(1)
Without British naval power envy there would have been no Bolshevik communism
in Russia
I'm not
going to praise Russian czarist rule, but why did the British have to choose
the side of the Muslim Ottoman Empire against Christian Russia? Why not let
Russia have the straits? It is at least certain that Russian society would have
developed differently if that access to the Mediterranean had been available to
the Russian economy.
(2)
Without French civilisational envy there would have been no WWI, no WWII and no
Holocaust
French
envy of Germany is certainly the cause of the 1870 war, which then led to WWI.
Russia and France were the only European powers with clear political goals that
could only be achieved by a general war. France egged on Russia, knowing very
well that Germany would respond by a declaration of war. That declaration of
war the French in their childish self-righteousness used after the war to
burden Germany with the sole responsibility for the war and to impose
Versailles. (Germany could not win a defensive war against Russia and France
when her territory was invaded. This had to do with the source of her military
capabilities - industry and railroads - which they could not allow to be
disrupted by an invasion. This strategic constraint was known at least to
military strategist all over Europe and the reason behind the German saying
that mobilisation was the equivalent of a declaration of war. And honest as
they were, when Russia went from partial to general mobilisation the Germans
did what they had said they would do and started their defensive war. I am of
course aware of the 'Fischer controversy'. I just find that in Max Weber's
writings you can find much more plausible and convincing explanations for these
ideological expressions of German imperialism.)
(3)
Without French economic envy there would have been no carving up of Africa
French
envy of British industrial superiority and trade advantages led them to follow
a statist and protectionist colonial policy, to which the British then had to
adapt by giving up their preference for indirect rule.
My
purpose is not to start an endless discussion of facts. It is to ask whether it
makes any sense at all to derive such a general understanding of the multitude
of facts by summarising them.
I very
much think that it does make sense. Not in the sense of establishing 'true
history', but in the sense of working out an interpretation of history that can
become useful in a political dialogue aimed at making the right political
choices. History isn't only a matter of facts. Historical interpretation is
also a matter of politics. And this happens inevitably, so that interpretations
that are much worse than the one I'm offering may actually become (or have
indeed become) decisive for the making of political choices.
I also
would assume that there is a clear connection between envy and
shortsightedness. Uncontrolled envy typically attaches itself to the apparent
source of envy (which becomes the enemy) and not to the ultimate source
(oneself). It is a source of disorder and of war, whereas controlled envy would
lead to orderly development in competition with others, by trying to catch up
in one's own development instead of preventing others from following theirs.
Shortsightedness
for all practical purposes means that the decision is made on the basis of the
more immediate goal or motive while the ulterior goal or motive is discarded.
Whether the one making the decision is aware of it or not is practically
irrelevant.
In
politics we must of course distinguish between various actors, and my general
interpretations of history were concerned with imaginary actors that are
representative of the general mass of people involved. I don't think these
imaginary representative actors do exist in reality, or have anything to say in
politics, e.g. an ordinary citizen having speculative dreams about politics such as
myself. But that's exactly why I find these interpretations interesting, as
well as the whole question of how a civil society, i.e. the general mass of
people involved, could find a way to represent itself in public discourse, or
rather, in public dialogue.
Once you
start examining the real actors involved in political decision making, it very
quickly becomes clear that what appeared as envy and shortsightedness in the
general and representative interpretation is easily explained by a motivation
that is entirely different, namely the motivation of the real actors.
That was
the central point of Philip Greenspun's article
on Israel. And in my
own explanation of what is needed to get peace negotiations started for the
Israel-islamist conflict, I also clearly said that the whole Palestinian
political leadership must be banished. Or better even, hanged. (I'm all in
favour of the death penalty for political criminals, because the burden of
proof can often be easily met, i.e. the disrespect of the natural law in the
obvious cases is so enormous that there can remain no doubt. That is also the
meaning of the quote from Democritus: "It is needful to kill the enemy,
whether a wild or creeping thing or a human being.")
The
general and representative interpretations of history are important because the
real actors willfully exploit misrepresentations as a useful fiction behind
which they can hide themselves together with their true motives. That was
indeed my starting point: these general interpretations of history are a matter
of politics, they are the symbolic battleground for representation of the mass
of the people involved.
Or
in a few words: the apparent envy and shortsightedness in the general and
representative interpretations of history are proof of the political disrespect
of the natural law.
No comments:
Post a Comment