Like many Americans, I’m still stunned about the 2024 election. In fact, it still feels a bit unreal. The morning after, I decided to suspend my Facebook and Threads accounts for mental health reasons. Doom-scrolling for countless hours will hurt your brain. But enough of that.
Over the past few years, I’ve been studying areas of history, historiography, and the philosophy of history not normally taught in U.S. universities. In particular, I’m focusing on the longue durée. You’ll sometimes see this perspective used “safely” with regard to geography and climate. However, political historians in my country tend to ignore it, chiefly because too many of its practitioners rely on the analysis of Marxian class structures and how they play out over time.
Longue durée historians have pointed out features of the current world capitalist system that the majority of mainstream historians cannot or will not accept. For example, conventional historians must reject the idea that institutional racism often arises naturally out of monopoly capitalism, colonial extraction economies, imperialism, etc. Defenders of the status quo will develop all sorts of elaborate explanations for concentrations of extreme wealth and dire poverty. These explanations serve to divert attention away from the fundamental economic and political structures and relationships that create and recreate similar conditions around the world and across the centuries. The simplest way to protect the system is to insist that this is simply “the way the world is,” and to act as though none of these things are related to one another.
If we ignore these diversions, however, we can set aside the notion that racism is an unexpected flaw — some errant, isolated problem, a vestige of our primitive past, or an unfortunate byproduct of multi-ethnic societies. We can instead recognize it as an identifying feature. In fact, this feature expresses itself over and over. Expanding empires (and settler colonialists) tend to create elaborate explanations, often couched in pseudo-scientific mumbo jumbo, to justify the enslavement, expulsion (including deportation), imprisonment, and murder of supposedly inferior people. This sort of racism must always inflame the fear of the other, so that subsequent violent actions can be framed as defending property, jobs, “our way of life,” virtuous women, helpless children, etc. If that fear translates into blind rage, so much the better.
Another way in which the longue durée helps us understand where we are and how we got here is recognizing the same groups and classes as they sometimes struggle against one another and at other times work with one another in awkward, unstable political coalitions. In future posts, I hope to show how these same political groups confront threats, often lethal threats, only to repeat the same mistakes. If we look at events over the wide sweep of time, we see that history may not repeat, but the same recognizable actors appear in familiar situations.
I will argue, for example, that liberals in the Lockean tradition feel bound to defend property, often to the point of sacrificing the whole shebang, rather than bend on that core principle. We will also see that liberals acting within center-left coalitions present themselves as champions of common sense, regularly chastising leftists for speaking up on “dangerous” issues, while always overestimating the number of center-right allies who will come to the rescue of the state.
You may have to wait a while between posts, but I promise I’ll try to keep plugging away.
— Tim
Tim Widowfield
Latest posts by Tim Widowfield (see all)
- How Did We Get Here? Part 1 - 2024-11-21 01:22:29 GMT+0000
- What Did Marx Say Was the Cause of the American Civil War? (Part 1) - 2024-05-12 19:09:26 GMT+0000
- How Did Scholars View the Gospels During the “First Quest”? (Part 1) - 2024-01-04 00:17:10 GMT+0000
If you enjoyed this post, please consider donating to Vridar. Thanks!
It’s worth bearing in mind that, as of 21st Nov, Trump has actually polled less than 50% of the votes cast. Of course, the idea that someone so transparently dishonest and useless would poll more than 5% is bizarre. The cognitive dissonance of voting for someone who openly tramples the supposedly sacred U.S. Constitution in order to “make America great again” is breathtaking.
But then, ramping up anger at immigrants when Trump himself – and all his supporters – are from immigrant families is right up there with Goebbels ranting about the superiority of an imaginary Aryan ideal which he would never have fit.
Oh well.
OP: “I decided to suspend my Facebook and Threads accounts”
A sound addiction treatment. If you followed “The Young Turks” news and commentary, Cenk would of preempted your reaction: “stunned about the 2024 election”. I sincerely challenge anyone that followed Cenk’s political commentary on the Harris campaign to ever make the claim, “I’m . . . stunned about the 2024 election”!
TYT is new to Bluesky (microblogging social networking service) as The Young Turks @theyoungturks.bsky
The first (and only) post, feature’s the book “Justice is coming” by Cenk.
I also recently joined as @2dbz.bsky and got a chance to Pwn [Tim O’Neill November 16, 2024 bsky.social] with my post 3d ago on @godlessengineering.com [first post July 3, 2023]
Long term history? Let’s just take the past 80 years.
The Baby Boomer heaven is over. It began when WW2 ended with a surprising result. The two main combatants, England and Germany, BOTH LOST the war. Berlin was in rubble, and London was in rubble. Instead, the USA, which didn’t expect to emerge as the Great Empire of Earth, actually did — simply because we were the Last Man Standing among developed nations.
Most advanced factories post-war were in the USA. We fed Europe for many years. Our Cold War began with the USSR.
Unlike previous Empires, the USA labored to bring other nations upward, back to their pre-war status — with one exception — no more Colonies. At least, that had been the dream of FDR. No more Hong Kong, Kuwait, or Vietnam, he had insisted.
But FDR died and Truman didn’t understand that. For Truman the Marshall plan was everything, and when France cried that it needed Vietnam to survive, Truman agreed. Big mistake in hindsight.
The USA was different from all previous tribute exacting Empires because the USA decided to be an Empire that gave Foreign Aid not only to Europe, but to any 3rd world nation that promised to oppose the USSR.
Thus, USA capitalism became the healing balm for all nations for the lifetime of the Baby Boomers, and perhaps no other generation in history was ever as prosperous as they were. Except for the Vietnam war, life was Paradise on Earth.
Postwar USA capitalism transformed the face of planet Earth. But as the Baby Boomers began to retire, and all other nations became flush with recovery — the USA became less and less crucial. The sick children were now all well, healthy, strong, and wanted MORE.
Oil was the final transformer. The US developed computers and the Internet — and by then the Middle East Oil had became crucial for world prosperity, and the Middle East decided to become a major player again — thus 9-11. That was the bell that changed the game.
China, which under Deng Xiao-ping had become unbelievably wealthy since the 1990’s and now resembled a gigantic Los Angeles, now decided they wanted to be a Great Empire, too, and began to push their weight around.
Though the USSR failed to survive Deng Xiao-ping and his alliance with the USA, the nation of Russia has not forgotten its Cold War nuclear lessons, and today wants to force its way back into a leadership role. China, ungrateful to the USA for its face-lift, has sided with Russia.
For the USA this means that we are closer to our status BEFORE WW2 than afterwards. It seems to me that we are retreating to where we were BEFORE WW2 — back to the 1930s when the very rich often took the White House — Herbert Hoover and Calvin Coolidge, for example.
The USA has liked its millionaire Presidents. It is no surprise that we are reverting to that old model now that the Baby Boomer era is closing down.
China, which is now capitalist without admitting it, thinks it will now take over the world. (They will fail.) Russia is no longer Marxist, but an oligarchy, and is trying to recover its Old Empire. (They will also fail).
The Middle East is flush with Oil, living off the economy of Climate Collapse, and believes they might somehow revive a sort of Ottoman Empire. (They will also fail.)
Until the new Empire-hopefuls collapse in the 21st century, there will be increasing wars around the world, I surmise. The USA will have become isolationist (it is already beginning). Who knows how the 21st century will end? It doesn’t look pretty so far. 2029 might look as bad as 1929.
I think you nailed it. History repeats. But left unspoken is the imminent threat of a grim, worldwide catastrophic event which should expedite the trajectory of collapse. Perhaps, if the world survives, the populace rises up and pulls down the elites.
Are you warning of potential decline for the US in the 21st century, or opining that it will happen?
As I understand you said, that the US, after emerging as a superpower following WWII, established itself as a global leader by providing aid to nations opposing the Soviet Union. However, this era of dominance is waning as rising powers like China and Russia challenge US influence. After drawing parallels to the 1930s, characterized by economic inequality and nationalism, you predict increasing global instability and decline for the 21st century new Empire-hopefuls and a potential for the US to do what…?
I think it’s naive to say that the US did not expect to come out of WWII as a great empire, assuming you mean by “the US” the sort of political thinkers that have the ear of politicians at the top levels of power. It had long been the aim of many in the Navy. The British Empire was defeated by the US, not by Germany and the defeat was intentional and planned with a view of a new world order with the US at the top. They were willing to starve the civilian population of their “ally” in order to achieve that goal.
I feel that most of your post speaks of a very romantic view of both the US and capitalism in general. Do not believe the fairy stories that Americans tell themselves – actions, not words are what count.
As I understand, Tim will examine US historical events over a long-period, to understand the underlying structures and patterns that shape US contemporary citizen: bliss/health/society/GDP/world hegemony/long term sustainability and-or livability/etc. in relation to Trump being the next democratically elected US POTUS.
Key points:
The role of capitalism and imperialism
The limitations of liberal ideology
That’s pretty much it. The problem for me will be to relate history that is rarely discussed and poorly understood without getting lost in the weeds.