7 Comments
May 9, 2022Liked by epimetheus

Ord och inga visor, as we say in swedish (Words and no songs, complete gibberish in english I'm afraid, the meaning is that true/heartfelt words have been clearly spoken with no caveats or hemming and hawing).

May I offer a different explanation for the need to blame the party bg wigs and public faces? Not the usual one, that the collaboration of capital of all sides save the soviet/japanese ones had to be hidden or Operation: Paperclip or to kepp Operation: Unthinkable secret and similar - no, a different one:

Brasklapp*: I make no claim that this objectively true, since it can only be argued and thought about, not proven.

The subconscious goal in putting the blame solely on public faces of national socialism was to hide the role of the industrialised society and industrialisation as such.

Not industry, but industrialisation as in the reforging of society wholesale to serve the interests of industry and thus the owners of industry. War and massacres, genocide and deaths in the tens of millions were after all nothing new 1945, or even 1918. (It is at this point the yelling usually starts in real life, since apparently stating facts somehow lessens the horror of the war - I don't get it, but that's people's general reaction: WW2 stands out as some kind of unique evil.)

The mongol wars claimed far more dead than WW2, if looked on as a whole, and if the Black Death is figured it looks even worse. Several chinese wars in history had double-digit tens of millions dead, including genocide.

So it's clearly not the numbers. Is it culture? Hardly, all cultures have shown themselves capable - the scale largely being dependent on capacity and logistics. Look at how the aztecs put tens of thousands of heads on racks for public display. Tens of thousands at the same time, at that. Relgion fails too as explanation, as does lack of it, for the same reason as above. Shintoism was no hinder for the japanese to murder 5% of the population of the Philippines.

No, I argue that it is industrialism, and that this needed to be paved over with tribunals and trials portioning out the blame (quite rightfully too apart from the concept of Victor's justice, which several senior law scholars and judges in the US pointed out at the time, seeing as no Allied and especially no Soviet personnel was charged or tried). Before industrialism (not before industry mind) we did not live according to "clock time"; clocks were to keep time, nothing else. Even in cities life flowed along natural time, daylight and seasons setting the pace. Swedish historian Peter Englund described the difference very clear in his works about the Thiry Years War, since this created problems: tailors and shoemakers did not make as many wares as they could to sell as much as possible. They did as much as was needed to pay tax, make a living and build a nest egg for children etc.

A very different pace than industrialism's 8-8-8 concept: 8hrs work, 8hrs leisure, 8hrs sleep. With industrialisation came the subjugation of man under the needs of the machine and its owners, and those selfsame owners could not then as they cannot now allow the machine called modern society to be called into question, much less blamed for human ills and suffering.

Consider this: how would the Fulminata have handled uprising in Judea, if they had had access to the same logistical base as Germany had in 1939? Industrialisation makes humans replaceable, and thus of equal worth and dignity to eachother.

And if everyone is worth the same, everyone is replaceable. Whereas in the pre-industrialist, pre-capitalist society the village blacksmith or rackaren were eminently worth something: their craft, and as humans and fellow christians, the mortal sins being seens as real only 250 years ago.

*Brask-lapp is yet another swedish expression, relating bishop Hans Brask (1464-1538) who in 1517 was forced to sign a document petitioning to remove archbishop Gustav Trolle. According to Olaus Petri, Brask hid a note under his seal, saying "To this I am forced and compelled". Today, it means making a claim or a statement with a caveat or hidden reservation.

Expand full comment
May 9, 2022Liked by epimetheus

Not sure if you’re familiar with Caitlin Johnstone. You might enjoy her writing.

https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2022/04/27/everyones-anti-war-until-the-war-propaganda-starts/

Expand full comment
May 10, 2022Liked by epimetheus

There is nothing to celebrate on 7, 8 or 9 of May. Dot.

Unless you want to celebrate the official beginning of the United States of America Empire...

But then I've nothing to celebrate, nor my family, parents, and grand parents at all!

Expand full comment

Thank you for your historical perspective.

Yes, the profusion of Ukraine flags and sentiments of "standing with Ukraine" feel very propagandistic.

For the people of Ukraine I will always feel empathy. No good comes of war, it is full of violence and terror and destruction. I would not wish this on anyone.

But, as you say, one must draw a line between the ordinary people and the organs of the state, government, political leadership, military leadership, etc.

Though ultimately it is those in Washington DC and Brussels for whom I reserve my true disgust.

Expand full comment