01-13-2017, 09:31 PM
(01-13-2017, 11:40 AM)SomeGuy Wrote: Well, strictly speaking we have a little less than a century Caesarism/Civilization/The Universal State to actually congeal, if we go by the Spengler/Toynbee type model of things (Yes, I am aware that their conclusions are not identical, but they both have their Time of Trouble/Modern period starting around the French Revolution and lasting about 300ish years, or a Mega-Saeculum, if you will). According to Spengler (and his interpreters like Reilly) this period should be one of rising partisan conflict, the role of Money (and its handmaiden the Press), the growth of the great cities at the expense of the rural regions (where a Culture resides), escalating ethnic diversity, etc. So, you know, today.
On the other hand, this could all be nonsense. But it is worthwhile to point out that the periods of highest voter participation in American history had more to do with partisan wrangling and the spoils system than they did with an earnest citizenry engaging thoughtfully with the issues of the time. Even the American Revolution had more to do with an "irate, tireless minority" than it did a true change of opinion in the minds of the masses.
And according to the Spengler, at the end the Press is coming to fill a role akin that the Church played at the beginning, the arbiter of truth, controlling thought most especially by omission more than anything else.
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