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Great Crisis of Our Time


Geee

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Real Clear History

Nearly 100 years ago, Winston Churchill wrote an essay called the “Mass Effects in Modern Life.” In it he wondered whether the best of human potential had been handed over to assembly lines and machine processes, what he referred to as the “magic” of mass production. “Science in all its forms surpasses itself every year,” Churchill observed. The year was 1925. Churchill had seen a great deal of change in his life. He had lived through the mass sacrifice and suffering of the Great War, the rise of a collectivist ideology in Soviet Russia, and a second wave of industrialization that stretched from the late nineteenth century into the early twentieth century. Though science had delivered “material blessings” in “measureless abundance,” the face of society was changing.

Gone were the master craftsmen and creators. Gone were the pioneers and adventurers, whose bold choices spurred the enterprise that followed their discoveries. In the place of “eminent men” was industrial repetitiveness, powerful and productive but lacking in whatever elusive qualities that once imbued the lonely individual with a sense of honor, and an ambition to leave his mark on the world. Modern civilization proved "hostile to the development of outstanding personalities and to their influence upon events." More artist than politician, Churchill saw through the mysteries of the times and concluded that as man becomes more dominant over science and technology, “the individual [himself] becomes a function." This tiny speck that is a person no longer thinks of "himself as an immortal spirit, clothed in the flesh, but sovereign, unique, indestructible.” He loses his faith; he loses himself.

Modern life seems depleted of meaning and purpose, writes political philosopher Glenn Ellmers. In his new book The Narrow Passage: Plato, Foucault, and the Possibility of Political Philosophy (Encounter, 2023), Ellmers explores what went wrong in the American political community over the last 100-plus years, tracing a line from Machiavelli to Nietzsche on to Hegel and then Foucault in search of that rogue strain of thought that produced this modern condition. At less than 100 pages, the book offers no solutions. Instead, like Churchill, Ellmers illuminates the problem: how the individual became part of an aggregate; why “our dignity has no quantitative value.” I spoke with Ellmers about his book and ideas. What follows is a lightly edited transcript of our conversation.

What is the “great crisis” of our time?:snip:

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23 hours ago, Geee said:
Real Clear History

Nearly 100 years ago, Winston Churchill wrote an essay called the “Mass Effects in Modern Life.” In it he wondered whether the best of human potential had been handed over to assembly lines and machine processes, what he referred to as the “magic” of mass production. “Science in all its forms surpasses itself every year,” Churchill observed. The year was 1925. Churchill had seen a great deal of change in his life. He had lived through the mass sacrifice and suffering of the Great War, the rise of a collectivist ideology in Soviet Russia, and a second wave of industrialization that stretched from the late nineteenth century into the early twentieth century. Though science had delivered “material blessings” in “measureless abundance,” the face of society was changing.

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Nature, including human social nature, is self-correcting. Healing is built in to counteract illness, injury, excess and error. We now are living through Heinlein's Crazy Years. This too shall pass.

:thumbup:

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What is the “great crisis” of our time?

Most educated people in the West do not know what they live for or what their society stands for.

 

A number  of years ago  was working with a young (mid 20's) kid. He was going back to school to become an elevator repair man, (apparently a Very Good Paying Job). I asked  him Why he wanted to do this. "I want To Be Rich." Fine Why, why do you want to be rich, what will you do then? " don't know, I  just want to be rich." Tried to explain that Rich without meaning/a reason was would lead to a very bad place. Like talking to a wall. Very depressing (an Enlightening For Me.), because  he was a really bright kid, good worker.

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34 minutes ago, Valin said:

 

A number  of years ago  was working with a young (mid 20's) kid. He was going back to school to become an elevator repair man, (apparently a Very Good Paying Job). I asked  him Why he wanted to do this. "I want To Be Rich." Fine Why, why do you want to be rich, what will you do then? " don't know, I  just want to be rich." Tried to explain that Rich without meaning/a reason was would lead to a very bad place. Like talking to a wall. Very depressing (an Enlightening For Me.), because  he was a really bright kid, good worker.

#2 grandson visited from Florida last week. He graduated from college about 2 years ago. Has a very good job and 2 other money making projects on the side. Asked him about his main job and he said " Ya, it will do for now". So, I asked him what it was he wanted to do. "Get rich as fast as possible." :blink:

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26 minutes ago, Geee said:

#2 grandson visited from Florida last week. He graduated from college about 2 years ago. Has a very good job and 2 other money making projects on the side. Asked him about his main job and he said " Ya, it will do for now". So, I asked him what it was he wanted to do. "Get rich as fast as possible." :blink:

Here I go again my 3 small questions.

1. What Do You Want?

2. How Do You Get It?

3. Then What Happens?

Nothing wrong with being Rich BUT Why and Then what happens? Are the question people don't ask.

The old saying "Who dies with the most toys wins."  WRONG! Right From The Pit Of HELL.

“What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.”
Blaise Pascal, Pensées VII

Ya but what did he know! How many Twitter followers does he have? Has he ever won an Oscar? We are sooooo much more enlightened today, we.ve moved beyond that silly superstition.  /SNARK

Here endth the sermon.

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