

For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you,
and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you.

This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate.

For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.

For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work.

Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.

Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.

Take note of those who do not obey what we say in this letter; have nothing to do with them, so that they may be ashamed.

Do not regard them as enemies, but warn them as believers.

2 THESSALONIANS 3:6-15 (NRSV)

"The socialist principle,'"He who does not work shall not eat', is already realized; the other socialist principle, 'An equal amount of products for an equal amount of labor', is also already realized. But this is not yet communism, and it does not yet abolish 'bourgeois law', which gives unequal individuals, in return for unequal (really unequal) amounts of labor, equal amounts of products [economic rent]. This is a "defect" according to Marx, but it is unavoidable in the first phase of communism; for if we are not to indulge in utopianism, we must not think that having overthrown capitalism people will at once learn to work for society without any rules of law.

V. I. Lenin, "The First Phase of Communist Society" Chapter 5, Section 3

Maybe Marx and Lenin read the Bible? If they did, they missed that the early followers of Jesus (not yet "Christians" in the contemporary sense) were spirit-filled. Doesn't work otherwise. Actually, many early communists were similarly inspired but the larger community was not able to maintain this level.

Peter Pan said...

Authoritarian models are back in vogue.

Andrew Anderson said...

44 All the believers were together and had everything in common.
45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.


is to be taken with

Peter asked, ‘why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, were not the proceeds at your disposal?How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to us* but to God!’

The sin of Ananias and his wife was LYING, not withholding part of the sale price of the land.

Also, it should be noted that Paul was often collecting for the poor saints in Jerusalem who might well have remembered this in their zeal:

Do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself? Ecclesiastes 7:16

Andrew Anderson said...

Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.

This is not to be taken as an excuse for unjust wage-slavery since NORMALLY people would have family farms and businesses to work in per the Biblical model.

And that's a problem with MMT; it would perpetuate unjust wage-slavery, not abolish it.

Matt Franko said...

It didn’t work Tom... make an adjustment....

Matt Franko said...

Tom you’re attempting the same dialectic synthesis as the Judeo-Christian synthesis dominionist nut jobs trying to foment WW3 in Israel so “Jesus comes to save the world!” or wtf...