Posted on 10/06/2011 7:24:54 AM PDT by Olympiad Fisherman
An important feature environmentalism shares with fascism is the centrality, within each movement, of the European aristocracy. However, while aristocrats flaunt their environmental credentials, they conceal their past involvement with fascism. This is why Jonathon Petropoulos’ Royals and the Reich (Oxford, 2006) is so useful.
270 German princes and princesses were Nazi Party members. A sampling of 312 “old aristocratic” families found 3,592 Party members. Every noble family east of the Elbe River had at least one member in the Party. A third of Nazi-aristocrats joined the Party before Hitler became Chancellor; a majority supported the Nazis, or like groups, before this date. Nobles were the most fascistic of any demographically identifiable cohort.
Royal Hohenzollern princes were high-profile Nazi campaigners during the Nazis’ struggle for power. Aristocrats occupied thousands of top government posts during the Third Reich. King Edward VIII was a Nazi. He was definitely guilty of treason and possibly guilty of attempted regicide. Edward did not abdicate in order to marry Wallis Simpson. He was forced from the throne by PM Baldwin because Edward was heading up a Nazi fifth column in the UK.
George V, George VI, the Duke of Kent and scores of British aristocrats promoted “appeasement.” This “peace movement” was an effort to steer Britain into the Axis.
Western Europe’s aristocracy, including most German princes, survived World War II. They retained, even supplemented, their land holdings. Over the past few decades they have engineered a remarkable renaissance ...
(Excerpt) Read more at ecofascism.com ...
Ping.
After seeing what happened to royalty in the french revolution, it makes sense that they would be on the side that has the most guns.
The French Revolution was the first humanist/socialist (based solely on the Enlightenment without the Reformation) revolution that ultimately devolved into Napoleon. The aristocracy has taken a beating from the far left ever since, especially with the Russian Revolution. Their answer to Marxism was Fascism after the Russian Revolution, but is now environmentalism. There are many conservatives who continue to misunderstand the environmental movement as the new red. They are not.
To be fair, aristocrats never believed "the rules" applied to them. During the Middle Ages and early modern period, they pretty much didn't. The French were astounded when in 1760 the British actually hanged a peer for murder of a commoner. This would never have happened in France. (Unless the peer had a whole bunch of powerful enemies.)
The Victorian period was unique in that the traditional values of the middle classes moved down into the lower classes and up into the upper classes. However, many of the latter didn't internalize them, they just felt they had to pretend to.
Today, of course, those same values are derided as old-fashioned and are under assault from both the upper and lower classes. So far, this pincer attack is winning.
bttt
I didn't really comprehend Royals’ and ‘upper’ bourgeois complicity (or at least accommodation) with Fascism, until I read “Arms of Krupp”.
And you are right....these people, desperate to keep and consolidate their gains to that point, conned everyone to go along with this pseudo populist cause. They lied and said that Fascism would save them all. It saved NO ONE and was ruinous to ALL.
It's an ugly little fact about humanity that SOME people like having decisions made FOR them, and have an absolute penchant for subservience.. a positive, crying NEED to be used and exploited. THIS is why America (until recently) has really been the ‘shinning city on the hill’, where Monarchy and the rigid class structure accompanying it was rejected as a demeaning system for free men.
BTTT
A very interesting way to put it - thanks!
"...most liberals can only comfortably think about what needs to be fixed in the exteriors (such as economics) in order to make society a better place.” The classical liberals who founded America didn’t think this way at all.
"...There was the radical Enlightenment of France (bad) and the skeptical Enlightenment of Scotland and America (good), and the two were as different as can be, resulting in very different societies and value systems. ..."
Identify the Pure SCUMBAGS in this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Windsor AND THIS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Saxe-Coburg_and_Gotha
Thanks for the links!
The Enlightenment was a skeptical toward the Bible on both sides of the pond, but less skeptical on the American side. Benjamin Franklin and company, who were perhaps more deist than Christian, still went to church with the Puritans on Sunday and enjoyed their fellowship. The Reformation was far more strongly entrenched in American society than it ever was in France. America threw off the yoke of the king and avoided tyranny because they believed that God was their King. The French Enlightenment could have cared less about God, and wound up with Napoleon. The founding fathers were well versed in 1 Samuel 8 - a chapter in the Bible describing events 3,000 years before the Enlightenment took the historical stage. Pastors need to re-teach 1 Samuel 8 to their own congregations today, but many do not. Why? Because more than a few have fallen prey to the Enlightenment’s sustained attack against the historicity of the Old Testament over the last two centuries. The Old Testament is now treated like a story at best, or a myth at worst by many seminaries across the land. This has done our country untold damage and is one of the primary reasons why we are facing societal collapse on a scale not seen in the history of this country.
I think as societies progress, along with the increased dependency on Hi-tech and the never-ending rise in costs for practically everything, this is the normal path for man...to depend more and more on govt, simply because there is too much for individuals to do on their own.
Used to be, a man could fend for himself. Not know. Practically everything that we rely on to live, is controlled by factions too large for the individual to have an impact on, much less even be aware of.
Read 1 Samuel 8. The dangers of tyranny and government welfarism were very real even in the ancient agricultural society of Israel. It has nothing to do with something as banal as hi tech technology, but is a reflection of the human heart in rebellion against God. Also, hi tech stuff is cheap and has a long history of becoming cheaper. The reason why most things are so expensive today is largely because of environmentalism and socialism - which again - are a reflection of the human heart and are not necessary, nor contigent upon being human. The great problem in life is too many people happen to love this stuff, and so we are saddled with it.
I disagree, but thanks for the response.
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