Of Independent Barbarians

Romanised German chieftain Arminius, whom the Roman commander Varus thinks he can trust, lures Roman legions into an ambush where the combined forces of German tribes slaughtered them. The year was 9 A.D. I don't know why what I am going to present made me think of this...

Newsweek published an article by people who are worried that Barbarian middle classes might not be becoming copies of themselves. Let me cite...

As China, Brazil, Russia, Turkey, India, Indonesia, and other large developing nations became more prosperous, it was always assumed that they would become more like the suburbs of Washington or London—liberal, democratic, market-friendly bastions not only of Western-style consumerism but also of political liberty. With time and wealth, "they" would become just like 'us.'

What, then, to make of recent news events like the Brazilian middle class applauding more state control of the oil industry to keep out greedy foreign firms, or the continuing popularity of Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin among the Russian middle class, now 78 percent of the total population? Then there's the middle-class support for the rise of conservative Islam in Indonesia, which has pushed through a new anti-pornography law and may soon create halal cities, where all food must be served according to strict Islamic rules. These new spins on middle-class values mix, in many places, with distinctly anti-Western forms of nationalism. The increasing patriotism of affluent young Chinese has created an industry for popular books like 'The China Dream.' which urges China to launch a military buildup in preparation for a coming conflict with the U.S.

There is nothing particularly revealing in the rest of the article. I will let the two paragraphs above speak for themselves, without a commentary.

Comments

[jack]

There is hope yet as the "barbarians" do not seem susceptible to the engineered social programming of the Frankfurt school theology which became the basis of George Soros Open Society under the teaching of former FS Professor Karl Popper.

Ironic as the US population seems to support war with Iran, the Patriot act and the official narrative of 9/11 and continuing “anti-terrorist” measures like the proposed nuddy scanner at airport proposed by Michael Chertoff who just happens to either own or has connections to the company that builds them . Not to mention as Brzezinski termed the technocratic society of CCTV here in Britain.

[E. Henry Thripshaw]

"the continuing popularity of Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin among the Russian middle class, now 78 percent of the total population"

This is funny because it's so sloppily worded...it suggests that the Russian middle class is now 78% of the population! (actually it's more like 25-30%)

[Richard]

This article rests on the false premise that the middle class in the West really is as liberal as it is being described as. In reality it is far from it. The middle class in the US for example is far from liberal in obsession with conservative values, militant patriotism and fundamentalist religiosity. Not surprisingly, the middle clases in countries such as Brasil, Russia, India and China, don't turn out to be much diffenent. The second falacy is that state control of the economy is an anachronism in developed economies or is sign of authoritarianism. Most developed economies are in fact mixed economies, where some sort of state intervention is the norm. Some of the most liberally progressive and democratic states in the West, such as the Scandinavian states, also have large public sectors and many key enterprises are state owned, proving the supposed correlation between state control of the economy and economic backwardness and lack of democracy false.

[Leoš Tomíček]

The article is ridiculous in my opinion. As for American Christians, I would not call their Mickey Mouse churches fundamentalist. Fundamentalism implies return to something original, usage of interpretations from the 'unspoiled' antiquity. I do not see that in their eschatological fantasies.