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| "Wow, I really love the American Humanist Association. Is it one of our front groups?" |
The American Humanist Association is so woke that it has decided to strip Richard Dawkins of an award he got 25 years ago. LOL! Clown world strikes again. Of course, nobody has ever heard of the AHA, while everyone knows about Dawkins, so somehow, I think he´ll manage...
"A Perfect Planet" is a BBC One series, narrated in the original by David Attenborough. Here in Sweden, our very own Henrik Ekman is the mysterious voice in the background. I recently watched the second episode, titled "The Sun". Ostensibly about the impact of sunlight on Earth´s wildlife, it´s really a nature photographer´s extravaganza, showing spectacular images from all over the world. This time, the production team takes us to Southeast Asia, Ellesmere Island during the Arctic night, mainland Canada, the Sahara desert, New Zealand, Alaska, and a few other places besides. We get to see the bizarre life cycle of the fig wasp (which has co-evolved perfectly with the fig trees), the weird mating rituals of the garter snake, hibernating frogs, snow geese fighting it out with Arctic foxes, silver ants in the Sahara, gibbons, and the sooty sharewater (a bird that migrates between New Zealand and Alaska, thereby experiencing "an eternal summer").
But the most astounding and frankly scary footage comes from Ellesmere Island north of Greenland. You would think an island in the middle of the Arctic Ocean would be devoid of "higher" wildlife. You would be wrong. Even during the coldest and darkest time of the year (the Arctic night lasts four months here), the island is the scene of an eternal struggle between hords of muskoxen and packs of Arctic wolves. It frankly looks like another planet. In the documentary, the wolves actually fail to kill a muskox, and are forced to chase enormous swarm-like flock of Arctic hares instead! It looks almost comic. Last time I watched a documentary about Ellesmere Island, I waxed philosophical. Somehow, the fate of the animals at this God-forsaken place, being forced to act out their pre-programmed behavioral patterns over and over, made me more appreciative of being born a human...
Finally, two complaints. At least in the Swedish version, the narrator quotes the Bible but garbles its meaning. No, citizen, the Bible doesn´t simply say "And light came to be". It says very explicitly that *God* created the light. But nice try, atheista. Also, the observation that one hour of sunlight contains all the energy humanity needs is irrelevant, since there is no way to harness that large amount of solar power. Funny how the little sound bites tells us more about the Zeitgeist than the big picture...
If Our Lord also created Ellesmere Island after hounding the wolves out of Eden is, alas, less clear!
Still, recommended. Especially in conjunction with the first episode, reviewed by me elsewhere on this blog.
On the dangers of mindfulness meditation and kundalini yoga, written by John Michael Greer (an occultist working in the Druid Revival and Golden Dawn traditions). Let´s be careful out there!
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Att Åsa Linderborg vill ha yttrandefrihet för våldtäktsmän (och kanske vissa andra friheter också) visste vi redan.
Men efter *den här* krönikan borde nog tanten tala ur skägget ordentligt. Hon anser alltså att det inte bör vara straffbart att förneka Förintelsen. Okej. Betyder det att Linderborg vill upphäva lagen som förbjuder hets mot folkgrupp? I så fall borde hon säga det uttryckligen.
Hon skriver också, uppenbarligen helt utan ironi, att "statsbärande partier brukar ha selektivt minne". Som kommunistpartierna, då?
Linderborg har ju tidigare profilerat sig som en närmast bokstavlig kommunist. Är hon det fortfarande? Jag undrade detta redan i mitt allra första inlägg här på bloggen för två år sedan, då Linderborg anklagade #metoo för att vara "en revolution" och skrev något surt om att revolutioner alltid hotar rättssäkerheten. Lite märkligt att en gumma som blivit anklagad för att driva Aftonbladets kulturredaktion som en leninistisk uppfostringsanstalt börjar låta som Edmund Burke när *hennes* kompisar drabbas av den röda terrorn...
Jag undrar förresten om jag får avslöja namnet på hennes våldtäktanklagade kompis utan att bli anmäld för förtal? Det kanske ska vara verboten fortfarande?
Kanske finns det en förklaring till mysteriet med kamrat (eller är det medborgare) Linderborg. Kanske tillhör hon en kommunistisk fraktion som länge diggat yttrandefrihet. Särskilt för anti-semiter.
Kanske är Linderborg egentligen anhängare av...FiB/Kulturfront. Någon borde kolla om hon har Mao-märket kvar på skärmmössan!
Konservativa "Breitbart News" i USA ger utrymme åt radikalfeministiska och/eller lesbiska kritiker av trans-rörelsen. På engelska.
I´ve continued my reading of the heavy scholarly tome "Peasants, Lords and State. Comparing Peasant Conditions in Scandinavia and the Eastern Alpine Region, 1000-1750", edited by Tove Iversen, John Ragnar Myking and Stefan Sonderegger. It´s probably still a common idea in some circles that the historical development of Sweden is somehow unique (and uniquely good and benign), for instance due to "peasant self-government" at the local level since time immemorial, and the peasant estate in the Diet since at least the 15th century. In this scenario, Sweden always had a strong and free peasantry, something that eventually led to the creation of our advanced modern democracy. While this view isn´t *entirely* out there, it´s interesting to note that many other European nations or territories have a strikingly similar self-conception: Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Tyrol, England...and probably others still. So already on this level, there is nothing "unique" about Sweden. It´s of course an interesting question whether or not there is something "pan-Germanic" or "Indo-European" about this instead, at least on the level of ideology.
The tome under review doesn´t discuss this, however. Rather, it tries to take a more realistic and empirical look at the actual conditions on the ground, and these (inevitably) turn out to be a more messy story. One example is Tyrol, a historical region in western Austria and northern Italy. During the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period, Tyrol was one of many self-governing territories within the "Holy Roman Empire of the German nation". During the Carolingian period, free peasants were heavily represented at the assemblies ("things") convened by the local counts. Of course, many peasants during this period were *not* free. The theory that these assemblies had evolved out of the "Markgenossenschaften", old areas managed and ruled communaly by Germanic tribesmen during the Migrations, has apparently been abandoned by modern historians. Be that as it may, whatever influence the free peasants may have had eroded during the eleventh century, when the nobility and the clergy usurped the powers of the "things". '
During the 13th century, the situation changed again. The peasantry was allowed to create local organs of self-government at the initiative of the princely rulers. The process is mostly associated with Meinhard II, who ruled Tyrol from 1258 to 1295. Meinhard´s goal was to create a centralized regime centered on the princely rulers, and one historian has actually dubbed Tyrol "the first modern state". This project led Meinhard into conflict with both the nobility and the clergy, who rather preferred the more erstwhile feudal system. Meinhard nearly extinguished the Tyrolean nobility, either by inheriting or ransoming their noble rights, or by simply driving them away from the territory altogether. He also gained control over the important ecclesiastical territory of Brixen and Trient. The salt and silver mining were both controlled by the prince, generating a substantial revenue.
Meinhard´s so-called "concentration" (centralization) freed the peasantry from feudal control. In its place came a kind of local self-government at the village level, but also new dependencies on the emerging central power. The local assembly, known as Gemeinde, consisted of all household heads in the village. It´s most important function was to administer the Gemain, the communal land surrounding most villages. They also took decisions concerning field rotation, road maintenance, and the like. On these points, the Gemeinde apparently had a high degree of autonomy. However, the prince reserved the right to use some of the communal forests, since the timber was needed in the metallurgy industry. The Gemeinde also had to compile tax rolls, collect taxes and muster soldiers. Here, the local assemblies de facto functioned as the long arm of the central power!
Shortly after the death of Meinhard, another important development took place, as the Gemeinde were fused with local courts known as Gerichte. These achieved "lower jurisdiction", and could hence pass judgements in cases involving local conflicts and finable offenses (violent offenses were part of the princely "higher jurisdiction").
For some reason, modern Tyrolean regionalists claim that a document often called "the Magna Carta of 1342", issued by the Emperor Louis the Bavarian, is the legal foundation of freedom, equality, democracy and peasant participation in the affairs of Tyrol. One of the contributors to this volume spends some time debunking this claim, pointing out that some copies of this document were never even sent to Tyrol, while others seem to have been rescinded shortly after being issued. The real champion of democracy in Tyrol turns out to be Frederick IV (Frederick of the Empty Pockets), who was Duke of Austria from 1402 to 1439. This is richly ironic. Yes, this is the very same Frederick who attacked the Appenzell Swiss when *they* demanded freedom, and lost the famous Battle of the Stoss in 1405!
While Frederick apparently couldn´t get rid of the nobility in the way Meinhard had done, he took other measures to ensure popular support. The Gerichte were included in important political decision-making from 1410, and could select delegates to the the Tiroler Landtag from 1420. Note that the Gerichte were congruent with the Gemeinde, the local "things". In the Landtag (the local Diet), the peasants and burghers consistently sided with Duke Frederick against the noble opposition. Of course, in practice the peasant delegates to the Landtag were from the upper layers of the peasantry. Others were inkeepers. They had usually distinguished themselves as local officials or judges. One of the contributors to this volume believes that the Tyrolean peasants participated more in political events than peasants in other parts of the Holy Roman Empire, but less than in Graubünden or the Swiss confederacy. The situation changed again during the early 16th century, now to the detriment of the peasantry, as "aristocratic absolutism" gained strength. However, this book doesn´t discuss this later development.
The main take away from this volume (so far) is that Sweden, while being unusual in some ways, isn´t an entirely unique special case in Europe. Which is actually a good thing. Reading this study made me feel less claustrophobic!
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Why on earth is this a bad thing? Biden is forced to continue and perhaps even deepen Trump´s nationalist-protectionist policies. From the website of the "International Marxist Tendency".
"Peasants, Lords and State. Comparing Peasant Conditions in Scandinavia and the Eastern Alpine Region, 1000-1750" is a heavy scholarly tome edited by Tove Iversen, John Ragnar Myking and Stefan Sonderegger. It was published by Brill in 2020. It forms part of Brill´s series "The Northern World". In this blog post, I will concentrate on Sonderegger´s incredibly entertaining revisionist history "Switzerland - A `Peasant State´?". Apparently, the self-conception of the Swiss is still that their little "confederacy" is some kind of special case in Europe (or the world), a nation founded by medieval peasants who valiantly fought for their freedom and direct democracy against the Habsburgs and other tyrannical overlords. Everyone has heard the stories of William Tell, and in Switzerland itself, Uli Rotach is another folk hero, associated with the historical canton of Appenzell. Rotach is often depicted in peasant dress and is said to have perished in the flames of his own farm, after killing twelve Habsburg enemies in man-to-man combat. Another similarity with Tell is that Rotach probably never existed in the first place...
In his contribution, Sonderegger systematically deconstructs the Swiss peasant myth. The real movers and shakers of Swiss constitutional development were not assemblies of peasants or cowherds, but the burghers in the towns. In 1377, five districts (Ländlein) of the Appenzell joined the Swabian League of Cities - the only rural areas allowed to do so. The reason was that Appenzell was economically connected to the town of St Gallen. Both town and hinterland saught liberation from the rule of the abbey of St Gallen (the abbot was also a powerful secular lord). The towns of St Gallen and Konstanz were tasked with representing the Appenzell Ländlein in the Swabian League. They also set themselves up as a "Schutzmächte" (protective power) over the Appenzell, with comprehensive powers to act in the name of the League. The towns demanded that the four Ländlein unite into one territory, the Land Appenzell (the future Swiss canton Appenzell). They were also told to elect a council of thirteen men to represent the Land when negotiating with the towns. The council was also supposed to become a kind of internal government of the Land Appenzell itself. That is, the constitutional development had nothing to do with free peasants meeting in a direct democratic assembly, rather it was an initiative of the cities from above. This is further shown by Appenzell´s first seal. It was adopted shortly after the rural districts had joined the League and was obviously based on the seal of St Gallen. Seals were associated with towns or the royal power, not with rural Länder.
The battle of the Stoss on 17 June 1405 during the Appenzell Wars of Liberation has aquired a near-legendary status in patriotic Swiss historiography as a victory of armed peasants against an imperial army. It was during this pivotal event that Rotach supposedly died the death of a national martyr. Sonderegger believes that the real story shows that the town of St Gallen and the armed peasants cooperated against the army of the Duke of Austria, Frederick IV. The duke was never at the Stoss (a mountain pass), instead he made an attempt to besiege St Gallen. In the skirmishes that followed, 30 men from St Gallen were killed - their mass grave has been found. Ironically, there is no archeological evidence for the battle of the Stoss, although Sonderegger doesn´t deny that it took place. His point is that the resistance of the townspeople might have made it easier for the peasants to gain the upper hand at the pass.
There were definite material reasons for the close alliance between St Gallen and the Appenzell. While the town was of course dependent on the rural hinterland for food, there were also dependecies the other way. In certain parts of the Appenzell, specialization in livestock rearing and viticulture developed. These areas were dependent on the town markets for their food (since they didn´t grow any food themselves). Much of the grain sold to these areas was originally imported all the way from Swabia! Above all, the townspeople extended credit to the peasants and pastoralists. There were also estates in the countryside owned by townspeople. The point is that the economies of St Gallen and the Appenzell were closely integrated. There was no special "peasant interest", but rather a joint regional interest transcending the urban-rural divide.
The article also attacks the romantic view of the Swiss Confederacy that emerged during the 18th century. As an example, the author takes Frankfurt professor Johann Gottfried Ebel´s depiction of Switzerland from 1798. The Swiss peasants and herdsmen are depicted as simple, pure and strong, practicing a direct democracy which reminded Ebel of the ancient Greeks! Except, of course, that they were not. Sonderegger doesn´t deny that there might have been some kind of direct democracy in the Appenzell during the early 15th century, but during the late 16th century, power had slipped away from the popular assembly to the council. While the council was nominally elected by the assembly, it was dominated for centuries by the Zellweger family, rich burghers with substantial interests in the textile industry (during the 18th century, Appenzell Auserrhoden was apparently one of the most industrialized regions in Europe). To show their wealth and power, the Zellwegers even had stone palaces erected around the cantonal assembly place in the town of Trogen. For 74 years, a Zellweger sat in the "chair" at the assembly, the symbolically most prominent position. And not just symbolically, apparently! The democracy of pristine peasant and pastoralist savages turns out to be the flamboyant rule of textile barons...
I can´t say I´m entirely surprised by any of the above, provided the historical revisions are accurate. I´m not an expert on Swiss history! What national legends are true, anyway? Next, I´m going to read the chapter on Tyrol...
Stay tuned for more myth-bashing.
Hur många vet att 81% av Vorarlbergs befolkning år 1919 röstade för att området skulle införlivas med Schweiz, istället för att som tidigare tillhöra Österrike? Inte många, inte jag heller, men jag får väl lita på Wikipedias allvetande i denna fråga. Vorarlberg är förresten fortfarande en del av Österrike...
