The End of an Era

From 1661 to 2008, It was a good run.

From time to time in the course of human events there exists new Ideas and new was of thinking.  These can have a profound effect upon history either for good or bad.  It is my belief that this nation, and Great Britain before it, followed a new way of thinking, which arose during the enlightenment, much to the betterment of mankind.
That time has now ended.  What do I mean by this?  In the 347 years since the end of the theocracy of Oliver Cromwell to the election of Barack Obama, the world was dragged, kicking and screaming, into the modern era by the thoughts and ideas of the northern enlightenment.  It is a system, for want of a better word, I call Anglo-Saxonism. But it is not based upon ethnicity.

First things First

There is nothing new under the sun, and these ideas have all been debated before. In ancient northern China, the cradle of the Chinese civilization, there existed two contemporary philosophers. Lao Tsu, and Kong Fuzi (Confucius).  Confucius spoke of the necessity of “good government” and an educated bureaucracy to administer the benefits of  government to all.  Confucius was the first Leftist.  His views led to a massive governmental leviathan where feckless nobles squandered the wealth of the populace while an immense army of bureaucrats held the real power over the lives of millions of common folk.
Lao Tsu, on the other hand, posited a completely different view.  He said that the morality of the nation came from the people, neither the very poor, who were desperate, nor the very rich, who were greedy. But that the enlightened ruler would punish looters, maintain the defense, and do very little else.  In Lao Tsu’s own words. “ I did nothing and the people prospered.  I dallied and they were full.”  He was the first Libertarian.
Now,  the history of mankind since then can be seen as one constant struggle of the individual against the state. The Democracies of Greece gave way to the tyranny of Alexander. The Republic of Rome gave way to the tyranny of Augustus. The nascent democracies of the European city states gave way to autocracy and the divine right of kings.

Then came the Two Enlightenments

There was not one Enlightenment, but two.  The ideas of the two overlapped, but not completely. The first Enlightenment began during the restoration of Charles II.  It included people like Hobbes, Locke, Hume, Smith, Jefferson, Madison, and ended with Mills.  The second enlightenment was an affair of the French, and Germans. It began with Voltaire and Rousseau and continued a long time through Marx, Neitzsche, and ended with Jean Paul Sartre.
The northern enlightenment enshrined the values of the individual, hard work, faith, patriotism, the family, the small community, private enterprise and the values of the middle class.  The southern enlightenment, hated faith, individualism, morals, and the middle class.  The first one led to the United States, the second one led to the Reign of Terror, the International Communist movement, National Socialism, and anarchism.  As the bible says, Ye shall know them by their fruits.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The history of the English speaking peoples is by no means clean and pure. There was Imperialism, Slavery, Manifest Destiny, and Exploitation. However, these are characteristics of every single world power which ever existed.  What made us unique was that we freed our slaves, tried to make amends for our excesses, and tried to live up to our high standards. This was a new thing in human history.

Anglo Saxonism, is now dead

    No, I don’t believe that Barack Obama is some sort of big ogre who will institute a new Comintern. But I do believe that there will now be a deathgrip on politics by the party of collectivism and that we will follow our former brethren in Europe on the slow road to decline.
Let there be no doubt about this, there is now NO place in all the world which follows polices of free enterprise, individual liberty, and morality and responsibility. Everything is now collectivism of some sort or the other. Nor is it likely to ever return in our lifetime. It shall await another people, in another age to rediscover these truths
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But is was a pretty good run.