Posted on 03/23/2009 9:10:28 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
Gumilev believed that the formation or "ethnogenesis" of "ethnoi" or what we would call ethnic groups (and later nations and empires) is the result of a burst of chemical energy (probably from outer space). This energy gives a group of men a mysterious force that explains their collective rise and fall. He calls this principle "passionarity."
Each ethnos has a life cycle of 1,200 to 1,500 years. The whole pro-cess takes 60 generations to complete. The first stage of the "ascent" takes 300 years. The next stage, the fluorescence or "acme," as he puts, takes another 300 years. Then comes the "pivotal" or destructive stage of 150 years, then a 600 year stage of inertia, followed by a stage of eclipse and then a stage of homeostasis which implies a return to primitive savagery, which he compares to African Bushmen or Australian Aboriginals. ....
He believes that members of "ethnoi" should not mix -- they should marry among themselves. For the ethnoi to survive, elders must be respected, as should religious institutions and the state. Of course, the key elements here are that history is determined, the individual is second to the group, Eurasia is rising and the West is in decline. ....
Since Gumilev's death in 1992 his books have become best sellers in Russia. Hundreds of thousands of copies have been printed and sold. His books are found on almost all university reading lists dealing with history and the social sciences. The new Kazakh State University was named after him. When Vladimir Putin visited Gumilev University he said that Lev Gumilev was "the greatest Eurasianist of our times" and that "his scholarly works are a brilliant contribution ... to thinking about history."
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalpost.com ...
Sounds not unlike another great occultic religion known as National Socialism.
Whadda loser, even for an Russian.
Fascinating, perhaps L. Ron Hubbard and Elijah Muhammed may have cribbed from his works as well.
But how do the Gumilev-ites factor in the brutal demographic decline of their “ethnos” when they’re supposed to be in the ascent? How are the eurasians going to conquer the world when they’re busy dying out?
From the article:
Marlene Laruelle, a French writer on Eurasianism, highlights the key features of contemporary Eurasian thinking:"The different currents of Russian Neo Eurasianism that emerged in the 1990s all share a set of convictions: an assertion of cultural unity and common historical destiny of the Russians and the non-Russian peoples of Russia, the former Soviet Union or parts of Asia
So, the Eur part of Eurasia may be dying out but that's more than made up for by the Slavic, Turkic and Asiatic components.
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