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    <div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 17/07/2018 09:08, Michel Bauwens
      wrote:<br>
    </div>
    <blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAK_2xi+FjOUeCbRs9K40166eqF9w=UPKEQ=VXm=2Zkty8CDjQg@mail.gmail.com">
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      <div dir="ltr">what do people think of this narrative ?</div>
    </blockquote>
    It seems to me a welcome re-balancing of the stories many of us grew
    up with.<br>
    Denis<br>
    <blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAK_2xi+FjOUeCbRs9K40166eqF9w=UPKEQ=VXm=2Zkty8CDjQg@mail.gmail.com">
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        <div><br>
          <div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message
            ----------<br>
            From: <b class="gmail_sendername">r kanth</b> <span
              dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:involutegandhian@gmail.com"
                moz-do-not-send="true">involutegandhian@gmail.com</a>></span><br>
            Date: Mon, Jul 16, 2018 at 11:39 PM<br>
            Subject: Fwd: The West<br>
            To: Michel Bauwens <<a
              href="mailto:michelsub2004@gmail.com"
              moz-do-not-send="true">michelsub2004@gmail.com</a>><br>
            <br>
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                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
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                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span>                              <wbr>                              <wbr>      
                                    </span>The West<span></span></b></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><i><span>                              <wbr>                              <wbr> 
                                    </span>A View from Without*<span>                      <wbr>                       
                                    </span></i><span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in 8pt
                                  0.5in;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">*<i>Europeans
                                    has been , for centuries, a
                                    ruthless, aggressive <span> </span>Empire,
                                    leastways as viewed by many of its<span> 
                                    </span>Non-European subjects: Can<span> 
                                    </span>such Empires<span> 
                                    </span>do good? It’s possible: but
                                    virtues achieved via vicious means
                                    may not
                                    be perceived/received <span> </span>as
                                    such by its
                                    victims;<span>  </span>much like
                                    slaves, who might
                                    baulk, at being asked to consider<span> 
                                    </span>benign
                                    aspects -if any- of Slavery. <span></span></i></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in 8pt
                                  0.5in;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><i>More
                                    importantly,<span>  </span>the
                                    glories of European
                                    achievements are all too well
                                    eulogized<span> 
                                    </span>by Europhiles, and fill
                                    libraries upon libraries, the
                                    subject matter of <span> </span>legend
                                    and lore;<span>  </span>less so,
                                    criticisms of this kind, whence I
                                    feel <span> </span>no compulsion to
                                    be ‘balanced’ in
                                    what I say. This is,<span>  </span>unabashedly,
                                    a Critique:
                                    <span> </span>but<span> 
                                    </span>a verifiable one; neither
                                    specious, <span> </span>nor
                                    casuistic. <span></span></i></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in 8pt
                                  0.5in;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><i>And
                                    why do I articulate it? As in the <span> </span>current,
                                    highly visible, struggles against
                                    racism and sexism, the historical <span> </span>iniquities
                                    of Empire and Colonialism must be
                                    kept in focus: lest we forget. Of
                                    course, as
                                    a ‘Gandhian’ ( at least , in some
                                    regards) , forgiveness for such sins<span> 
                                    </span>is assumed, here, <span> </span>as
                                    an article of faith, ipso facto: the
                                    tale being
                                    told with reason, not rancor.</i><span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span> </span></b></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>                       
                                  </span><span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">For
                                  at least four centuries, the world has
                                  lived/struggled
                                  under the European heel/harrow.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The
                                  latter <span> </span>did not
                                  streak ahead of the former by virtue
                                  of its prowess in <i>any field</i> ,
                                  but one:<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><i>War.<span></span></i></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And
                                  <i>genocide</i>, wherever/whenever
                                  it was meet.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The
                                  primary, if not sole, motivation was -
                                  in summary
                                  abbreviation - <span> </span><i>commerce</i>.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><i>It
                                    is so still:</i>
                                  with<i> finance</i> and <i>war </i>the
                                  only <span> </span>really robust,
                                  active
                                  agencies , today, <span> </span>within
                                  the NATO ambit.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Amongst
                                  the European tribes – yes, <i>tribes:
                                  </i>it’s not just Africans and Native
                                  Americans who were tribal
                                  –the Anglo Normans pulled head of
                                  others (notably France and Spain and
                                  the
                                  Dutch: later, Germany, Italy, <i>et.
                                    al.)</i>
                                  , again largely <span> </span>by
                                  virtue of their <i>martial </i>superiority.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">At
                                  least in the first instance , this<span> 
                                  </span><i>intra-Euro</i>
                                  superiority <span> </span>of the
                                  Anglo-Normans did <i>not</i> stem
                                  from <i>technology</i>: naval
                                  technologies were , arguably, broadly
                                  similar
                                  between France , Spain , and England.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">But,
                                  rather , I venture, from sheer <i>valor</i>
                                  , (<i>i.e., </i><span> </span>readiness
                                  to die, take improbable risks, <span> </span>for
                                  King and Country) , irrepressible
                                  aggressiveness, and<span>  </span>dogged,
                                  superhuman <span> </span>persistence
                                  against, <span> </span>often ,
                                  impossible odds.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Unfathomable
                                  <i>Heroism</i>,
                                  even of the idiot kind (<i>vide</i>
                                  ‘The Charge
                                  of the Light Brigade’) was a sort of a
                                  <i>cachet.</i><span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A<span> 
                                  </span>taste, nay <i>zeal,</i> <span> </span>for
                                  war, one might say,<span>  </span>unequalled
                                  by any - <span> </span>other than <span> </span>a
                                  few <span> </span>martial tribes of
                                  North West of India, no less
                                  valiant, violent, and aggressive.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Lands
                                  , labors, minerals, and
                                  ideas/techniques were, <span> </span>thereby,
                                  willy-nilly, <span> </span>extracted/appropriated
                                  wherever/whenever
                                  possible: with resisting natives
                                  decimated <span> </span>without ruth,
                                  or compunction.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Pirates
                                  and plunderers, in short.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">*<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><i>Via</i>
                                  such lofty
                                  means/ mechanisms, Europe, the <i>poorest
                                    ,
                                    least endowed of the continents</i>
                                  (<i>
                                    imp. caveat</i>: <i><span> </span>Europe
                                    is NOT a continent,</i> but rather a
                                  <i>sub-continent</i> like India) <span> </span>amassed
                                  the enormous ‘wealth’ ( <i>as <span> </span>defined/understood
                                    <span> </span>within<span> 
                                    </span>an EM calculus, that is)</i>
                                  <span> </span>it
                                  has now.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Now
                                  it is easy to see why the empires of
                                  India and China did
                                  not go about pillaging the <span> </span>rest
                                  of the world.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">They
                                  had resource blessings in abundance <i>within
                                    their <span> </span><span> </span>own
                                    bounds,</i>
                                  so much so that <span> </span>in <span> </span>the
                                  17<sup>th</sup> century India and
                                  China<span>  </span>accounted ,
                                  perhaps, for about 50%
                                  of world’s <span> </span>GDP.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India
                                  (<i>i.e.,</i> its <span> </span>various
                                  <i>empires,</i><span>  </span>in
                                  aggregate terms) <span> </span>was <i>fabulously</i>
                                  wealthy: and <span> </span>China was
                                  thriving.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><i>Which
                                    is why <span> </span>Europe –<span> 
                                    </span>with its chronic
                                    poverty/dearth of resources ,
                                    specially specie - made a
                                    bee-line for it</i>, like Senor
                                  Columbus,<span> 
                                  </span>buccaneer, pirate, and
                                  mass-murderer: to catastrophic effect.
                                  <span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In
                                  less than two centuries <span> </span><span> </span><i>of
                                    outright marauding</i>, <span> </span>the
                                  region<span> 
                                  </span>of India , home to amongst <span> </span>the
                                  oldest <i>continuous</i>
                                  civilisations (
                                  preceding Greece by thousands of
                                  years) <span> </span>on the planet, <span> </span>was
                                  reduced to its <span> </span>beggarly
                                  ‘third world status’ , when the Brits
                                  <span> </span>finally left ,
                                  mid-century, after making
                                  their <span> </span>due<span>  </span>,
                                  if quite forgettable, ‘contribution’
                                  to the
                                  sub-continent.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><i>Needless
                                    to add , the
                                    enrichment of Europe was related to
                                    the imposed destitution of the
                                    Non-European
                                    world.<span></span></i></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Arguably,
                                  ancient India, long before<span>  </span>the
                                  European (so-called) ‘Enlightenment’,
                                  <span> </span>made<span> 
                                  </span>contributions to <span> </span>arts,
                                  science<span>  </span>and<span>  
                                  </span>philosophy not merely
                                  comparable to <span> </span>pre-Enlightenment
                                  Europe , but <span> </span>ineffably
                                  <span> </span>superior, and far, far
                                  prior.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Yes,
                                  <span> </span>to<span>  </span>note,
                                  purely <span> </span><i>en
                                    passant</i>, <span> </span>but two
                                  indices, they had <span> </span>something
                                  close to flushing toilets in <span> </span>ancient
                                  Mohen Jo Daro: and calculus was
                                  invented not by Messrs. Newton and
                                  Leibniz, <span> </span>but in India
                                  (Kerala), <span> </span>from whence
                                  it travelled , unacknowledged , as
                                  <span> </span>usual, to Europe (<i>btw
                                    I use ‘India’ to refer to the
                                    original <span> </span>civilization
                                    that inhabited the sub-continent,
                                    <span> </span>not to the modern(ist)
                                    political entity
                                    that bears that name today</i>),
                                  centuries later.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">No
                                  , they won’t teach <span> </span>that
                                  <span> </span>bit of trivia (!) in
                                  most of the European
                                  world, <span> </span>even in academe,
                                  like <span> </span>so much else.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><i>It
                                    doesn’t fit the
                                    narrative <span></span></i></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In
                                  much the he same way, <span> </span>Hegel
                                  described Africa, of his time, as at
                                  the
                                  very <span> </span>‘infancy’ of human
                                  history
                                  incapable of civilization: in effect
                                  denying that Egypt was a Black ,
                                  Nubian , civilisation
                                  , a denial that racist Europe
                                  maintained late into the 20<sup>th</sup>
                                  century.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">At
                                  any rate, most European languages
                                  ‘derive’ from Sanskrit,
                                  and the dominant ‘Christian’
                                  ideational prepossession<span>  </span>of
                                  Europe today <span> </span>- real or
                                  phony - also hails from India: <i>Christianity
                                    , arguably, is an offshoot of
                                    Classical
                                    Buddhism,</i> whose <span> </span>mighty
                                  philosophical
                                  sweep extended from the Mediterranean
                                  to Japan, <span> </span>in its heyday
                                  .<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Of
                                  course, Europe swiftly <span> </span>‘<i>modernized’</i>
                                  classical Christianity (after its
                                  ‘enlightenment’<i>) <span> </span>via</i>
                                  the so-called ‘Reformation’
                                  , to make <span> </span>it ‘fit’ its
                                  zeal for <i>capital accumulation</i>
                                  (by repealing <span> </span>various
                                  restrictions placed <span> </span>upon
                                  it by <span> </span>the Catholic <span> </span>church,
                                  as, <i>e.g.,</i> <span> </span>in
                                  Canon Law).<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Interestingly,
                                  <i>no
                                    major (or minor) religion ever
                                    evolved within Europe</i>, unless <span> </span>a
                                  heartfelt <i>Mammon worship <span> </span></i>is
                                  ascribed
                                  that status.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">I
                                  happen to think that significant.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">*<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Once
                                  launched ,<span>  </span>and
                                  stabilized,<span>  </span><span> </span>18<sup>th</sup>
                                  century on, commerce and
                                  industry , within European empires,
                                  expanded <span> </span>(after their<span> 
                                  </span>own native, peasant populations<span> 
                                  </span>were suitably dispossessed) <i>via
                                  </i>technical
                                  and commercial innovations , even as
                                  more<span> 
                                  </span>conventional expropriations<span> 
                                  </span>from
                                  its colonies continued, enhanced ( as
                                  <span> </span>to
                                  this day)<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The
                                  Anglo-Normans pulled ahead of Europe <span> </span>in
                                  <span> </span>productive and military
                                  technologies, until
                                  their German cousins( eventually to be
                                  <span> </span>,
                                  if only grudgingly acknowledged ,
                                  world leaders, in such areas ) caught
                                  up ,
                                  and surpassed them, by the end of the
                                  19<sup>th</sup> century, <span> </span>much
                                  to their chagrin.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The
                                  so-called ‘World’ Wars were no more
                                  than <i>European Wars of Empire</i>,
                                  <span> </span>that dragged in the
                                  ‘world’ (Japan was the
                                  only <i>Non</i>-European empire to be
                                  so <span> </span>involved, much like
                                  Ottoman Turkey, long prior).<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This,
                                  of course, <span> </span>is an
                                  imminent <span> </span>possibility
                                  even now.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">War
                                  is , and has ever <span> </span>been,
                                  to European rulers both an <span> </span>important
                                  amphetamine and <span> </span>aphrodisiac,
                                  aside from being the lead
                                  activity/sector
                                  <span> </span>for generations.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Indeed,
                                  <span> </span>I would
                                  venture, <i>if they had their will</i>,
                                  <span> </span>NATO would have branch
                                  offices in New Delhi,
                                  Beijing , Seoul, and Tokyo.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">*<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The
                                  origin of European <i>Racism
                                    -</i><span>  </span>the clear
                                  scourge of our <span> </span>times -
                                  lay <span> </span>simply in their
                                  relatively facile domination
                                  of the world for centuries ( a casual
                                  review<span> 
                                  </span>of ancient Greeks - as<span>  </span>the
                                  great
                                  Martin Bernal notes - <span> </span>who
                                  had much
                                  interaction with Eastern ideas , does
                                  not betray any overtly<span>  </span><i>racist
                                  </i>ideology
                                  of superiority).<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">After
                                  all, <span> </span>if you
                                  have subdued the peoples of this world
                                  , <span> </span>at nominal
                                  cost/effort , the belief may follow,<span> 
                                  </span>like the US, <span> </span>in
                                  ‘manifest destiny’: <span> </span>or,
                                  like Europe (and not merely amongst
                                  Nazis)
                                  ,<span>  </span>in <span>  </span>a
                                  ‘master race’ of ‘supermen’.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Of
                                  course, <span> </span>the ‘cure’
                                  for such pretensions <span> </span>is
                                  the <span> </span>turn of history
                                  itself: by any reckoning,
                                  China, India, <span> </span>and
                                  Russia (perhaps in
                                  that order) are the emergent <span> </span>‘super
                                  powers’ of the future(again using
                                  Western indices).<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And
                                  they will <span> </span>indubitably
                                  tone down <span> </span>any and all <span> </span>fantasies
                                  <span> </span>of white supremacy <span> </span>-
                                  like Trump’s boast of making the US
                                  ‘great’
                                  again -not by any direct action, <span> </span>but
                                  by
                                  their very (countervailing) presence.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><i>Thus
                                    does ambition check
                                    ambition, and diamond(s) cut
                                    diamond(s).<span></span></i></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">So,
                                  <span> </span><i>Euro-Racism</i> will
                                  , over time, succumb,
                                  harmlessly,<span>  </span>to<span>  
                                  </span>the <span> </span>rank of
                                  petty chauvinisms that characterize(d)
                                  most so-called <span> </span>‘developed’
                                  societies on
                                  this planet.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Genocide,
                                  also, will, as such, <span> </span>will/might
                                  <span> </span>gradually recede from
                                  history.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">*<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">So,
                                  <span> </span>can we <span> </span>then
                                  conclude that all’s headed to the good
                                  here, despite the manifest<span>  </span>iniquities
                                  of
                                  our times?<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">No.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">I
                                  fear not.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In
                                  fact, far from it.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The
                                  EM legacy is now wantonly embraced by
                                  the entire <span> </span>world
                                  (including China, India , and
                                  Russia).,<i> via</i> generations <span> </span>of
                                  overt regime change, <span> </span>clandestine
                                  subversion, and <span> </span>endless
                                  propaganda.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Whence
                                  we may well<span> 
                                  </span>have the same game on, as we do
                                  <span> </span>at this time : <span> </span><i>of
                                    <span> </span>continuing, <span> </span>untrammeled
                                    , societal and ecological
                                    destruction -</i> <span> </span>albeit,
                                  <span> </span>with <span> </span>brand
                                  new players.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">As
                                  a <i>curiosum,</i> this
                                  was an outcome <span> </span>at least
                                  partially- if
                                  not <span> </span>entirely correctly
                                  - <span> </span>foreseen by Marx in
                                  his final years (of a ‘socialist’
                                  Europe undermined by an emergent , <span> </span>‘capitalist’
                                  Asia).<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><i>In
                                    effect, we are all
                                    Europeans (i.e., EuroModernists)
                                    now.<span></span></i></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Doubtless,
                                  <span> </span>as the <i>ancient
                                    regime gradually </i><span> </span>slips,
                                  <span> </span>in its <span> </span>economic
                                  <span> </span>and political reach , it
                                  will turn to a
                                  hypertrophic enhancement of its <i>military
                                  </i>capability,
                                  a <span> </span>fact already visible
                                  in our times.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Faltering
                                  <span> </span>dragons may
                                  be more aggressive than normal ones.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">But
                                  it will not prevail:<i>
                                    save in <span> </span>the <span> </span>intent
                                    <span> </span>(if any) to blow up a
                                    <span> </span>world it can no longer
                                    rule.</i><span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Will
                                  it?<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Remains
                                  to be seen.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Thomas
                                  Jefferson wrote, with unusual
                                  compunction, <span> </span>in a
                                  relatively more circumscribed <span> </span>era:
                                  <span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">‘<i>when
                                    I consider <span> </span>there is a
                                    just god in heaven, <span> </span><span> </span>I
                                    tremble for the fate <span> </span>of
                                    <span> </span>my country</i>’.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Of
                                  course: If he merely <i>trembled
                                  </i>then, might he not <span> </span>be
                                  <i>shuddering</i> now?<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">I
                                  wonder.<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span>                    
                                  </span>R<span>  </span>E<span>  </span>F<span> 
                                  </span>E<span>  </span>R<span>  </span>E<span> 
                                  </span>N<span>  </span>C<span>  </span>E<span> 
                                  </span>S<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Kanth,
                                  R.<span>  </span><i>Breaking with the
                                    Enlightenment</i>, NJ:
                                  Humanities Press, 1997<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">_______<span>  
                                  </span><i>Farewell to Modernism</i>,
                                  NY: Peter Lang,
                                  2017<span></span></p>
                                <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in
                                  0in
                                  8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span
style="font-size:9pt;line-height:107%">[©R.Kanth
                                      2018] <span></span></span></b></p>
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