Comments by "craxd1" (@craxd1) on "Coronavirus and the culture war, with Heather Mac Donald" video.

  1. One can trace the left's (socialist) ideology back to revolutionary France, with Rousseau. However, another was as important, and that was Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon (1760–1825). His ideology is known as Saint-Simonianism, which was hijacked by the radical socialists and intellectuals. "Saint-Simon stressed the need for recognition of the merit of the individual and the need for hierarchy of merit in society and in the economy, such as society having hierarchical merit-based organizations of managers and scientists to be the decision-makers in government." This school of thought, unfortunately, became warped by later socialists and utopianists, where it became central planning. "Saint Simon's conceptual recognition of broad socio-economic contribution, and his Enlightenment valorization of scientific knowledge, soon inspired and influenced utopian socialism, liberal political theorist John Stuart Mill, anarchism through its founder Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, who was inspired by Saint-Simon's thought, and Marxism with Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, identifying Saint-Simon as an inspiration to their ideas and classifying him among the utopian socialists. Saint-Simon's views also influenced 20th century sociologist and economist Thorstein Veblen, including Veblen's creation of institutional economics that has included prominent economists as adherents." "Karl Marx identified Saint-Simon as being among whom he called the "utopian socialists", though historian Alan Ryan regards certain followers of Saint-Simon, rather than Saint-Simon himself, as being responsible for the rise of utopian socialism that based itself upon Saint-Simon's ideas. Ryan also distinguishes between Saint-Simon's conceptions and Marxism's, as Saint-Simon did not promote independent working-class organization and leadership as a solution to capitalist societal problems, nor did he adhere to the Marxist definition of the working class as excluded by fundamental private property law from control over the means of production. Unlike Marx, Saint-Simon did not regard class relations, vis the means of production, to be an engine of socio-economic dynamics. Rather the economic issue of concern to Saint-Simon was the form of management. Furthermore, Saint-Simon was not critical of capitalists as exclusive owners, collaborators, controllers, and decision-makers. Rather, he regarded capitalists as an important component of the 'industrial class.' Ryan further suggests that by the 1950s, it was clear that Saint-Simon had presaged the "modern" understanding of industrial society." However, Saint Simon went too far. "In opposition to the feudal and military system—the former aspect of which had been strengthened by the restoration—he advocated a form of technocratic socialism, an arrangement whereby industrial chiefs should control society - similar to Plato's philosopher kings. In place of the medieval church, spiritual direction of society should fall to the men of science. Men who are fitted to organize society for productive labour are entitled to rule it. The conflict between labour and capital emphasized by later socialism is not present in Saint-Simon's work, but it is assumed that the industrial chiefs, to whom the control of production is to fall, shall rule in the interest of society. Later on, the cause of the poor receives greater attention until, in his greatest work, Nouveau Christianisme (The New Christianity), it takes on the form of a religion. This development of his ideas occasioned his final quarrel with Comte." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_de_Saint-Simon During the French Revolution, Babeuf and others were behind the atheist movement, and they started the Cult of Reason. This was replaced by Robespierre's Cult of the Supreme Being, which was dedicated to the worship of the goddess of wisdom. Orthodox religion was restored to normal by Napoleon, but those, like Saint Simon, still adhered to the revolutionary cults, which removed Christian morals from society. We can see the results of technocratic socialism, today, at Silicon Valley, and in education. Is it no wonder that they get on well with the CCP?
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