Keep in mind that basic recursive nature of structure and why these entities are effective in their environments.
It would seem Zionism is serving a similar function to global capitalism, as locus of a dynamic that otherwise has all the strategic coherence of bacteria racing across a petri dish. In that as private control of the market medium, is used to suck enormous value out of the overall economy and society. Then needs somewhere to dump all this excess. Basically similar to heat sucking up a lot of moisture and dumping it as a hurricane.
The advantage of European Diaspora Judaism has been that as what amounts to a intra-national social organization, spread across a continent that is otherwise politically and culturally fragmented, it served as an integral aspect of the networking mechanisms. The traders, bankers, media, lawyers, diplomats, etc. That could make those broader connections and relationships work. The essence of European cosmopolitanism.
Yet the core of this culture, the grain of sand at the center of the pearl, the eye of the storm, was obsessing over some Iron Age state, generally by a religious system without a state to keep it anchored in the broader diplomatic reality.
So enormous wealth, power and influence is being poured into an obsessive compulsive rabbit hole. Look at the Haredim, for example. What would otherwise be viewed as a fairly harmless cult, with the usual odd habits to distinguish themselves, is the locus of Israeli society. The eye of their storm. So each layer is built over a previous layer, but with its own needs and focus, so the disconnect between the layers can be extremely disorienting and chaotic, but their purpose is not so much their form, as their place in the center of that larger dynamic, that enables diverse people to be able to function as a larger system.
Yet it is evident this matryoshka doll, that is Israeli society, was seriously starting to break down prior to the events of 10/7/23 and the ensuing war has effectively served to plaster over those cracks. And likely, even more than Netanyahu's personal ego, is why they need to keep any and all wars going.
As I've saying, the source code for Western Civ needs a serious review.
John, that immortal George Orwell quote from 1984 comes readily to mind:
"The war is waged by the ruling group against its own subjects, and the object of the war is not to make or prevent conquests of territory, but to keep the structure of society intact."
You've hit the nail on the head with your comment. The violence erupting across the Near East stems from extractive ruling classes trying to preserve their agreeable positions in the economic hierarchy. This is all about who has to do the actual work vs who gets to do the consuming. Lower classes produce more than they consume, while upper classes enjoy the opposite arrangement.
As you said, "the source code for Western Civ needs a serious review." I feel like that review is starting to happen, as if we are going over the fall in a barrel. I wonder if you'd agree?
I don't know that it is specifically being waged against its own subjects, especially those who are useful, as it is against any competing models.
Much of the population is perfectly willing to go along, in order not to be crushed underfoot and consequently provide much of the inertia of the paradigm.
As I like to say, when you are running with the herd, you can't just stop and scratch your ear.
There are certainly lots of people starting to look into the mechanisms, but it is all definitely going over the falls and most of us don't have a barrel.
The problem is that when it becomes a conflict between the in crowd and the out crowd, even when the out crowd prevails, it just becomes the same dynamic, as those leading that charge become the new in crowd. Christianity and Soviet communism, for example. If not simply co-opted by the prior in crowd.
That's why I see it as a possible learning experience, where we can clarify the fundamental dynamics at work. Which means breaking open some very foundational boxes and that is hard to get most people to wrap their minds around. So the fact it is going to be such a large crash might be enough to seriously get people to examine the nature of the boxes, not just build new ones.
Nathan,
Keep in mind that basic recursive nature of structure and why these entities are effective in their environments.
It would seem Zionism is serving a similar function to global capitalism, as locus of a dynamic that otherwise has all the strategic coherence of bacteria racing across a petri dish. In that as private control of the market medium, is used to suck enormous value out of the overall economy and society. Then needs somewhere to dump all this excess. Basically similar to heat sucking up a lot of moisture and dumping it as a hurricane.
The advantage of European Diaspora Judaism has been that as what amounts to a intra-national social organization, spread across a continent that is otherwise politically and culturally fragmented, it served as an integral aspect of the networking mechanisms. The traders, bankers, media, lawyers, diplomats, etc. That could make those broader connections and relationships work. The essence of European cosmopolitanism.
Yet the core of this culture, the grain of sand at the center of the pearl, the eye of the storm, was obsessing over some Iron Age state, generally by a religious system without a state to keep it anchored in the broader diplomatic reality.
So enormous wealth, power and influence is being poured into an obsessive compulsive rabbit hole. Look at the Haredim, for example. What would otherwise be viewed as a fairly harmless cult, with the usual odd habits to distinguish themselves, is the locus of Israeli society. The eye of their storm. So each layer is built over a previous layer, but with its own needs and focus, so the disconnect between the layers can be extremely disorienting and chaotic, but their purpose is not so much their form, as their place in the center of that larger dynamic, that enables diverse people to be able to function as a larger system.
Yet it is evident this matryoshka doll, that is Israeli society, was seriously starting to break down prior to the events of 10/7/23 and the ensuing war has effectively served to plaster over those cracks. And likely, even more than Netanyahu's personal ego, is why they need to keep any and all wars going.
As I've saying, the source code for Western Civ needs a serious review.
John, that immortal George Orwell quote from 1984 comes readily to mind:
"The war is waged by the ruling group against its own subjects, and the object of the war is not to make or prevent conquests of territory, but to keep the structure of society intact."
You've hit the nail on the head with your comment. The violence erupting across the Near East stems from extractive ruling classes trying to preserve their agreeable positions in the economic hierarchy. This is all about who has to do the actual work vs who gets to do the consuming. Lower classes produce more than they consume, while upper classes enjoy the opposite arrangement.
As you said, "the source code for Western Civ needs a serious review." I feel like that review is starting to happen, as if we are going over the fall in a barrel. I wonder if you'd agree?
Nathan,
I don't know that it is specifically being waged against its own subjects, especially those who are useful, as it is against any competing models.
Much of the population is perfectly willing to go along, in order not to be crushed underfoot and consequently provide much of the inertia of the paradigm.
As I like to say, when you are running with the herd, you can't just stop and scratch your ear.
There are certainly lots of people starting to look into the mechanisms, but it is all definitely going over the falls and most of us don't have a barrel.
The problem is that when it becomes a conflict between the in crowd and the out crowd, even when the out crowd prevails, it just becomes the same dynamic, as those leading that charge become the new in crowd. Christianity and Soviet communism, for example. If not simply co-opted by the prior in crowd.
That's why I see it as a possible learning experience, where we can clarify the fundamental dynamics at work. Which means breaking open some very foundational boxes and that is hard to get most people to wrap their minds around. So the fact it is going to be such a large crash might be enough to seriously get people to examine the nature of the boxes, not just build new ones.
"Which means breaking open some very foundational boxes and that is hard to get most people to wrap their minds around."
Amen to this, John. That's exactly what brings me to Substack!
Now all we need to do is grow wings.