01-05-2018, 08:38 PM
(01-05-2018, 05:34 PM)nebraska Wrote: When a nation goes down, or a society perishes, one condition may always be found; they forgot where they came from. They lost sight of what had brought them along.
There is truth in that if you are conservative. A progressive would say a society that failed likely did not adapt to modern conditions clung too tightly to old structures. I look at hereditary monachies and communists and say the did not fail but could not compete with modern industrial democracies. They were just dated.
I call myself a Whig in that I see nigh on inevitable growth and change, but I most often side with the progressives. I see history through that lens. This does not mean I see conservatives as stupid or wrong, or any of the other insults feely available. Humans just cling to their worldviews. They are often unable to listen to anything that competes.
Eric the Green is as progressive as they come. I flame at him too.
I view elites clinging to power as the common fatal flaw in human cultures (groups of peole who share similar perspectives). The old nobility saw the ownership of land and military power as central. They held power for about as long as that remained true, but fell when industrial influluence and power became more key. Communism became obsolete as membership in the Party defined their elite... Party members. They ruled for strongmen and the Party too much, to little for the benefit if the People or to compete with other nations. Thus, they too fell. Their flaw was in not working for the benefit of the People.
In America, the major crises each solved a major problem confronting society at the time. This is today not rural vs urban or conservative vs progressive. They are each half right, and should seek to avoid using government to impose their solutions and values on the other. The real problem is elite control of the government. The government works for a few, not for the interests of the many. As a result, we cannot compete with nations that prioritize otherwise.
I do not argue against conservative or progressive, but would rather adapt the strength of each and use it against the elites.