Fascism is on the ballot

[Eric the Green]

(10-18-2020, 08:06 AM)Isoko Wrote: Eric, 

First of all I wouldn't put Brexit in the same camp as LePen or Trump. What we have to understand about Brexit is that it was a project a long time in the making. Eurosceptic points of view had been present in Britain ever since Britain joined the then EEC in the 1970s. It only started to really gain political traction in the 1990s when the EEC became the EU. This is the time when UKIP and Nigel Farage started to get going with him first becoming an MEP in 1999.

It was never a populist revolt. It was more of an economic revolt actually. In the 70s and 80s, Britain actually was profiting from EEC membership but eventually as time went on, the EU started to become more of a burden. Britain was putting more in and not getting the returns out of it like it once did. I think the first revolt was when Britain refused to join the Euro for economic reasons. Then it just sort of spiraled out of control after that.

I think if Trump never happened, Brexit eventually would have. It was always on the cards. It had been set in stone decades before. I do forsee Britain having some economic wobbles with Brexit to begin with but then the economy really starts to pick up there and improve.

I do think that green revolution we both see happening and I predict will start in Britain to begin with, I think that will be Brexit inspired as Britain suddenly has enough money to put into agricultural subsidies that it was losing with EU membership. 

Secondly, in regards to America and Europe, it is very much part of what I would call "energy of the place." what we have to understand is that all territories produce a special energy that influence decisions on how people live their lives and how societies develop. It is a very esoteric concept but when you can feel the energy, you understand what it is about.

America has a very wild energy that demands to be free. This I would explain is why America has always had a long attachment to Democracy. Individualism is very much prized in America. This also explains why secession usually starts to rear its head every century. Sometimes it works out like with the American revolt against Britain. Sometimes it fails like with the Confederacy vs the Union. But it is that yearning to break away and start anew that is the fundamental process of America. 

Europe has a completely different energy to it and so does Russia. Europe is a continent of extremes. Extreme forms of government, extreme ideas, extreme tensions. Extreme is always the case in Europe. With the exception of Britain that follows more America (and always has) Europe truly is what I call the continent of the mad men. Lots of wars, lots of revolutions, its energy still lingers. Expect caesarism to pick up there and eventually take power. It is an inevitably until the people decide to go extreme once again.

As for Russia - the energy here is one of Sovietism. Everyone living together for the greater good. Everyone pulling together for the greater good. It was there before the Soviet Union and it is this energy that will eventually birth a new culture. Even the youth revolts in Russia still bear this same energy, "for the greater good."

Try it Eric sometime. Try to feel the energy of various places and you will know what I'm talking about.

I definitely agree about the energy of different places, and know what you mean. And times, too.

I don't agree about Brexit, but argument seems useless. It is part of the stoked nationalism of today, and shares much in common with Trumpism. It was narrowly approved because of the refugee crisis, and there should have been a revote as many people wanted. Half of the UK wanted to remain in the union. The movement toward union is the one I saw as what things were moving toward; this movement is itself is quite recent. But those more nationalistic such as you may be, would naturally be more in favor of Brexit. It's a difference in view and values. I don't dig nationalism, particularly. It seems artificial, sometimes. But it's natural to feel dedication to the land that is your home.

I appreciate Europe and its culture very much. It nourishes my artistic and spiritual life more than does American culture. It's great musical composers are my gurus. Their cathedrals and artistic traditions going back millennia are inspiring. Asia is the source of our spiritual and religious traditions and their arts recreate the experience of awakening. The USA, the Americas and Africa have traditions I value as well. All the world's cultures have differing levels of respect for individual freedom and democracy, and dedication to being in communal energy and pulling together, and different levels of authoritarian tendencies. I place great stock in the revolutionary movements of the last 250 years, and their three phases, and their ongoing influence that shapes our society to become more free and dedicated to liberty, equality and fraternity/greenpeace, each in turn.

There is certainly a lot of authoritarian trends and personalities in the USA, despite its democratic traditions. Britain is accepting of differences and easy-going, but perhaps too respectful of royalty and aristocracy and too proud of its empire, which helped inspire Brexit. The West has been a source of advanced science. Europe was the source of a great part of the world revolution for liberty, and also of the communal socialist movements that were established under Russian tyranny. Europe (including Russia) is the most creative continent. And for sure, its former aristocracy and royal traditions still are influential at times, as are its ancient caesarian empires and its embrace of terror under the Nazis that sought to turn back the clock to the darkest times.