Speaking of which, I've shortly to get off to my own, where we appear for cantonales to have finally reached an agreement with one of the major left parties here in France who is outside of our grouping to present a common list. A high score equals a more credible voice, and a common voice, this is important too, even if you are using like me the electoral process as an extension of protest, an extension of the domain of struggle.

Get to it all, there's work to be done!

I would be ashamed to admit that I had risen from the ranks. When I rise it will be with the ranks, and not from them Eugene Debs

Feudalism was a highly-coded system of mutual obligations, sanctioned by religion, in which membership of a particular class was strictly regulated and clearly visible.

... but what real reason is there to think that it was ever provided in any real positive sense?

And if it was provided in a "lesser of two evils" sense, in what fundamental way is that different to the legitimacy myth of transnational corporatism?

Authority is a personal relationship between feudal vassal and feudal lord: check.

Wealth derives from authority over those outside of the privileged lord-vessel authority network: check.

Looks like feudalism to me. It might not be identical in all details with European Medieval feudalism, but (1) European Medieval feudalism was not the only feudal system we have to consider and (2) neither was European Medieval feudalism identical in all details with European Medieval feudalism as commonly understood, with actual rules of behavior having to be seen through accounts written by people fully institutionalized to the folkviews of the day regarding feudalism.


I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.

An American trends analyst told a Russian news service recently that in 2011, young people from industrial societies around the world will unite on the Internet to overthrow increasingly ineffective elements of globalism that have driven their economies into depression.

In a wide-ranging interview with Russia Today (RT) on Monday, Gerald Celente made the bold prediction along with a raft of other prognostications on humanity's growing trends.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/01/trends-analyst-predicts-global-youth-uprising-2011/

Feudalism was a highly-coded system of mutual obligations, sanctioned by religion, in which membership of a particular class was strictly regulated and clearly visible.

How is this any different than modern America?

"Mutual obligations" - the system of contract law, for employment and debts in particular, function as mutual obligations, albeit stacked in favor of the wealthier party.

"Sanctioned by religion" - American religion, at least its dominant strand, openly embraces the Protestant work ethic. American economic practices and relationships are very much given legitimacy by our churches. And most of those churches reinforce the mutual obligations described above. Go into any megachurch in America today (I know, I know, but bear with me) and ask them what a "jubilee" is. They'll shrug.

"membership of a particular class was strictly regulated and clearly visible" - this too exists, from dress codes in schools, work sites, and other institutions to the myriad cultural forms and practices that reinforce American class distinctions. Those practices do not have big bold lettering on them that says "This reinforces class divisions and hierarchies" but most Americans have at least an instinctive understanding that this is what is going on.

And the world will live as one

The peasants needed leadership, they needed to be told what to do, no one could figure that out for themselves.  They needed law, and preferably law legitimated by some entity vastly larger than themselves, best of all, some lord of the universe concerned with their personal welfare.

Someone had to be in charge of the land, and of dispute resolution, because men were disputatious, and selfish, and would not naturally gravitate towards peace. The nobility agreed to fulfill this leadership role.

And so it goes, and so it went; the peasants growing the food and tending to the livestock, craftsmen producing the goods, officers keeping the peace, with the occasional raising of an army when neighbors got out of control.

And wise men observed "If there were a superabundance of everything, there would be no need for Economics" . complacent in their belief that there would never be a superabundance of anything, let alone everything, so they would always be needed.

As it happened, the growing of food and tending of livestock came to be performed by very large corporations, and the production of goods was found to be much more cheaply done overseas. Since not all of the peasantry was needed for keeping the peace, and wars were increasingly mechanized, there arose a huge surplusage of the peasantry.

At the same time, the peasantry obtained access to all of the libraries of the world, and were able to educate themselves on any and all subjects. They simultaneously gained the ability to communicate with their fellow peasants.

They began to examine the role of the nobility.  It seemed that the roles of the nobility had become almost completely parasitical.  They actually produced nearly nothing that anybody really needed, and were able to seize a vast amount of wealth by means of certain games they had devised.

It even seemed that a superabundance of everything had been attained, in the sense that if all the wealth of the world were reasonably distributed, no one would be in want, everyone would be comfortable, and most of the world's problems would become trivial.

And there was a great awakening in the peasantry.  

One day they all marched to the polls and swept away all the dearly-bought legislators of the nobility, replacing them with peasants of their own choosing.  The nobility, caught off-guard, was unable to buy protection.  The writing was on the wall,  "You have been weighed in the balance, and found out..."

The old Constitution was replaced by the Four Principles:

Practice the arts; study the sciences; tell stories; and care for one another.