It's A Horrible Task

Remarking on this post about the dying of the light, Laurence W. rings into e-mail:

"It is not very often that I can take issue with what you say, but here I think you have made an error. It appears that you are assuming that the present situation will continue unchecked indefinitely.

I do not think that to be the case. This situation is highly dynamic. Events of the present day are the result of destruction of portions of the philosophy of freedom from years, perhaps decades, gone, and the slow growth of a totalitarian simulacrum to replace it. While actions have consequences in both the physical and philosophical world, in the philosophical world the poisonous cultural corollaries of totalitarian philosophy take time to root and grow in a matrix of decaying freedom. Today's events are the harvest of compromise and destruction of the ideas of freedom during decades past, and the physical devolution resulting from that will continue. As will the political deterioration; the cultural divide between different parts of the US will widen to the point that political separation will become inevitable.

To my way of thinking, this is both good and bad news. The bad news is that we shall be reaping that bitter harvest for some time, up until the good news happens. The good news is that we shall see a geometric progression of physical collapse; this must follow the collapse of the ideals of the enlightenment we have already largely seen. The technology which supports the 6+ billion people on this planet cannot survive without the philosophy of freedom, and since that philosophy is largely already gone, the physical infrastructure on which it depends must inevitably follow. I expect to see a substantial decrease in the number of people living on this Earth within the next 10 to 30 years; if the technology that sustains us goes, then so will most of the people. While some think that we can make a softer landing using 19th century technology, my sober assessment is that this will not happen; there are too many missing pieces.

I have found Stirling's 'Dies the Fire' novels to be interesting when considering this scenario. If you leave out the alien space bats changing the laws of physics, what you are left with is an interesting examination of what this world will be like when the inevitable collapses happen. Granted, I doubt there will be one enormous smash as depicted therein, but rather more little ones, a' la 'Atlas Shrugged". In any case the end result will be the same; the human race will be winnowed down to the carrying capacity of our technological level. And while that will be a horror unparalleled in the history of man, it will inescapably hammer home the lessons that ideas matter, and actions have consequences, as long as THERE ARE PEOPLE LEFT TO INTERPRET THESE LESSONS to the survivors. Which brings me to the reason I emailed you.

While I agree with you that the collapse probably cannot now be avoided, we can prepare for the coming Dark Age, and probably do a much better job of recovery than Europe in the Middle Ages, in several different ways all of which I will not get into now. I do expect that our descendants shall see islands of enlightenment blooming from the seeds sown by Mises and Rothbard and Rand in some unlikely areas. I spend my time now trying to prepare for the recovery. If you have ever read When Worlds Collide' what I see happening is something akin to the 'League of the Last Days;' people who are trying to consolidate and conserve the philosophical treasures of today, so that the world of tomorrow can start from the best of what we know and not have to painfully rediscover these philosophical treasures.

While there are no guarantees, I think that those wise enough to see this coming are also wise enough to prepare for it, and those prepared are likely to survive in much greater proportion than those who are not. The thought of Galt's Gulch is attractive, but there is something to be said for geographic diversity, too, as I see no way to predict which particular areas will be affected by the inevitable employment of WMD and all the other horrors of the 21st century. So my message is- Take hope. You may well be one of the icons of the Re-Enlightenment, one of the sparks who helps re-ignite the Torch of Freedom in years to come. That is a cause worth spending time and effort on."

I am reminded of Faye Dunaway as Diana Christensen ("Network", 1976), pitching Howard Beale:

"...a messianic figure, inveighing against the hypocrisies of our times. A strip Savonarola Monday through Friday..."

No: the situation will not be unchecked indefinitely. It will reach its own natural limits of sustenance. This fact is implicit in discussion of collapse: every sentient being understands that this cannot go on.

For myself, I can account for no "good news" in any of it beyond the elemental probity of reality. Coming to terms with the facts, while being the only way for humans to live ("elemental probity"), is also going to be extremely painful. Indeed: the "poisonous cultural corollaries of totalitarian philosophy" have yet to reap their fullest harvests. There are depths yet un-plumbed in American experience, and there are millions of good people in this country who will not really deserve to have to go through all that.

I see your point. It's about regeneration. Look: wouldn't it be better if the fire preceding it were unnecessary? I know you'll agree. It's just that there is no reason for this. If we might look forward to a re-ignition someday, then does it make me crazy to demand that the same intellectual effort be brought to bear right now, before it's all gone? The tools are valid in any era, and there is no time for the work like right now.

Right now, there is a person in my e-mail, a foreign expatriate come to America, about whom I've blogged here before, weeping and cursing over the lost investment of lifetime in this world-ideal, and crying to know what can be done. It's a brief ponder, to me. If ideas are not soon connected to action in the service of freedom, there will be nothing to be done except for reactive dealings with an explosion.

I think you're right about the potential for landing after the crash. So much has been produced in the past two centuries that it cannot be completely demolished: the knowledge, alone, that it has once existed should guarantee its preservation, if not practice, long into the future. The general state of human knowledge has come so far in that time that even a fifty percent rate of cultural amnesia in various technical fields would still carry great values into the future.

And... what do I tell my expatriate friend who came to America? "Jeez, I'm really sorry that you hauled your ass all the way to these shores in order to become a self-made soul and make the most of the only time on earth that you'll ever have -- you know; all that 'freedom' jazz. In fact, you'll have to fight this ancient fight with smiley-faced imbeciles who devote as much effort to not-thinking as first-rate burglars do at not working. You know that corner that got turned back in '76?... the first polity in history declared on individualist principles? Well, guess what: the joke's on you, kiddo, because that corner is now a circle, and it's your turn in the barrel."

Can I tell you something? Nobody in their right fucking mind would want to be an "icon of the Re-Enlightenment". I had a life to live, man, and it didn't include any of this. All the "hope" I ever had was invested in turning a bigger and better gig next week and everything I could produce with that, for myself. (Have I told you lately? It's all about me. "The world began when I was born.")

If we're going to be concerned with every individual human life -- which is as it should be -- then I always start with mine.

I suppose it would be swell if there were someday an America -- a concept integrated with practical life on this continent -- that lived up to itself once this disaster is ever cleared. At the age I've reached, it's been time enough to see the real-live enervation of something really glorious right in front of my eyes. My lifetime has included only echoes of the promise of freedom as Americans once practiced, but they were enough to illustrate what was possible.

That's about the only satisfaction I'll ever have, I think. The future can tend to itself, and if anything I've done here is found valuable then, well; fine, then. It should always be held in mind that I would have had far, far better things to do.