The God of the Machine - Tranche 14
Chapter VI, Excerpt 2 of 2
Liberty, Christianity, and the New World
Primitive ignorance is not alarmed by novelty. The savage tribes were less submissive than the most civilized because they had no concept of the mastery of energy, although they were equally doomed by the superior potential. Empires are made by private enterprise. Energy in human affairs tends to flow by natural law . . . between points fixed by raw materials. The differential is in the time-space equation, which offsets primitive manpower.
Though much of the energy which Spain drew from the New World served only to fuse Spain into agonized rigidity, some had to go on through, and thus returned to productive channels elsewhere in Europe. The money circulated and stimulated rival nations and rebellious provinces to break the Spanish monopoly. The balance of power fell to England because England allowed the energy to flow most freely, which is to say that England conceded the most liberty to the individual by respecting private property.
The energy had a dual effect on Europe, disrupting the feudal compromise . . . and merging free cities into national forms. Of course, England did not desist from granting monopolies, which precipitated the American revolution. The British empire ended three hundred fifty years later when England again debased her coinage. The possibility of a short circuit occurs in the hook-up of political organization to the productive processes. This is a specific physical description of what happens.
Liberty, Christianity, and the New World
Primitive ignorance is not alarmed by novelty. The savage tribes were less submissive than the most civilized because they had no concept of the mastery of energy, although they were equally doomed by the superior potential. Empires are made by private enterprise. Energy in human affairs tends to flow by natural law . . . between points fixed by raw materials. The differential is in the time-space equation, which offsets primitive manpower.
Though much of the energy which Spain drew from the New World served only to fuse Spain into agonized rigidity, some had to go on through, and thus returned to productive channels elsewhere in Europe. The money circulated and stimulated rival nations and rebellious provinces to break the Spanish monopoly. The balance of power fell to England because England allowed the energy to flow most freely, which is to say that England conceded the most liberty to the individual by respecting private property.
The energy had a dual effect on Europe, disrupting the feudal compromise . . . and merging free cities into national forms. Of course, England did not desist from granting monopolies, which precipitated the American revolution. The British empire ended three hundred fifty years later when England again debased her coinage. The possibility of a short circuit occurs in the hook-up of political organization to the productive processes. This is a specific physical description of what happens.
The passage I refer to (from page 59 in my book) is as follows:
"Every ordinance now recommended and applied in the name of a planned economy was tried out in Spain during that period on the same pretext of public necessity, with the inevitable consequences of stopping production. Business could be done only by license; manufactures and trade were restricted; mines in Spain were shut down by order; real money was seized from private owners, who0 were forced to accept government paper in exchange, and imprisoned or executed if they attempted to refuse. Taxes and tariffs multiplied. Everything went into government; and the government was always bankrupt. Yet the functions of government, alleged as the pretext for such measures, were carried on with grotesque inefficiency. The greatest military exertions incurred the most disastrous defeats, and when victorious, Spain could not obtain peace."
Paterson wrote in the first chapter “Pythaes ranks among the notable discovers, an exemplar of the free mind. He could not know that that he was looking toward America.”
I wonder if it would be proper to say that she could not know that she was looking at America 2023?
Clearly using government as a noun is incorrect since no entity called government is directly observable. Rather it is the people (elected or hired or who have seized power) who are most responsible for the fortunes of the countries or empires they lead and destroy.
The principles laid down in our DOI and Constitution are of no value if these people ignore the principles or actively work to destroy them.
This is why I believe the Founding Fathers crafted a system (a republic) that constrained the worst impulses of Human Nature. And yet, America 2023 is rotting from within – its demise only a question of when. I’m just trying to understand why.
If we don't find a way to eliminate the siphoning off of the "energy" very soon, we will go the way of Rome and Spain.
While I don't think it is inevitable to stop the siphoning, reading GOTM has me convinced it is VERY unlikely. The pertinent question to me is "how long have we got?"
"The balance of power fell to England because England allowed the energy to flow most freely, which is to say that England conceded the most liberty to the individual by respecting private property." I wonder what Paterson would say about the current balance of power between the US and China.
I had this thought. Maybe China, as restrictive as they are on individuals, actually has less restrictions on INDUSTRY. With all the regulations imposed, the US certainly does not allow the "energy to flow freely."