----- Original Message ----- From: "Bertil Haggman" <mvk575b@tninet.se> > > As has been well reflected on the list it seems > that your critique is not shared by all. I'd rather say it hasn't been *understood* by all. Which is why I wrote another e-mail to the list to make it clear that I didn't criticize the content of your original posting. I objected to the content and form of a posting by a listmember who replied to you. This led me to ask all fellow listmembers to always try to focus on Juenger in their postings and avoid fruitless political debates and flames (without pretending to be the moderator of this list or anything). It's as simple as that. > According to your latest contribution, you seem > not to share the view of Kennedy. I haven't dealt with Paul Kennedy's view, simply because I'm not particularly interested in these sort of analyses. There are a lot of them around after 9/11. And there's a lot of talk now about a new concept of "empire" and imperialism as put forward, for instance, by Hardt & Negri or Robert Cooper in today's "Observer" --> http://www.observer.co.uk/worldview/story/0,11581,680095,00.html. I have to say I'm not terribly impressed by all this. On a general note, you should perhaps take into consideration that people have different backgrounds and interests when they read Juenger. I personally am primarily interested in Juenger as a writer, entomologist and explorer of higher states of consciousness. And although I find many of his insights and prognoses re. general trends in society and world politics quite striking and accurate, I do not see or revere him as a prophet. Juenger wrote books, not the Bible. I'd also ask you to keep it all in a historical perspective -- Juenger wrote "Der Weltstaat" in 1960, in a bi-polar world, to draw attention to developments and more abstract forces like technology causing upheavals in society that transcend national or ideological boundaries and will eventually find a reflection on a political level as well. I think Juenger's term "Weltstaat" (deliberately vague as it is) is meant to describe what these days is called "globalization" and perceived mainly in an economic context. As I pointed out in my last posting, it's also important to take into account here that Juenger over the decades shifted to a non-anthropocentric and more New Agey perspective (it's not a dramatic shift, though, as the concept of "Erdrevolution" or "Erdvergeistigung" can already be found in "An der Zeitmauer", published in 1959). To be brutally honest, I see little potential to extract from a book like "Der Weltstaat" written more than 40 years ago and the few sparse remarks in Juenger's books explicitly dealing with political issues since then a coherent theory that would explain the global geostrategical situation we're in at the moment. But you can of course discuss Paul Kennedy "in the light of Juengerian views of the possibility of a world-state" with others on this list. Please do. Just don't expect me to participate in such a discussion. Regards, Richard Brem - - - - - - - - - - - - I believe in politics I believe in everythin' I believe this world of ours Is giving me adrenaline New Order "Rock the Shack"
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