Your analysis helps to understand why elite systems such as the academia can evolve into aristocracies. One hand washes the other, as they say, and the hands are in golden handcuffs, so there is little incentive to reform the system. This can make one cynical about the meaning of concepts such as critical thinking or academic freedom. Mary Wollstonecraft lamented how in the education of women, the mannerisms that will help them to be good wives were the priority--far more important than educating the mind. And as marriage offered security and often required conformity--so do academic positions and many other positions in society.
It sure feels like academia is becoming like a gatekeeper institution for the technocratic era, not unlike the way the Church grew up underneath the feudal architecture of medieval Europe. It's amazing how, despite all our technological progress and political reforms, history seems to repeat itself nonetheless!
Yes, it seems that human nature and its hierarchical tendencies are more powerful than any progress. This is why being realistic about human nature is the prerequisite for any proposal about how to protect liberty because being realistic can help to be humble.
This puts to word to much of my experience. Thinking of what we have as a patrinage system makes sense.
Julius, this morning immediately before you posted, I watched this Y-tube interview with Catherine Liu. Her perspective is 180 degrees opposite to yours (so I do not expect you to agree with her view of the world) but she come to similar conclusions about how the managerial class has become "infantilized". She is telling the managerial class they need to "grow up" and become adults.
My experience is that for most people, when they speak about reforming the system, what they really mean is that they want to be on the recieving end of the patronage.
One other thing. I totally agree with you that the most dangerous human, the one most likely to do horrific things, the one most able to justify their actions however deranged is the victim. Go around the world today, and where ever there are horrific things happening, the people committing the atrocity see themselves as victims. What we have with the "woke" is victims with power which makes them especially dangerous.
I hadn't come across Catherine Liu yet -- looking forward to watching it this evening!
Ever since I came across the fable of the Rat King Birlibi, I haven't been unable to "unsee" the patronage network everywhere -- I like how you put it, that everyone wants to be on the receiving end of the patronage. It seems ours isn't a society that yearns for the kind of liberty that the US Founding Fathers sought -- combine that with victimhood culture and we have quite the toxic brew!
Fascinating! With your theory of patronage as a central, enduring pillar of power systems, which do not change except in appearance no matter who runs it, you're very close to James Corbett's analysis of politics. "You don't vote your way out of a tyranny," he says. I think The Who really captured it in their classic song, Won't Get Fooled Again: "Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss."
I studied fairy tales for awhile and was fascinated by your Rat King story. Did you know that Grimm Brothers scholar Jack Zipe published a collection of their fairy tales restored to their original text a few years ago? The Grimms had continuously edited their collection during their lifetime, editing out the nasty bits that offended Christian sensibilities, thus diluting the originals. The restored tales acquire quite different implications in some cases.
Another one you might enjoy is a collection called The Turnip Princess by Franz Xavier von Schönwerth, which was only discovered in recent years by scholar Erika Eichenseer and published by Penguin Books in 2015. She discovered 500 previously unknown fairy tales by von Schönwerth in the municipal archive of Regensburg, Bavaria. Like the Grimms, von Schönwerth devoted himself to collecting folktales, mostly Bavarian, during his lifetime. It's been a few years since I read these tales so I don't recall if there's an analogous tale to the Rat King, but worth checking out.
Interestingly, British rock band Queen have a song on their first album titled Great King Rat. Much of their first two records are based on folk and fairy tales. Another British rock band, Black Sabbath, originally had a song called Walpurgis on their first album that was later altered to become the classic War Pigs.
I need to check out the restored versions of the Grimm tales -- I grew up on the sanitized versions, so definitely want to see what the raw versions were like.
The Turnip Princess sounds vaguely familiar, but perhaps I am mixing it up with another story from my childhood. My favorite was Ruebezahl, but I'm not sure I've ever seen an English translation for it.
In regards to Walpurgis Night, the site in Germany that's most closely associated with it is the Externsteine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externsteine), a strange sandstone outcrop that is quite otherworldly. A cousin took me to see it a few years ago during a visit -- it's quite a memorable thing to see.
Thank you so much for your essays. I always learn a lot and furthermore you describe in much better words than I could what is happening in the world today.
Julius, I thoroughly enjoyed this essay, and lI earned a whole lot, including things about German history I'd never have learned anywhere else.
However, I must point out one tiny error in your text:
"Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, after which he was sent into exile on the island of Elba. "
This should read something along the lines of:
"Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, after which he was sent into exile on the island of Elba. This battle, also known as the Battle of Nations, was a significant turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. His exile on Elba lasted for about 10 months, from April 1814 until his escape in February 1815. He returned to France shortly after his escape, which marked the beginning of the Hundred Days, culminating in his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, after which he was sent into exile on the island of St. Helena."
Thanks Julius, this fairy tale and the whole of your preface to it is the best explanation of why we cannot seem to change anything in any meaningful way: what's-in-it-for-me patronage. I love the ending of the fairy tale - Hans being 'glad to have just salt and potatoes in the evening'.
The only way to become incorruptible: to have nothing and want for nothing...
It the book the 'Nutmegs Curse' Amitav Gosh tells the story of the elders of the Banda Islands who the Dutch could not convince to do business with them rather than their ancestral trading partners. To get them out of the way the Dutch rounded them up and took them out on a boat where they were drowned. Were they in fact incorruptible as I had wanted to think or were they protecting their own patronage systems?... maybe the latter.
Patronage networks are a very useful lens by which to understand power. Also, much thanks for translating that German folktale, which I hadn't read before -- as always, there's a catch. I can see it's competent work, too.
What you write about is power which is obviously a very powerful force in the history of the world.
But there are other forces operating in the world and it is these forces that may have been even more deterministic than power.
I have some questions all related. Would we be talking about the current world, if there were no German nationalism in the early 20th century? Would we talking about German nationalism if there were no Napoleon that overran the German micro states? Would we be talking about Napoleon, if there were no failed French Revolution? Would we be talking about a French Revolution if there were no successful American revolution? Would we be talking about an American Revolution if there were no increase in human freedom in England? Would we be talking about an increase in human freedom in England if there were no English Civil War? Would we be talking about the English Civil War if there were no reformation in England? Would we be talking about a reformation in England if Henry VIII had 3-4 sons? (Remember the most powerful person in the world at this time was Charles V, the nephew of his wife)
I could go back further with the rise of Spain and Portugal due to the search for an easy source for sugar. The interesting thing is that no similar chain of events happened in any other place in the world. Power ruled as you have pointed out how prevalent it was in Europe.
Such a great insight into human nature, thankyou!
Your analysis helps to understand why elite systems such as the academia can evolve into aristocracies. One hand washes the other, as they say, and the hands are in golden handcuffs, so there is little incentive to reform the system. This can make one cynical about the meaning of concepts such as critical thinking or academic freedom. Mary Wollstonecraft lamented how in the education of women, the mannerisms that will help them to be good wives were the priority--far more important than educating the mind. And as marriage offered security and often required conformity--so do academic positions and many other positions in society.
It sure feels like academia is becoming like a gatekeeper institution for the technocratic era, not unlike the way the Church grew up underneath the feudal architecture of medieval Europe. It's amazing how, despite all our technological progress and political reforms, history seems to repeat itself nonetheless!
Yes, it seems that human nature and its hierarchical tendencies are more powerful than any progress. This is why being realistic about human nature is the prerequisite for any proposal about how to protect liberty because being realistic can help to be humble.
This puts to word to much of my experience. Thinking of what we have as a patrinage system makes sense.
Julius, this morning immediately before you posted, I watched this Y-tube interview with Catherine Liu. Her perspective is 180 degrees opposite to yours (so I do not expect you to agree with her view of the world) but she come to similar conclusions about how the managerial class has become "infantilized". She is telling the managerial class they need to "grow up" and become adults.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22eh9bHVeTc&t=3s
My experience is that for most people, when they speak about reforming the system, what they really mean is that they want to be on the recieving end of the patronage.
One other thing. I totally agree with you that the most dangerous human, the one most likely to do horrific things, the one most able to justify their actions however deranged is the victim. Go around the world today, and where ever there are horrific things happening, the people committing the atrocity see themselves as victims. What we have with the "woke" is victims with power which makes them especially dangerous.
I hadn't come across Catherine Liu yet -- looking forward to watching it this evening!
Ever since I came across the fable of the Rat King Birlibi, I haven't been unable to "unsee" the patronage network everywhere -- I like how you put it, that everyone wants to be on the receiving end of the patronage. It seems ours isn't a society that yearns for the kind of liberty that the US Founding Fathers sought -- combine that with victimhood culture and we have quite the toxic brew!
You are a delightful story teller. Thank you!
Fascinating! With your theory of patronage as a central, enduring pillar of power systems, which do not change except in appearance no matter who runs it, you're very close to James Corbett's analysis of politics. "You don't vote your way out of a tyranny," he says. I think The Who really captured it in their classic song, Won't Get Fooled Again: "Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss."
I studied fairy tales for awhile and was fascinated by your Rat King story. Did you know that Grimm Brothers scholar Jack Zipe published a collection of their fairy tales restored to their original text a few years ago? The Grimms had continuously edited their collection during their lifetime, editing out the nasty bits that offended Christian sensibilities, thus diluting the originals. The restored tales acquire quite different implications in some cases.
Another one you might enjoy is a collection called The Turnip Princess by Franz Xavier von Schönwerth, which was only discovered in recent years by scholar Erika Eichenseer and published by Penguin Books in 2015. She discovered 500 previously unknown fairy tales by von Schönwerth in the municipal archive of Regensburg, Bavaria. Like the Grimms, von Schönwerth devoted himself to collecting folktales, mostly Bavarian, during his lifetime. It's been a few years since I read these tales so I don't recall if there's an analogous tale to the Rat King, but worth checking out.
Interestingly, British rock band Queen have a song on their first album titled Great King Rat. Much of their first two records are based on folk and fairy tales. Another British rock band, Black Sabbath, originally had a song called Walpurgis on their first album that was later altered to become the classic War Pigs.
I need to check out the restored versions of the Grimm tales -- I grew up on the sanitized versions, so definitely want to see what the raw versions were like.
The Turnip Princess sounds vaguely familiar, but perhaps I am mixing it up with another story from my childhood. My favorite was Ruebezahl, but I'm not sure I've ever seen an English translation for it.
In regards to Walpurgis Night, the site in Germany that's most closely associated with it is the Externsteine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externsteine), a strange sandstone outcrop that is quite otherworldly. A cousin took me to see it a few years ago during a visit -- it's quite a memorable thing to see.
Your choice whether you want to patronize Amazon, but here are links to those books I mentioned: https://www.amazon.com/Turnip-Princess-Discovered-Penguin-Classics/dp/0143107429
https://www.amazon.com/Original-Fairy-Tales-Brothers-Grimm/dp/B00R6IRFG6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=6LBOV1CZJ6B6&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.yg436hPSmiUfhjMbU9yXE4cD_NXSfx3SAIqO06a7ZOJxHyupjAXDEwfQfNSWXLxtBoi9u1pqFFsEcuzdfaYRRKLzqG9QefROReUlnGJ3G29Fk5PSZxMVCBncJDKSjziXh4gw6pnOutwZeHi9f7F21uMgyLpodHuvA9ftiSUGnelg89nOfQzxrqxYz1bgd8fxJwl17sJpJEh3XzA-GgcG9qX_lUfYffiplSdaCnwgkv4.CwL6lqi2kNO-D1m2PZ4PwxjGZtRszF_yduUAqiyOdLo&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+original+folk+and+fairy+tales+of+the+brothers+grimm&qid=1748719243&sprefix=the+original+folk+and+fairy+tales+%2Caps%2C149&sr=8-1
much appreciated -- I'm looking forward to diving in!
Thank you so much for your essays. I always learn a lot and furthermore you describe in much better words than I could what is happening in the world today.
Thank you Marla! Much appreciated!
Julius, I thoroughly enjoyed this essay, and lI earned a whole lot, including things about German history I'd never have learned anywhere else.
However, I must point out one tiny error in your text:
"Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, after which he was sent into exile on the island of Elba. "
This should read something along the lines of:
"Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, after which he was sent into exile on the island of Elba. This battle, also known as the Battle of Nations, was a significant turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. His exile on Elba lasted for about 10 months, from April 1814 until his escape in February 1815. He returned to France shortly after his escape, which marked the beginning of the Hundred Days, culminating in his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, after which he was sent into exile on the island of St. Helena."
💯 Good catch! I've updated and expanded the essay to correct this error and add these details about Napoleon -- much appreciated! 🙏
Thanks Julius, this fairy tale and the whole of your preface to it is the best explanation of why we cannot seem to change anything in any meaningful way: what's-in-it-for-me patronage. I love the ending of the fairy tale - Hans being 'glad to have just salt and potatoes in the evening'.
The only way to become incorruptible: to have nothing and want for nothing...
It the book the 'Nutmegs Curse' Amitav Gosh tells the story of the elders of the Banda Islands who the Dutch could not convince to do business with them rather than their ancestral trading partners. To get them out of the way the Dutch rounded them up and took them out on a boat where they were drowned. Were they in fact incorruptible as I had wanted to think or were they protecting their own patronage systems?... maybe the latter.
Patronage networks are a very useful lens by which to understand power. Also, much thanks for translating that German folktale, which I hadn't read before -- as always, there's a catch. I can see it's competent work, too.
What you write about is power which is obviously a very powerful force in the history of the world.
But there are other forces operating in the world and it is these forces that may have been even more deterministic than power.
I have some questions all related. Would we be talking about the current world, if there were no German nationalism in the early 20th century? Would we talking about German nationalism if there were no Napoleon that overran the German micro states? Would we be talking about Napoleon, if there were no failed French Revolution? Would we be talking about a French Revolution if there were no successful American revolution? Would we be talking about an American Revolution if there were no increase in human freedom in England? Would we be talking about an increase in human freedom in England if there were no English Civil War? Would we be talking about the English Civil War if there were no reformation in England? Would we be talking about a reformation in England if Henry VIII had 3-4 sons? (Remember the most powerful person in the world at this time was Charles V, the nephew of his wife)
I could go back further with the rise of Spain and Portugal due to the search for an easy source for sugar. The interesting thing is that no similar chain of events happened in any other place in the world. Power ruled as you have pointed out how prevalent it was in Europe.
👍💯