“Zeitgeist”

“We are on a stormy sea, without a shore”, wrote Alexis de Tocqueville to a childhood friend in the midst of the 1848 revolutions. “The shore is so far away, so unknown,” he added, “that our lives and perhaps the lives of those who follow will pass before we set foot and settle on it.” Though the French aristocrat had prophetically warned about a possible revolution less than a month before the February events, he felt confused about their historical meaning. But he correctly predicted the truth about what Eric Hobsbawm described as the “first and last” revolution that would unfold at the European scale and be experienced as such. More than a straightforward rebellion or even a coordinated uprising, 1848 marked a fundamental transition in the way we conduct politics.

Is the world order heading for a tectonic shift? And, if yes, what will that shift be like?

These are the questions that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz posed in an article in the American magazine Foreign Affairs, published almost immediately after his lightning visit to China. The word that Scholz uses to describe the shift is “Zeitenwende” or “game-changer”, but the tone of the article is more in tune with Euro-pessimism of the kind expressed by French President Emmanuel Macron, reflecting the current Zeitgeist or “spirit of the time” in Western democracies.

Scholz speaks of a “multipolar” world order but does not say where his imaginary poles are located. He then proceeds to depict what could only be described as a one-and-a-half pole system in which the one pole is constituted by the United States as “the decisive power of the 21st century” with the European Union and the “Anglo-Saxon” world, that is to say, Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, plus Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan in tandem. Together they represent “liberal democratic capitalism.” The remaining half a pole is the People’s Republic of China, which Scholz regards as a successful example of “autocratic capitalism”.

From neopaganism to cryptocurrency cults, the Internet today is full of strange quasi-faiths

In early 2022, a video-essay creator named Dan Olson uploaded a two-hour-long exposé to YouTube. “Line Goes Up—the Problem with NFTs” quickly became a viral sensation, accumulating nearly 9 million views as of August—an incredible number for a seemingly niche topic. (The acronym “NFT” stands for “non-fungible token,” the name of a very small subset of the still fairly obscure online cryptocurrency system.)

Olson had done his homework. The video begins with the real-estate crash of 2008, tracing not only how that crisis was allowed to happen but also the social and economic consequences that followed. From there, Olson explores the early days of the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, and its various features, promises, and problems. Olson moves on from Bitcoin to other digital currencies, such as Ethereum, but he wants to make a larger point than just identifying the idiosyncrasies and flaws of these technologies—he is interested in the social implications of “crypto” hype. The crypto world, according to Olson, is filled not only with hype but also with professional scammers, broken promises, predatory and antisocial behavior, desperation, greed—and rage. Rage at how the post-2008 world had turned out, rage at how the American dream doesn’t seem attainable anymore, rage at whomever and whatever could be blamed for robbing the people inside that online world of what they felt they were owed.

Suspension of Louis XVI – The Observer, 12 August 1792

By an express received in town yesterday evening from Paris, we learn that on Thursday the motion for the suspension of the King was discussed, and there appeared against the unhappy Louis a great majority. It was then proposed that he should be prosecuted as a traitor to the state. A long and warm debate, or rather contention, ensued; after which, it was determined that this proposition, with the motion for his suspension, should be reserved until the following day, for final decision; when it was expected he would be formally suspended, and the exercise of the Executive Power invested in the hands of the Commissioners.

The culture wars have infantilised society

The first modern revolution was neither French nor American, but English. Long before Louis XVI went to the Guillotine, or Washington crossed the Delaware, the country which later became renowned for stiff upper lips and proper tea went to war with itself, killed its king, replaced its monarchy with a republican government and unleashed a religious revolution which sought to scorch away the old world in God’s purifying fire.

Rising disaffection has severe implications

With inflation soaring, trust in governments plummeting, and the global economy teetering on the brink of collapse, one might expect to see the masses out in the streets, calling for the heads of their rulers. But instead of rage and rebellion, we mostly see apathy. Rather than getting radicalised, people are dropping out.

On May 28, Sky News Australia posted a video titled “New York bearing signs of ‘societal decay.'”  The video shows a man (who seems as if he is on drugs) entering a train car and sitting next to a young woman.  He then touches her without consent, grabs her, drags her around a bit, and generally is an extremely unpleasant nuisance.  He eventually leaves her alone and proceeds to try to kick out one of the windows.

What happened in a Rockville, Maryland, high school this January was a scene all too familiar for police officers across the US. An altercation between two boys ended with a shot ringing out, and a 15-year-old left bleeding on a bathroom floor.

What witnesses to the crime did next, however, shocked even Betsy Brantner Smith, a nearly three-decade law enforcement veteran and spokesperson for the National Police Association.

“The students started tweeting about it,” she said. “That’s just, unfortunately, the era we live in.”

According to the music sales data company MRC, “old songs” now represent an astonishing 70% of the U.S. market. It’s even more noteworthy on streaming platforms where the 200 most popular tracks now account for less than 5% of total streams.

The current list of most downloaded tracks on iTunes is filled with the names of bands from the last century like The Police and Credence Clearwater Revival, according to author and musician Ted Gioia.

More is going on here than a mere preference for musicianship, a decent melody and lyrics that at least try to make sense over the badly rhymed & Autotuned output of today’s dubious “talent.”

I suggest it is the rejection of the culture the elite seeks to impose on us. 

Policymakers should understand that the drug-overdose crisis is a crisis of single men

The United States now averages about 275 drug-related deaths per day, largely from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. Many are aware by now that the spike in drug overdoses has hit white men without a college degree hardest (though black men are, unfortunately, gaining ground in this area). But one factor continues to be underdiscussed: it is disproportionately a crisis of single men.

Fantasies of decline can make you powerless

Theories of decline are on the rise: we are inundated with stories about impending civil war and looming climate apocalypse; studies show that civilisation could collapse within a few decades; eccentric “cliometricians” warn of a miserable decade ahead.

Sounds like bad news, right? Perhaps.

Kyle Rittenhouse has said that he supports the Black Lives Matter movement and insisted that his case had nothing to do with race, as protests continue over his acquittal in Kenosha, Wisconsin and elsewhere.

‘This case has nothing to do with race. It had nothing to do with race, had to do with the right to self-defense,’ Rittenhouse told Fox News host Tucker Carlson in an interview filmed on Sunday.

‘I’m not a racist person, I support the BLM movement and peacefully demonstrating,’ the teen added in an advance clip of the interview, which is set to air on Monday night.

The appeal of class war isn’t confined to South Korea

The pivot point of Squid Game, the captivating South Korean miniseries that has become Netflix’s most popular series at launch, is its second episode. By now the premise has been vividly established: 456 financially desperate people have been transported to a private island to compete in a series of homicidally souped-up children’s games to win a jackpot of 45.6 billion won (£29 million). The winner takes all; the losers die.

The school board of Newberg Public Schools in Oregon voted 4 to 3 Tuesday to prohibit Black Lives Matter (BLM), gay pride flags, and all other “political” items from classrooms. Now, Democrats in the state legislature are appealing the decision.