Delusions of Nationhood

Can the U.S. Win This Election?

By Thomas Friedman, Oct. 12 2016 (LINK to article)

"it won’t just be emotionally depressing, we’ll really start to decline as a nation."

America (nor any other country) can not begin to tackle its problems, which are now existential, until it recognises its OWN true nature as a mercenary "patron state" deceitfully posing as a nation, in order to legitimise itself, its ruling elites and the immense power they wield and abuse, at the expense of society at large and its long-term survival.

States have been deceitfully posing as nations since the end of the Middle Ages, supported by their academic elites, as they always are, because of their massive personal self-interest (subconscious more than conscious) in rationalising and defending their state employer, its role, self-image (as a "nation") and ideologies (social, political, economic and racial, formerly religious), on which the state bases its claim to moral and knowledgeable authority.

And it is not just academics, of course, who have a massive personal self-interest in rationalising and defending the state and status quo, but everyone who is anyone in society, with any power or influence.

Why would they want to question the state and status quo which serve them personally so well?

I can think of only one reason: state and status quo are leading us towards disaster, which they are. But first they have to recognise THIS.

Academics a Self-Interested Class

How the ‘Stupid Party’ Created Donald Trump

By Max Boot, July 31, 2016 (LINK to article)

"Mr. Trump promotes a nativist, isolationist, anti-trade agenda that is supported by few if any serious scholars."

 "Serious scholars" haven't had their jobs outsourced to China, but belong to a global "community" (self-interest group) of academics; thus their dislike of "nativists".

The biggest threat to humanity is from academics pursuing their own personal self-interests, while pretending - not just to others, but to themselves as well - that they are serving humanity at large.

They are modern, secular counterparts of the medieval clergy, a priestly class, which, in coalition with a warrior class (the aristocracy) lorded it, as a dual elite, over society at large. The "nobility" provided the muscle and power of the sword, the priests the brains and power of the Word, i.e. moral authority.

Man is an inherently tribal AND moral animal, and between them these two elites knew how to manipulate and exploit both to their mutual advantage.

Academics are no more trustworthy than the Catholic clergy were (or are), which, however, doesn't mean they are not trustworthy at all.  Many mean well, I'm sure.

I'm not inclined to trust Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, but at least Trump speaks out against the betrayal of white Americans to the madness of mass immigration, which is reducing them to an ethnic minority in the country their European forebears founded, while the mainstream is beholden to an ideology of white racial self-denial and self-contempt - a self-destructive overreaction to the evils of Nazism and the Holocaust, which I elaborate on in this BLOG.

The System is Inherently "Corrupt"

The Panama Papers’ Sprawling Web of Corruption

By the Editorial Board, April 5 2016 (LINK to editorial)

"[a ]Sprawling Web of Corruption"

"Corruption" is a misleading word, because it implies that a non-corrupted state has become corrupted, that the system which is supposed to serve society has failed.

The truth is that the system is doing the job it has always done of facilitating society's SELF-exploitation to the personal advantage of its ruling elites and favoured (especially wealthy and academic/formerly priestly) clients, at the expense of society at large.

When the truth is revealed, as in the present case of the Panama Papers, our political elite acts surprised and indignant, perhaps with sincerity, but if so, with little understanding of how and for whom the system works.

Why have academics (and political editors), who are paid good money as authorities on understanding the system, not recognised its true nature?

Like their medieval predecessors and counterparts, academics (and editors) are privileged clients and employees of the state, i.e. of the system, with a massive personal self-interest (subconscious more than conscious) in rationalising and defending its role, self-image (as our "nation") and ideologies (social, political, economic and ethical), on which the state bases its claim to moral and knowledgeable authority.

Current academic (and editorial) understanding of the system is on the level of Ptolemaic astronomy or Galenic medicine, because still stuck in a pre-Darwinian dark age, as a consequence of a previous generation of academics having made a taboo of viewing their own species from a Darwinian perspective, it in overreaction to the Nazis having hijacked and abused the half-baked ideas of social Darwinism.

Academic Blindness to Cause of Social Injustice

The Crisis of Minority Unemployment

by the Editorial Board, Feb. 20 2016 (LINK to article)

This editorial deals with the problem of high unemployment amongst blacks and Hispanics, compared to whites, but makes no mention of Asians, presumably because that would contradict the "liberal" narrative of "white privilege".

The real problem, however, lies in the nature of the state and society itself, which sees people not primarily as human beings, but as human resources, consumers, customers or clients/voters.

The problem is so fundamental that it is not recognised, even by the academics we look to as authorities in understanding society, the state and civilisation. The point being that for academics, as for everyone who is anyone in society, and thus has any power or influence, the system works fine the way it is. Why question it fundamentally?

However, anyone who is serious about wanting a more just, humane and, now above all, sustainable society MUST question it fundamentally.

The fact is that society has always been organised to serve the personal self-interests of its ruling elites and favoured (especially wealthy and priestly/academic) clients, at the expense of the rest of society.

Being favoured clients, if not actual employees, of the state themselves, academics have been blinded to this truth by their own self-interest in maintaining the status quo.

These are radical ideas with the potential to revolutionise the social and political sciences. I get them from viewing society from a human-evolutionary perspective, which a previous generation of academics made a taboo of doing, in overreaction to the Nazis having hijacked and abused, for their own evil purposes, the half-baked ideas of social Darwinism. See first of series of BLOGS in which I elaborate.

Religion, Moral Authority & Power

How Politics Has Poisoned Islam

By Mustafa Akyol Feb. 3, 2016 (LINK to article)

Until modern times, religion, i.e. its priesthood, served the state as a source of knowledgeable and moral authority. William the Bastard of Normandy made sure he had the Pope's approval, before embarking on his invasion and subjugation of the English in 1066. In return, he massively supported the Church, so it was a good deal for both parties, but not so much for the English, who suffered under the Norman yoke for centuries, one might even argue, to this day.

The state has to legitimise itself and it was to the moral authority of religion that it turned. This is still the case, it seems, in the Muslim world, although brute force clearly also continues to play a big role.

In the West, brute force and the authority of priests are no longer considered acceptable. The state looks instead to a secular priesthood of academics, who base their authority not on sacred scripture, as in the past, but on their claim to possess objective facts, reason and rationality. Only, their facts, reason and rationality are not nearly as sound or objective as they would have us - and themselves, no doubt - believe they are.

This is because, largely in overreaction to Nazism, a previous generation of academics made a taboo of viewing their own species, society and civilisation from a human-evolutionary perspective, which is the only way to develop a realistic understanding of these things and of our own situation. See BLOG in which I elaborate.

Tribalism Behind Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.

Israel's Image Issue

By Roger Cohen, Jan. 28 2016 (LINK to article)

The root cause of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is human tribalism, as it is of conflicts and tensions all over the world.

This may SOUND like an unhelpful platitude and statement of the obvious, but it's not.

The reality is that we are dismissive of our inherent and intense tribal nature, trivialising, ridiculing or demonising it, rather than giving it the serious attention and study that it deserves.

Instead of grappling with the problems our tribalism creates, we insult each other with accusations of tribalism, so it is no wonder the problems are so intractable. We are not facing up to and dealing with their underlying cause.

And it is not politicians who are primarily responsible for this state of affairs, but ACADEMICS, because they are the ones we all - including politicians - look to as authorities on just about everything. And it is they who have cultivated this attitude of trivialising, ridiculing and demonising our tribal nature, not least, because of their own professional claim to be above it, when, of course, they are not. They pretend to be, and our politicians have to follow their example, and are thus unable to deal with the problems our inherent tribalism causes.

It is the subjectivity of our tribalism that makes it so difficult to deal with, but we must learn to do so, and the only way is by approaching it from a human-evolutionary perspective: http://unapprovedcomments.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/the-wests-overreaction-to-nazism.html

White Americans: A Dying Race

Despair, American Style

By Paul Krugman, Nov. 9 2015 (LINK to article)

The "style" of this despair may be American, but the cause is as ancient as civilisation itself, because inherently associated with it.

Academics give us a rosy-eyed view of civilisation, because, unlike the majority of people, they belong to one of its privileged elites and have a massive personal self-interest in rationalising and defending it.

The truth, which academics are loath to admit - even to themselves - is that the state, as the basic unit of any civilisation is a social, i.e. economic and power-political, construct, with the primary purpose of facilitating society's SELF-exploitation, to the personal advantage of its ruling elites and favoured (especially wealthy and academic) clients, at the expense, and ultimate self-destruction, of society at large.

Even if they admit this about the past, which with hindsight it is difficult to deny, most academics still expect us to believe that with the advent of the American Revolution, Democracy and universal suffrage everything changed, but it didn't.

How are we (especially academics) to see what we have a narrow and short-sighted personal self-interest in not seeing? By viewing ourselves and our situation from a human-evolutionary perspective: LINK to blog in which I elaborate.

Lawyers, Modern Counterparts of Medieval Clergy

The Law School Debt Crisis

By The Editorial Board, Oct. 24 2015 (LINK to editorial)

Lawyers are modern heirs and counterparts of the medieval clergy, who cooperated with members of a warrior class in creating the first European states from a tribal society. They provided the brains and power of the Word, i.e. moral and knowledgeable authority, while the King and his nobles provided the muscle and power of the sword.

Between them they organised society to their own personal advantage, at the expense of the vast majority, whom they subjugated.

It is not just lawyers who are modern heirs and counterparts of the medieval clergy, but social science academia in general, whose members have the same self-interest in rationalising and defending the state and status quo, which continue to massively advantage them, along with other (especially wealthy) clients of the state, at the expense of society at large.

And because these same academics are the ones we all look to as authorities in understanding society and the state, it is easy for them to maintain the status quo, by lying to us - and themselves, no doubt - about the true nature of the state, especially in respect to it representing our nation, which it certainly does not. It is a mercenary "patron state" deceitfully posing as a nation, in order to legitimise itself, its ruling elites and the immense power they wield and abuse.

See BLOG in which I elaborate on these ideas.