Alexander Boot "How the West Was Lost"
Modman v Westman:
Modman's two sub-species: philistine and nihilist.
"One could, however, venture a guess, and here the pre-Enlightenment methodology of this book can come in handy. The philistine Modman tries to impose, and nihilist feigns to accept, the materialist, mercantile idea of happiness. Many a time throughout the blood-soaked twentieth century, the philistine showed eagerness to kill untold millions in defence of his right to be happy in that tastelessly comfortable way of his. And, as he proved in the skies over Serbia a few years ago, he does not mind slaking his thirst for power with innocent blood. Moreover, so deeply is he attached to his overheated paradise that he is even prepared to die for it – the only thing worth dying for because, to the philistine, comfort is the only thing worth living for.
Therein lurks the danger. The heat generated by his central boiler has steamed up the philistine's glasses and he cannot see the perils clearly. Enveloped in wet fog, the figure at a distance appears to be a fellow philistine, whereas in fact it is the disguised nihilist. He may be converging with the philistine, but he has not yet. Even when they are close to convergence, the two subspecies of Modman can still be at each other's throats, for they will be reaching for the same prize in their soulless world. Be that as it may, the nihilist is still very much with us, and this fellow craves either the philistine's money or his life, preferably both. Money he cannot have, at least not enough of it to make a real difference. Money for the philistine is what hair was for Samson: his source of strength. Shorn of money, the philistine is easy prey to any Delilah, and he knows it. He does not mind slicing his zero-sum pie this way and that, tossing the crumbs to the nihilist, but he will not want the pie to become much smaller.
And yet there is enough of the nihilist in him to be ready to walk the knife's edge. This is not just an exercise in the cheap thrills of brinkmanship, but a dire necessity. For the philistine too is a Modman first and foremost. As such, he is driven by his hatred of Westman, not just by affection for scented loo paper. And to push hatred to its logical conclusion, he needs more than just money. He needs power, and the more absolute, the better. So when he feigns ignorance of the nihilist threat, he is not being stupid any more than a leopard is stupid when stalking a rhino. Wittingly or unwittingly, he is trying to prod the nihilist into action, for the philistine hopes that his power will be annealed in the resulting fire. States make war and war makes states, the saying goes. That was partly the motivation behind Wilson trying to drag America into the First World War and Roosevelt into the Second, or behind the British and the French ignoring the Nazi threat in the 1930's, or behind today's West feeling safe – with some foolishly claiming that history has ended simply because the Soviets call themselves something new now. And the strategem has worked after a fashion."
(Also Tracey Rowland's gives short precis of Alexander Boot's 'How the West was Lost' here http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2012/10/13/3610041.htm )
Modman's two sub-species: philistine and nihilist.
"One could, however, venture a guess, and here the pre-Enlightenment methodology of this book can come in handy. The philistine Modman tries to impose, and nihilist feigns to accept, the materialist, mercantile idea of happiness. Many a time throughout the blood-soaked twentieth century, the philistine showed eagerness to kill untold millions in defence of his right to be happy in that tastelessly comfortable way of his. And, as he proved in the skies over Serbia a few years ago, he does not mind slaking his thirst for power with innocent blood. Moreover, so deeply is he attached to his overheated paradise that he is even prepared to die for it – the only thing worth dying for because, to the philistine, comfort is the only thing worth living for.
Therein lurks the danger. The heat generated by his central boiler has steamed up the philistine's glasses and he cannot see the perils clearly. Enveloped in wet fog, the figure at a distance appears to be a fellow philistine, whereas in fact it is the disguised nihilist. He may be converging with the philistine, but he has not yet. Even when they are close to convergence, the two subspecies of Modman can still be at each other's throats, for they will be reaching for the same prize in their soulless world. Be that as it may, the nihilist is still very much with us, and this fellow craves either the philistine's money or his life, preferably both. Money he cannot have, at least not enough of it to make a real difference. Money for the philistine is what hair was for Samson: his source of strength. Shorn of money, the philistine is easy prey to any Delilah, and he knows it. He does not mind slicing his zero-sum pie this way and that, tossing the crumbs to the nihilist, but he will not want the pie to become much smaller.
And yet there is enough of the nihilist in him to be ready to walk the knife's edge. This is not just an exercise in the cheap thrills of brinkmanship, but a dire necessity. For the philistine too is a Modman first and foremost. As such, he is driven by his hatred of Westman, not just by affection for scented loo paper. And to push hatred to its logical conclusion, he needs more than just money. He needs power, and the more absolute, the better. So when he feigns ignorance of the nihilist threat, he is not being stupid any more than a leopard is stupid when stalking a rhino. Wittingly or unwittingly, he is trying to prod the nihilist into action, for the philistine hopes that his power will be annealed in the resulting fire. States make war and war makes states, the saying goes. That was partly the motivation behind Wilson trying to drag America into the First World War and Roosevelt into the Second, or behind the British and the French ignoring the Nazi threat in the 1930's, or behind today's West feeling safe – with some foolishly claiming that history has ended simply because the Soviets call themselves something new now. And the strategem has worked after a fashion."
(Also Tracey Rowland's gives short precis of Alexander Boot's 'How the West was Lost' here http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2012/10/13/3610041.htm )
posted by martin at December 15, 2013
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