Conflating the ancient and diverse continental civilization of Europe with a modern institution, the EU, is leading us gravely astray, Václav Klaus has been pointing out for years.
I would quibble about "“communism was wholly discredited in Czechoslovakia after May 1968”.
Incompetence and, perhaps, cultural maladaptation were discredited. China has shown that a traditionally receptive, communalist culture with a competent bureaucracy like China's can make it work better than any system in history.
Thanks for the kind words! I totally agree. To be sure, those are his sentiments, not mind. Need I make that more explicit?
Speaking very generally, I get the strong sense that people like Klaus whose lodestar is Cold War anti-communism and libertarianism simply cannot grasp that socialism might work in countries like China, Vietnam, and Cuba. The contradiction is simply too great.
I find it fascinating the way Mao (et al) merged the traditional culture of China (Confucianism + Daoism) with Marxism. If you haven't written about that much on your Substack, I hope you will!
Do you mean attacks on religious belief or attacks on the Church? The Bolsheviks suppressed the Orthodox Church because it was profoundly reactionary, ie, allied with the monarchy and aristocracy and hence posed a threat to the newly founded socialist state. Later, during WWII, Roosevelt pressured Stalin to rescind his suppression of the Church, and he did. One may not approve of the suppression of the Church, but one must admit that it in the past the commingling of spiritual and secular power has more often benefited the few than the many.
Vauclav saw immediately that the 'climate crisis' was nonsense. He had the integrity to speak his mind. The Euro has done the southern Europeans no favours.
Yeah, the whole net-zero thing is a giant scam. Green New Steal, we call it :) That isn't to say some kind of rational long-term post-carbon planning isn't needed, but this ain't that.
Since the euro was introduced, Italy has had ZERO growth; it has in effect been in a state of permanent stagnation and austerity for twenty years. How much longer will the Italians put up with this intolerable situation?
Completely agree. I would only add that the fascism we are heading toward will obviously not look exactly like the fascism of the 1930s. Sheldon Wolin coined the term "inverted totalitarianism" to describe a system where the state serves corporate powers rather than the opposite, so as it was back then. Chris Hedges interviewed Wolin shortly before he died; highly recommended if you have the chance: https://presearch.com/search?q=youtube%20chris%20hedges%20sheldon%20wolin
Wonderful piece! Many thanks.
I would quibble about "“communism was wholly discredited in Czechoslovakia after May 1968”.
Incompetence and, perhaps, cultural maladaptation were discredited. China has shown that a traditionally receptive, communalist culture with a competent bureaucracy like China's can make it work better than any system in history.
Thanks for the kind words! I totally agree. To be sure, those are his sentiments, not mind. Need I make that more explicit?
Speaking very generally, I get the strong sense that people like Klaus whose lodestar is Cold War anti-communism and libertarianism simply cannot grasp that socialism might work in countries like China, Vietnam, and Cuba. The contradiction is simply too great.
I find it fascinating the way Mao (et al) merged the traditional culture of China (Confucianism + Daoism) with Marxism. If you haven't written about that much on your Substack, I hope you will!
Good idea! Thanks.
I worry that you omit the attacks against belief in God, as remarkably demonstrated, by the communists and now the liberals.
Do you mean attacks on religious belief or attacks on the Church? The Bolsheviks suppressed the Orthodox Church because it was profoundly reactionary, ie, allied with the monarchy and aristocracy and hence posed a threat to the newly founded socialist state. Later, during WWII, Roosevelt pressured Stalin to rescind his suppression of the Church, and he did. One may not approve of the suppression of the Church, but one must admit that it in the past the commingling of spiritual and secular power has more often benefited the few than the many.
Vauclav saw immediately that the 'climate crisis' was nonsense. He had the integrity to speak his mind. The Euro has done the southern Europeans no favours.
Yeah, the whole net-zero thing is a giant scam. Green New Steal, we call it :) That isn't to say some kind of rational long-term post-carbon planning isn't needed, but this ain't that.
Since the euro was introduced, Italy has had ZERO growth; it has in effect been in a state of permanent stagnation and austerity for twenty years. How much longer will the Italians put up with this intolerable situation?
I liked this article, but i will go further I see federalism as the steps to fascism
Completely agree. I would only add that the fascism we are heading toward will obviously not look exactly like the fascism of the 1930s. Sheldon Wolin coined the term "inverted totalitarianism" to describe a system where the state serves corporate powers rather than the opposite, so as it was back then. Chris Hedges interviewed Wolin shortly before he died; highly recommended if you have the chance: https://presearch.com/search?q=youtube%20chris%20hedges%20sheldon%20wolin