castles in ruins

CASTLES IN RUINS

I ran across a movie ( on Amazon Prime ) I hadn’t seen in thirty years, “Flesh & Blood”, with Rutger Hauer ( I liked all of his early films, but actually never cared for him in Blade Runner [ still one of the best ever sci-fi films ] as I thought he was a bit too Nicolas Cage over-the-top ).  Overall a rather good movie, with no more than the usual amount of embarrassing Hollywood Fictitious Facts.  I thought the portrayal of how women coped in a war environment was pretty good ( at first viewing, of course, I only paid attention to the nudity ).

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What I noticed, more than anything, was the seeming overabundance of gunpowder and some cannon, and yet almost no damage to the castles.  Obviously, one doesn’t rely on Hollywood to teach history worth a damn, but you can view their version of history to figure out how people view history already.  In this case, I think the common misconception is that castles were invincible.  They touched on a few facts, accidentally, such as the biological warfare ( plague infected meat hurled over the walls ), yet never on siege and starvation. 

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But movies simply cannot duplicate history, can they?  They would be boring.  Our fables are supposed to be allegories, though, and you must view movies ( at least, those done well ) as our modern fables, not as a substitution for research.  The PC’ers understand this, even if you don’t.  But getting back to castles, or the myth thereof, one of the first sieges of a castle by cannon clearly spelled out the newly arrived paradigm.  Nobody of sound mind looked at that lesson and ignored it.  Castles cannot withstand cannon as they could catapults.  Rather quickly, earthworks took over from rock walls, as defenses.

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Not everybody was willing to completely abandon the old paradigm, of course.  Cannon required centralization, as did the defenses against it.  Feudalism was more of a decentralized way of organization, even as kingdoms did eventually start growing into larger areas.  Obviously, proto-nations were forming, and gunpowder was a niche weapon for some time.  Military doctrine was in extreme flux.  Things mixed and matched and took time to evolve.  But those quicker and more flexible had the advantage.  Those that identified the trend and moved WITH it, rather than those who fought it, won.

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The Darwin Award was given to those buried under the piles of rubble where castles used to stand.  Can you guess where this is going next?  Suburbia is the castles we used to live to defend ourselves.  They are still useful, but they are not the future.  The War Of Federal Usurpation was won by consuming the most energy.  One could argue, the first carbon fuel war.  World War Two was won the same way.  The Great Depression was “won” by wasting the most resources, which was probably the whole point of the war, more so than global colonialization.

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Suburbia was a continuation of the same economic principles.  Money was made by consuming the largest amount of resources possible, rather than husbanding them.  Not that this is anything new in history.  He who grows fastest, wins.  He who is “sustainable”, loses.  He who is pacifist, loses.  He who values money over violence, loses.  The Oil Age is different from history not in that resources are consumed as quickly as possible, but because so many resources were misused.  Instead of maximizing population, and military advantage, consumer consumption alone was encouraged.  Go back to centralization to see how the resources used to be focused.

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Since the Agricultural Revolution completely changed society, growth alone was what mattered.  You had to grow more crops to have more population to seize more land to grow more crops.  Ignore that, and someone else following that would defeat you.  The Dark Ages were the result of lack of resources after the fall of trade allowed by Rome’s military might ( coupled with the previous overpopulation stripping soil fertility ).  No one COULD grow.  Nomads gained the military advantage to a degree because their military was not tied to fertile land.

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When there are resources, he who uses them to gain trade advantage, population advantage ( domestically, better farming always gave the French a military advantage over her neighbors ) and military advantage generally wins.  When the rulers piss away those resources to only enrich themselves and give nothing back to feed that trifecta, collapse is baked into the cake.  American Empire, which closely followed the Oil Age in timing, spent its first half enriching its position by intelligently using its resources, and the second half wasting every bit to enrich the very few at the top ( allowing, gleefully it seems, all previous investments to implode ).

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The suburbs might have been a huge misallocation of resources ( to paraphrase Kunstler https://amzn.to/2OCgFJ0 ), but they were both an investment in cultural/social capital and an economic stimulus.  They were, basically, a reward to those that fought to secure half the globe as American Empire.  It was too late to live in the country, as most would prefer, and centralized manufacturing wouldn’t allow that, so suburbia was a stylized “country retreat” and a vastly superior living arrangement to cities ( immigrants arrived and lived in ghettos.  Those already established displayed their peacock feathers by living in suburbia ).

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I think we all forget that those of The Greatest Generation had to endure a Depression, starvation wages, and a senseless imperial war ( no matter how well they lied to themselves about it ), and even if they then pissed away the seed corn it wasn’t like it was really all that unjustified.  We would have done the same.  Plus, no matter how many of them joined the politicians in allocating that waste, ultimately it wasn’t their decision.  Blame the elites, as always.  Generational Conflict is just another arrow in their quiver.

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Only during the decline phase of the empire ( 1963 on.  1913 to start the growth cycle.  One could quibble 1863 was more like the beginning of empire, but I think oil and credit did more to start true empire than mere colonialization ) did suburbs go from reward and luxury to defensive works, as the Blacks were purposely allowed to revolt and burn the cities and White Flight commenced.  Don’t think OtherColor Fear was anything new.  It is ingrained in our psyche.  It has been for centuries, first from clearing Indians from the land and later from controlling immigration.

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Black Revolt was always feared, and not just from slave owners.  Many northern states had anti-residency laws to keep Blacks out.  The elites used that against us, herded us into the suburbs and turned that into a profit center for themselves.  Then they evicted most of us in 2009 and made us rent what we used to own.  We no longer owned the castle.  Not to mention that the new landlord was letting rooms out to those we had fled from ( Section 8 housing ).  No, the suburbs are certainly no longer a defensive structure.  Do you REALLY believe that? 

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Continued tomorrow.

( .Y. )

( today's related Amazon link click here )

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note: most excellent news!  Low-Tech Magazine, an insanely useful resource ( you might know it best from the article on the Chinese Wheelbarrow ), is offering a paper book on the last six years of articles ( the first four years will be offered later this year ).  It is selling for $25 plus shipping.  To me, a bargain.  I'll be ordering a copy.  Here is the announcement click here .
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note: monthly earnings report.  Another insanely generous minion month ( good thing this isn't every month or I'd be liable for taxes-and I'm NOT being sarcastic ).  $511 donations and $195 in Amazon commissions.  $706 total.  I think that was more than I took home my last month at my "real" job.  Everyone, you are truly great.  Thank you so very much.
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note: free today book offer.  Not PA, but I love this kind of fiction.  Warriors from today time travel back and must fight/survive here.  Like the book by Michael Z Williamson, but he never continued the series.  A shame, as I liked that one ( A Long Time Until Now-not free but here is the link ) even better than "Freehold".
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