Posted on 07/05/2009 6:48:53 PM PDT by FredJake
Based on Notre Dame university, the Catholic Church, at least in America, needs another reformation. It is becoming a corrupt leftist organ like many of the mainline Protestant denominations.
Obama is leading us towards serfdom but sadly maybe 20% of the population even knows what it is. Hauek’s book has Road to Serfdom in the title.
The Dark Ages were the period between the Fall of Rome and the emergence of the Holy Roman Empire. The Romans were so far advanced in so many things and much of that knowledge was lost for hundreds of years.
“We’ve centralized power in the government since the Pharaoh. Kings, communist leaders, fascist dictatorships, are all variations upon a theme.
The really new, radical idea is freedom, to include free markets. The American state, conceived in liberty, is the new idea. Everything else is a throwback.”
Well put. At its roots our system recognizes the sanctity of each and every individual, and their rights to self-determination. In centralized systems only those in or connected to the government hierarchy are ‘individuals’. Everyone else is a drone of the system, existing only to adore and exalt the ‘chosen ones’ in government.
If it's based on the model of the Counter-Reformation, then I'm all for it! That was the true Reformation! It was the age of saints like St. Teresa of Avila, St. Francis de Sales, and Pope Saint Pius V.
The Dark Ages were the period between the Fall of Rome and the emergence of the Holy Roman Empire.
I agree more with your definition.
The parallels between Socialism and Manorialism are amazing. One third of everyone's produce and livelihood went the Lord of the manor. There were permissions, fines, and fees for every aspect of day-to-day living.
I must admit that OV’s article uses the renaissance years when writing about the many things that led to the reformation. It was I who used the Dark Ages and maybe I should have used the Middles ages for my comparison to the feudal years.
He only has two of his 5 parts published so far and so we will have to wait for at least three weeks to see his full conclusion.
Unless of course someone can convince him to post his whole thesis on FreeRepublic for us to pick apart. I know he has an agreement with Post Scripts to post his articles, but usually he posts at least a link here but he hasn’t yet. Maybe it is because the topic is so far off what usually drives traffic.
But like I said if we get enough freepers to ping him about it he may give us a clue as to his whole thought process.
The Romans big concrete invention that I am aware of was waterproof concrete. The secret in the mix was supposedly volcanic ash. They could build piers and make it work underwater!
The incredible stuff about the aquaducts is they had to build them on a constant downslope from the mountains to bring water to the cities - around the freaking world they did this! I have no idea how they were able to calculate a constant decreasing elevation. Truly amazing. With the fall of Rome - this knowledge was lost for hundreds of years (Dark Ages).
http://www.franklin.ma.us/auto/schools/horace/grade6/corey/ss1/classnotes.htm
waterproof concrete
allowed Romans to build in and under water – piers, bridges – concrete allow Rome to build “Rome like” cities throughout empire –
“new Rome” had lots of jobs, higher standard of living; mixture water, lime and the new secret ingredient pozzolana ash from volcanoes
bonus concrete info from https://sites.google.com/a/brvgs.k12.va.us/roman-technology/concrete-ralph–;
At first, this cement was used as mortar to bind together bricks in foundations and city blocks. In time, the entire empire was stitched together with concrete infrastructure that supported its lifestyle - roads, aqueducts, dams, and many other practical structures. The Romans had a very organized system of construction based around the speed and efficiency that was made possible by using concrete instead of masonry as the Greeks did. Engineers standardized their methods of working with concrete to perfect them over time, and detailed planning work went into every project to ensure a high level of craftsmanship. The simpler method of pouring concrete into a wooden framework also decreased the need for skilled labor, making it economical and easier to implement across the vastness of the empire in comparison to the more laborious masonry construction.
I started reading it and realized that I was reading a book. I do not have time for such a long diatribe on history. Why not get a readers digest version and send it to me. I do want to ask though, are you a Catholic, Protestant, or an unbeliever?
OK. What dates and school of historiography are you following for this “Dark Ages” periodization and generalization? I would think Magna Carta figures in there.
While I don’t disagree with the direction you are talking about - communism is communism, after all- historically that just isn’t accurate other than in a very romanticized and superficial way. Im not saying another Dark Ages couldn’t come - when people turned against civilization and societies reduced to the point that bathing was considered sinful, for instance, or when whole libraries were burnt because if the books content wasn’t in the bible, it was false, and if was, then it was redundant.
That being said, I do agree that crisis is the best way to remove freedoms from people - for instance, internment of japanese in concentration camps could not have happened without world war II, or the persecutions of Jews in Germany would not have happened if it had not been for the economic devastation of Germany after WWI. That is why the founding fathers stressed that a republic was ours, if we were strong enough to keep it - or that those of us who would trade freedom for security deserved neither.
History does repeat in that sense continually - the generations that fought their way up from poverty begat children that don’t know and understand the struggle. Each generation becomes more removed from hardship, and more likely to willingly give up freedoms to those who promise them protection and security. Meanwhile, those who never succeeded in the climb are susceptible to those who promise them a slice of the pie without the accompanying hard work.
If you want a historical analog - think 1930s - FDR rode the great depression to enable him to enact a socialist agenda that still isn’t completed undone.
It’s true.
And socialism leads to the formation of the pagan new order. Neo-feudalism.
Ever see the History Channel’s program on the Dark Ages? It really shows the Brutality of 450-900’s Europe.
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