Wednesday, October 24, 2018

The Rhein gives its gold to the sea

In these later years, with these darkening horizons, I have been struck by the shortness of historical memory. It seems to work for about 50-60 years even in our supposedly rational civilization, supposedly ever learning from its mistakes. And now we think that the 1930's are so deliciously retro, so worth imitating. And liberalism, this bland, technocratic, rather accidentally liberal-democratic modern order back again in its sorry role as the guardian of the blind, shortsighted, ever destructive capital. And any fighting social-liberalism steadfastly forgotten, any convictions forsaken, forgotten. And democratic socialism a shadow of its old self, even if that. So, the worst are back to their passionate intensity and the best have little idea of anything. Interesting to live in these interesting times.