Saturday 1 June 2013

Anderson On Hord's Theory


According to Poul Anderson, John K Hord thought that the breakdown of Western European society began when the 15th century Council of Basle failed to solve the problem of Church government, thus leading to the Reformation, religious wars, absolutism and attempts to rule Europe. I don't think so. Surely, however the Church was governed, urban merchants would have opposed feudal landlords, including bishops, thus leading to a split in ideas and some sort of Reformation?

Again according to Hord, as reported by Anderson, Cromwellian conversion tyranny separated England and its colonies, thus begetting new societies. Anderson's own idea, based on Hordian theory, is that American society broke down in 1913 when direct election of senators destroyed the federal republic, income tax undermined liberty and privacy and the Federal Reserve started wrecking the economy. Americans have until about 2040 to repair the damage...

Yet again, I would see the main problems as lying elsewhere but my purpose in this and the last few posts has been to track down what Anderson tells us about Hord and how the latter affected the world of van Rijn, Falkayn and Flandry. I am now much clearer on these issues and hope that some of my readers might be as well.

7 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Hi, Paul!

I don't know how closely you follow US affairs, but a few comments roiling public life just now seems apt. More and more the scandals going on about how the Internal Revenue Service, almost certainly either at the Obama administration's behest, or a desire to please it, has been harassing the conservative oppostion, lends support to Anderson's view that 1913 marked a very dangerous turn for the US.

Sean

Paul Shackley said...

No, I'm not that familiar with US current affairs. Over here, we do get the impression that there are very virulent political controversies!

Sean M. Brooks said...

Hi, Paul!

Quite understandable! I do try to keep somewhat abreast of British or European affairs by occasionally buying THE ECONOMIST.

But, when I view recent events in the US thru a Hordian prism, then I become uncomfortably aware of how it SEEMS all too accurate.

Sean

Anonymous said...

Dear Sean,

You and me both.

Regards, Nicholas

Sean M. Brooks said...

Hi, Nicholas!

Wish I could be more optimistic about the future. Instead, if we follow Hord's analysis, then the US is running out of the time needed to take the corrective actions needed to prevent a disastrous crack up.

Sean

S.M. Stirling said...

Actually, the US economy has done notably better in the 20th century than in the 19th.

Due to Andy Jackson's ignorant destruction of the Bank of the United States we spent the century with the worst of both worlds as far as monetary policy is concerned; we cunningly managed to combine all the defects of a gold-based currency and one with fiat money.

It's a testimony to our basic advantages that we managed to do as well as we did.

Hord's theory falls flat on its face with the Soviet Union, btw.; he classified Leninism as one of his "conversion tyrannies".

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Mr. Stirling!

Dang! Another comment of yours that I somehow managed to miss.

I agree that fiscal mismanagement by people like Andrew Jackson made the 19th century more wretched than it needed to have been, no argument there.

But "Josip" and his Democrats seem hell bent just now on reversing all the progress made under not only former Pres. Trump, but also the progress made before him.

Yes, I agree the hideous regime Lenin founded was not a conversion tyranny. I am not claiming Hord was always right.

Ad astra! Sean