tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887440039323868659.post2787290502117836354..comments2024-03-28T22:15:25.617-07:00Comments on RAWIllumination.net: A Sixth Century libertarian?Cleveland Okie (Tom Jackson)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07810736442596736041noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887440039323868659.post-4096618085185423392014-06-27T10:32:44.327-07:002014-06-27T10:32:44.327-07:00I agree with Tom. Procopius would have been a happ...I agree with Tom. Procopius would have been a happy man in the 2nd or 18th centuries. Instead, he had the misfortune to live in a world run by ranting lunatics.<br /><br />This being said, I will try to be fair to Justinian. He was, from the outset, extravagant with the taxpayers’ money and a bigot. But he did begin with a full treasury and a commanding position on the Persian frontier. The Eastern part of the Empire had enjoyed a good fifth century, and there was a moral and strategic case for taking back the Western provinces. The Western collapse was recent enough for it still to be shocking for Roman citizens and for Rome itself to be under barbarian rule – barbarian rule which, in the case of Africa, was grossly oppressive. Africa was recovered with one battle. An uncertain part of Spain may have taken without that. Italy turned out to be harder, but could have been taken without great cost. Whether he also wanted Frankish Gaul and even Britain can’t be said. But Justinian had the will and apparently the means to reunite the Empire after one of its recurrent periods of disintegration.<br /><br />What sent everything tits up was the first visitation of bubonic plague in 542. It may have killed off a third of the Mediterranean population. In particular, it ended Greek domination in Syria and Egypt. For a thousand years, Semites who came from the countryside to cities like Alexandria and Antioch and Damascus etc had been expected to make themselves into Greeks – and, more recently, Orthodox Greeks – before they could move up the social ladder. In one season, these Hellenised ruling classes were swept away, and hardly anyone after that felt the need to learn Greek. Except Islam wasn’t yet part of the mix, the settlement that became visible in the 630s was already present in the 540s.<br /><br />Justinian can be blamed for not realising this. The last response he should have made was to centralise the Imperial State and to sharpen its fiscal and theological teeth. He can be blamed, because it is the duty of a ruler to see things as they are. He should have called off the war in Italy and struck a deal with the heretical Semites in Syria and Egypt. He could then have spent the last half of his reign staring down the equally shattered Persians and nursing the Empire back to some kind of health. Instead, he carried on regardless. Because of that, he presided over the collapse of the Ancient World.<br /><br />I think Procopius realised this. He was himself a Hellenised Syrian, and knew how thin the crust of Greek had been outside the Home Provinces. He spent the best years of his life flattering a bankrupt megalomaniac, and it seems to have sent him mad.<br /><br />In short, he’s a good read.Sean Gabbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02042207292629417362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887440039323868659.post-9227655660287865972012-07-10T06:39:59.330-07:002012-07-10T06:39:59.330-07:00There's a libertarian group in the UK called t...There's a libertarian group in the UK called the <a href="http://www.libertarian.co.uk/" rel="nofollow">Libertarian Alliance</a>.<br /><br />I don't think Albert calls himself an anarchist, incidentally. Chomsky is an odd mix of anarchist and social democrat.Jessehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02170325333135933149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887440039323868659.post-77733482361384858312012-07-08T13:11:14.710-07:002012-07-08T13:11:14.710-07:00I take it libertarianism is pretty much an america...I take it libertarianism is pretty much an american phenomenon, or do you know of any english libertarians? the problems I find with reading american politics, 1) I don't generally understand the disinctions that are made and 2) a lot of the political problems don't overlap with british ones. I see britian as generally more socialist and america more liberal. but they both at the moment are pretty much market oriented managerialists. if you understand me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887440039323868659.post-48369556505544808562012-07-08T13:03:14.488-07:002012-07-08T13:03:14.488-07:00I would say I have a lot of influence from Popper,...I would say I have a lot of influence from Popper, as some people on this site can probably tell, and some anarchist thinkers: michael albert, noam chomsky, but i think these are far from libertarian, by the sounds of it. I think from libertarians, it's only RAW, now that you mention he is a Libertarian.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887440039323868659.post-14363557024581544852012-07-08T08:43:50.526-07:002012-07-08T08:43:50.526-07:00The problem with making a list is that as soon as ...The problem with making a list is that as soon as one turns off the computer and gets up to make lunch, one thinks of someone that you meant to include. I follow Jeremy Weiland on Twitter (@jeremy6d); he is an example of a "left" libertarian, and his back and forths with Radley Balko illuminate his points in common with a mainstream libertarian, and where he differs. I also like the work done by the libertarians at antiwar.comCleveland Okie (Tom Jackson)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07810736442596736041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887440039323868659.post-78229381598152941072012-07-08T08:25:45.080-07:002012-07-08T08:25:45.080-07:00Andrew, some libertarians are actual anarchists wh...Andrew, some libertarians are actual anarchists who don't want any government at all. Classical liberals believe in a limited government, although some want more government than others. My favorite "modern libertarian thinker" is Robert Anton Wilson, I guess. My favorite current libertarian journalist is Radley Balko. I read Reason's "Hit and Run" and the Cato Institute's blog as time allows. I follow Jesse Walker on Twitter. My favorite "libertarian thinkers" don't always toe the line, e.g. I like Will Wilkinson and Tyler Cowen.<br /><br />Michael, "Secret History" is available in several translations, including a free one on Project Gutenberg. The Kaldellis book is worth hunting up.Cleveland Okie (Tom Jackson)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07810736442596736041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887440039323868659.post-47751956540979949572012-07-07T14:31:38.496-07:002012-07-07T14:31:38.496-07:00who is the best modern libertarian thinker to purs...who is the best modern libertarian thinker to pursue? it seems to me, being a british subject, that there is no real difference between classical liberalism and libertarianism, maybe I'm just massively ignorantAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887440039323868659.post-50308434104467884352012-07-07T14:28:49.966-07:002012-07-07T14:28:49.966-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887440039323868659.post-3539061177142716582012-07-07T01:40:21.866-07:002012-07-07T01:40:21.866-07:00What a terrific article.
Any book with a title &...What a terrific article. <br /><br />Any book with a title "Secret History" immediately catches my eye, and I was aware of this but had never read it. I've never even looked at it. <br /><br />Your piece here makes me really want to read it, if only as fodder for some future second round of writing about heretical texts...michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13526042582094867513noreply@blogger.com