Albion's Seed and much more

[lilies]

Hahaha, just a side note: I am from Bavaria and I know exactely what you are talking about here (bolded part). But I think this was the pattern in many european rural parts for a long time; one edition of the ASTERIX Comix series jumps to my mind, with Methusalem saying: "I don't have anything against foreigners, but these foreigners are not from here."

In our agricultural city, where we moved to in ~1986, we had the same greetings from the country folks. The country folks are now dying out in droves from old age and we remain. Now Ukrainian settlers are arriving - fleeing from their Failed State fascist government Made by USA+EU - and we are suspiciously eyeing the newcomers and we are thinking, "You are not one of us." We have come in a full circle.

 

[Kay Kim]

I just got free ebook ‘Albion’s Seed’ from this website

[Mod note: Link removed. Please do not post links to illegal downloads of copyrighted material]

 

[Kay Kim]

Sorry, but If illegal, why that website give away free ebooks? That I don’t understand.

 

[Approaching Infinity]

I think I see an article for SOTT that needs to be written...

Added a bit more, and now it's up: Puritans Gone Wild! The Hidden Yankee History of Woke SJWs -- Sott.net

 

[herondancer]

Good read! Looks like burning witches has never really gone out of style with those lunatics.

 

[luc]

I just finished the first part of Albion's Seed about the puritans, it's really fascinating and so well-written.

As for the "continuation of puritanism by other means" by modern liberals, what struck me is that the puritan culture is exactly, like precisely, what the 68ers fought against. Almost every single puritan trait is one specifically called out by the 60ies revolution as reactionary and the arch-enemy that needs to be fought.

What happened was that a whole generation created this puritan foe in their minds and equated it with their parents' generation, whether that was actually true individually or not. (Side note: puritanism is very similar to classical Judaism, which also helps explain why there were so many Jews in the 60ies movement.) But we know how such blind rebellion against parents ends: you are doomed to repeat their mistakes and become in many ways the very foe you fought against.

Just one example among many on how this played out: the puritans were totally against expressing beauty in their dresses. Now, the 60ies/70ies saw a total individualization of dress as a form of rebellion, but it was ugly. It was all over the place and totally lacked the finesse, harmony and deep expression associated with advanced art, including advanced taste in dress. It was just all over the place. There is also the "leftist intellectual style" that emerged and that is actually very, very similar to the puritan way of dressing. And of course, the feminists back then and the SJWs today make it a point to look ugly and unsexy! And now, it has come to a point where all this postmodern designer fashion isn't even about "rebellious sexiness" anymore, it's just ugly and repulsive.

In so many ways, the leftists/liberals have come full circle by opposing the (real and phantom) puritanism of old - rampant authoritarianism and social control, the group above all else, the eradication of beauty, the worship of an irrational and crazy-making religion etc.

From a higher perspective, it seems to me that the negative energies/overlords create some sort of dialectic, like an electric motor, where people rebel against something, but without deep reflection and without a spiritual "spark", and so they are just running in circles on a 2D plane, never going up. That way, they are kept at a very low frequency and generate tons of low spiritual energy, ideal nourishment for the higher-ups I suppose.

Anyway, at first I couldn't really make the connection between puritanism and modern liberalism/postmodernism, except for the super-authoritarian nature of both ideologies/cultures. But since I know very well what the 68 movement, at least in Europe, was all about, and how those people later developed, I find the similarities striking - in opposing puritanism, they re-enacted it: if not in the details, then in the general patterns, which are the opposite of spiritual progress, wisdom, understanding, truth and beauty.

 

[Laura]

Towards the end of the book, he'll talk a bit about some of the steps of the transformation of the Puritans.

But what strikes me is how much it is like what Gurdjieff described happens to any intention that is not carried out with knowledg: it tends to turn around and become something like its opposite.

From another angle, Lobaczewski talks about movements being ponerized and deliberately turned around from within.

Anyway, it's one book I'm really glad I read even if the description was a little off-putting and the size of the book was formidable. Once I got started, I really plowed through it because it was GOOD stuff! The kinds of details he brings out about how attitudes are created and passed on, how attitudes toward life affect everything from child-rearing to cooking, is just amazing!

It's even more fun when you realize that you can now probably categorize a lot of American types just by listening and observing: where their ancestors came from.

In fact, I think that some of the things learned from this book can be transferred to people of all nationalities.

 

[Tuatha de Danaan]

Thanks for recommending the book Laura. After reading Witzel's book, which was one heck of a door-stop, my hands got a bit clammy when I saw the size of Albion's Seed. However, as my beloved history teacher used to say, history is not written in pages, I started reading and have now just completed the section on the Quakers.

The Biblical emphasis in the Puritans and the grandiose beliefs of the Cavaliers produced a very self-serving mentality which produced the ability to ride roughshod over everyone who was 'other'. It was so well explained you could feel it and see it happening in real time.

The Quakers, in contrast, had a very different view. Freedom of religious thought and practice, every man and woman free from subjugation and slavery was a God given right and this led to them being the first group to demand the abolition of slavery. It strikes me that in an alternate universe this fairness and hard work ethics would really accomplish something. However, after their first century in America the influx of immigrants seemed to overwhelm them and cause a destabilisation . We know how psychopathy works.

Cavaliers and Puritans could only realize this freedom, which they declared was their right, by the enslavement or subjection of others. This right, which they claimed was theirs through their 'noble ancestry', was most definitely the male view.

Another aspect of this book was the folk-way on words, idioms, etc. It was amusing reading the words and expressions used by all three waves. Being Southern Irish I could relate to and in some instances use some of them.
There was three distinct waves from three different parts of England and I use words and expressions from all three. This, in turn, made me realise how overrun was Southern Ireland by many areas of England in the past. Everyone was moving to escape oppression of one form or another or if , in possession of money, land grab.

From my own knowledge of the Penal times in Ireland, peoples were trying to find some justice from absentee landlords and rack rents. My Grandmother experienced some of this in poverty stricken Co Sligo circa 1900-1920.

This book is so well written with a lovely flow and the depth of detail is astounding. Thank you again Laura

 

[Laura]

Welcome TdD. Yes, the words/expressions lists were great and sometimes hilarious. I could recognize both Cavalier and Quaker influences in my own family - funny how they can mix and mingle.

One thing for sure: it gives one a new appreciation for the majority of settlers that came to North America and some of the dreadful conditions they left behind.

Genocide of the Indians and Slavery were certainly terrible things within early American history, but without the context, one really can't understand it and it becomes all too easy to start trying to assign blame. As always, it was a 1% of elite making life miserable for the other 99%, and the conditions of poor white people weren't much better than those of slaves. In some cases, slaves were better off, awful as that may sound; it was true. But I suspect they would rather have thrown in their lot with the poor white people than be slaves, and all my genealogy research suggests that that is exactly what a lot of them did. It's amazing how many census households you find with free blacks living together with whites pretty much as one big family.

 

[Tuatha de Danaan]

Welcome TdD. Yes, the words/expressions lists were great and sometimes hilarious. I could recognize both Cavalier and Quaker influences in my own family - funny how they can mix and mingle.

One thing for sure: it gives one a new appreciation for the majority of settlers that came to North America and some of the dreadful conditions they left behind.

Genocide of the Indians and Slavery were certainly terrible things within early American history, but without the context, one really can't understand it and it becomes all too easy to start trying to assign blame. As always, it was a 1% of elite making life miserable for the other 99%, and the conditions of poor white people weren't much better than those of slaves. In some cases, slaves were better off, awful as that may sound; it was true. But I suspect they would rather have thrown in their lot with the poor white people than be slaves, and all my genealogy research suggests that that is exactly what a lot of them did. It's amazing how many census households you find with free blacks living together with whites pretty much as one big family.

Yes, wherever we go you cannot avoid the hand of the 1%. However, I have the gut feeling that every group of people at some time or other were given the opportunity to experience a period of 'peace'. However short lived this peace, it stayed in the collective memory long after the bad times came. This gave them the indomitable will to persevere. It's only a gut feeling but where else can hope possibly come from. It's such a driving force in the face of insurmountable odds.

I have just started reading about the Border Wave. It's recalling to mind thoughts I've had since childhood. Feelings of overcast skies, hovels made from earth, walking barefoot on ice covered grass ,walking under trees with raindrops falling heavily on uncovered head, the smell of turf fires and a persistent hunger. This 'memory' makes me feel very nostalgic and gives me a feeling of homesickness. Where the memory comes from I have no idea. I feel totally at home reading this book.

 

[Ennio]

We had a chance to discuss the American Nations book on the most recent MindMatters show:

MindMatters: Decoding the American Minds: The Deep History of America's Culture Wars

 

[Nienna]

It is an excellent show! Especially your rendition of a regular History teacher teaching the class about how the pilgrims came to America, Ennio! You sounded exactly like the History teacher I had for the same subject - almost word for word!

 

[Ennio]

It is an excellent show! Especially your rendition of a regular History teacher teaching the class about how the pilgrims came to America, Ennio! You sounded exactly like the History teacher I had for the same subject - almost word for word!

I guess it shouldn't be shocking to learn how different reality was from what we were taught; how white-washed, dumb-downed and sanitized it became in its teaching to us - but it still is somewhat jarring once you get into this material! Our school system tended to present so many crucial events in history - all tied up in a simplistic and pretty bow - that just belied how ugly, brutal and crazy so many developments truly were. And we really can't understand where we are or where we're going without this understanding I think.

My first glimpse into how true all this is came with Ken Burns' superb documentary 'New York'. He described the 'draft riots' when then-president Abraham Lincoln actually ordered cannon fire onto the rioting populace of Manhattan - who were resentful about being forcefully conscripted to fight in the Civil War in 1863 (among many other lesser known events)! That was one story they never told us in school! I can't locate the relevant section in Burns' film, but here's a bit about it from another source.

 

[luc]

Just finished the part about the Royalists/Cavaliers in Albion's Seed, how interesting!! It's such a relief to understand not only American history, but also the cultural aspects/roots of conceptions about liberty, democracy and so on. Essential reading, really, especially in light of the culture wars and all the confusion going on.

The Cavalier milieu also reminds me in many ways of today's upper class-elite, which is not surprising, because 18th/19th century British gentry is still the role model for elites (and wannabe elites) in the West and even all around the world to an extent. These are of course the same roots that produced the Cavaliers in America.

I'm also reminded of a great (and funny!) little book I've read, called "The Official Sloane Ranger Handbook - The First Guide to What Really Matters in Life". It's from the 80ies and describes the milieu of British upper classers living in London but who have estates on the countryside around London as well, i.e. the cultural descendants of the same gentry that produced the Cavalier settlers. Although it's not a scholarly work by any stretch but more of a tongue-in-cheek description of this milieu, it's kind of like a chapter of Fisher's book about contemporary British Old Money/Aristocratic elites and their culture. The kind of milieu that produces the BoJo's of this world and his American cousins. I think the knowledge in the book is indispensable for recognizing, understanding and dealing with this milieu - not only in Britain, because again, this is the role model for upper classers (and wannabe upper classers) all over the world. Great and often hilarious book that I can highly recommend - it also helps against being intimidated by this milieu, because you don't fear what you understand!

 

[SummerLite]

What is so bizarre is that it was this group and their ideology/ways that became the foundation of the Left/Libs/Dems:

1) Puritans were people from East Anglia (strongly influenced and complemented by people from the Netherlands); these people went to Massachusetts and in course of time, influenced the Northeastern United States' corporate and educational culture. You could say that they are the root of the Left and its Elites.

You really have to read the book and understand this Puritan culture to understand how they went from being Puritans to Gay Pride and "everything goes" as long as you do it the way we tell you to. It all has to do with how they viewed "freedom". The Puritans viewed freedom as the freedom to be Puritan and to run the show completely. You will be shocked at how totally they controlled their society and environment.

This looks like a very interesting book and one I may get to soon. What is said here about the Puritans is particularly interesting. It adds another level of depth with whats happening in the US now with the Left/Libs. The driving force and anger of the "common person" seen in in this radical intolerance has at it's root a sense of moral superiority I'm thinking. After reading this thread and thinking it over a bit, I had an experience with a co-worker yesterday that had me considering the information here. She is totally buying the Trump is evil bit and believes the lies of the MSM. She is appalled that Trump left thousands of people out in the desert to be attacked and die! I've only known her for a short time and is a decent person but I think she's definitely enamored by her high moral standards. She told me once she is a very spiritual person and described experiences of being a nurse for 40 years which showed her carrying nature and compassion. Her nursing teachers where Catholic nuns. So I'm wondering if these beliefs about her great moral integrity, which she's nurtured all these years, has set the ground work to be deceived by these scammers who cry moral outrage. She has a liberal background (as a former hippie) and her ancestry is from the Netherlands! Another person I know who's bought this big lye, also has a moral superiority complex and has ancestry from the Netherlands! Is this quality being deliberately set off, could there be a plan targeting these character traits? Oh, I don't know, it just makes me question. In this context I'm also wondering if Nancy Polosi's repeated public "prayers for Trump, his family and our country" are deliberately targeting these attitudes, but then again maybe I'm giving them to much credit for cleverness. Its just hard to believe how people are falling for all this crap and I wonder how this has happened to them. It's a reality disconnect and I find it so bizarre.

Learning more about the Puritans would be very informative and I'm sure the rest are interesting as well.