Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

[yesferatu]

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds - Charles Mackay 1841<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.litrix.com/madraven/madne001.htm">www.litrix.com/madraven/madne001.htm</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br> <p></p><i></i>

[Seamus OBlimey]

Thanks for that yesferatu, I've only had a quick dip but the chapter titles and and intro tell me it'll fill a lot of holes in my understanding of history. Some of the subjects I've heard of before and others never.<br>I love old texts like this because they show us how the world looked 100 or 200 years ago when the shapers of our present age were in their infancy (or maybe high school depending on how far back you wanna look).<br><br>Feeling I should offer something in retun the best I can do just now is <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/index.html">dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarc...index.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> Something else I dip into for occasional inspiration.<br><br>Anyone else got a gpod online library? And should we be backing them up with the imminence of WWW2? <p></p><i></i>

[yesferatu]

Thanks.<br>I have meant to read Bakunin, so I took your link as my opportunity to read some of his essays. <br><br>This stood out:<br><br>" Patriotism Runs Counter to Ordinary Human Morality.<br><br>This flagrant negation of humanity, which constitutes the very essence of the State, is from the point of view of the latter the supreme duty and the greatest virtue: it is called patriotism and it constitutes the transcendent morality of the State. We call it the transcendent morality because ordinarily it transcends the level of human morality and justice, whether private or common, and thereby it often sets itself in shard contradiction to them. Thus, for instance, to offend, oppress, rob, plunder, assassinate, or enslave one's fellow man is, to the ordinary morality of man, to commit a serious crime.<br><br>In public life, on the contrary, from the point of view of patriotism, when it is done for the greater glory of the State in order to conserve or to enlarge its power, all that becomes a duty and a virtue. And this duty, this virtue, are obligatory upon every patriotic citizen. Everyone is expected to discharge those duties not only in respect to strangers but in respect to his fellow citizens, members and subjects of the same State, whenever the welfare of the State demands it from him."<br><br>In light of this, it is funny to hear ameriKan righties condemn communists for the communist's willingness to be subsumed by The State. Pot meet kettle. <br><br>ameriKan rightie: "Well, no...it's not the same!!"<br><br>Yes. It <!--EZCODE UNDERLINE START--><span style="text-decoration:underline">is</span><!--EZCODE UNDERLINE END-->. <br>Same coin, two sides....same coin. <br><br><br> <p></p><i></i>