Questions à Raymond Abellio sur sa vision de l’Occident

Questions à Raymond Abellio sur sa vision de l’Occident

Ex: http://www.revue3emillenaire.com/

(Revue Question De. N^o 4. 1974)

Vers la fin d’un certain ésotérisme

Q. Quelle place accordez-vous à ce que chacun aujourd’hui nomme « l’ésotérisme » ? Voyez-vous dans l’ésotérisme une situation radicalement nouvelle de la vie sociale et religieuse, un signe de transformation de l’Histoire présente ? Est-ce une révolte, le dernier soubresaut d’un monde en train de disparaître ou l’annonce d’une renaissance spirituelle ? Vous avez d’ailleurs intitulé votre dernier ouvrage « la fin de l’ésotérisme ». Qu’entendez-vous par là ?

R. Bien entendu, j’ai choisi un titre provocant, la provocation étant un moyen de communication utile aujourd’hui. Il faut secouer les gens pour qu’ils s’éveillent. Il est bien évident que l’ésotérisme, de par son essence, ne peut pas avoir de fin, dans la mesure où l’on admet que la connaissance en soi est toujours inachevée et inachevable, étant donné que c’est une question d’intensité. Mais « fin » signifie aussi que nous sommes dans une période de désoccultation et qu’il convient de réagir contre une certaine tendance des ésotéristes traditionnels à s’enfermer dans ce qu’ils appellent le secret. Certes, l’ésotérisme, en tant que corps de connaissance, aura toujours une frange secrète, ou plutôt un noyau secret (puisqu’encore une fois il est d’une intensité inachevable) ; mais le secret, en tant que forme moralisatrice de protection d’un corps de doctrine dont on ne connaît d’ailleurs pas le développement, me paraît quelque chose de très dégradé comme conception. C’est contre cela, finalement, que j’ai voulu être provocant. Attaquer les ésotéristes qui se servent dans leurs livres de ces formules : « Je connais beaucoup de choses, mais je ne peux pas les dire », « Je ne veux pas les dire ». Mais qu’ils n’écrivent pas de livres, alors ! Ce qu’on sait, on le sait, et l’on doit le dire. Pourquoi craindre le danger ? Les mots « danger » et « décadence », je ne les emploie pas ou je les mets entre guillemets.

Q. Mais je pense que, pour les ésotéristes qui sont, je crois, beaucoup plus occultistes qu’ésotéristes, il s’agit d’intéresser à tout prix par un pseudo-secret, par des points d’interrogation, par des conditionnels en succession infinie. Alors on voit apparaître dans ce sens de nombreuses collections d’ouvrages qui sont effectivement  la fin d’un certain ésotérisme, qui sont l’extrême du vulgaire. Par contre, on peut entendre aussi la fin de l’ésotérisme comme étant son accomplissement.

R. Parfaitement. C’est ainsi que je l’entends, dans le sens supérieur. Quand je parle de désoccultation, il est certain que c’est d’un accomplissement qu’il s’agit. C’est le besoin qu’a tout être qui cherche la connaissance, d’être illuminé par elle, et il est incontestable que l’illumination est un accomplissement. C’est assurément une fin, fin toute relative, bien entendu, que vous ressentez comme un absolu et dont vous savez bien que vous retomberez, quitte ensuite à rechercher une intensité supérieure. Mais il est certain que, chez les ésotéristes dont nous parlons, se développe aujourd’hui une sorte de « décadence ». Par exemple, le mépris qu’ils témoignent à l’Occident, à l’effort scientifique de l’Occident, est quelque chose d’incompréhensible.

Q. Le mépris de René Guénon à l’égard de l’Occident en est le meilleur exemple.

R. Il est très provocant, injuste. Mais Guénon vivait à une époque où il était nécessaire de détruire le scientisme.

Q. Guénon ne pouvant se convertir à l’hindouisme, se convertit à l’islam. Tout plutôt que l’Occident ! Partant de là, il échafaude des théories qui sont en soi assez discutables, celles de la Tradition primordiale. Celle-ci est reléguée dans un temps historique indéterminé, où les hommes sont parfaits, purs et connaissants. Il énonce alors ses idées sur l’initiation. Qu’en pensez-vous ?

 

R. Les moyens de communication que ces hommes pouvaient avoir avec le monde supérieur, avec le monde invisible, les forces divines ? Je crois qu’il est préférable de ne pas en parler, parce qu’on ne peut pas en parler. Alors, faire de ces êtres du début des temps de la Tradition, des êtres purs, omniscients, etc., cela ne fait pas très sérieux.

Q. Non seulement cela ne fait pas très sérieux, mais on retrouve tout un courant qui est pris chez Saint-Yves d’Alveydre et chez quelques autres, et la tradition de l’Aggartha n’est pas de Guénon.

R. Enfin, ces yeux tournés vers le passé, vers une sorte d’âge d’or perdu, non ! Ce n’est pas conforme à la vocation de l’Occident.

Le rôle de l’initiation

 

Q. Comment vous situez-vous par rapport aux doctrines « initiatiques » ? Pensez-vous qu’il y ait une initiation possible pour l’homme, la réalisation du « passage », faire mourir le vieil homme et renaître à la vie transcendante ? Qu’est-ce que l’initiation pour vous, et que pensez-vous des ordres initiatiques ?

R. Il se peut très bien qu’à une certaine époque historique, mal déterminée, les rites aient été un mode de communication nécessaire et privilégié, dans la mesure où l’on n’en connaissait pas la signification exacte : une sorte de magie que l’on retrouve dans certaines peuplades d’Afrique. Je crois que les rites d’initiation, tels que les conçoit Guénon, ont eu leur nécessité en Occident à une époque où, justement, la conceptualisation n’avait pas atteint le degré de nécessité et de clarté qu’elle peut atteindre aujourd’hui : de même que, dans certaines peuplades d’Afrique noire, la magie joue un rôle que joue en Europe la science. Je me rappelle l’histoire que me racontait un de mes amis. Il avait été désigné par je ne sais quelle société savante américaine pour faire une enquête auprès de peuplades primitives. Il voit, un jour, une vieille femme qui était en train de regarder le feuillage d’un arbre qui bougeait. Il dit : « Qu’est-ce que vous faites ? » Elle répondit : « Je passe » un message à mon petit-fils qui est à l’école et à qui j’ai oublié de dire ce matin de me rapporter du café. Je lui passe un message par le vent des arbres. » Il s’étonna, bien qu’il fût là pour faire des études sur la télépathie. Il demanda des explications. La femme était très gênée ; elle disait : « Vous êtes très forts, vous êtes de grands magiciens, vous avez le téléphone. » Elle considérait le téléphone comme un instrument de magie plus perfectionné. Le rite est simplement un medium de magie, moins perfectionné que le medium scientifique. C’est tout. Et l’on comprend que, selon les époques, les besoins de rites d’initiation diffèrent.

Q. Ce qui semblerait indiquer qu’aujourd’hui, selon vous, les rites d’initiation, l’appartenance à des sociétés secrètes, choses tant prônées par les milieux ésotériques de la fin du siècle dernier, ne représentent plus que l’ultime chatoiement d’un monde en voie de disparition.

R. C’est en ce sens, d’ailleurs, que j’ai parlé de la fin de l’ésotérisme — la fin d’un certain ésotérisme.

Le Renouveau de l’Occident

 

Q. Votre recherche politique se fonde sur une double connaissance : connaissance du monde spirituel traditionnel et connaissance de la technocratie moderne. Dès après la Seconde Guerre mondiale, vous avez entrepris une pénétrante méditation sur le rôle de l’Europe dans la politique future.

R. Depuis la guerre, l’Europe ne joue plus de rôle politique, ou, si elle essaie d’en jouer un, vous voyez au milieu de quelles difficultés et à quel niveau inférieur ! Actuellement, l’Europe, par l’intermédiaire des sociétés multinationales, est colonisée par l’aire américano-russe. De même, sur le plan de la recherche intellectuelle, palle marxisme russe. Nous avons à présent une aire américano-russe occidentale et une aire tibéto-chinoise. C’est dans ce sens que je donne à l’absorption du Tibet par la Chine une signification sacrée. Il y a là une véritable « théophagie ». Et c’est cela qui donne toute son amplitude au conflit est-ouest maintenant. L’Orient apparaît, de nos jours, devant la dégénérescence des religions occidentales, comme le porteur d’une puissance spirituelle par la révolution culturelle. Mais ce n’est là qu’une vision profane.

Q. Alors, selon vous, la Chine ne pourrait pas nous apporter, à nous Occidentaux, un renouveau des forces ordonnées face à une évidente dégénérescence des croyances judéo-chrétiennes et à un retour brutal des formes les plus frustes du paganisme ?

R. Je ne crois pas. Je crois que la révolution culturelle chinoise est une révolution collectiviste. Il est incontestable qu’en Chine, par exemple, les problèmes de l’homme intérieur ne sont pas posés. Le problème du sexe, celui de l’art, le problème métaphysique de la mort et de la religion sont éludés par le marxisme chinois. Or ce sont ces problèmes-là qui, dans l’invisible, commandent l’activité de la « prêtrise » occidentale à venir.

Les nouveaux prêtres… et les hippies

Q. Cette « prêtrise » invisible est-elle la suite moderne de l’antique caste des brahmanes védiques ? Voyez-vous en cela un renouveau possible à l’idée de castes ?

R. Absolument pas. Les prêtres invisibles sont des hommes qui passent au-delà des castes. Alors que les hommes de connaissance, les brahmanes, veulent institutionnaliser la connaissance, c’est-à-dire l’enfermer dans des églises, les prêtres invisibles refusent de se laisser institutionnaliser. Eux seuls sont les prêtres de la fin des temps, les nouveaux prophètes.

Q. Il est bon alors de rappeler qu’aux trois castes le plus communément admises prêtres, guerriers, agriculteurs vous opposez une vision nettement plus équilibrée de la société avec une division en quatre castes. Ces quatre castes seraient sommairement ordonnées comme suit : hommes de connaissance, de puissance, de gestion, d’exécution. Mais se pose à nouveau aujourd’hui le problème des hors-castes, les hippies et autres contestataires modernes.

R. Vous avez raison, et je suis persuadé que la mauvaise conception actuelle des quatre castes conduit à une méconnaissance de la hors-caste : celle d’en-bas disons les hippies — mais également celle d’en haut, les prêtres invisibles. Il y a incontestablement la caste des hippies qui refusent justement d’être des hommes d’exécution, de travail, mais qui ne sont pas, bien entendu, des « brahmanes ». Ils sont dans une hors-caste indéfinissable, et je crois cependant que leur rôle est capital, car c’est là que germent, dans ce terreau d’humus indifférencié, les nouvelles générations de castes. De ce point de vue, on peut même imaginer toute une sorte de géographie sacrée qui préciserait les zones de l’hémisphère occidental où apparaissent ces castes.

La notion de géographie sacrée

Q. L’existence de certaines zones privilégiées, de régions chargées de forces, d’énergies particulières, c’est pour vous, je crois, la géographie sacrée ou, tout au moins, sa structure de base. Ainsi, dans cette conception du monde, vous accordez à la Californie un rôle déterminant dans l’évolution et le développement des nouvelles hors-castes.

R. Oui, pour moi, sur un plan symbolique, la Californie est une ligne qui marque la limite à l’extrême ouest de l’Occident. Elle s’oppose à l’Amérique ; la Californie n’est pas du tout l’Amérique. Et c’est justement ce qui m’a conduit à penser qu’il y avait un symbolisme considérable dans la révolte des étudiants de Berkeley en 1964, qui a été la première manifestation dans le monde de la révolte des étudiants.

Q. Si la Californie n’est pas l’Amérique, mais l’Extrême-Occident, l’Occident n’est pas l’Europe. Je crois même que vous faites une différence fondamentale qui est, en quelque sorte, l’assise de votre géographie sacrée.

R. La distinction entre l’Europe et l’Occident est, pour moi, fondamentale. Dans notre cycle de temps, nul lieu au monde n’eut plus que l’Europe l’illusion de faire naître l’Histoire. L’Europe s’est vue comme déterminant et écrivant l’Histoire tout entière du cycle terrestre actuellement en cours, et une Histoire de plus en plus dense et dramatique. Je fais de la distinction Europe-Occident une clef fondamentale. Ainsi, l’Europe est construite, l’Occident est constitué. L’Est est le support d’une infinité passée, l’Ouest celui d’une infinité à venir : l’Occident est, entre eux, celui d’une infinité présente. Mais c’est justement parce que l’homme européen est pris actuellement dans l’implication infinie des liaisons historiques, et qu’il y est pris seul, qu’il est, à l’état naissant, le porteur de l’être occidental capable de transcender l’Histoire, de la vider de ses événements isolés et passagers et de faire émerger, ici et maintenant, une nouvelle conscience dans le monde. L’Occident est d’abord vision absolue du monde et de lui-même par la découverte d’une structure absolue. L’Europe vit en mode d’ampleur, l’Occident en mode d’intensité. L’Europe veut progresser en mode de sédimentation, l’Occident se résout en mode de cristallisation.

Q. Quel sens donnez-vous à cette opposition ?

R. Un sens dialectique. Ainsi l’Europe se livre au temps tandis que l’Occident lui échappe. L’Europe paraît fixe dans l’espace, c’est-à-dire dans la géographie, tandis que l’Occident y est mobile et déplace son épicentre terrestre selon le mouvement des avant-gardes civilisées. L’Europe est provisoire, l’Occident est éternel. Un jour, l’Europe sera politiquement effacée des cartes, mais l’Occident vivra toujours. L’Occident est partout où la conscience devient majeure.

Révélation et illumination

Q. Vous accordez une importance fondamentale à la notion de révélation dans toute votre œuvre. Vous acceptez l’idée qu’une connaissance peut venir subitement, sans apport intellectuel ; cette connaissance résume alors des formes très diverses du savoir. Elle est la gnose à l’état pur, une réalité universelle qui, soudain, relie l’homme à l’infini.

R. Tous, autant que nous sommes, nous avons eu des moments où la certitude en nous se passait de preuves. Ma propre certitude, à certains moments de ma vie, a été totale, immédiate, fulgurante. C’est ainsi que je puis vous dire, et de façon très précise, que j’ai reçu la révélation de ma clef numérique de la Kabbale le 5 avril 1946 à dix heures du matin, le Vendredi saint de cette année-là. La liste des valeurs ésotériques des nombres m’est venue globalement, sans nuance. Elle m’est tombée dessus comme un coup de tonnerre, à tel point que, pendant trois heures, je suis resté paralysé, dans un état d’immobilité absolue. Je brûlais et j’avais l’impression que ma tête allait éclater. Quand j’ai enfin pu me déplacer, je suis allé me coucher sous une tente qui était au fond du jardin. Pendant ce repos, chaque fois que j’essayais de deviner le sens précis de ma révélation, j’avais l’impression que tout pouvait sauter en moi. Une idée de plus, et mon cerveau sautait ; c’était bien un court-circuit qui s’était produit entre deux univers, le mien, celui de l’homme, et l’autre, celui de la révélation, du savoir infini, de la gnose abrupte. La notion de choc dans la révélation est, pour moi, très importante ; car je l’ai reçue comme un coup de bâton, direct, sans pitié, sans faiblesse. Mais il est, je crois, bien inutile de vous dire qu’au moment où j’ai reçu cette connaissance subite, je n’avais qu’une idée très vague de ce que la révélation m’apportait. Disons que je venais d’accrocher l’idée centrale. Ensuite, j’ai dû procéder aux applications intellectuelles. La révélation est comme un objet brut ; le stade de l’exégèse intellectuelle est celui du raffinement.

Q. Considérez-vous la découverte abrupte, la révélation comme la vérité absolue ?

R. Pas nécessairement. La certitude, aussi forte soit-elle, n’est pas forcément la vérité, même si elle s’accompagne de phénomènes étranges qui s’apparentent à ce que communément l’on nomme « Révélation ». La révélation n’est pas, pour autant, un terrain vague, une certitude reçue à travers un voile, le donné abstrait à partir duquel on tirera des élucubrations plus ou moins confuses. Elle est, au contraire, parfaite et précise ; elle s’apparente totalement à la gnose, c’est vrai ; or la gnose, c’est le domaine de la certitude absolue, instantanée et totale, sinon celui de la vérité.

Q. Du reste, dès que l’on se situe à ce niveau de la perception spirituelle, le mot « vérité », tel qu’il est communément utilisé, ne veut plus rien dire. La révélation transmise à l’homme qui vit dans le temps, dans les dimensions de l’espace, se heurte évidemment à un mur, le mur du temps. La connaissance ou la certitude intemporelles sont récupérées par des êtres qui vivent dans le temps. Ce glissement de l’intemporel au temporel affaiblit sans doute la révélation, lui fait perdre cette force immédiate, totale, instantanée et infinie qu’elle possède en elle-même.

R. Vous avez raison. Mais c’est la force de la loi du progrès : la loi de l’homme. La loi étant historique, soumise à la succession du temps, nous n’avons pas la prétention de tout vivre, de tout assumer, de tout comprendre, même nos propres moments de certitude, de révélation. Nous vivons cependant à certains moments dans des rapports privilégiés avec l’étincelle éternelle, avec l’Un informel : c’est alors la réalisation de l’homme intérieur, l’homme intérieur qui est en assomption tout au long des siècles, une assomption qui trouve sa plénitude, sa pleine réalité à chaque instant éternel de la révélation.

***

MEDITATION POUR LES DERNIÈRES FOIS

Heureux celui qui sait ne pas donner de raisons vaniteuses à ses défaites. Et encore plus heureux celui qui sait qu’il n’est pas de défaites.

Partout où nous irons désormais nous porterons en nous ce monde horizontal. Il est celui des ténèbres extérieures.

Mais la grande nouveauté est celle-ci : Ce monde ne sera plus jamais trop grand pour nous, c’est nous qui sommes devenus trop grands pour lui. Jamais plus nous ne pourrons dire comme Moïse : Je verrai la terre promise et je mourrai.

Nous avons déjà vu toutes les terres promises et nous survivons.

Ce soir, je rêve d’Archimède, insensible au tumulte des guerres et traçant sur le sable, du bout de sa canne, les figures géométriques de son énigme intérieure, tandis que le soldat, irrité, l’interpelle et se prépare à le tuer. Nous sommes voués comme lui à une connaissance et une immobilité infinies. En elles se tiennent toute dévotion, tout amour, toute adoration, tout accomplissement, tout service.

Et même si le sens de ce dernier mot nous échappe car il englobe tous les sens, et si, plus encore qu’à nous, il échappe aux Barbares, que ces derniers au moins, quand ils viendront, nous trouvent d’abord attentifs à notre art.

Rien ne peut sauver les corps. Mais on peut rêver d’un regard si plein de connaissance humaine que les corps tout entiers se perdent dans ce regard. Un jour, en rencontrant les yeux de l’homme immobile, l’assassin le moins capable de retour sur soi saura que cet assassiné était plus grand que lui. Au cœur le plus sensible de l’Europe, à l’endroit d’où elle se croit le plus absente, s’accumulent ce comble de refus et ce comble d’attention qui, par la réversibilité mystérieuse du rachat, constituent au contraire sa vraie présence.

Le goût des formes et des bavardages, la hâte du présent et la déception du lendemain, les petits brigandages politiques, le cynisme sans risques, la vulgarité des riches et la soumission des pauvres, et, par-dessus tout, l’impuissante nostalgie d’une beauté qui se refuse et d’une vérité qui se perd, composent une sorte de cri profond qui monte des plaines d’Europe, mais qui stagne dessus comme un brouillard d’hiver.

Ce désordre est trop grand. Comment en démêler les fils ? On peut aujourd’hui donner une sorte de curiosité fraternelle à ceux qui veulent mettre de l’ordre dans ce qu’on appelle le monde, et qui se jettent dans la foule.

Mais il y a temps pour tout sous le soleil.

Aujourd’hui, ce n’est pas dans ce monde qu’il faut mettre de l’ordre, mais dans nos pensées. Nous avons fait dans le monde assez d’expériences, et ce n’est pas en vain que nous en avons traîné le poids si haut. Le monde est ici, pas ailleurs.

J’essaie d’imaginer ce que pourront être ces heures de la transfiguration, quand les guerriers se feront prêtres, et, n’ayant plus rien à défendre qui ne soit détruit, se découvriront les hommes les plus riches du monde.

Extrait de l’Assomption de l’Europe (Paris, Flammarion, 1953).

POUR MIEUX CONNAÎTRE RAYMOND ABELLIO

De son vrai nom Georges Soulès, Raymond Abellio est ne le 11 novembre 1907 d Toulouse.

De 1930 à 1932, il est élève de l’École des ponts et chaussées. Ingénieur enfin, il commence une carrière qui le conduit dans la Drôme. C’est là qu’il prend contact avec le monde politique. Des 1932, il est nommé secrétaire fédéral adjoint de la S.F.I.O. En 1935, il est un des dirigeants de la dissidence socialiste connue sous le nom de Gauche révolutionnaire. A Paris, en 1936, il entre au cabinet de Jules Much. A partir de 1937, il est un des dirigeants du Parti socialiste, tout en gardant très évidente son optique Gauche révolutionnaires, que développent encore ses études marxistes et trotskystes.

Au cours des combats de 1940, il est fait prisonnier à Calais et se retrouve, pour quelque temps, dans un camp d’internement en Allemagne. Cette triste période sera occupée par quantité de réflexions. Il se lie avec différents officiers cagoulards qui partagent la même captivité. Ses options politiques sont remises en cause. Le marxisme, qu’il considéra toujours comme valable du point de vue de l’analyse économique et comme philosophie réflexive, l’a déçu, au moment de la guerre d’Espagne et du pacte Staline-Laval.

Pendant la guerre

En 1941, il est libéré et rentre en France. Il s’inscrit au Mouvement social révolutionnaire de Deloncle, dont il devient l’adjoint. Les rapports avec l’occupant restent tendus, malgré l’apparente reconnaissance du Mouvement social révolutionnaire par le nazisme.

L’année suivante, en 1942, un fait va déterminer le cours de l’évolution intellectuelle de Georges Soulès : sa rencontre avec Pierre de Combas. Ce dernier a une connaissance remarquable des grandes philosophies et doctrines traditionnelles, du judaïsme à l’hindouisme. Il a étudié les mouvements occultes et ésotériques occidentaux par ailleurs, il possède une excellente documentation sur les différents mystiques.

C’est Pierre de Combas qui, notamment, déterminera son évolution critique en face de la pensée de René Guénon.

La découverte de Husserl

Georges Soulès est bien à la recherche de tout autre chose. Son but : découvrir le véritable cheminement qui irait de la Tradition jusqu’à l’exploitation de toutes les ouvertures scientifiques offertes par le monde moderne. C’est dans ce sens, la découverte de Husserl et de la phénoménologie, découverte qui restera un des premiers événements de sa vie spéculative. La tradition hébraïque lui apporte, avec la Kabbale, les éléments du savoir religieux initiatique, tandis que la phénoménologie lui permet d’acquérir une méthode prospective et une charpente méthodique qui manquent aux traditions étudiées comme telles.

Dès cette époque sont en gestation les thèmes fondamentaux qui formeront la trame philosophique de ses livres. Selon lui, le politicien moderne est loin de représenter une vision réelle de ce que devrait être la politique authentique. Celle-ci serait, selon Soulès, appuyée à la fois sur un organisme de sociétés secrètes recelant des connaissances traditionnelles et sur un développement scientifique des facultés métapsychiques, afin d’influer, sans autres moyens que la réalisation mentale, sur les foules. La géopolitique occupe également une place dans la construction de son système. Les différents États, les continents eux-mêmes sont, certes, des réalités évidentes. Mais celles-ci ne sont quand même que les jouets de forces cosmiques et telluriques dont une plus exacte connaissance serait indispensable, afin d’accéder à la parfaite réalisation d’un pouvoir à la fois occulte et politique.

Après la guerre

En 1944, sa position devient de plus en plus difficile. Bientôt, on le recherche, et il doit se cacher.

En 1945, ce sont les gaullistes qui, à leur tour, le poursuivent. Commence alors pour lui une vie de traqué et de vagabond. Enfin, il quitte la France A la fin de février 1947. La Suisse sera son lieu d’exil jusqu’en 1951, époque à laquelle, à la suite d’un non-lieu, il rentre à Paris.

Ses années de fuite et d’exil furent les plus fructueuses, spirituellement. Sa vision du monde atteint un aspect prophétique. En 1946, il fait paraître, sous le pseudonyme d’Abellio, son premier livre. C’est un roman, Heureux les pacifiques, qui sera suivi de Les yeux d’Ezéchiel sont ouverts ; enfin, beaucoup plus tard, de la Fosse de Babel. Ces trois livres forment une trilogie romanesque sur laquelle il fonde la partie la plus publique de son œuvre. Parallèlement, il développera des recherches, avec la Bible, document chiffré, Vers un nouveau prophétisme, Assomption de l’Europe et la Structure absolue (1965).

Ce dernier ouvrage, véritable somme philosophique, est une recherche fondée sur l’ésotérisme et la phénoménologie afin de cerner la clé universelle de l’être et du devenir, des situations et des mutations.

Le monde futur

Vers un nouveau prophétisme est un « essai sur le rôle du sacré et la situation de Lucifer dans le monde moderne ». L’Occident — et l’Europe en particulier — n’a pas terminé son rôle sur la grande scène de l’Histoire. L’ultime Occident est à naître, « quand les guerriers se feront prêtres et, n’ayant plus rien à défendre qui ne soit détruit, se découvriront les hommes les plus riches du monde » (Abellio, Assomption de l’Europe).

Abellio reconnaît que nous vivons la fin d’un cycle, les dernières saccades de l’agonie. Mais cette agonie est à la mesure de notre formidable destin luciférien. L’Europe accède à son assomption et le monde entier se développe et vit et meurt selon nos concepts, nos religions, nos hérésies et nos systèmes politiques.

Une situation retient tout particulièrement son attention : celle de la Chine, Abellio ne cache pas un certain pessimisme qui s’accompagne de visions apocalyptiques dans la Fosse de Babel.

OEUVRES DE RAYMOND ABELLIO

Aux éditions Flammarion :

« Heureux les. Pacifiques », roman

« Assomption de l’Europe », essai

« La fin de l’ésotérisme », essai

Aux éditions Gallimard :

« Les yeux d’Ezéchiel sont ouverts », roman

« Vers un nouveau prophétisme », essai

« La Bible, document chiffré », 2 vol., essai

« La fosse de Babel », roman

« La structure absolue », essai

« Ma dernière mémoire », récit, le tome I est, jusqu’à présent, seul paru

« Un faubourg de Toulouse »

Dans une âme et un corps », Journal de l’année 1971

The genesis of India according to Bernard Sergent

 

The Genesis of India Acording to Bernard Sergent

A review

Dr. Koenraad ELST

Ex: http://koenraadelst.bharatvani.org/reviews/sergent.html/

1. A remarkable book

The debate concerning the theory of an Aryan invasion in India has taken off at last. In spite of the mutual deafness of the pro- and anti-invasionist schools, the increasing awareness of a challenge has led prominent scholars groomed in the invasionist view to collect, for the first time in their careers, actual arguments in favour of the Aryan Invasion Theory. As yet this is never in the form of a pointwise rebuttal of an existing anti-invasionist argumentation, a head-on approach so far exclusively adopted by one or two non-invasionists.

Nonetheless, some recent contributions to the archaeological and physical-anthropological aspects of the controversy pose a fresh challenge to the (by now often over-confident) noninvasionist school.

An extremely important new synthesis of various types of data is provided by Dr. Bernard Sergent in his book Genèse de l'Inde (Genesis of India), as yet only available in French (Payot, Paris 1997). The book comes as a sequel to his equally important book Les Indo-Européens (Payot 1995). Sergent is a Ph.D. in Archaeology with additional degrees in Physical Anthropology and in History, a researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, and chairman of the French Society for Mythology.

One of Sergent's objectives is to counter the rising tide of skepticism against the AIT with archaeological and other proof. In particular, he proposes a precise identification of a particular Harappan-age but non-Harappan culture with the Indo-Aryans poised to invade India: the Bactrian Bronze Age culture of ca. 2500-2000 BC. At the same time, he is quite scornful of AIT critics and neglects to take their arguments apart, which means that he effectively leaves them standing. He dismisses the non-invasion theory in one sentence plus footnote as simply unbelievable and as the effect of nationalistic blindness for the shattering evidence provided by linguistics (Genèse de l'Inde, p.370 and p.477 n.485).

Nonetheless, it is important to note that, unlike Indian Marxists, he does not show any contempt for Hinduism or for the idea of India. Most people who analyze Indian culture into different contributions by peoples with divergent origins do so with the implicit or explicit message that "there is no such thing as Indian or Hindu culture, there is only a composite of divergent cultures, each of which should break free and destroy the dominant Brahminical system which propagates the false notion of a single all-Indian culture". Sergent, by contrast, admits that the ethnically different contributions have merged into an admirable synthesis, e.g.: "One of the paradoxes of India is its astonishing linguistic diversity compared with its cultural unity." (p.9) Rather than denying the idea of India, he strongly sympathizes with it: though a construct of history, India is a cultural reality.

2. Evidence provided by physical anthropology

Bernard Sergent treads sensitive ground in discussing the evidence furnished by physical anthropology. Though not identifying language with race, he maintains that in many cases, a certain correlation between language and genes may nonetheless be discernible, as explained earlier by Luigi Cavalli-Sforza and other leading population geneticists. The underlying logic is simple: people who speak a common language do so by living together as a community, and as such, they will also intermarry and pass on their genes along with their language and culture to their children. Yet, to say that there was an original Proto-Indo-European (PIE) community whose language got diversified into the existing IE languages, and whose "heirs" we IE-speakers are, is already enough to attract suspicions of Nazi fantasies, even in the case of so authoritative and objective a scholar as Bernard Sergent.

Indeed, oblique aspersions have been cast on Sergent by Jean-Paul Demoule ("Les Indo-Européens, un mythe sur mesure", La Recherche, April 1998, p.41), who uses the familiar and simple technique of juxtaposition, i.c. with the term "mother race", used off-hand by Emmanuel Leroy-Ladurie in a review of Sergent's book Les Indo-Européens. Demoule's explicit thesis is that "not one scientific fact allows support for the hypothesis of an original [PIE-speaking] people". In fact, there are no known languages which are not spoken by a living community or a "people", either in the past (e.g. Latin) or in the present. Plain common sense requires that the PIE dialects were also spoken by some such "people". If postmodernists like Demoule want to deny to the hypothetical PIE language the necessary hypothesis that it was used by a community of speakers, it is up to them to provide an alternative hypothesis plus the "scientific facts" supporting it.

A related political inhibition obstructing the progress of research in IE studies is the post1945 mistrust of migratory models as explanations of the spread of technologies, cultures or indeed languages. Sergent goes against the dominant tendency by insisting that the IE language family has spread by means of migrations (p.153-156, criticizing non-migrationist hypotheses by Jean-François Jarrige and Jim Shaffer). Prior to the telegraph and the modern electronic media, a language could indeed only be spread by being physically taken from one place to the next. In the case of India, while we need not concede Sergent's specific assumption of an Aryan immigration, it is obvious that migrations have been a key factor in the present distribution of languages. One scholar who still agrees with Dr. Sergent's commonsense position is Dr. Robert Zydenbos ("An obscurantist argument", Indian Express, 12-12-1993): "And it should be clear that languages do not migrate by themselves: people migrate, and bring languages with them."

As Sergent points out, the historical period in India has witnessed well-recorded invasions by the Greeks, Huns, Scythians, Kushanas, Arabs, Turks, Afghans and Europeans.

So, there is no need to be shy about surmising the existence and the linguistic impact of migrations, including violent ones, in the proto-historical period. It so happens that migrations may leave traces in the physical-anthropological "record" of a population, thus adding modern genetics to the sciences which can be employed in reconstructing ancient history.

Sergent claims that the oldest Homo Sapiens Sapiens racial type of India, now largely submerged by interbreeding with immigrant Dravidian, Austro-Asiatic and IE populations, is the one preserved in the Vedda and Rodiya tribes of Sri Lanka. While the purely black skin is associated (by Sergent) with the population which "brought" the Dravidian languages, the Veddoid traits are found to an extent among tribal populations in south India and as far north as the Bhils and the Gonds. Perhaps Nahali is the last remnant of the lost language of this ancient layer of the Indian population, for all the said tribes including the Veddas now speak the languages of their non-tribal neighbours. (p.38)

Sergent questions the neat division of the South-Asian population into "Mediterranean", "Melano-Indian" (black-skinned, associated with the Dravidian languages) and "Veddoid" or "Australoid", introduced by British colonial anthropologists: "the Vedda, the Melano-Indians and the Indus people and the actual inhabitants of the northern half of India, which classical anthropology used to class as Mediterraneans, all belong to one same human 'current' of which they manifest the successive 'waves'. Everything indicates, physical traits as well as geographical distribution, that the Vedda have arrived first, followed by the Melano-Indians, and then the Indus people." (p.43) Note that he does not mention "Aryans" as a distinct type separate from and arriving after the "Indus people". Indeed, he joins the list of anthropologists who acknowledge the absence of a genetic discontinuity at the end of the Harappan age marking the Aryan invasion.

Sergent rejects the classical view that populations having traits halfway between the typical Veddoid and Mediterranean traits must be considered "mixed". Instead, rather than assuming discrete racial types subsequently subject to miscegenation, he posits a racial continuum, corresponding with the continuum of migrations from northeastern Africa via West Asia to South Asia. The Dravidian-speakers largely coincide with a racial type called "Melano-Indian", which is very dark-skinned but in all other respects similar not to the Melano-Africans but to the Mediterranean variety of the white race, e.g. wavy hair, a near-vertical forehead, a thinner nose. Sergent thinks they arrived in Mehrgarh well before the beginning of the Neolithic, in ca. 8,000 BC, and that they were subsequently replaced or absorbed by the real Harappans, who belonged to the "Indo-Afghan" type. (p.50)

At this point, it is customary to point to the Dravidian Brahui speakers of Baluchistan (living in the vicinity of Mehrgarh) as a remnant of the Dravidian Harappans. However, Sergent proposes that the Brahui speakers, far from being a native remnant of a pre-Harappan population of Baluchistan, only immigrated into Baluchistan from inner India in the early Muslim period. Given that Baluchi, a West-Iranian language, only established itself in Baluchistan in the 13th century ("for 2000 years, India has been retreating before Iran", p.29; indeed, both Baluchistan, including the Brahminical place of pilgrimage Hinglaj, and the Northwest Frontier Province, homeland of Panini, were partly Indo-Aryan-speaking before Baluchi and Pashtu moved in), and that the only Indo-Iranian loans in Brahui are from Baluchi and not from Pehlevi or Sindhi, Sergent deduces that Brahui was imported into its present habitat only that late. (p.130) We'll have to leave that as just a proposal for now: a Central-Indian Dravidian population migrated to Baluchistan in perhaps the 14th century.

The Harappan civilization "prolongs the ancient Neolithic of Baluchistan [viz. Mehrgarh], whose physical type is West-Asian, notably the type called (because of its contemporary location) Indo-Afghan". (p.50) This suggests that the "Indo-Afghan" type was located elsewhere before the beginning of the Neolithic in Mehrgarh, viz. in West Asia. If so, this means that the last great wave of immigrants (as opposed to smaller waves like the Scythian or the Turco-Afghan or the English which did not deeply alter the average genetic type of the Indian population) took place thousands of years before the supposed Aryan invasion. And the latter, bringing Aryans of the Indo-Afghan type into an India already populated with Harappans of the Indo-Afghan type, happens to be untraceable in the physical-anthropo-logical data.

No new blood type or skull type or skin colour marks the period when the Aryans are supposed to have invaded India. So, one potentially decisive proof of the Aryan invasion is conspicuously missing. Indeed, the physical-anthropological record is now confidently used by opponents of the AIT as proof of the continuity between the Harappan and the post-Harappan societies in northwestern India.

3. The archaeological evidence

3.1. Tracing the Aryan migrants

Though the question of Aryan origins was much disputed in the 19th century, the Aryan invasion theory has been so solidly dominant in the 20th century that attempts to prove it have been extremely rare in recent decades (why prove the obvious?), until the debate flared up again in India after 1990. In his attempt to prove the Aryan invasion, Bernard Sergent uses the archaeological record, which, paradoxically, is invoked with equal confidence by the noninvasionist school (e.g. B.B. Lal: New Light on the Indus Civilization, Aryan Books, Delhi 1997).

The crux of the matter is: can archaeologists trace a population migrating through Central Asia and settling down in India? There seems to be new hope to pin down this elusive band of migrants: "Today, thanks to the extremely rich findings in Central Asia in the past twenty years, the discovery of the 'pre-Indian Indians' has become possible." (p.33) Sergent has tried to identify a crucial stage in this itinerary: the 3rd-millennium Bactrian culture as the base from which the Indo-Aryans invaded India.

Bactria, the basin of the Amu Darya or Oxus river, now northern Afghanistan plus southeastern Uzbekistan, is historically the heartland of Iranian culture. In an Indian Urheimat scenario, the Iranians left India before the heyday of the Harappan cities. The next waystation, where they developed their own distinct culture, was Bactria, where Zarathushtra lived (in the city of Balkh). In that framework, it is entirely logical that a separate culture has been discovered in Bactria and dated to the late 3rd millennium BC. However, Bernard Sergent identifies this Bronze Age culture of Bactria, "one of the most briliant civilizations of Asia" (p.157), as that of the Indo-Aryans poised to invade India.

Though not figuring much in the development of his own theory, evidence for similarities in material culture between Harappa and Bactria is acknowledged by Bernard Sergent, e.g. ceramics resembling those found in Chanhu-Daro. This Harappan influence on the Bactrian culture proper is distinct from the existence of six fully Harappan colonies in Afghanistan, most importantly Shortugai in Bactria, "a settlement completely Harappan in character on a tributary of the Amu Darya (...) on the foot of the ore-rich Badakshan range (...) with lapis lazuli, gold, silver, copper and lead ores. Not one of the standard characteristics of the Harappan cultural complex is missing from it." (Maurizio Tosi: "De Indusbeschaving voorbij de grenzen van het Indisch subcontinent", in UNESCO exhibition book Oude Culturen in Pakistan, Koninklijke Musea voor Kunst en Geschiedenis, Brussels 1989, p.133)

Logically, the close coexistence of Harappan colonies and Bactrian settlements was a conduit for mutual influence but also a source of friction and conflict. Indian-Iranian conflict has been a constant from the Bronze Age (replacement of Harappan with Bactrian culture in Shortugai ca. 1800 BC, Genèse de l'Inde, p.180) through Pehlevi, Shaka and Afghan invasions in India until Nadir Shah's sack of Delhi in the 18th century. Any Bactrian-Harappan antagonism would fit this pattern of hostility between Indo-Aryans and Iranians. Sergent's first job is to disprove the Iranian and prove the Indo-Aryan character of the Bactrian culture; the second is to show a Bactrian immigration in late- or post-Harappan India and a subsequent overwhelming Bactrian cultural impact on Indian society.

Sergent cites Akhmadali A. Askarov's conclusion that the Harappan-Bactrian similarities are due to "influence of northwestern India on Bactria by means of a migration of Indus people to Central Asia after the end of their civilization". (p.224, with reference to A.A. Askarov: "Traditions et innovations dans la culture du nord de la Bactriane à l'âge du bronze",Colloque Archéologie, CNRS, Paris 1985, p.119-124) The acknowledgment of a Harappa-to-Bactria movement is well taken, but this poses a chronological problem, for the Bactrian culture was not subsequent to but contemporaneous with Harappan culture. Sergent solves the problem by pointing out that Askarov and other Soviet scholars who first dug up the sites in Margiana (eastern Turkmenistan) and Bactria, used an obsolete form of C-14 Carbon dating, and that newer methods have pushed the chronology of these sites back by centuries, making Bactrian culture contemporaneous with Harappa. (p.160)

For Sergent, this chronological correction is essential: if the Bactrian culture was that of the Indo-Aryans who brought down the Indus civilization, it is necessary that they lived there before the end of the latter. But this synchronism is equally compatible with a dim pre-Harappan kinship between the Bactrian and Harappan cultures, which were different yet partly similar, a similarity which Askarov and Sergent attribute to Harappa-to-Bactria influence (which must inevitably have existed), but which may also owe something to a common origin.

Sergent then mentions a number of similarities in material culture between the Bactrian culture and some cultures in Central Asia and in Iran proper, e.g. ceramics like those of Namazga-V (southern Turkmenistan). Some of these were loans from Elam which were being transmitted from one Iranian (in his reconstruction, Indo-Iranian) settlement to the next, e.g. the so-called "Luristan bronzes", Luristan being a Southwest-Iranian region where Elamite culture was located. Some were loans from the "neighbouring and older" (p.158) culture of Margiana: does this not indicate an east-to-west gradient for the Indo-Iranians?

Well, one effect of Sergent's chronological correction is that what seem to be influences from elsewhere on Bactrian culture, may have to be reversed: "From that point onwards, the direction of exchanges and influences gets partly reversed: a number of similarities can just as well be explained by an influence of Bactria on another region as one of another on Bactria." (p.160) Note that this fits the Iranian east-to-west expansion implicit in the Avestic data and in the first chapter of the Zoroastrian Vendidad, which puts Afghanistan in the centre of the Iranian world, with the Caspian region hardly on the horizon yet. So, even for the relation between the Bactrian culture and its neighbours, the proper northwest-to-southeast direction required by the AIT has not been demonstrated, let alone a movement all the way from the northern Caspian region to India. And if there was transmission from other cultures to Bactria (as of course there was), this does not prove that the Bactrians were colonists originating in these other cultures; they may simply have practised commerce. Conversely, if they were colonists from elsewhere, they may have been colonists originating in pre-Harappan India.

At any rate, all the sites related in material culture to the prototypical Bactrian settlement of Dashli are in present-day Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan or Iran proper, without exception regions which were Iranian at the time they made their appearance in written history, mostly in the last millennium BC. While migrations are obviously possible, this Iranian bias says something about the burden of proof. It is entirely reasonable to accept as a starting hypothesis that the Dashli settlement, like its sister settlements, was Iranian. Those who insist it was something else, should accept the burden of proving that Dashli was Indo-Aryan, that migrations took place in which the Indo-Aryans there made way for Iranians.

3.3. Bactria vs. Harappa

A new insight based on archaeology and detrimental to the stereotypical Harap-pan/Aryan opposition, is that the Harappans were not matriarchal pacifists after all, that they did have weapons and fortifications, "just like" the Aryans (see e.g. Shereen Ratnagar: Enquiries into the Political Organization of Harappan Society, Ravish Publ., Pune 1991; note that Prof. Ratnagar is a virulent critic of all Indocentric revisions of the Aryan question, as in her article "Revisionist at work: a chauvinistic inversion of the Aryan invasion theory", Frontline, 9-2-1996, an attack on Prof. N.S. Rajaram). Yet, Sergent insists that the old picture still holds good: relatively unarmed mercantile Harappans versus heavily armed Aryans preparing their invasion in Bactria. The Bactrian settlements abound in metal weaponry, and this does present a contrast with the relative paucity of weapons in Harappa. The latter was a well-ordered mercantile society, Bactria a frontier society.

This contrast actually reminds us of a contrast between Iranian and Indian in the historical period. In pre-Alexandrine Iranian royal inscriptions, we come across truly shameless expressions of pride in bloody victories, even defiantly detailing the cruel treatment meted out to the defeated kings. By contrast, in Ashoka's inscriptions, we find apologies for the bloody Kalinga war and a call for establishing peace and order. Far from being a purely Buddhist reaction against prevalent Hindu martial customs, Ashoka's relative pacifism presents a personal variation within a broader and more ancient tradition of Ahimsa, nonviolence, best expressed in some sections of the Mahabharata. Though this epic (and most explicitly its section known as the Bhagavad Gita) rejects the extremist non-violence propagated by Mahatma Gandhi and also by the wavering Arjuna before the decisive battle, Krishna's exhortation to fight comes only after every peaceful means of appeasing or reconciling the enemy has been tried, whence the Hindu dictum Ahimsa paramo dharma, "non-violence is the highest religious duty".

True, the Vedas seem to be inspired by the same martial spirit of the Iranian inscriptions, but in the Indocentric chronology, they predate the high tide of Harappan civilization, belonging to a pre-Harappan period of conquest, viz. the conquest of the northwest by the Yamuna/Saraswati-based Puru tribe. Their westward conquest was connected with a larger westward movement which included the Iranian conquest of Central Asia (later continued into the Caspian area and West Asia). By way of hypothesis, I propose that Ahimsa was a largely post-Vedic development, and that the Iranians (who had a taste of it through Zarathushtra's strictures against animal sacrifice and the like) missed its more radical phase, sticking instead to the more uncivilized glorification of victory by means of force. This would concur with the finding of a more military orientation of Bactrian culture as compared with the post-Vedic Harappan culture.

3.4. The Bactrian tripura

In the principal Bactrian site of Dashli, a circular building with three concentric walls has been found. The building was divided into a number of rooms and inside, three fireplaces on platforms were discovered along with the charred remains of sacrificed animals. In this building, its Soviet excavator Viktor Sarianidi recognized an Iranian temple, but Sergent explains why he disagrees with him. (p.161) He argues that the Vedic Aryans were as much fire-worshippers as the Iranians, and that they sacrificed animals just like the early Iranians did (prior to the establishment of Zarathushtra's reforms, and even later, cfr. the bull sacrifice in the Roman-age Mithras cult), so that the excavated fire altars could be either Indo-Aryan or Iranian.

Of course, India and Iran have a large common heritage, and many religious practices, mythical motifs and other cultural items in both were the same or closely similar. But that truism will not do to satisfy Sergent's purpose, which is to show that the Bactrian culture was not generally Indo-Iranian, and definitely not Iranian, but specifically Indo-Aryan. There is nothing decisively un-Iranian about the Dashli fire altars, and I think Sarianidi's identification of Dashli as Iranian remains undisproven.

In fact, there may well be something un-Indic and specifically Iranian about it. First of all, roundness in buildings is highly unusual in Hindu culture, which has a strong preference for square plans (even vertically, as in windows, where rectangular shapes are preferred over arches), in evidence already in the Harappan cities. Moreover, Sergent notes the similarity with a fire temple found in Togolok, Margiana. The Togolok fire altar has gained fame by yielding traces of a plant used in the Soma (Iranian: Haoma) sacrifice: laboratory analysis in Moscow showed this to be Ephedra, a stimulant still used in ephedrine and derivative products.

Asko Parpola has tried to identify the Togolok temple as Indo-Iranian and possibly proto-Vedic, citing the Soma sacrifice there as evidence: the Rg-Vedic people reproached their Dasa (Iranian) enemies for not performing rituals including the Soma ritual, so Parpola ("The coming of the Aryans to Iran and India and the cultural and ethnic identity of the Dasas", in Studia Orientalia, vol.64, Helsinki 1988, p.195-265) identifies the former with the "Haumavarga Shakas" or Soma-using Scythians mentioned in Zoroastrian texts. However, every testimony we have of the Scythians, including the Haumavarga ones in whose sites traces of the Soma ceremony have been found, is as an Iranian-speaking people. It is possible that the sedentary Iranians included all nomads in their term Shaka, even the hypothetical Vedic-Aryan nomads on their way to India, but it is not more than just possible. The use of Soma was a bone of contention within Mazdeism, with Zarathushtra apparently opposing it against its adepts who were equally Iranian. There is nothing against characterizing the Togolok fire temple as Iranian.

And even if Thomas Burrow ("The Proto-Indoaryans", Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1973, cited with approval by Sergent: Genèse de l'Inde, p.232) were right with his thesis that the Mazdean religion originated in a sustained reaction against the Indo-Aryans present in Bactria and throughout the Iranian speech area, making the non-Zoroastrian faction in Greater Iran an Indo-Aryan foreign resident group, it remains to be proven that these dissident Indo-Aryans made way for Zoroastrian hegemony in Iran by moving out, and more specifically by moving to India, somewhat like Moses taking the Israelites out of Egypt. There is neither scriptural nor archaeological evidence for such a scenario: the normal course of events would be assimilation by the dominant group, and the only emigration from Iranian territory (if it had already been iranianized) by Indo-Aryans that we know of, is the movement of the Mitannic Indo-Aryans from the southern Caspian area into Mesopotamia and even as far as Palestine.

In the Dashli building, Asko Parpola recognized a tripura such as have been described in the Vedic literature as the strongholds with three circular concentric walls of the Dasas or Asuras (Asura/Ahura worshippers), whom Parpola himself has identified elsewhere as Iranians ("The coming of the Aryans", Studia Orientalia, vol.64, p.212-215, with reference to Shatapatha Brahmana 6:3:3:24-25; and: "The problem of the Aryans and the Soma", in G. Erdosy ed.: The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia, p.368 ff.). So, chances are once more that the Soma-holding fire-altars, like the tripura structures around them, in both Togolok and Dashli, were Iranian. Parpola (in Erdosy, ibid.) makes this conclusion even more compelling when he informs us that a similar building in Kutlug-Tepe "demonstrates that the tradition of building forts with three concentric walls survived in Bactria until Achaemenid times" -- when the region was undoubtedly Iranian.

Moreover, Parpola points out details in the Vedic descriptions of the tripura-holding Dasas and Asuras which neatly fit the Bactrian culture: the Rg-Veda "places the Dasa strongholds (..) in the mountainous area", which is what Afghanistan looks like to people from the Ganga-Saraswati-Indus plains; it speaks of "a hundred forts" of the Dasa, while the Vedic Aryans themselves "are never said to have anything but fire or rivers as their 'forts'. The later Vedic texts confirm this by stating that when the Asuras and Devas were fighting, the Asuras always won in the beginning, because they alone had forts. (...) The Rg-Vedic Aryans described their enemy as rich and powerful, defending their cattle, gold and wonderful treasures with sharp weapons, horses and chariots. This description fits the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex in Bactria, with its finely decorated golden cups, weapons with ornamental animal figurines including the horse, and trumpets indicative of chariot warfare." (in Erdosy, ibid.)

This may pose a chronological problem to those who consider the Rg-Veda as pre-Bronze Age, or perhaps not, e.g. Parpola notes that the term tripura was "unknown to the Rg-Veda" and only appears later, "in the Brahmana texts" (in Erdosy, p.369) which noninvasionists date to the high Harappan period, contemporaneous with the Bactrian Bronze Age culture. At any rate, it affirms in so many words that the Bactrian Bronze Age culture was Dasa or Asura, terms which Parpola ("The coming of the Aryans", Studia Orientalia, vol.64, p.224) had identified with "the carriers of the Bronze Age culture of Greater Iran". It also constitutes a challenge to those who make India the Urheimat of IE or at least of Indo-Iranian: if the presumed tripuras are a distinctly Dasa/Iranian element, identified as such in Vedic literature, and if the Vedic Aryans fought the Dasas in India, as the Rg-Vedic data indicate, should we not be able to find some tripuras in India too? Or did the Iranians only develop them after leaving India but while still waging occasional wars on the Indian border?

3.5. Were the Bactrians Indo-Aryans?

Other artefacts in Dashli have the same Iranian/Indo-Aryan ambiguity with a preference for the Iranian alternative. A vase in Dashli shows a scene with men wearing a kind of shirt leaving one shoulder uncovered. In this, Sergent recognizes the upanayana ceremony, in which a youngster is invested with the sacred shirt or thread. (p.163) But this is both a Vedic and a Zoroastrian ritual, with the latter resembling the depicted scene more closely: in India, only a thread is given, but among Zoroastrians, it is an actual shirt.

Some vases display horned snakes or dragons carrying one or more suns inside of them: according to Sergent, this refers to an Indo-Iranian dragon myth, attested in slightly greater detail in the Rg-Veda than in the Avesta (but what else would you expect, with Vedic literature being much larger, older and better preserved than the Avestan corpus?), about Indra liberating the sun by slaying the dragon Vrtra, or in the Avesta, Keresaspa killing the snake Azhi Srvara, "the horned one". (p.163-164, ref. to Rg-Veda 1:51:4, 1:54:6) The sources which drew his attention to this picture, both Soviet and French (Russian articles from the 1970s by Viktor Sarianidi and by I.S. Masimof, and Marie-Hélène Pottier: Matériel Funéraire de la Bactriane Méridionale à l'Age du Bronze, Paris 1984, p.82 ff.), are agreed that it is specifically Iranian, and we have no reason to disbelieve them. What Sergent adds is only that, like with the fire cult, it could just as well be Indo-Aryan; but that does not amount to proof of its Indo-Aryan rather than Iranian identity.

Several depictions (statuettes, seals) of a fertility goddess associated with watery themes have been found. Sergent points out that they are unrelated to Mesopotamian mythology but closely related to the "Indo-Iranian" goddess known in India as Saraswati, in Iran as Anahita. Which shall it be in this particular case, Iranian or Indian, Avestan or Vedic? Sergent himself adds that the closest written description corresponding to the visual iconography in question is found in Yasht 5 of the Avesta. (p.163)

Of course we must remain open to new interpretations and new findings. In this field, confident assertions can be overruled the same day by new discoveries. But if Sergent himself, all while advocating an Indo-Aryan interpretation of the known Bactrian findings, is giving us so many hints that their identity is uncertain at best, and otherwise more likely Iranian than Indo-Aryan, we have reason to believe in the Iranian identification established by other researchers. On the strength of the data he offers, the safest bet is that the Bactrian Bronze Age culture was the centre of Iranian culture.

This happens to agree with the evidence of Zoroastrian scripture, which has dialectal features pointing to the northeast of the historical Iranian linguistic space, meaning Bactria, and which specifically locates Zarathushtra in Bahlika/Balkh, a town in northern Afghanistan. It tallies with the list of regions in the opening chapter of the Vendidad, corresponding to Bactria, Sogdia, Pamir, Margiana, southern Afghanistan and northwestern India (Hapta Hendu, the Vedic Sapta Sindhavah), which happens to put Balkh near the geographical centre. Iran proper was iranianized only well after Zarathushtra's preaching. As Sergent notes, in ca. 1900 BC, the Namazga culture in Turkmenistan changes considerably taking in the influence of the then fast-expanding Bactria-Margiana culture (p.179): I read that as the Iranian expansion from their historical heartland westward into the south-Caspian area. From there, but again only after a few more centuries, they were to colonize Kurdistan/Media and Fars/Persia, where their kingdoms were to flourish into far-flung empires in the 1st millennium BC.

It is only logical that the dominant religious tradition in a civilization is the one developed in its demographic and cultural metropolis: the Veda in the Saraswati basin, the Avesta in the Oxus basin, i.e. Bactria. That Bactria did have the status of a metropolis is suggested by Sergent's own description of its Bronze Age culture as "one of the most brilliant in Asia". Though provincial compared with Harappa, it was a worthy metropolis to the somewhat less polished Iranian civilization.

3.6. Clarions of the Aryan invaders

Another distinctively Aryan innovation attested in Dashli was the trumpet: "Bactria has yielded a number of trumpets; some others had been found earlier in Tepe Hissar and Astrabad (northeastern Iran); Roman Ghirshman proposed to connect these instruments with the use of the horse, with the Iranian cavalry manoeuvring to the sound of the clarion. (...) In ancient India, the trumpet is not mentioned in the written sources". (p.162) Would it not be logical if the same type of cavalry manoeuvres had yielded the Aryans both Iran and India? In that case, we should have encountered some references to clarions in the Vedas. But no, as per Sergent's own reading, the Rg-Veda, supposedly the record of Aryan settlement in India, knows nothing of trumpets; though post-Harappan depictions of riders with trumpets are known.

All this falls into place if we follow the chronology given by K.D. Sethna and other Indian dissidents: the Rg-Veda was not younger but older than the Bronze Age and the heyday of Harappa. So, the trumpet was invented in the intervening period, say 2,500 BC, and then used in the subsequent Iranian conquest of Bactria, Margiana and Iran.

The comparatively recent migration into Iran of the Iranians, who supposedly covered the short distance from the Volga mouth to Iran in the 3rd or 2nd millennium BC (losing the wayward Indo-Aryans along the way), has not been mapped archaeologically, in contrast with the successive Kurgan expansion waves into Europe. Jean Haudry reports optimistically: "Since the late 3rd millennium BC, an undecorated black pottery appears in Tepe Hissar (Turkmenistan), together with violin-shaped female idols and esp. with bronze weapons, the horse and the war chariots, and -- a detail of which R. Ghirshman has demonstrated the importance -- the clarion, indispensible instrument for collective chariot maneuvers. We can follow them from a distance on their way to the south." (J. Haudry: Les Indo-Européens, p.118, with reference to R. Ghirshman: L'Iran et les Migrations des Indo-Aryans et des Iraniens, 1977) But this is not necessarily the entry of "the" Iranians into Iran, and if it is, it need not have the Kurgan area as its starting-point.

In the account of Roman Ghirshman and Jean Haudry, the proto-Iranians with their clarions travelled "to the south". Rather than Indo-Iranians on their way from South Russia to Iran and partly to India, these may just as well be the Iranians on their way from Bactria (and ultimately from India), via the Aral Lake area, to Iran and Mesopotamia. Indeed, viewed from Iran, entrants from Russia and from India would arrive through the same route, viz. from the Aral Lake southward. A look at the map suffices to show this: rather than go in a straight line across the mountains, substantial groups of migrants would follow the far more hospitable route through the fertile Oxus valley to the Aral Lake area, and then proceed south from there.

Even in Bernard Sergent's erudite book, I have not found any data which compel us to accept that a particular culture can be identified with the very first Indo-Iranian wave of migrants; Central Asia was criss-crossed for millennia by variegated Iranian-speaking tribes. Nonetheless, Haudry's clarion-wielders of "the late 3rd millennium BC" and Sergent's occupiers of Namazga "in ca. 1900 BC" may of course be the first Iranian intruders into Turkmenistan and Persia, but that would serve the Indocentric theory even better, for Sergent's data show that these intruders came from Bactria, not from Russia.

3.7. Bactrian invasion in India

Thus far, the archaeological argument advanced by some scholars in favour of an Aryan invasion into India has not been very convincing. Consider e.g. this circular reasoning by Prof. Romila Thapar ("The Perennial Aryans", Seminar, December 1992): "In Haryana and the western Ganga plain, there was an earlier Ochre Colour Pottery going back to about 1500 BC or some elements of the Chalcolithic cultures using Black-and-Red Ware. Later in about 800 BC there evolved the Painted Grey Ware culture. The geographical focus of this culture seems to be the Doab, although the pottery is widely distributed across northern Rajasthan, Panjab, Haryana and western U.P. None of these post-Harappan cultures, identifiable by their pottery, are found beyond the Indus. Yet this would be expected if 'the Aryans' were a people indigenous to India with some diffusion to Iran, and if the attempt was to find archaeological correlates for the affinities between Old Indo-Aryan and Old Avestan."

Firstly, if no common pottery type is found in Iran and India in 1500-800 BC, and if this counts as proof that no migration from India to Iran took place, then it also proves that no migration from Iran to India took place. In particular, the PGW, long identified with the Indo-Aryans, cannot be traced to Central Asia; if it belonged to Aryans, then not to Aryan invaders. So, if substantiated, Prof. Thapar's statement is actually an argument against an Aryan invasion in ca. 1500 BC. Secondly, if the absence of migration in either direction in the period from 1500 BC onwards is really proven, this evidence remains compatible with an Indo-European emigration from India in another time bracket, say between 6000 and 2000 BC.

In spite of the impression created in popular literature, archaeology has by no means demonstrated that there was an Aryan immigration into India. Even the new levels in accuracy do not affect the following status quaestionis of the Aryan Invasion theory: "The question of Indo-European migrations into the subcontinent of India can, at best, be described as enigmatic." (David G. Zanotti: "Another Aspect of the Indo-European Question", Journal of Indo-European Studies, 1975/3, p.260) Thus, among those who assume the Aryan Invasion, there is no consensus on when it took place, and some AIT archaeologists alter the chronology so much that the theory comes to mean the opposite of what it is usually believed to mean, viz. an affirmation of Aryan dominance in Harappa rather than an Aryan destruction of Harappa: "[This] episode of elite dominance which brought the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European family to India (...) may have been as early as the floruit of the Indus civilization (...)" (C. Renfrew: "Before Babel", Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 1, p.14)

Enter Bernard Sergent. He builds on a corpus of findings (some of them already used by Asko Parpola) pertaining to the apparent entry of elements from the Bactrian Bronze Age culture into late- and post-Harappan northwestern India. He also offers a theory of how these Bactrians may have caused the downfall of the Harappan civilization, parallel with the contemporaneous crisis in civilizations in Central and West Asia.

Civilization and urbanization are closely related to commerce, exchange, colonization of mining areas, and other socio-economic processes which presuppose communications and transport. When communication and transport cease, we see cultures suffer decline, e.g. the Tasmanian aboriginals, living in splendid isolation for thousands of years, had lost many of the skills which mankind had developed in the Stone Age, including the art of making fire. One of the reasons why the Eurasian continent won out against Africa and the Americas in the march of progress, was the fairly easy and well-developed contact routes between the different civilizations of Europe, Egypt, Mesopotamia, India and China. So, one can force decline on a culture by cutting off its trade routes, a tactic routinely used for short periods (hence only with limited long-term effect) in wartime, but which seems to have troubled the ancient civilizations in ca. 2000 BC with devastating effect for several centuries. It was in reaction to this destabilization of international trade links that the civilizational centres started building empires by the mid-2nd millennium, e.g. the Kassite empire in Mesopotamia where there had only been city-states (Ur, Uruk, Isin, Larsa, etc.) prior to the great crisis.

Or so Sergent says. Dismissing the thesis of a climatological crisis (though such a crisis would by itself already trigger an economic crisis even in the areas not directly affected climatologically), he argues that only an economic crisis can explain the simultaneous decline of cities in widely different locations, some near rivers and some on hills, some in densely populated agglomerations and some overlooking thinly populated steppes or mountain areas, some in hot and some in colder areas. The ones to blame are -- who else? -- the Aryans. They, and "specifically Indo-Aryans" (p.198-99), played a role in the Hurrian and Kassite invasions disrupting Mesopotamia (while the IE or non-IE identity of the Guti and Lullubi invaders remains unknown, though attempts are made to link the Guti with the Tocharians); and from Bactria, they by themselves disrupted the economy of the Indus-Saraswati civilization.

They didn't physically destroy the Harappan cities, as Mortimer Wheeler and others of his generation thought: "No trace of destruction has been observed in these cities." (p.201) But by creating insecurity for the travelling traders, they bled and suffocated the economy which made city life possible, and thus forced the Harappans to abandon their cities and return to a pre-urban lifestyle. The declining and fragmented Harappan country and society then fell an easy prey to the Indo-Aryan invaders from Bactria.

This scenario has been attested in writing in the case of Mesopotamia. Sergent quotes other experts to the effect that "from ca. 2230 BC, (...) the Guti had cut off the roads, ruined the countryside, set the cities on fire" (p.199, quoting Paul Garelli: Le Proche-Orient Asiatique, PUF, Paris 1969, p.89-93), that the Assyrian trade system was disrupted by the Mitannic people, etc. But is there similar evidence for the Indus-Saraswati civilization?

Sergent cites findings that in the final stage of Mohenjo Daro, we see the large mansions of the rich subdivided into small apartments for the poor, the water supply system neglected, the roads and houses no longer following the plan. (p.200) This certainly marks a decline, the rich losing their power and the powerful losing their control and resources. Same story in Harappa, Chanhu Daro, Kalibangan, Lothal: a great loss of quality in architecture and organization in the last phase. Moreover, all traces of long-distance trade disappear (just as in Mesopotamia, all signs of commerce with "Meluhha"/Sindh disappear by 2000 BC), and trade is the basis of city life. So, "these cities didn't need to be destroyed: they had lost their reason for existing, and were vacated". (p.201) But that doesn't bring any Indo-Aryan invasion into the picture. Indeed, it is perfectly compatible with a hypothesis of Iranian Bactrians disrupting a Harappan economy manned by Indo-Aryans.

3.8. Aryan invader settlements in India

To Bernard Sergent, the "strategic" key to the Aryan invasion puzzle has been provided by the discovery, by a French team in 1968, of the post-Harappan town of Pirak, near the Bolan pass and near Mehrgarh in Baluchistan. Pirak was a new settlement dating back only to the 18th century BC. Culturally it was closely related to the societies to its north and west, especially Bactria. Sergent sums up a long list of precise material items which Pirak had in common with those non-Indian regions. (p.219 ff.) So, this was a settlement of foreign newcomers bringing some foreign culture with them.

Sergent will certainly convince many readers by asserting that in Pirak, "the horse makes its appearance in India, both through bones and in figurines", and this "connotes without any possible doubt the arrival in India of the first Indo-European-speaking populations". (p.221) That depends entirely on how much we make of the limited but real evidence of horses in the Harappan civilization. Note moreover that while the horse was important to the Indo-Aryans, the Bactrian two-humped camel was not; but in Pirak, both camel and horse are conspicuous, both in skeletal remains and in depictions.

If the Bactrian culture and those to its west were Iranian-speaking, which is likely, then Pirak is simply an Iranian settlement in an Indian border region, a southward extension of the Bactrian culture. Indo-Iranian borders have been fluctuating for millennia, while different groups of Iranians down to Nadir Shah have again and again tried to invade India, so the Iranian intrusion in Pirak (which may have ended up assimilated into its Indo-Aryan environment) need not be the momentous historical breakthrough which it is to Sergent. It would only be that if it can be shown that the Pirak innovations are repeated in many North-Indian sites in the subsequent centuries, where we know that the dominant culture was Indo-Aryan.

A related culture is the Cemetery H culture on the outskirts of Harappa itself. Sergent offers a detail which is distinctly non-Vedic and Mazdean (Zoroastrian): "The dead, represented by unconnected skulls and bones, were placed, after exposure, in big jars". (p.224; emphasis added) Exposure to birds and insects is still the first stage in the Zoroastrian disposal of the dead. Sergent also reports that the influence of the native Harappan civilization is much greater here than in Pirak. So, as the Iranian invaders moved deeper inland, across the Indus, they soon lost their distinctiveness. Considering that Afghan dynasties have ruled parts of India as far east as Bengal, using Persian and building in a West-Asian style, this post-Harappan Iranian intrusion as far as the Indus riverside is not that impressive.

Indeed, from the Indus eastwards, we lose track of this Bactrian invasion. Sergent himself admits as much: "For the sequel, archaeology offers little help. The diggings in India for the 2nd millennium BC reveal a large number of regional cultures, generally rather poor, and to decree what within them represents the Indo-Aryan or the indigenous contribution would be arbitrary. If Pirak (...) represents the start of Indian culture, there is in the present state of Indian archaeology no 'post-Pirak' except at Pirak itself, which lasted till the 7th century BC: the site remained, along with a few very nearby ones, isolated." (p.246-247) So, the Bactrian invaders who arrived through the Bolan pass and established themselves in and around the border town of Pirak, never crossed the Indus, and never made their mark on India the way the Indo-Aryans did.

This confirms the statement by the American archaeologist Jim Shaffer that "no material culture is found to move from west to east across the Indus" (personal communication, 1996), or more academically, that the demographic eastward shift of the Harappan population during the decline of their cities, i.e. an intra-Indian movement from Indus and Saraswati to Ganga, "is the only archaeologically documented west-to-east movement of human populations in South Asia before the first half of the first millennium BC", while the archaeological record shows "no significant discontinuities" for the period when the Aryan invasion should have made its mark. (Jim Shaffer and Diane Lichtenstein: "The concepts of 'cultural tradition' and 'palaeoethnicity' in South-Asian archaeology", in G. Erdosy, ed.: The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia, p.139-140)

The Pirak people were not the Vedic Aryans conquering India. The Aryan invasion of India has somehow gone missing from the archaeological record, and this is admitted by Sergent himself in the very section containing his decisive piece of evidence for the Aryan Invasion Theory.

3.9. Scriptural evidence

To fortify his reconstruction of the Aryan invasion, Bernard Sergent repeats some well-known scriptural references. Indian authors are right in pointing out that this is systematically the weakest part in AIT argumentations, as the knowledge of Vedic literature among Western scholars is either too limited or too distorted by AIT presuppositions. Sergent's arguments at this point repeat well-known claims about the contents of the Vedas. Thus, the Rg-Veda was written by foreigners because it doesn't know the tiger nor rice nor "the domesticated elephant which existed in the Harappan Indus culture". (p.241)

As for the tiger, it is often said that India was divided in a lion zone in the west and a tiger zone in the rest. This image persists in the symbolism of the civil war in Sri Lanka: the Sinhalese, originating in Gujarat (where lions exist even today), have the lion as their symbol, while the separatists among the Tamils, originating in southeastern India, call themselves the Tigers. However, to judge from the Harappan seal imagery, tigers did originally exist in the Saraswati and Indus basins as well, overlapping with the lion zone. As Sir Monier Monier-Williams (Sanskrit-English Dictionary, p.1036, entry vyâghra) notes, in the Atharva-Veda, "vyâghra/tiger is often mentioned together with the lion". It is simply impossible that the Rg-Vedic seers, even if they were unfamiliar with the Ganga basin (quod non), had never heard of tigers.

As for the domesticated elephant, if it was known in Harappa, does anyone seriously suggest that it was not known in the same area in subsequent centuries by the Vedic Aryans?

While regression in knowledge and technology does sometimes happen, there is no reason whatsoever why people who could domesticate elephants would have lost this useful skill, which is not dependent on foreign trade or urbanization, when the Harappan cities declined. Isn't the mention of how "the people deck him like a docile king of elephants" (Rg-Veda 9:57:3, thus translated by Ralph Griffith: Hymns of the Rg-Veda, p.488) a reference to the Hindu custom of taking adorned domesticated elephants in pageants?

Rice, according to Sergent himself, made its appearance in the Indus basin in the late Harappan period, and was known to the Bactrian invaders in Pirak. (p.230) He identifies those Bactrian invaders as the Vedic Aryans, so why haven't they mentioned rice in their Rg-Veda? One simple answer would be that the Rg-Veda is pre-Harappan, composed at a time when rice was not yet cultivated in northwestern India. This chronological correction solves a lot of similar arguments from silence. Thus, there was cotton in Harappa and after, but no cotton in the Rg-Veda. Bronze swords were used aplenty in the Bactrian culture and in Pirak, but are not mentioned in the Rg-Veda; a short knife can be made from soft metals like gold or copper, but a sword requires advanced bronze or iron metallurgy. (Ralph Griffith uses "sword" twice in his translation The Hymns of the Rg-Veda, p.25, verse 1:37:2, and p.544, verse 10:20:6, both already in the younger part of the Rg-Veda, but in the index on p.702 he corrects himself, specifying that "knife" or "dagger" would be more appropriate.) Likewise, the core stories of the Ramayana and Mahabharata, the ones most likely to stay close to the original versions even in their material details (unlike the many sideshows woven into these epics, often narrating much more recent events), feature only primitive pre-Bronze Age weapons: Rama's bow and arrow, Hanuman's club.

Camels were part of the Bactrian culture and its Pirak offshoot, but are not mentioned in the Rg-Veda except for its rather late 8th book, which mentions Bactrian fauna, possibly in the period when the early Harappans were setting up mining colonies like Shortugai. It all falls into place when the Rg-Veda is considered as pre-Harappan. Incidentally, the late appearance of Afghan fauna in the Rg-Veda contradicts an Afghanistan-to-India itinerary, and argues in favour of an India-to-Afghanistan movement during the Rg-Vedic period.

For a very different type of scriptural evidence, Sergent sees a synchronism between the archaeologically attested settlement of Pirak and the beginning of the Puranic chronology, which in his view goes back to the 17th century BC, in "remarkable coincidence" with the florescence of Pirak. (p.223) Reference is in fact to Kalhana's Rajatarangini, which starts a dynastic lists of kings of Kashmir in 1882, i.e. the early 19th century BC. But if Kalhana can be a valid reference, what about Kalhana's dating the Mahabharata war to the 25th century BC? If Puranic history is any criterion, Sergent should realize that its lists of Aryan kings for other parts of India than Kashmir go way beyond 2,000 BC.

Another classic scriptural reference concerns everything relating to the enemies of the Vedic Aryans, such as the "aboriginal" Dasas. Very aptly, Sergent identifies the Dasas and the Panis as Iranian, and the Pakthas (one of the tribes confronting the Vedic king Sudas in the Battle of the Ten Kings) as the Iranian Pathans. (p.241-244) He specifically rejects the common belief that the Dasas were black-skinned, in spite of their occasional description as "black-covered" or "from a black womb", pointing out that even the fair-haired and white-skinned Vikings were called the "black foreigners" by the Irish, with "black" purely used as a metaphor for "evil". (This is even the case in some African languages, for there is no relation between colour symbolism and skin colour: white is the sacred colour to dark-skinned Indian tribals, while black is auspicious to the whitish Japanese, who consider white as the colour of mourning, just as Sanskritic Hindus do.)

Yet, Sergent doesn't identify the said Iranian tribes with the Bronze Age Bactrians, arguing that in Alexander's time, Greek authors locate the Parnoi and Dahai just south of the Aral Lake. But that was almost two thousand years after the heyday of the Bactrian Bronze Age culture and arguably even longer after the Rg-Veda. The only mystery is that these ethnonyms managed to survive that long, not that during those long centuries, they could migrate a few hundred miles to the northwest -- centuries during which we know for fact that the Iranians expanded westward from their Bactrian heartland across rivers and mountains to settle as far west as Mesopotamia.

Moreover, the Vedas locate the confrontations in the prolonged hostility between IndoAryans and Iranians not on the Saraswati (which could in theory be identified as the homonymous Harahvaiti/Helmand in Afghanistan) (p.242), but on the riverside of the Parush-ni/Ravi and other Panjab rivers, unambiguously in India. This is only logical if the Vedic Aryans were based in the Saraswati basin and their Iranian enemies were based in an area to their west near the Khyber pass: they confronted halfway in Panjab. So not only did these Iranian tribes (Dahai, Parnoi) move from Bactria to the Aral Lake area in 2000-300 BC, but they had started moving northwestward centuries earlier, in the Rg-Vedic period, in Panjab.

With every invasionist attempting to strengthen his case by appealing to the testimony of Hindu scripture, the collective failure becomes more glaring.

3.10. Comparison with archaeological reconstruction in Europe

The westward expansion of the Kurgan culture has been mapped with some degree of accuracy: "If an archaeologist is set the problem of examining the archaeological record for a cultural horizon that is both suitably early and of reasonable uniformity to postulate as the common prehistoric ancestor of the later Celtic, Germanic, Baltic, Slavic, and possibly some of the Indo-European languages of Italy, then the history of research indicates that the candidate will normally be the Corded Ware culture. At about 3200-2300 BC this Corded Ware horizon is sufficiently early to predate the emergence of any of the specific proto-languages. In addition, it is universally accepted as the common component if not the very basis of the later Bronze Age cultures that are specifically identified with the different proto-languages. Furthermore, its geographical distribution from Holland and Switzerland on the west across northern and central Europe to the upper Volga and middle Dniepr encompasses all those areas which [have been] assigned as the 'homelands' of these European proto-languages."

(J.P. Mallory: In Search of the Indo-Europeans, Hudson & Hudson, London 1989, p.108)

This is a very important insight for understanding the large common (partly pre-IE substratal) element in the European IE languages, distinguishing them collectively from Anatolian, Tocharian and Indo-Iranian: "The study of the lexicon of the Northern European languages, especially Germanic and Baltic, reveals that a large number of terms relevant to the ecology of the habitat of the early populations of the area and to their socio-economic activities have no plausible Indo-European etymology. (...) it is possible to ascribe to the pre-Indo-European substrate in the Baltic area a number of names of plants, animals, objects and activities characteristic of the Neolithic cultures." (Edgar C. Polomé: "The Indo-Europeanization of Northern Europe: the Linguistic Evidence", Journal of Indo-European Studies, fall 1990, p.331-337) Many of these terms also extend to Celtic, Slavic and sometimes Italic and Greek.

Examples include the words barley, Russian bor ("millet"), Latin far ("spelt"); Irish tuath, Gothic thiuda, "people", whence the ethnic names Dutch/Deutsch; German wahr, Latin verus, Old Irish fir, "true"; Latin granum, Dutch koren, English grain and corn; Lithuanian puodas, Germanic fata, whence Dutch vat, "vessel"; Dutch delven, "dig", Old Prussian (Baltic) dalptan, "piercing-tool"; Old Irish land, Old Prussian lindan, Germanic land; Latin alnus (<alisnos), Dutch els, Lithuanian elksnis, "alder", also related to Greek aliza, "white poplar"; Dutch smaak, "taste", Gothic smakka, "fig, tasty fruit", Lithuanian smaguricu, "sweet, treat"; from an ancient form *londhwos, Dutch lenden, Latin lumbus, "waist". Likewise, the Germanic words fish, apple, oak, beech, whale, goat, elm, (n)adder have counterparts in other European languages, e.g. Latin piscis, Old Irish aball, Greek aig-ilops or krat-aigos (possibly related to Berber iksir, Basque eskur, as suggested by Xavier Delamarre: Le Vocabulaire Indo-Européen, Maisonneuve, Paris 1984, p.167), Latin fagus, squalus, haedus, ulmus, natrix; but they have no attested counterparts in the Asian IE languages. Archaeology and linguistics reinforce each other in indicating the existence of a second centre of IE dispersal in the heart of Europe, the Corded Ware culture of ca. 3000 BC, whence most European branches of IE parted for their historical habitats.

Even earlier demographic and cultural movements have been mapped with promising accuracy. The sudden apparition of full-fledged Neolithic culture in the Low Countries in about 5,100 BC can clearly be traced to a gradual expansion of the agricultural civilization through Hungary (5700) and southern Germany (5350 BC), from the Balkans and ultimately from Anatolia. (Pierre Bonenfant & Paul-Louis van Berg: "De eerste bewoners van het toekomstige 'België': een etnische overrompeling", in Anne Morelli ed.: Geschiedenis van het eigen volk, Kritak, Leuven 1993, p.28) It is this gradual spread of agriculture and its concomitant changes in life-style (houses, tools, ceramics, domesticated animals) which the leading archaeologist Colin Renfrew has rashly identified as the indo-europeanization of Europe, but which Marija Gimbutas and many others would consider as the spread of the pre-IE "Old European" culture.

It remains possible that in some outlying regions, the early Indo-Europeans arrived on the scene in time to capture this movement of expanding agriculture, but it did not originate with them, because Anatolia and the Balkans were demonstrably not the IE Urheimat. On the contrary, in the northeastern Mediterranean, the presence of pre-IE elements in the historically attested IE cultures and languages (Greek, Hittite) is very strong, indicating that the Indo-Europeans had to subdue a numerous and self-confident, culturally advanced population. It is this Old European people, known through towns like Catal Hüyük and Vinca, which gradually spread to the northwest and civilized most of Europe before its indo-europeanization.

So, that's archaeology in action. After the wave of agriculture spreading to the farthest corners from the southeast in the 7th-4th millennium BC (linguistically unidentified), the wave of the horse-riding late-Kurganites has been identified as bringing the IE languages. There is as yet no parallel map of a Kurgan-to-India migration. Thus, the material relation between the Andronovo culture in Kazakhstan (often considered as the Indo-Iranians freshly emigrated from the Kurgan area) and the Bactria-Margiana culture (presumed to be the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians on their way to India and Iran) has been established only vaguely, certainly not well enough to claim that the latter was an offshoot of the former (which would support the AIT). As we saw, even tracing a migration from Bactria across the Indus has not succeeded so far.

But then, neither has a reverse migration been mapped archaeologically. If the Bactrian Bronze Age culture was Iranian and the Iranians had earlier been defeated in India, where is the archaeological trail of the Iranians from India to Bactria? And earlier, where is the evidence of Proto-Indo-Europeans on their way from India to the Kurgan area? Those who consider India as the Urheimat of IE should suspend their current triumphalism and take up the challenge.

3.11. Indo-Aryans in West Asia

Another challenge to the Indocentric school has been thrown by Bernard Sergent without his realizing it. On p.206 ff., he adds some new data about the large IE and specifically Indo-Aryan presence in West Asia: Indo-Aryan names are quite common in Syria and Palestine in the 15th-13th century BC, e.g. the Palestian town of Sichem was ruled by one Birishena, i.e. Vira-sena, "the one who has an army of heroes", and Qiltu near Jerusalem was ruled by one Suar-data, i.e. "gift of Heaven"; to Sergent, this also proves that the Indo-Aryans maintained a separate existence after and outside the Mitannic kingdom until at least the 13th century BC.

A fairly serious problem for the non-invasionists in this regard concerns the term Asura: in the Rg-Veda a word for "god" (cfr. Germanic Ase, Aesir), in later Vedic literature a word for "demon", obviously parallel and causally related with the Iranian preference for Asura/Ahura as against the demonized Deva/Daeva, the remaining Hindu term for "god". On p.211 and p.280, Sergent makes the very popular mistake of seeing "the Asuras" as a separate class of gods next to "the Devas". In fact, the distinction and opposition between them is a late-Vedic development connected with the Irano-Indian (or Mazdeic-Vedic) conflict. In the Rg-Veda, Deva and Asura are not two tribes of gods; they are as synonymous as "God" and "Lord" are in Christian parlance.

That state of affairs seems to persist in the Indo-Aryan diaspora in West Asia of the 2nd millennium BC, i.e. long after the completion of the Rg-Veda in the non-invasionist chronology.

Sergent has found quite a few personal names with Asura in West Asia, e.g. the Mitannic general Kart-ashura, the name Biry-ashura attested in Nuzi and Ugarit, in Nuzi also the names Kalm-ashura and Sim-ashura, the Cilician king Shun-ashura, while in Alalakh (Syria), two people were called Ashura and Ashur-atti. (p.210) He explicitly deduces a synchronism between early Vedic and Mitannic-Kassite, which tallies splendidly with the AIT chronology. But in that case, the problem which I am drawing attention to, disappears: of course the West-Asian Indo-Aryans practised a form of the Vedic religion consistent with the early Vedic data, because theirs was the early Vedic age. And that is why Sergent doesn't see the problem which arises when the wild non-invasionist chronology is accepted: if two millennia have passed between the Rg-Vedic seers and the said testimony of an Indo-Aryan presence in West Asia, how is it possible that these West-Asian Indo-Aryans have missed the late-Vedic developments which turned the revered Asuras into demons?

At present, this problem for the non-invasionists can only be solved at the level of hypothesis. It is perfectly possible, even if not yet attested archaeologically or literarily, that along with the Iranians, a purely Indo-Aryan-speaking group emigrated from India in the Rg-Vedic period to seek its fortune in the Far West. Perhaps it is from them that Uralic speakers borrowed the term Asura, "lord", along with Sapta, "seven, week", Sasar, "sister", and a few other Indo-Aryan words. Some of these Indo-Aryans, organized as bands of warrior, engineered the conquests of their Mitannic and Kassite host populations. Considering that Vedic names are still given to Hindu children today, thousands of years after Vedic Sanskrit went out of daily use, and often in communities which speak a non-Indo-Aryan language, it is conceivable that the Indo-Aryans in West Asia managed to preserve their Vedic tradition from the time of their emigration from India during the Vedic age until the mid-2nd millennium BC. And if so, they had to preserve it in the form it had at the time of their emigration, i.c. complete with the veneration for Asura, the Lord.

A related problem concerns the Kassites, who were also Indo-Aryan to a extent. Non-in-vasionists have made much of the presence of Sanskrit names in the Kassite dynasty in Babylon. However, we have information from Semitic Mesopotamians about the Kassite language, and it was not Indo-Aryan. A number of known Kassite words are apparently unrelated to any known language, e.g. mashu, "god"; yanzi, "king"; saribu, "foot". They also seem to have a formation of the plural unknown in IE, viz. with an infix, e.g. sirpi, sirpami, "brown one(s)", or minzir, minzamur, "dotted one(s)". (Wilfred van Soldt: "Het Kassitisch", Phoenix, Leiden 1998, p.90-93) Assuming that the language described as "Kassite" and located by the Babylonian sources in the hills east of Mesopotamia was indeed the language of the Kassite dynasty (for language names sometimes change referent), does this not refute the Indian connection of the Kassites?

No: this state of affairs suggests a third scenario, viz. that a non-IE population in Iran used Sanskrit names referring to Vedic gods. This would be the same situation as in the Dravidian provinces: a non-IE-speaking population maintains its own language but adopts Sanskritic lore and nomenclature. It would mean that Vedic culture had spread as much to the west as we know it has spread to the east and south, and that a part of western Iran (well before its iranianization) was as much part of Greater India as Kerala or Bali became in later centuries.

4. Linguistic arguments

4.1. East-Asian influences

Bernard Sergent traces practically all Indian language families to foreign origins. He confirms the East-Asian origins of both the Tibeto-Burmese languages (Lepcha, Naga, Mizo etc.) and the Austro-Asiatic languages (Santal, Munda, Khasi etc.). Though many tribals in central and southern India are the biological progeny of India's oldest human inhabitants, their adopted languages are all of foreign origin. To Sergent, this is true of not only Austro-Asiatic and Indo-Aryan, but also of Dravidian.

The Himalayan branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family, distinct from Tibetan, already has a very long but inconspicuous presence in northern India. Originating in China, this group of now very small languages once embraced parts of the northern plains. Of greater historical importance is the Austro-Asiatic family, which Sergent describes as once the predominant one in a continuous area from central India to Vietnam, but now reduced to a series of pockets in between the riverine population centres dominated by the immigrant Thai and Tibeto-Burmese languages (originating in China) and in India by the Indo-Aryan languages.

Sergent is merely following in others' footsteps when he assumes that mayura, "peacock", gaja, "elephant", karpasa, "cotton", and other Sanskrit fauna or flora terms are loans from Austro-Asiatic. (p.370) In most such cases, the only ground for this assumption is that similar-sounding words exist in the Munda languages of Chotanagpur, languages which have not been committed to writing before the 19th century. Chances are that in the intervening millennia, when these words were attested in Sanskrit but not necessarily in Munda, they were borrowed from Indo-Aryan ino Munda, or from an extinct language into both. At any rate, the hypothesis of an Austro-Asiatic origin should only be accepted in case the term is also attested in non-Indian branches such as Khmer.

The alleged loans only start appearing in the 10th and youngest book of the Rg-Veda and really break through in the Brahmanas. Sergent follows the classical interpretation, viz. that this shows how the Vedic Aryans gradually moved east, encountering the Austro-Asiatic speakers in the Ganga basin. While I am not convinced of the existence of more than a few Munda terms in Sanskrit (more in the adjoining Indo-Aryans Prakrits: Hindi, Bengali, Oriya), I would agree that there are other Munda influences, notably in mythology, as we shall discuss separately. Non-invasionists will have to account for this Munda contribution.

Here too, I suggest that chronology is all-important. It is quite possible that Munda had not arrived in India at the time of the Rg-Veda. When the Harappans migrated eastward (as demographically expansive populations do), or when the post-Harappans fled eastward from the disaster area which the Indus-Saraswati basin had become, the Munda-speaking people they encountered in eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar may have been recent immigrants from the agricultural civilization of what is now Thailand and southwestern China. All the same, it remains possible that for local flora and fauna, the Indo-Aryans did adopt some Munda terminology.

Broadly, the Austro-Asiatic expansion can be compared with the gradual spread of the Old European Neolithic from Anatolia and the Balkans to the far corners of Europe, and with the spread of India's Northwestern Neolithic to the rest of the subcontinent. In that case, the Munda-speaking farmers in the eastern Ganga basin must have assimilated into the Indo-Aryan population, with only the peripheral populations in the hills retaining their imported languages. This Munda contribution is by no means incompatible with a native status of IE.

4.2. Is Dravidian native to India?

In one of his most innovative chapters, Sergent reviews all the evidence of Dravido-African and Dravido-Uralic kinship. In African languages spoken in the entire Sahel belt, from Sudan to Senegal, numerous semantic and grammatical elements are found which also exist in Dravidian. The similarity with the Uralic languages (Finnish, Hungarian, Samoyedic) is equally pronounced. Sergent offers the hypothesis that at the dawn of the Neolithic Revolution, some 10,000 years ago, the Dravidians left the Sudan, one band splitting off in Iran to head north to the Urals, the others entering India and moving south.

Within this scenario of a Dravidian immigration, it is tempting to speculate that upon entering India, the Dravidians first of all founded the Indus civilization. Surprisingly, Sergent rejects this otherwise popular hypothesis, on the impeccably rational ground that there is no evidence for it. Thus, except in coastal Sindh and Gujarat, geographical terms in the Indus-Saraswati area are never of Dravidian origin. There is also no continuity in material culture between Harappan culture and the oldest known Dravidian settlements.

True to scholarly norms, Sergent pleads for a provisional acceptance of our ignorance about the identity of the Harappans. However, as a concession to impatient readers who insist on having some theory at least, he gives one or two very slender indications that the Burushos (who preserve their Burushaski language till today in Hunza, Pak-Occupied Kashmir) may have played a role in it. (p.138) However, he finds no Burushaski lexical influence on Indo-Aryan except possibly the word sinda, "river", connected in one direction or the other with Sanskrit Sindhu, "river, Indus", not otherwise attested in IE. (Remark that the Iranian name Hindu for "Indus", hence also for "India", indicates that the Iranians have lived near the Indus. If they had not, then Sindhu would have been a foreign term which they would have left intact, just as they kept the Elamite city name Susa intact rather than evolving it to Huha or something like that; but because Sindhu was part of their own vocabulary, it followed the evolution of Iranian phonetics to become Hindu.)

Sergent is also skeptical of David MacAlpin's thesis of an "Elamo-Dravidian" language family: what isoglosses there are between Elamite and Dravidian can be explained sufficiently through contact rather than common origin.

Like many others, Sergent suggests that the early Dravidians can be equated with the "southern Neolithic" of 2500-1600 BC. Their round huts with wooden framework are the direct precursors of contemporary rural Dravidian housing. Two types of Hindu vessel have been discovered in southern Neolithic sites, including a beaked copper recipient still used in Vedic fire ceremonies. (p.48, with reference to Bridget and Raymond Allchin and to Dharma Pal Agrawal) Though the prehistory of the southern Neolithic is difficult to trace, it can be stated with confidence that the best candidate is the Northwestern Neolithic, which started in Mehrgarh in the 8th millennium BC. It is, by contrast, very unlikely that it originated as an outpost of the Southeast-Asian Neolithic, which expanded into India at a rather late date, bringing the Austro-Asiatic languages. According to Sergent, a link with the mature Harappan civilization is equally unlikely: neither in material culture nor in physical type is such a link indicated by the evidence. The Dravidians were certainly already in the Deccan when the mature Harappan civilization started. Sergent suggests that the Dravidians formed a pre-Harappan population in Sindh and Gujarat, and that they were overwhelmed and assimilated, not by the invading Aryans, but by the mature-Harappan population. (p.52)

The picture which emerges is that of a multi-lingual Indus-Saraswati civilization with Dravidian as the minor partner (possibly preserved or at least leaving its mark in the southern metropolis of Mohenjo Daro) who ended up getting assimilated by the major partner, a non-Dravidian population whom we may venture to identify as Indo-Iranian and ultimately Indo-Aryan.

4.3. Afro-Dravidian kinship

One of the most remarkable findings related in some detail by Bernard Sergent, on the basis of three independent studies (by Lilias Homburger, by Tidiane Ndiaye, and by U.P. Upadhyaya and Mrs. S.P. Upadhyaya) reaching similar conclusions, is the multifarious kinship of the Dravidian language family with African languages of the Sahel belt, from Somalia to Senegal (Peul, Wolof, Mandé, Dyola). As Sergent notes, all Melano-African languages have been credibly argued to be related, with the exception of the Khoi-San and Korama languages of southern Africa and the Afro-Asiatic family of northern Africa; so the kinship of Dravidian would be with that entire Melano-African superfamily, though it would be more conspicuous with some of its members.

Thus, between Dravidian and Bantu, we find the same verbal endings for the infinitive, the subjunctive, the perfect, the active participle or nomen agentis, related postpositions or nominal case endings, and many others. In over-all structure, Dravidian and the Melano-African languages (as distinct from North-African and Khoi-San languages) form a pair when compared with other language families: "The tendency to agglutination, the absence of grammatical gender, the absence of internal vowel change, the use of pre- or postpositions instead of flection are some of the main traits which set the Negro-African and Dravidian languages jointly apart from the Indo-European and Hamito-Semitic groups." (p.55) Here I would say that this doesn't prove much: the first trait is shared with some more, and the other ones are shared with most language families on earth; it is IE and Semito-Hamitic which stand out jointly by not having these traits.

That Hamito-Semitic (Afro-Asiatic) and IE stand jointly apart and may have a common origin in Mesopotamia, has been argued by B. Sergent himself (Les Indo-Européens, p.431-434). Critics such as the reviewer in Antaios 10, Brussels 1996, have suggested that with this position, he is playing a political game. This much is true, that by design or by accident, Sergent is pulling the leg of far-rightist adepts of IE studies who consider the reduction of IE to sisterhood with Semitic as sacrilege. All the same, his position is quite sound linguistically.

But between Melano-African and Dravidian, there are more specific similarities: "A simple system of five basic vowels with an opposition short/long, vocalic harmony, absence of consonant clusters in initial position, abundance of geminated consonants, distinction between inclusive and exclusive pronoun in the first person plural, absence of the comparative degree in adjectives, absence of adjectives and adverbs acting as distinct morphological categories, alternation of consonants or augmentation of nouns noted among the nouns of different classes, distinction between accomplished and unaccomplished action in the verbal paradigms as opposed to the distinction of time-specific tenses, separate sets of paradigms for the affirmative and negative forms of verbs, the use of reduplicated forms for the emphatic mode, etc." (Genèse de l'Inde, p.55)

Sergent himself adds more isoglosses: "Preference for open syllables (i.e. those ending in vowels), the rejection of clusters of non-identical consonants, the generally initial position of the word accent in Dravidian and in the languages of Senegal". (p.56) The similarity in the demonstrative affixes is among the most striking: proximity is indicated by [i], initial in Dravidian but terminal in Wolof; distance by [a], intermediate distance by [u].

Knowing little of Dravidian and nothing at all of African languages, I don't feel qualified to discuss this evidence. However, I do note that we have several separate studies by unrelated researchers, using different samples of languages in their observations, and that each of them lists large numbers of similarities, not just in vocabulary, but also in linguistic structure, even in its most intimate features. Thus, "the preposed demonstratives of Dravidian allow us to comprehend the genesis of the nominal classes, the fundamental trait of the Negro-African languages". (p.53)

To quite an extent, this evidence suggests that Dravidian and some of the African languages (the case has been made in most detail for the Senegalo-Guinean languages such as Wolof) have a common origin. At the distance involved, it is unlikely that the isoglosses noted are the effects of borrowing. Either way, Proto-Dravidian must have been geographically close to the ancestor-language of the Negro-African languages. Did it come from Africa, as Sergent concludes? Should we think of a lost Saharan culture which disappeared before the conquests of the desert? Note that earlier outspoken fans of Dravidian culture (e.g. Father H. Heras: Studies in Proto-Indo-Meditarranean Culture, 1953, and Alain Daniélou: Histoire de l'Inde, 1983) didn't mind describing the Dravidians as immigrants: unlike the Aryans, they were bringers rather than destroyers of civilization, but they were immigrants nonetheless. Or should we follow Tamil chauvinists in assuming that the Dravidians came from Tamil Nadu and the now-submerged lands to its south, and took their language and civilization to Africa?

4.4. Additional indications for Afro-Dravidian

Bernard Sergent argues against the Indian origin of Dravidian. One element to consider is that the members of the Dravidian family have not diverged very much from one another. The relative closeness of its members suggests that they started growing apart only fairly recently: a thousand years for Tamil and Malayalam (well-attested), perhaps three thousand for the divergence of North- from South-Dravidian. This would indicate that Dravidian was still a single language covering a small area in the early Harappan period, after having entered the country from the West.

That the "genealogical tree" of the Dravidian family seems to have its trunk in the coastal West of India, i.e. to the northwest of the main Dravidian area, has long been recognized by scholars of Dravidian. A map showing this "tree" is given in G. John Samuel, ed.: Encyclopedia of Tamil Literature, Institute of Asian Studies, Madras 1990, p.45, with reference to Kamil Zvelebil, who locates the Proto-Dravidians in Iran as late as 3500 BC. It also fits in with the old Brahminical nomenclature, which includes Gujarat and Maharashtra in the Pancha-Dravida, the "five Dravida areas of Brahminical settlement" (as contrasted with Pancha-Gauda, the five North-Indian ones). The northwestern coast was the first part of India to be dravidianized, the wellspring of Dravidian migration to the south, but also an area were Dravidian was gradually displaced by Indo-Aryan though not without influencing it.

Another indication for the Dravidian presence in Gujarat is the attestation in Gujarati Jain texts of inter-cousin marriage, typically South-Indian and quite non-Indo-European. (p.51) The IE norm was very strict in prohibiting even distant forms of incest, a norm adopted by both Hinduism and Christianity. Linguists had already pointed out, and Sergent confirms, that Dravidian has left its mark on the Sindhi, Gujarati and Marathi languages (as with the distinction between inclusive and exclusive first person plural) and toponymy. So, it is fairly well-established that Dravidian culture had a presence in Gujarat while spreading to South India.

It is possible that Gujarat was a waystation in a longer Dravidian migration from further west. Whether the itinerary of Dravidian can ultimately be traced to Sudan or thereabouts, remains to be confirmed, but Sergent already has some interesting data to offer in support. Africans and Dravidians had common types of round hut, common music instruments, common forms of snake worship and tree worship. A South-Indian board game pallankuli closely resembles the African game mancalal; varieties of the game are attested in Pharaonic Egypt and in a pre-Christian monastery in Sri Lanka. (p.59)

A point which I do not find entirely convincing is the distinction, based on Mircea Eliade's research, between two types of Shamanism, one best known from Siberia and in evidence among all people originating in North and East Asia including the Native Americans and the Indian Munda-speaking tribes, another best known from Africa but also attested among some South-Indian tribes. (p.62) This is a distinction between Shamanism properly speaking, in which the Shaman makes spirit journeys, despatches one of his multiple souls to the spirit world to help the soul of a sick person, etc.; and the religion of ghost-possession, in which the sorcerer allows the ghost to take him over but at the same time makes him obey. The latter is perhaps best known to outsiders through the Afro-Caribbean Voodoo religion, but is also in evidence among South-Indian tribals such as the Saora and the Pramalai Kallar.

If anthropologists have observed these two distinct types, I will not disbelieve them. It does not follow that there must be a link between Africa and South India: Sergent himself notes that the same religion of ghost-possession is attested among the Australian aboriginals, who may be related with the Veddoid substratum in India's population. (p.62) On the other hand, this theme of ghost-possession is but one of Sergent's numerous linguistic and anthropological data which all point in the same direction of Afro-Dravidian kinship.

4.5. Uralic-Dravidian kinship

If Dravidian migrated from Africa to India through the Middle East, it could have left traces in Egypt and countries under Egyptian influence as well, explaining the data which led earlier researchers to the thesis of a Dravidian "Indo-Mediterranean" culture, most influentially Father H. Heras: Studies in Proto-Indo-Mediterranean Culture, 1953. Sergent links Indian forms of phallus worship with Sahel-African, Ethiopian, Egyptian and Mediterranean varieties of the same. The Egyptian uraeus ("cobra"), the snake symbol on the pharaonic regalia, has been linked in detail with Dravidian forms of snake worship, including the priest's possession by the snake's spirit. Dravidian cremation rituals for dead snakes recall the ceremonial burial of snakes in parts of Africa. Others have added the similarity between the Dravidian nâga-kal (Tamil: "snake-stone", a rectangular stone featuring two snakes facing one another, their bodies intertwined) and the intertwined snakes in the caduceus, the Greek symbol of science and medicine.

It has consequently been suggested that some Dravidian words may also have penetrated into the European languages. Thus, Dravidian kal, "stone", resembles Latin calculus, "pebble", and Dravidian malai, "mountain", resembles an Albanian and Rumanian word mal, "rock, rocky riverside". (Sorin Paliga: "Proto-Indo-European, Pre-Indo-European, Old European", Journal of Indo-European Studies, fall 1989, p.309-334) But this hypothesis is a long shot and we need not pursue it here.

Far more substantial is the Dravidian impact on another language family far removed from the present Dravidian speech area, viz. Uralic. The influence pertains to a very sizable vocabulary, including core terms for hand, fire, house (Finnish kota, Tamil kudi), talk, cold, bathe, die, water, pure, see, knock, be mistaken, exit, fear, bright, behind, turn, sick, dirty, ant, strong, little, seed, cut, wait, fish (Hungarian men, Tamil min) tongue, laugh, moist, break, chest, tree; some pronouns, several numerals and dozens of terms for body parts. (p.66-67) But it goes deeper than that. Thus, both language families exclude voiced and aspirated consonants and all consonant clusters at the beginning of words. They have in common several suffixes, expressions and the phonological principle of vocalic harmony.

As the Dravidian influence, like that of IE, is more pronounced in the Finno-Ugric than in the Samoyedic branch, we may surmise that the contact took place after the separation of the Samoyedic branch. But the main question here is how Dravidian could have influenced Uralic given their actual distance. Sergent suggests that a lost branch of Dravidians on the way from Africa strayed into Central Asia and got assimilated but not without influencing their adopted language.

On the other hand, he rejects the theory that Dravidian forms one family along with Uralic, Turkic, Mongolian and Tunguz. The latter three are often grouped as "Altaic", a partly genetic and partly areal group which may also include Korean and Japanese, and all the said languages including Japanese have at one time or another been claimed as relatives of Dravidian, with which they do present some isoglosses. However, the isoglosses are fragmentary and mostly different ones for every language group concerned. Moreover, some Dravidian influences are also discernible in Tocharian, or Arshi-Kuchi (Tocharian A c.q. Tocharian B) as Sergent appropriately calls it, which is obviously a matter of influence through contact. So Sergent concludes that this is a matter of areal influence rather than genetic kinship: Dravidian was a foreign language entering Central Asia at some point in time to briefly exert an influence on the local languages before disappearing. (p.71-76) This goes against a fairly popular theory locating Dravidian origins in Central Asia whence a Dravidian immigration preceded the Aryans one.

I am not sure this will convince everyone: if Dravidian is not genetically linked with all the said language groups, it might still be so with one of them, viz. Uralic, at least on the strength of the data Sergent offers. Tamil chauvinists may well be tempted to complete the picture by claiming that before the Indo-Europeans from India colonized Central Asia and Europe, it was the turn of the Dravidians to colonize Central Asia and, after mixing genetically and linguistically with the natives, to develop the Uralic languages. At a time when subtropical Neolithic cultures had a tremendous technological and demographical edge over the hunter-gatherers in the inhospitable northern countries, it would not even be so far-fetched to imagine that a small wayward group of Dravidians could enter the vast expanse of Central Asia and completely change the linguistic landscape there.

At any rate, Sergent's observations represent a clean break with earlier theories which had the Dravidians originate in the Uralic speech area and preceding the Indo-Aryans in an invasion of India from Central Asia.

4.5. Geographical distribution of IE languages

Since Bernard Sergent doesn't take the Indocentric case for IE seriously, he doesn't bring out all the linguistic data which to him support the Kurgan scenario. One classical argument from linguistics is nonetheless developed at some length: "In Europe one finds the most numerous and geographically most concentrated IE language groups. Such a situation is not unique, and invariably denotes the direction of history: the Indo-Iranian languages represent a branch extended to the east and south, starting from Europe and not the other way around. It is obviously not the IE languages of Europe which have come from India". (p.29-30)

This early in his book (p.30 of 584 pp.), he is already so sure that "obviously" the central question of the Urheimat has been decided to the disadvantage of India. That is a great pity, for it is the reason why he has not applied himself to really developing the argument against the Indian Urheimat. If anyone is capable of proving the AIT, it must be Sergent. Yet, because he assumes no proof is necessary, he gives the question much less attention than

e.g. the much less contentious (though more original) question of the geographical origins ofDravidian.

To be sure, the pattern of language distribution invoked by Sergent as "not unique", is indeed well-attested, e.g. in sub-Saharan West Africa, there are about 15 language families, while in the much larger region of sub-equatorial Africa, a very large majority of the people speaks languages belonging to only one family, Bantu. Though it is only a branch of a subfamily of the Niger-Kordofanian language family, Bantu easily outnumbers all the other branches of this family combined: "Africanists conclude that Bantu originated in a small area, on the border between Nigeria and Cameroon." (p.30)

But in fact, India is in this respect more akin to West Africa, and Europe more to subequatorial Africa. India has more language families: Nahali, Andamanese, Burushaski, Dravidian, Austro-Asiatic (Munda and Mon-Khmer), Sino-Tibetan (Himalayan, Tibetic and Burmese) and IE (Iranian, Kafir, Dardic, Indo-Aryan, and possibly proto-Bangani). Europe is almost entirely IE-speaking, with Basque serving as the European counterpart to the Khoi-San languages in subequatorial Africa, a left-over of the original linguistic landscape largely replaced with the conquering newcomer, IE c.q. Bantu; and Uralic (Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian) a fellow if perhaps slightly later intruder in the European landscape, vaguely comparable to the intrusion of an Austronesian language in a part (viz. Madagascar) of southern Africa.

Therefore, I reject the argument from the geographical distribution. If the spread of the IE languages to Europe was often a matter of assimilating divergent native populations, this process promoted the speedy diverging of the IE dialects into distinct language groups. Though this is not a conclusive argument against the possibility of IE settlement in Indian being younger than in Europe, it at least terminates the impression that there was a compelling case in favour of that possibility. So, even under Bernard Sergent's hands, the fabled "linguistic evidence" has failed to decide the IE Urheimat question once and for all.

5. The evidence from comparative religion

5.1. Aryan contributions to indigenous culture

Unlike most invasionists, who minimize the IE contribution by seeing "pre-Aryan" origins behind every (post-Harappan) Hindu cultural item, Sergent admits the IE origin of numerous elements of Hinduism usually classified as remnants of earlier populations. This is one of the most elaborate and original sections in his book.

In invasionist sources, and more so in politicized writings against the "Aryan invader religion" Hinduism, it is claimed that the two most popular gods, Vishnu and Shiva, are (the former partly, the latter wholly) sanskritized pre-Aryan indigenous gods. Sergent argues that they are in fact neat counterparts of IE gods attested in distant parts of the IE language domain, Vishnu corresponding to the Germanic god Vidar, Shiva to the Greek and Thracian and Phrygian god Dionysos and to an extent also to the Celtic god Dagda. (p.310, p.402) He notices the puzzling fact that the classical Shiva is unattested in the Vedas (though Shiva's persona includes some elements from Indra, Rudra and Agni who are not counterparts of Dionysos); so he suggests that the Shiva tradition, definitely part of the common IE heritage, was passed on through a Vratya or non-Vedic Indo-Aryan circle. (p.323-324) This is an important acknowledgment of the fact that the Vedic tradition is only one tradition in the Indo-Aryan religious landscape, a key element in Shrikant Talageri's reconstruction of ancient Indian history (The Aryan Invasion Theory, a Reappraisal, Ch.14): just as Sanskrit is not the mother of all Indo-Aryan languages (rather an aunt), the Vedas are not the wellspring of the whole of Hindu tradition.

Sergent goes into great detail in showing how the IE trifunctionality model does apply throughout the Vedic and Puranic worldview, in fact far more splendidly than in any other IE culture. (p.252-278) Thus, the first function is juridical-religious and corresponds with sattva, the transparent and truthful quality in the Hindu triguna or three-qualities model; the second function is martial-political and corresponds with rajas, the passionate and energetic quality; the third function is production and consumption, corresponding with tamas, the quality of materiality and ignorance. This threesome also corresponds with the trivarga ("three categories") model, where dharma or religious duty is sattvik, artha or striving for worldly success is rajasik, kama or sensuous enjoyment is tamasik, though there is a fourth (nirguna, "quality-less") dimension, viz. moksha, liberation. Likewise for the three states of consciousness: dreaming, waking, sleeping, surpassed by "fourth state", turiya, the yogic state. This scheme can then be applied to the Hindu pantheon, e.g. Brahma the creator is rajasik, Vishnu the maintainer is sattvik, Shiva the dissolver is tamasik; or the white mountain goddess Parvati is sattvik, the tiger goddess Durga rajasik, the black devouring goddess Kali tamasik.

Many more IE elements in Hinduism could be cited to the same effect, such as the numerous correspondences in epic motifs between Hindu and European sagas, which Sergent discusses at length. But the interesting ones for our purpose are those which already existed in the Harappan civilization.

5.2. The linga

Dr. Sergent goes quite far in indo-europeanizing the alleged aboriginal contribution to Hinduism. He even asserts that "the linga (or Shiva's phallus) cult is of IE origin". (p.139) An important detail is that Aryan linga worshippers venerated the linga by itself, not in the linga-yoni combination common in Hindu shrines, for "the yoni cult is without IE parallel". (p.139) Sergent makes a distinction between the sculpted stone phallus and the unsculpted variety. The first type is attested in the Harappan area and period, as well as in Africa and the Mediterranean, while the second type is common in historical and contemporary Hinduism. However, on linga worship in the Harappan cities, we find conflicting presentations of the facts, with Sergent assuming that the same Mediterranean-type phallus worship flourished, while no less a scholar than Asko Parpola claims the exact opposite. Parpola (Deciphering the Indus Script, p.221) contrasts the "earliest historical (1st-2nd century BC) lingas", which are "realistic", with the "abstract form of the Harappan conical stones". If Parpola is right, the Harappan linga cult was more akin to the classical Hindu form than to Mediterranean phallus worship. However, the crucial point of comparison in this case is not Harappa but the Indian tribals.

Votaries of the Indo-Mediterranean school claim that the cult of phallus-shaped stones is unknown among the indigenous (though in many cases historically dravidianized) tribal populations of India, implying that the Dravidian immigrants brought it from abroad, first to the Indus Valley, next to the whole of India. The same claim, that the untainted tribals are unattracted to the urban Hindu depravity of phallus-worship, has often been made by Christian missionaries as an argument in support of their doctrine that "tribals are not Hindus". But is this true?

First of all, many Indian tribals do practise linga worship. Pupul Jayakar (The Earth Mother, Penguin 1989/1980, p.30) situates both Shiva and the linga within the culture of a number of tribes, e.g. the Gonds: "There are, in the archaic Gond legend of Lingo Pen, intimations of an age when Mahadeva or Shiva, the wild and wondrous god of the autochthons, had no human form but was a rounded stone, a lingam, washed by the waters of the river Narmada. Even to this day there are areas of the Narmada river basin where every stone in the waters is said to be a Shiva lingam: '(...) What was Mahadev doing? He was swimming like a rolling stone, he had no hands, no feet. He remained like the trunk (of a tree).' [Then, Bhagwan makes him come out of the water and grants him a human shape.]" Till today, Shiva or a corresponding tribal god is often venerated in the shape of such natural-born, unsculpted, longish but otherwise shapeless stones.

At the same time, female yoni symbols are common enough among Indian tribals, esp. inverted triangles, the origin of the Hindu plural-triangle symbols called yantra, venerated in such seats of orthodoxy as the Shankaracharya Math in Kanchipuram, where celibacy is the rule and thoughts of fertility unwelcome. In a palaeolithic site in the Siddhi district of Madhya Pradesh (10th or 9th millennium BC), a Mother Goddess shrine has been found containing well-known Hindu symbols: squares, circles, swastikas and most of all, triangles. (Pupul Jayakar: The Earth Mother, p.20-22) A participant in an excavation in Bastar (Jan Van Alphen, of the Etnografisch Museum, Antwerp) told me of how a painted triangular stone was dug up, and the guide, a Gond tribal, at once started doing puja before this ancient idol. Such is the continuity of indigenous Indian religion across eleven thousand years.

However, these two-dimensional triangles constitute a different symbolism from the three-dimensional ring-shaped or oval-shaped sculpted yoni symbols used in the linga-yoni combination. Sergent sees these sculpted yoni symbols as part of the Dravidian tradition with African links, while the triangles, like the unsculpted linga stones, might be older in India than even the Dravidian invasion as imagined by Sergent.

Quite separate from these abstract triangles and unsculpted stones, explicit sexual imagery is also common among the "untainted" tribals: "When the Bhils, primitive people of western India, paint their sacred pithoras, they include in an obscure corner a copulating man and woman. When asked to explain, they say, 'without this, where would the world be?'" (Pupul Jayakar: The Earth Mother, p.36) When they want to express the fertility process, they do so quite explicitly, and they don't have to make do with a shapeless stone. Conversely, when they do choose to use a shapeless stone, it must be for a different purpose. Therefore, it is logical that the tribal linga cannot be equated with the sexually explicit sculptures of the ancient Mediterranean cultures.

Like the tribals, Vedic Hindus worship unsculpted lingas without explicit sexual connotation. Most Hindus will reject the Western interpretation of their idol as a phallic symbol, and the quoted details of tribal linga worship tend to prove their point, as would the abstract uses of the term linga ("sign", "proof", one of the terms in a syllogism, and symbol of the nirguna/undefined primeval reality; for a serious discussion of the profound meanings of linga worship, see Swami Karpatri & Alain Daniélou: Le mystère du culte du linga, Ed. du Relié, Robion 1993). The pebbles picked up from the Narmada river are hardly phallus-shaped, in contrast to the phallic pillars in the Mediterranean.

When Hindus object to the purely sexual reading of their symbols by Western authors, the latter, irritated with the "refusal of prudish Indian hypocrites to face facts", retort that "after all, anyone can see that this is explicit sexual imagery". Or for a more academic variation: "The Brahmans succeeded in concealing the alcoholic and sexual-orgiastic character of the adoration of the phallus (lingam or linga) and transformed it into a pure ritualistic temple cult", according to Max Weber: The Religion of India, Munshiram Manoharlal, Delhi 1992 (ca. 1910), p.298.

Clearly, both conflicting interpretations have their validity, and linga worship in India is probably a syncretic phenomenon. If "phallus worship" was scorned in the Rg Veda (in the much-discussed verses where the enemies are abused as shishna-devâh, "those who have the phallus for god", Rg-Veda 7:21:5 and 10:99:3.), we do not perforce have to deny, as most anti-AIT authors do, that this concerned non-Aryan people who worshipped phallic stones. There were non-Aryans in many parts of India, though these phallus worshippers may equally have been Indo-Aryan-speaking cultists. We have at any rate a testimony for an ancient religious dispute. A clue has perhaps been given in Sergent's information that the lone linga ("objects which are interpreted as phalli", p.139; emphasis added) has been found in the northern half of the Indus-Saraswati civilization, the yoni-linga couple with ring-shaped yoni stones in its arguably Dravidian south.

Anyway, the point for now is that the alleged tribal and Vedic Aryan forms of linga worship are very similar. If this linga worship was IE, as Sergent claims, and if it is an age-old Indian tribal tradition at the same time, may I suggest that the Indo-Europeans discovered or developed it in India itself? Could this be an instance of what should at present be the Holy Grail of non-invasionist researchers, viz. a case of decided continuity between native tribal and IE cultures, distinguishing both together from imported cultures such as that of the Dravidians?

5.3. Harappan and Vedic fire cult

Most invasionist accounts of Hindu history acknowledge that classical Hinduism has included elements from the "Indus civilization". Thus, the unique water-supply system in the Indus-Saraswati system and the public baths so visibly similar to the bathing kunds still existing in numerous Indian cities have been interpreted as early witnesses to the Hindu "obsession" with purity. Though open to correction on details, this approach is not controversial. However, it runs into difficulties when items are discovered which are not typical for the Indian IE-speaking culture alone, but for the whole or larger parts of the IE-speaking family of cultures: how could these have been present in Harappa when the IE contribution was only brought in during or after Harappa's downfall by the Aryan invaders?

The bathing culture which the Harappans shared with the later Hindus is often cited as a pre-IE remnant which crept into Hinduism. However, this is also attested (with local differences, of course) among such IE tribes as the Romans and the Germanic people, and may therefore be part of the common IE heritage. Of course, a general concern about cleanliness is not a very specific and compelling type of evidence. More decisive would be a case like the famous Harappan seal depicting the so-called Pashupati (Shiva as Lord of Beasts), long considered proof that the Shiva cult is indigenous and non-Aryan. It is found to have a neat counterpart, to the detail, in the horned god Cernunnos surrounded by animals (largely similar ones and in the same order as on the Pashupati seal) on the Celtic Gundestrup cauldron made in central Europe sometime in the last centuries BC. So, this Harappan motif may well be part of the common IE heritage.

For another very general trait, the absence of distinct temple buildings in the Harappan cities constitutes a defect in the AIT postulate of a Vedic-Harappan cultural opposition. The fact that no temples are attested is a common trait of Harappa, of some ancient IE cultures (Vedic, Celtic, Germanic), and of that other acclaimed centre of Aryanism, the South Russian Kurgan culture, where "no real sanctuaries have ever been found; they probably had open sanctuaries" (M. Gimbutas: "Proto-Indo-European Culture: The Kurgan Culture during the Fifth, Fourth and Third Millennia BC", in George Cardona et al., eds.: Indo-European and Indo-Europeans, p.191). It contrasts with Mesopotamian and Egyptian cultures and with the bhakti cult in later Hinduism, which venerates the deity as if it were a human person and consequently gives the deity a house to live in: a temple. Harappans, Vedic Aryans, many ancient IE-speaking Europeans and contemporary Indian tribals have this in common: they worship without temple buildings.

For a more specific example: fire plays a central role in most historically attested IE religions, most emphatically in the Indo-Iranian branches. A fire-cult was present in the Indus-Saraswati civilization, and it resembled the practices of the Vedic people. The presence of Vedic fire-altars in several Harappan cities (Lothal, Kalibangan, Rakhigarhi) has been noticed by a number of authors, but is somehow always explained away or ignored. Parpola ("The coming of the Aryans to Iran and India and the cultural and ethnic identity of the Dasas", Studia Orientalia, Helsinki 1988, p.238) admits as "quite plausible" the suggestion (made to him by Raymond and Bridget Allchin) that they form an Indo-Aryan element within Harappan civilization, but he explains them as imported by "carriers of the Bronze Age culture of Greater Iran, who had become quickly absorbed into the Indus Civilization, culturally and linguistically".

Likewise, Sergent admits that "the Indian Vedic fire altar seemed to have borrowed its construction principles from the Indus civilization", all while "the very idea of the fire cult was Indo-Iranian". (p.161) This falls neatly into place if we equate proto-Harappan with Indo-Iranian: the idea of a fire cult was taken along by the emigrating Iranians, while the Indo-Aryans stayed on in the Indus-Saraswati region to develop their altars' distinct Indian style of construction.

At any rate, how deeply had these Aryan fire-worshippers not penetrated the Harappan civilization, that they had installed their altars in patrician mansions of three of the largest Harappan cities, all three moreover very far from the northwestern border? If they were imported from outside, it rather seems they came from the east, which would bring us back to Shrikant Talageri's thesis that IE originated in the Ganga basin and entered the Harappan area from there. Leaving aside this question of ultimate origins, the very fact of the Vedic fire-altars in the Indus-Saraswati culture is a serious problem for the AIT.

5.4. More on Harappan vs. Vedic

The stellar cult is common to the Harappan and Vedic religions. This is explained by Asko Parpola as the effect of borrowing: the barbarian invaders adopting the religion of the empire they just conquered, somewhat like the Heathen Germanic tribes did when they conquered the Christian Roman empire. In fact, the whole of Vedic and core-Puranic literature has been explained as essentially translations of non-Aryan Harappan traditions.

A similar explanation is given for the "soma filter", often depicted on Harappan seals, and of which an ivory specimen has been discovered by J.M. Kenoyer's team. Iravathan Mahadevan (interviewed by Omar Khan, Chennai, 17-1-1998, on http://www.harappa.com/script/mahadevantext.html) proposes that "the mysterious cult object that you find before the unicorn on the unicorn seals is a filter. (...) Since we know that the unicorn seals were the most popular ones, and every unicorn has this cult object before it, whatever it represents must be part of the central religious ritual of the Harappan religion. We know of one religion whose central religious cult [object] was a filter, that is the soma [cult] of the Indo-Aryans." If this is not an argument for the identity of Vedic and Harappan, I don't know what is. Yet, Mahadevan dismisses this conclusion citing the well-known argument that the Vedas know of no cities while Harappa had no horses, so "the only other possibility is that a soma-like cult (...) must have existed in Harappa and that it was taken over by the Indo-Iranians and incoming Indo-Aryans." This is a case of multilying entities without necessity.

Speaking of the unicorn: Prof. R.S. Sharma ("The Indus and the Saraswati", interview published on http://www2.cybercities.com/a/akhbar/godown/history/RSSIndus.htm) defends the AIT pointing out that the unicorn/ekashrnga is popular on Indus seals and in late- or post-Vedic literature but is not mentioned at all in the Rg-Veda. Within the AIT, this would be an anomaly: first the Harappans had unicorn symbolism, then the Vedic-Aryan invaders didn't have it, and finally the later Aryans again had it. The implied and slightly contrived explanation is that native unicorn symbolism went underground after the Aryan invasion, but reasserted itself later. But this pro-AIT argument is circular in the sense that it is dependent on the AIT-based chronology, viz. of the Rg-Veda as post-Harappan. Its force is dissolved (along with the anomaly) if the possibility is considered that the Rg-Veda was pre-Harappan, with the Unicorn an early Harappan innovation attested in both the the archaeological and the late-Vedic literary record.

Asko Parpola (in G. Erdosy: The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia, p.370) has developed the theory that there is at least one clearly identifiable Hindu deity whose trail of importation from abroad we can follow. In the Bactrian Bronze Age culture, deemed Indo-Iranian if not specifically Indo-Aryan, ample testimony is available of the cult of a lion goddess, known in Hinduism as Durga, "the fortress", and who is "worshipped in eastern India as Tripura, a name which connects her with the strongholds of the Dasas". Politicized Indian invasionists usually claim goddess worship as a redeeming native, non-Aryan, "matriarchal" and "humanist" contribution to the "patriarchal" and "oppressive" Hindu religion, but now it turns out to have been brought along by the Bactrian invaders: how one invasionist can upset another invasionist's applecart.

However, Parpola himself reports elsewhere ("The coming of the Aryans to Iran and India and the cultural and ethnic identity of the Dasas", Studia Orientalia, Helsinki 1988, p.238) that the same lion or tiger goddess was worshipped in the Indus-Saraswati civilization as well.

Discussing "carriers of the Bronze Age culture of Greater Iran" as having been "quickly absorbed into the Indus civilization", he finds support in "the famous Kalibangan seal showing a Durga-like goddess of war, who is associated with the tiger". For now we retain Parpola's confirmation of a common religious motif in a Harappan city and an Aryan culture (on top of the indications mentioned above of a soma cult in both the Harappan cities and the Bactria-Margiana Bronze Age culture); but whether this shows an early Bactrian penetration of India as far as the Saraswati riverside remains to be seen. The hypothesis that both Harappa and Bactria were Aryan, is less contorted.

Just like those few colleagues who have paid attention to the elements of continuity between Harappa and Aryan India, Sergent fails to discuss the most plausible conclusion that could be drawn from all this material: that Harappan and post-Harappan or Aryan are phases of a single civilization.

5.5. The impact of East-Asian mythology

Indo-European mythology, or some of its branches, has certain motifs and stories in common with mythologies of non-IE cultures. Some of these are a common heritage dating back to long before a separate IE linguistic and cultural identity existed.

Conversely, some myths can be shown to have been transmitted in a fairly recent time,

e.g. the Excalibur myth known to most readers through the King Arthur saga has an exactparallel in a North-Iranian myth, with the sword being drawn from the stone (a poetic reference to the mystery of metallurgy, transforming shapeless ore into metal implements), making its bearer invincible, and finally getting thrown into a lake. This is not because of a common IE heritage of the Celtic and Iranian communities, but because in the 2nd century AD, Sarmatian mercenaries in the Roman army were garrisoned in Britain and, well, told their story. (Shan

M.M. Winn: Heaven, Heroes and Happiness. The Indo-European Roots of Western Ideology, p.34-35) Through Mongolia and Korea, elements of this myth have even reached Japan when the supremacy of the sword was established there. So, myths are not necessarily witnesses from the night of time; their invention and transmission can sometimes be dated.

In the case of the transmission of East-Asian myths into Hindu tradition, by medium of the Munda-speaking culture of the eastern Ganga basin, the apparent date might pose a problem. Some contributions are fairly late: "The puja, that extremely common and important practice of covering the gods' idols with flowers and perfumes, is rather late in India, and succeeds wholly different practices: could that also be an East-Asian substratum?" (p.483, n.639, with reference to Louis de la Vallée Poussin: "Totémisme et végétalisme", 1929, who emphasizes the similarity with devotional practices among the Kol tribe and among the Semang, a tribe in Malaysia. The more usual explanation is that puja came from the Dravidian south.) On the other hand, Sergent mentions several apparently East-Asian contributions to Vedic and Puranic lore which point to the ultimate beginning of those traditions themselves.

The name of Ikshvaku, founder of the Solar Dynasty of Ayodhya, whom the Puranic genealogies place several dozen generations before the Rg-Vedic seers, literally means "bitter gourd". Likewise, Sumati, wife of the early Ayodhya king Sagara, is said to produce offspring with the aid of a bitter gourd. Sergent attributes this to the Southeast-Asian mythic motif of the birth of humanity from a bitter gourd: "The Austro-Asiatic myth has visibly been transposed in the legends of Sumati and Ikshvaku". (p.386)

The birth of Vyasa's mother Satyavati from a fish equally refers to a Southeast-Asian myth, unknown in the IE world. The Brahmanas have a story of Brahma or Prajapati, the Creator, taking the form of a boar and diving to the bottom of the ocean to extract the earth and bring it to the surface (p.372, citing Taittiriya Brahmana 7:1:5:1-2 and Shatapatha Brahmana 14:1:2:11). This myth of the "cosmogonic plunge" is widespread in Siberia, among the native Americans, and among some Southeast-Asian peoples, but is foreign to the IE mythologies and to the Vedic Samhitas. The same is true of another innovative mythic motif appearing in the Brahmanas: Brahmanda, the cosmic egg which, when broken, releases all creatures.

Sergent explains that the Rg-Veda could not yet know these myths, just as it had not yet adopted items of Munda vocabulary, because its horizon was still confined to the northwest (note that Ikshvaku is first mentioned in the youngest part of the Rg-Veda: 10:60:4). But once the Vedic Aryans settled in the Ganga basin, they started assimilating the mythic lore of the Munda people, also immigrants, but who had settled there earlier. So, this seems to confirm the classic picture of the Aryans moving through North India from east to west.

However, even the non-invasionist school accepts that the Vedic tradition spread eastwards during and after the Harappan period, just as it spread to South India in subsequent centuries; but it maintains that the Ganga down to Kashi or so, already had an Indo-Aryan (but non-Vedic) population. This population was obviously exposed to influences from its eastern neighbours, immigrants from Southeast Asia. And their non-Vedic, partly borrowed traditions were incorporated in later Vedic and especially in Puranic literature. By contrast, the IE-speaking people living to the west of the Vedic Puru tribe, those who migrated to the west and formed the other branches of IE, were not exposed to this Austro-Asiatic lore, which is why their mythologies have not adopted elements from Southeast-Asian myths, just as their languages have not borrowed from Munda (or if they have, those words or those mythic motifs would be pan-IE and consequently not recognizable as borrowed).

If Ikshvaku, one of flood survivor Manu Vaivasvata's immediate successors, was indeed a historical figure, and if his name really refers to an Austro-Asiatic myth, then that would prove either that Manu and his crew had come from the southeast (but then why hasn't the bitter gourd myth become a pan-IE myth?), or that the Mundas were already in the Ganga basin at the beginning of IE history as narrated in the Puranic genealogies (6776 BC?). In that case, shouldn't non-invasionists be able to find more points of contact between IE and Munda, linguistically too?

A parallel argument could be made from the commonly assumed etymology of Ganga, a name already appearing in the oldest part of the Rg-Veda (6:45:31), viz. as an Austro-Asiatic loan cognate to Chinese kiang/jiang, "river". This would mean that the Munda presence in the (western!) Ganga basin well precedes the beginning of the Vedic period, and that they were either the first or the dominant group, so that they could impose their nomenclature. However, Zhang Hongming: "Chinese etyma for river", Journal of Chinese Linguistics, January 1998, p.1-43, has refuted the derivation of Chinese kiang from Austro-Asiatic, arguing among other things that the reconstructed Austro-Asiatic form is *krong, still preserved in the Mon-Khmer languages. This makes the Munda origin of Ganga less likely. A third language family may be involved, or an obscure IE etymon. How about kinship with Middle Dutch konk-el, "twist, turn, whirlpool"? Or simply a Vedic reduplication, nasalized for onomatopoeic effect, of the root ga-, "go", meaning "the fast-flowing"?

How exactly should we imagine the beginning of IE history in India, in what cultural and linguistic environment? For example, one could imagine that the Aryans overran the Indus basin, then Afghanistan and beyond, because they had been pushed to the west by invading Mundas from the east. If the idea of the fierce Aryans being put to flight by the fun-loving Mundas seems strange, remember that the invasion of the Roman Empire by the fierce Germanic tribes was partly caused by their being pushed westward by the Slavs. For another question: does this evidence of Munda contributions support the mainstream indological position that the entire Puranic history of the Vedic and pre-Vedic age in Ayodhya, Kashi or Prayag is but "reverse euhemerism", i.e. the transformation of myth into fabulated history, so that Ikshvaku and his clan never existed except as projections by aryanized Mundas of their gourd-god onto the ancestry of their conquerors? This is worth a discussion in its own right.

For now, I propose a hypothesis which takes care of all the data: there was a period of neighbourly coexistence of Indo-Aryans and Mundas in the Ganga basin, with a very limited exchange of cultural items (mythic motifs, vocabulary), which suddenly increased when the

Indo-Aryans started incorporating parts of the Munda territory and assimilating its inhabitants. This does not exclude that the Mundas entered India in the late-Vedic period; after all, even a pre-Munda population of the lower Ganga basin may have known some Southeast-Asian myths. But the main point is that North India was big enough to contain both Indoa-Aryans and Mundas, and that a Munda presence does not imply an Aryan invasion from outside India.

5.6. Some caveats to comparatists

Mythology is a large subject, and numerous myths are not well-known even to aficionados of the subject. This way, it sometimes happens that a Hindu myth gets classified as non-IE because it is not reported in any other IE mythology, only to show up in some far corner of the IE world upon closer scrutiny. Sergent provides one example.

Everyone knows the Hindu myth of the "churning of the ocean" with which the gods and demons jointly produce the amrta, the immortality drink. Sergent assures us that this myth "has no parallel in the IE world" (p.116), that it "is ignored by Vedic India and the IE world outside India" (p.378-379) but present in Mongolian mythology and in the Kojiki, a kind of Japanese Purana. Yet, he also informs us of a lesser-known Germanic myth in which the god Aegir churns the ocean to make the beer of the gods. (p.378-79, with reference to Georges Dumézil: Le Problème des Centaures, Paris 1929, p.51-60) But that one finding, even if it is in only one (but certainly distant) corner of the IE world, completely nullifies the earlier statement that the myth "has no parallel in the IE world". It is in fact possible that the Mongolian version (which is closer to the Germanic one, with a single deity doing the churning) and the Japanese version have been adapted from an IE original, just like the Excalibur myth.

Secondly, eastern contributions to Hindu tradition are not exclusively from the Mundas. The Rajasuya ceremony described in the Shatapatha Brahmana has an exact counterpart, not in Rome or Greece, nor in Chotanagpur or Japan, but in Fiji. The latter coronation ceremony has been analyzed into 19 distinct elements, and practically all of them are found in the Rajasuya. (p.381, with reference to Shatapatha Brahmana 5:3-5, and Arthur M. Hocart: Kingship, OUP 1927, p.76-83) This island culture is part of the vast expanse of the Austronesian language family. And indeed, a number of scholars have pointed out remarkable lexical similarities between IE and Austronesian. Unlike in the case of the Mundas, contacts of the Indo-Europeans with the Austronesians are hard to locate even in theory, unless we assume that the Austronesians at one time had a presence in India.

Finally, if a myth or religious custom is attested in India but not in the other IE cultures, this need not mean that the Indians have borrowed it from "pre-Aryan natives" or so. It can also mean that the other Indo-Europeans have lost what was originally a pan-IE heirloom. All of them have started by going through the same bottleneck, passing through Afghanistan, immediately plunging themselves into a very different climate from India's permanent summer, so that they had to adopt a very different lifestyle. And as they moved on, the difference only got bigger. Of practically all IE myths attested in some IE cultures, we know that they have been lost in other (generally in most) IE cultures; it is statistically to be expected that some myths have survived only in the Hindu tradition. And because of the full survival of Pagan religion in India plus the long centuries of literacy, it is in fact to be expected that a much higher percentage than the statistical average has only survived in India. So, probably, some myths attested only in Hinduism are purely IE, and if they are also attested in a non-IE neighbouring culture, the possibility remains that the latter has borrowed it from the Indo-Europeans rather than the reverse.

5.7. Harappa, teacher of China?

Quite separate from the importation of Southeast-Asian myths through the Austro-Asiatic population of the Ganga basin, Sergent also notes similarities between Harappan and Chinese civilizations unrelated to Munda lore. An important myth is that of the cosmogonic tortoise, the Chinese symbol of the universe; also the vehicle of Varuna, god of world order, and the form which, in the Shatapatha Brahmana, Prajapati takes to create the world. A tortoise-shaped construction forms part of the Yajur-Vedic fire altar, and the tortoise has also been depicted in a giant sculpture found in Harappa, indicating a similar myth. (p.116, with reference to John Marshall: Mohenjo Daro and the Indus civilization, London 1931) The tortoise as a cosmogonic symbol may well be one such mythic motif which is purely IE yet not attested in the non-Indian branches of IE. There is no indication for a foreign origin, and the tortoise's association with the Yamuna river (like the crocodile with the Ganga, the swan with the Saraswati) adds to its indigenous Northwest-Indian character.

Sergent also mentions the common origin of the Chinese and Hindu systems of 27 lunar mansions (Xiu, Nakshatra), which we have already considered. He admits that it could only have originated in an advanced culture, and that this was not Mesopotamia. He also notes that the Nakshatra system starts with the Pleiades/Krttika, which occupied the vernal equinox position in the centuries around 2,400 BC, exactly during the florescence of the Indus cities. This date, approximately, has been accepted by Jean Filliozat: "Notes d'astronomie ancienne de l'Iran et de l'Inde", Journal Asiatique 250, 1962, p.325-350; Albert Pike: "Lectures on the Arya", Kentucky 1873; and A.L. Basham: The Wonder That Was India, London 1954, according to Bernard Sergent: Genèse de l'Inde, p.422, n.65. We'll stick to this date for the present discussion, but not without mentioning that Asko Parpola (Decipherment of the Indus Script, p.206, p.263-265) himself gives reasons for thinking that Aldebaran had been the starting-point earlier, which would push back the birthdate of the Nakshatra system to ca. 3054 BC, the time of the pre-Harappan Kot Diji culture.

So, Harappa is the best bet as originator of this system, which spread to China and later also to West Asia. Sergent wonders aloud whether the similarities should be attributed to Harappa being "the teacher of China, whose civilization's beginning is contemporaneous". (p.380)

He informs us that the Nakshatra division of the heavens is unknown in other IE cultures, and in this case I would not speculate that they had known it but lost it along the way: rather, the system was invented after they had left India. This simple fact that there already was IE history before the genesis of the Nakshatra system also explains another fact he mentions: "The Rg-Veda doesn't allude to it, except in its 10th mandala, the youngest one occording to most indologists." (p.118) And even the youngest book only mentions "constellations" (RV 10:85:2), a concept known to all cultures, without specifying them as lunar mansions. At any rate, it is only at the end of (if not completely after) the Rg-Vedic period, well after the European branches of IE had left India, that the Nakshatra system was devised. This indicates once more that the Rg-Veda was pre-Harappan.

This chronology is confirmed by another fact related by Sergent: "Another aspect of the continuity between Indus and historical India is marked in the personal names: the oldest in Vedic India are in perfect conformity with Indo-European customs and highlight mostly the attributes with which an individial (or his family) adorns himself. In a later period astral names appear in India, which is foreign to the customs observed elsewhere among the Indo-Europeans". (p.121) Exactly: the Rg-Vedic people lived before the heyday of astronomy in Harappa and before the starry sky acquired a central place in the late-Vedic "and" in the Harappan religion.

5.7. The Harappan contribution

Sergent has identified the Oriental origin of so many Hindu myths, and the Dravidian (ultimately even African) origin of so many Hindu customs, including even the purity concept underlying post-Vedic caste relations: "As the same importance of purity is found in other societies, e.g. Semitic societies including even Islam and sub-Saharan Africa, it is not impossible that we have here another substratum: that of the ex-Dravidians of North India [Sindh-Gujarat], for instance?" (p.483, n.639) Yet, he has said relatively little about specifically Harappan contributions, eventhough these should logically have made a much larger impact. After all, the Harappans were more numerous, more advanced and more literate than the Mundas, and it is in their territory that the invading Aryans settled before scouting around in the then peripheral and relatively backward Munda-speaking region.

To be sure, Sergent devotes a chapter to the Harappan heritage in Hindu civilization. Thus, the weights and measures found in Lothal are the same ones which Kautilya has defined in his Arthashastra. (p.113) Personally, I would add that apart from being an important fact in itself, this continuity may also be symptomatic for a profounder continuity pertaining to fundamental cultural traits. Thus, the same search for standardization visible in the decimal measurements and in the orderly geometrical lay-out of the Harappan cities is evident in the rigorous structure of the Vedic hymns; in the attempt in the later Vedic literature to categorize all types of phenomena in neat little systems (from verbal conjugation classes listed by the grammarians through the Manu Smrti's artificial genealogy of the occupational castes in society to the Kama Sutra's varieties of sexual intercourse); and in the laborious ritual and architectonic details laid down in Brahminical texts for the proper construction of Vedic altars.

Sergent correctly notes that statuettes of mother goddesses have been found in large numbers in the Harappan cities, that mother goddesses are equally common in popular Hinduism, and that these are very uncommon in the historic IE religions. He also adds that in Europe, mother goddesses originated in the neolithic Old European culture, and remained popular all through the IE Pagan period to be picked up for christianization as Our Lady, suggesting a parallel: in India like in Europe, the popular pre-IE mother goddess survived and even asserted itself against the male-dominated IE official religion.

But clearly, IE religion was not hostile to the goddess cult: when the Church sought to win over the devout by accepting their goddess worship in a christianized form, most of Europe had been IE-speaking for several thousand years. All memory of a pre-IE period had vanished, yet these Celts and Romans and Germans venerated goddesses. In their mythologies, goddesses played only a supporting act, but this is the same situation as in Puranic Hinduism, in which goddess worship is widespread eventhough most myths have the male gods in the starring roles. It is like in real life: men need to dramatize their importance with all kinds of heroism, women simply are important without making such fuss over it. The Virgin Mary is by far the most popular Catholic saint, still present on every rural street corner around my village, much more popular than Jesus and His Father, yet the parts about her in the New Testament and the stories confabulated about her are very few. Therefore, our view of IE religion may be distorted by the fact that we rely on textual sources and myths, which belong to the public and official part of the religion; while by contrast, of Harappan religion we only have cult objects, showing us religion as it was lived by the people.

Sergent mentions the association of gods with animals as their respective "vehicle" (vahana: Vishnu's eagle, Shiva's bull, Saraswati's swan etc.) as an element of Hinduism which is commonly attributed to the pre-Aryan Harappans. But he minimizes this contribution, pointing out that such associated animals are common throughout the IE pantheon, e.g. Athena with her owl, Wodan with his raven, Jupiter who can appear as an eagle, Poseidon as a horse, Demeter as a cow. (p.115) In one case, the correspondence is even more exact: like Hindu goddess Saranyu (mother of the Ashwins), Celtic goddess Epona is imagined as either mare or rider.

Several more astronomy-based amendments to IE customs are mentioned as effects of Harappan influence, e.g. the fixation of the goddess festival (which existed in other parts of the IE world as well -- see that the Indo-Europeans had goddess cults of their own?) at the autumnal equinox. Very significant is the "stellar vestment": the shirt worn by the famous Harappan "priest-king" shows little three-petaled designs (also in evidence on other Harappan depictions), which Sergent, following Parpola, interprets as depictions of stars, exactly like in the scriptural description of the tarpya coat which the king must wear at some point in the Rajasuya ceremony. (p.121, with reference to Asko Parpola: Deciphering the Indus Script, p.201-218) In post-Harappan centuries, Mesopotamian kings are known to have worn such stellar vestments, and the China court ritual was likewise full of celestial symbolism.

What we see happening in the Harappan period is that a particular IE culture transforms itself under the impact of the florescence of what I would call a first scientific revolution; there is no indication of a foreign impact. Sergent has the facts under his own eyes without realizing their significance: "Shiva, Varuna, Yama, Durga-Parvati, we already said it, are deities of IE origin, the rituals concerning fire, soma and the person of the king are equally of IE if not Indo-Iranian origin. But it is now obvious that the Indo-Aryans, upon arriving in India, have amply harvested the Harappan heritage and included its ritual customs (construction of hearth-altars, rites inside buildings, use of the stellar vestment, ritual baths, fixation of feasts on the stellar equinoxes...) in their own religion." (p.124) Well, building facilities had been vastly improved, astronomical knowledge had been developed, so these innovations are not a matter of syncretism, merely of material and intellectual progress.

What more continuity was there? Apart from numerous material items, we note Harappan depictions of men wearing a tuft of hair on their backheads like Brahmins do, and of women wearing anklets. Some pictures suggest the notion of the "third eye". Most importantly, the Harappan people have remained in place: "the Italian anthropologist has emphasized not only that the skulls of Mohenjo Daro resemble those of today's Sindh and those of Harappa resemble those of today's Panjab, but even that the individual variability is identical today to what it was four thousand years ago." (p.128, quoting Mario Cappieri: "Ist die Indus-Kultur und ihre Bevölkerung wirklich verschwunden?", Anthropos 60:22, 1965, p.22)

Though Sergent considers it exaggerated to say that "the Indus civilization is still alive today", I would comment that it is not very exaggerated. (p.128; the quoted phrase, which Sergent dismisses in footnote 146, p.425, as "a Hindu nationalist myth", is from Dharma Pal Agrawal: L'Archéologie de l'Inde, CNRS, Paris 1986, p.2) But the point for now is that we really have seen very little evidence of the incorporation in Vedic tradition of elements which are foreign to it and which are traceable to the Harappan civilization. Compared with the limited but very definite list of items borrowed by Hindu tradition from cultures of East-Asian origin, the harvest in the case of the Harappan contribution is of a different type, larger but murkier. In spite of the ample archaeological material (quite in contrast with the zero objects identified as Vedic-age Austro-Asiatic), we don't get to see a sequence of "now it's in Harappa, and now it enters Vedic tradition". We don't get to see that clear contrast between Harappan and Vedic which most scholars have taken for granted. What we see is on the one hand plenty of elements which are simply in common between the Vedic and Harappan cultures, and on the other certain late-Vedic innovations which match the Harappan data and which constitute a departure from the common IE heritage: they are perfectly explainable through internal developments, particularly in proto-scientific knowledge and material control of the environment.

6. Conclusion

Bernard Sergent has written a book of incomparable erudition to narrate the genesis of the "composite culture" of Hinduism from what to him are the separate sources of Harappan, Dravidian, Indo-European and Austro-Asiatic elements. As part of this effort, he has tried to pinpoint the arrival of the Indo-Aryans in India, and this attempt has become the heroic failure of his book. Even in his two fields of expertise, he has not succeeded in finding decisive evidence for the Aryan invasion: in archaeology, he has not shown where a Bactrian or otherwise foreign culture crossed the Indus into India (indeed, the one entry he identifies as the Indo-Aryan invasion doesn't get farther than Pirak in Baluchistan); and in physical anthropology, he has not been able to identify an immigration wave coinciding with the supposed aryanization of northwestern India.

In comparative religion and mythology, he has thrown a few interesting challenges to non-invasionists, giving them some homework to do in fact-finding as well as in interpreting the data. But here too, he has not presented any insurmountable difficulties for a noninvasionist reading of the Harappan and Vedic information. On the contrary, many bits of information which he has either discovered or synthesized from secondary sources actually add substance to the emerging outlines of a non-invasionist version of ancient Indian and Indo-European history. For once the trite reviewer's phrase fully applies: one need not agree with Sergent's position, but his work is highly thought-provoking and bound to stimulate further research.

This is a shorter version of a chapter of Koenraad Elst's new book: Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate, Aditya Prakashan, Delhi.

 

 

« Sarkozy sous BHL » : une grenade dégoupillée dans la cour de l'Elysée !

« Sarkozy sous BHL » : une grenade dégoupillée dans la cour de l'Elysée !

Interview de Roland Dumas et Jacques Vergès

Propos recueillis par Gilles Munier

Il y a quelque chose de pourri au royaume de France ! On attendait les révélations de Saif al-islam sur le financement de la campagne présidentielle de Nicolas Sarkozy par la Libye... À la place, on a eu droit, sur le même sujet, à la relance de l'affaire Bettencourt, le scandale politico-fiscal de la principale actionnaire de la société L'Oréal, puis à un déluge de révélations sur la remise de valises de billets en provenance de présidents africains, par l'entremise de l'avocat de la Françafrique Robert Bourgi (l'un des dénonciateurs, qui reconnaît avoir porté des valises) à des hommes politiques français, toutes tendances confondues. Dans cette atmosphère de fin de règne, on lira avec délectation le pamphlet de Jacques Vergès et Roland Dumas qui connaissent bien les dessous crapuleux du renversement du colonel Kadhafi. Un pamphlet à lire d'une traite*. 

Afrique Asie : « Sarkozy sous BHL », le pamphlet que vous venez de publier, est une volée de bois vert contre le pouvoir de l'argent en politique. Pouvoir et argent ont toujours cohabité, sauf peut-être dans certains pays socialistes. Qu'apporte de nouveau la présidence Sarkozy dans ce domaine ? 

Roland Dumas : Le pouvoir de l'argent a toujours existé. Au travers des siècles. Dans tous les régimes. Il est triste de voir une grande démocratie ou « prétendue telle » comme la République française, être en proie à un phénomène aujourd'hui décuplé. 

Les révélations qui sortent chaque jour sont édifiantes à ce sujet mais la « France Afrique » n'est pas simplement un problème d'argent et de valises de billets. C'est aussi une méthode qui nous ramène des siècles en arrière et qui repose sur des actions militaires, en bref, sur le colonialisme : « Un régime vous déplaît, on le change, on en installe un autre ». Peut-on dire que c'est là le progrès ? 

Jacques Vergès : Ce que la présidence Sarkozy apporte de nouveau dans les relations entre pouvoir et argent est l'hypertrophie du rôle de l'argent sale et de la corruption qui s'ensuit, faisant de la République française une République bananière. Ses relations avec les pays africains et arabes ne se font plus à travers des diplomates mais à travers des affairistes douteux. 

Afrique Asie : Vous vous en prenez à « Lévy d'Arabie »... BHL. Est-ce la première fois, sous la République, qu'un intellectuel détient publiquement un tel pouvoir? Peut-on comparer son influence à celle de Jacques Attali sur François Mitterrand ou de Marie-France Garaud sur Georges Pompidou puis Jacques Chirac ? 

Jacques Vergès : On ne peut comparer les rôles discrets de M. Attali auprès du président Mitterrand ou de Madame Garaud auprès de Georges Pompidou avec le rôle de M. Lévy auprès de Sarkozy qui est un rôle de décideur. Le président Sarkozy entérine les conciliabules de M. Lévy avec des émissaires libyens dans les hôtels parisiens. 

Roland Dumas : C'est sans doute la première fois qu'un intellectuel aussi médiocre que M. Bernard-Henry Lévy joue un rôle aussi important dans la République. On ne peut le comparer ni à Jacques Attali qui était une institution dans la République ou à Marie-France Garaud qui disposait d'une relation personnelle avec Georges Pompidou. La situation insolite de M. BHL ne relève ni d'un cas ni d'un autre. Il n'est rien dans la République. Il s'impose. Il virevolte. Il joue les « mouches du coche ». 

Afrique Asie : En Libye, le CNT occupe Tripoli. Qu'en est-il de la plainte que vous comptiez déposer accusant Nicolas Sarkozy de crime de guerre ? 

Jacques Vergès : Cette plainte attend que M. Sarkozy ne soit plus à même d'empêcher cette plainte de suivre son cours. 

Afrique Asie : Après la Libye, Sarkozy menace la Syrie et l'Iran. Où s'arrêtera-t-il ? 

Jacques Vergès : M. Sarkozy est irresponsable, il est capable désormais de toutes les folies à moins que le peuple français ne lui passe une camisole de force auparavant. 

Roland Dumas : C'est cela qui nous inquiète. Les menaces contre la Syrie sont précises. Elles sont sérieuses. Les menaces contre l'Iran existent. On a l'impression que tout est fait pour embraser le Proche-Orient. A quoi cela correspond-il ? On peut se le demander. Je ne peux séparer la situation actuelle de ce qui se passe à l'ONU au sujet des Palestiniens. 

L'humanité se déshonore en laissant tomber le peuple palestinien qui est raisonnable, paisible et ne demande pour lui que ce que les israéliens ont obtenu pour eux-mêmes. 

Afrique Asie : Après le renversement de Saddam Hussein, de Laurent Gbagbo et du colonel Kadhafi, ne sommes-nous pas en définitive en train d'assister à un retour accéléré du colonialisme ? 

Roland Dumas : Tout à fait. Nous assistons à un retour, non seulement accéléré mais amplifié, démultiplié du colonialisme avec des moyens énormes. Saura-t-on un jour le coût des campagnes de l'Afghanistan et de la Libye ? Le peuple français a le droit de savoir. Au moment où tout le monde s'agite autour de la crise, n'est-il pas raisonnable de poser la question du coût de guerres inutiles et monstrueuses ? 

Jacques Vergès : C'est évident que la politique de M. Sarkozy marque un retour du colonialisme à un moment où la France et l'Occident en général n'en ont plus les moyens. Il peut renverser les gouvernements mais ne peut assurer l'ordre ensuite. 

Afrique Asie : Pensez-vous que l'Algérie soit sur la liste des « pays à casser » ? 

Roland Dumas : Pourquoi pas. Le contentieux entre la France et l'Algérie est durable. Quand vous imaginez que les Français n'ont pas encore souscrit à la proposition de négociations avec l'Algérie sur un contrat d'amitié, parce que trop de blessures sont encore saignantes... Tout est à craindre pour l'Algérie, mais ce sera pour M. Sarkozy un autre « morceau »...

Notes

* Lire « Bonnes feuilles » dans Afrique Asie d'octobre 2011 

** « Sarkozy sous BHL », par Roland Dumas et Jacques Vergès (Ed. Pierre-Guillaume de Roux) - 126 pages - 13,90 euros 

Source Afrique Asie via Vox NR cliquez ici et NDP Ile-de-France cliquez là

 

Krantenkoppen - Oktober 2011 (3)

Krantenkoppen

 

Oktober 2011 (3)

 

PUTIN'S RETURN MARKS RUSSIA'S GEOSTRATEGIC SHIFT:

‎"That Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin plan to switch positions in March is being portrayed by the international press in terms of personal relations between the 2 men. (...) Reducing Russian policy to these 2 figures is a ploy by the corporate media to hide what is really at stake: the recovery of Russia’s energy sovereignty and its military rapprochement with (...) China":
http://www.voltairenet.org/Putin-s-return-marks-Russia-s

 

 

NEXT STOP IS PAKISTAN:

‎"Washington’s priority is seizing Pakistan’s nuclear booty (....). The only obstacle remaining was to create an environment acceptable to world public opinion that would justify a multinational intervention in Pakistan. Over the past year and a half, Washington has been attempting to do just that through a crescendo of uninterrupted provocations":
http://www.voltairenet.org/Next-Stop-is-Pakistan

 

 

LES BANQUES PROGRAMMENT LA CRISE POUR GAGNER AVEC ELLE:

‎"C’est une guerre entre factions, qui ne se définissent pas nécessairement par des limites géographiques. Il y a une ligne de banques étatuniennes et britanniques d’un côté, qui se disputent les affaires avec les principales banques européennes de l’autre. Mais en même temps il y a une grande banque française plus liée aux capitaux anglo-américains, et d’autres nord-américaines liées au capital européen":
http://www.legrandsoir.info/les-banques-programment-la-crise-pour-gagner-avec-elle-pagina-12.

 

 

DEXIA EN HET WERELDWIJDE PIRAMIDESPEL:

‎"De bibliografie van Charles Ponzi zou standaardlectuur moeten zijn, want een Ponzischema of piramidespel is tot een kunst verheven in de huidige westerse wereld. Een schema waarbij de beloften groter zijn dan de mogelijkheden. (...) Charles Ponzi zou een verdiende winnaar van de Nobelprijs economie zijn, nu het ook postuum kan, want de wereld is een Ponzi-economie geworden.
Het banksysteem zoals het zich in de afgelopen 30 jaar heeft ontwikkeld, is daar een voorbeel...d van. Een groot piramidespel gebaseerd op onhoudbare beloften. Een groeiende massa kredieten verleend aan gezinnen, bedrijven en landen. Het Grote Ponzischema is steeds op zoek naar de volgende gezonde balans om zijn niet aflatende vraatzucht naar goed geld te stillen. In Angelsaksische landen werden de gezinsbalansen vergiftigd. Toen dit potentieel was opgebruikt, ging Ponzi globaal. Verpakt met een strikje werden de schulden aangeboden in onaangetaste sparende landen. Deze Ponzi had veel handlangers nodig maar vond die gemakkelijk in de sector, mits het schuiven van wat penningen. De overheden knepen een oogje toe, misleid door de 'economische groei' van MegaPonzi, tenminste volgens hun statistici. (...)
Dexia is maar een episode in dit verhaal, maar wel erg een exemplarische. De opgebouwde piramide van wankele beloften, dubieuze kwaliteit en gestolde hebzucht werd deskundig opgebouwd door een groot aantal architecten in het afgelopen decennium. Nu wordt de staat en de centrale bank gevraagd dit vergif tot zich te nemen. Meer nog, er is zelfs geen schroom om het toxische aan de burgers en de centrale bank te laten, en te vragen om mede-eigenaar te mogen blijven van het gezonde":
http://www.demorgen.be/dm/nl/2461/De-Gedachte/article/detail/1329656/2011/10/06/Dexia-en-het-wereldwijde-piramidespel.dhtml

 

 

CHE GUEVARA EN HET SOCIALISME VAN DE 21ste EEUW:

‎"Na de overwinning was [Che Guevara] één van de belangrijkste architecten van de nieuwe uit te bouwen socialistische economie. Hij deed heel wat grondig en theoretisch studiewerk en ging daarbij in debat met toenmalige marxistische topeconomen. (...)
Guevara herinterpreteerde Marx op een verfrissende wijze vanuit de traditie en strijdervaringen van Latijns-Amerika en wees daarbij op het belang van het bewustzijn, de ethiek en de cultuur voor de uitbouw van het socialisme. Hij schuwde het debat niet en gaf een scherpe kritische analyse van het ‘reëel bestaand socialisme’ en dat op een moment dat Cuba sterk was aangewezen op de Sovjet-Unie voor militaire en economische steun. Hij rebelleerde tegen het gevaar van de bureaucratie en sluipende kapitalistische elementen in de economie. Hij pleitte voor een sterke en bewuste betrokkenheid van de arbeider in het productieproces en opteerde voor een echte en effectieve basisdemocratie":
http://www.dewereldmorgen.be/artikels/2011/06/14/che-guevara-en-het-socialisme-van-de-21ste-eeuw

 

 

THOMAS SANKARA: DE AFRIKAANSE CHE STIERF OP 15 OKTOBER 1987:

‎"Afrika zou onbekwaam zijn om verantwoordelijke leiders voort te brengen. (...)Tenminste, dat is wat de massamedia van de oude koloniale mogendheden je willen wijsmaken. (...)
[Sankara] heeft nooit een kans gekregen om zich te bewijzen. Daar is maar één reden voor: het rijke Westen hield niet van het programma waar Sankara en consoorten voor stonden. Ze dienden de belangen van de vroegere kolonisatoren niet. De komende 15 oktober zullen de Europese massamedia geen hoofdartikels verspillen aan Thomas Sankara, misschien een paar lijnen op de achterpagina's met enkele neerbuigende commentaren. Voor miljoenen Afrikanen blijft Sankara echter onverminderd een held, de Afrikaanse 'Che'.
Dat er geen verantwoordelijk Afrikaans leiderschap zou bestaan, is een mythe. Dat het Westen verantwoordelijk Afrikaans leiderschap heeft genekt, is een realiteit." ":
http://www.dewereldmorgen.be/artikels/2011/10/10/thomas-sankara-de-afrikaanse-che-stierf-op-15-oktober-1987

 

 

GADDAFI'S MESSAGE: "DONT'T GIVE UP!"

‎"All the people in Libya, all true Libyans will never surrender to the invaders and the colonizers. We will fight for our freedom and we are willing to sacrifice more. (...) I call on all Libyan people to go out and march in their millions in every square, in every city, in every village. Go peacefully and go with pride. Be courageous, rise up, go forth! Forward! Go to the streets and raise our Green Flag to the skies.
Even if there comes a time when you don’t hear my voice anymore, don’t stop fighting. Don’t panic. Don’t give up. Keep fighting for your freedom till victory arrives!":
http://americanfront.info/2011/10/10/gaddafis-message-dont-give-up/

 

 

RAMPZALIGE HUMANITAIRE SITUATIE IN LIBIE:

‎"In Tripoli gaan de gevechten tussen de rebellen, die gesteund worden door de NAVO, en strijders (...) van Kolonel Kadaffi door. Er is een massale staking uitgebroken en er vinden massaal arrestaties plaats.
In Sirte heerst een totale humane catastrofe. Er zijn zeker 4.000 burgers gedood door de bombardementen. Het Groene Verzet houdt de CIA en Al Qaida-strijders, die door het Westen rebellen worden genoemd, buiten. (...) Er is een enorm gebrek aan voedsel en medicijnen, terwijl er zich 150.000 burgers in Sirte bevinden. Honderden rebellen kwamen om bij de aanvallen op Sirte":
http://nicodegeit.wordpress.com/2011/10/10/rampzalige-humanitaire-situatie-in-libie/

 

 

SIRTE: 200 DEAD FOR 1 MINUTE TV VICTORY:

‎"A massive storm on Sirte resulted in the brief occupation of a University Campus and Hospital in the South Eastern Suburbs. After the battle raged back and forth all day, a massive counter attack that left 200 TNC-fighters dead and countless wounded was enough for Mahmud Jibril, who is pulling the fighters (...) out of the battle":
http://nsnbc.wordpress.com/2011/10/10/sirte-200-dead-for-1-minute-tv-victory-jibril-withdraws-tnc-fighters-from-sirte/

 

 

LES RAISONS DU GENOCIDE DE SYRTE:

‎"Syrt (...) est située à proximité du (...) principal champ pétrolifère de la Libye. Ras Lanouf est à proximité aussi et, c’est la plus grande raffinerie de pétrole du pays (220 000 barils/jour) soit les 2 tiers de la capacité de raffinage de la Libye. Là se situe en réalité le coeur de la guerre, la reprise du fonctionnement en toute sécurité de cette raffinerie":
http://allainjules.com/2011/10/10/libye-les-raisons-du-genocide-de-syrte/

 

 

LIBIE: LOYALISTEN WINNEN OVERAL TERREIN:

‎"De rebellen zijn op verschillende plaatsen onderling slaags geraakt. Onbevestigde berichten komen binnen over de mogelijke dood van rebellenleider Bel Haj.
In Misrata vechten de rebellen onderling over een lading wapens. (...) De rebellen die vanuit het oosten Sirte probeerden binnen te dringen, werden teruggedreven de woestijn in. Zeker 300 rebellen kwamen daarbij om het leven en er werden 9 tanks vernietigd. Veel wapens werden buitgemaakt op de rebellen. De rebellen aan het oostfront in Sirte werden door loyalisten in de rug aangevallen waardoor onrust onder de rebellen ontstond.
In Zawijah, waar de groene vlag wappert, arriveerde versterking uit Bani Walid":
http://nicodegeit.wordpress.com/2011/10/09/libie-loyalisten-winnen-overal-terrein/

 

 

YOUTUBE VERWIJDERT FILMPJES OORLOGSMISDADEN NAVO:

‎"De NAVO doet veel moeite om te voorkomen dat berichten rond oorlogsmisdaden die door hen worden begaan naar buiten komen. Alle voorzieningen om te communiceren vanuit het oorlogsgebied worden door de NAVO structureel gebombardeerd of op andere wijze verstoord. Berichten die toch naar buiten komen worden alsnog gecensureerd door internetbedrijven als Youtube":
http://nicodegeit.wordpress.com/2011/10/07/youtube-verwijdert-filmpjes-oorlogsmisdaden-navo/

 

 

FRANSE KATHOLIEKEN WOEDEND OVER EERBETOON AAN LESBISCHE FILOSOFE:

‎"Tot woede van demonstranten die haar achteraf uitjouwden, heeft de universiteit Bordeaux-III 'Michel de Montaigne' woensdag de Amerikaanse filosofe, lesbienne en joodse feministe Judith Butler geëerd (...) tot doctor honoris causa (...). Butler heeft het eredoctoraat te danken aan haar gender-studies":
http://www.katholieknieuwsblad.nl/nieuws/item/1098-franse-katholieken-woedend-over-eerbewijs-aan-lesbische-filosofe.html

 

 

CHAVEZ WIL NIEUW KARTEL VAN 4 OF 5 OLIESUPERMACHTEN:

‎"Chavez wil een kartel van 4 of 5 oliesupermachten oprichten dat parallel opereert naast de Opec. (...) Volgens Chavez zijn zowel Rusland als Venezuela 2 van ‘s werelds superproducenten en kan zo’n superkartel naast de Opec bestaan. (...) Venezuela (...) is ‘s werelds op 7 na grootste olieproducent (...) [wiens] bewezen reserves met 300 miljard vaten nu groter zijn dan die van Saoedi-Arabië":
http://www.express.be/sectors/nl/energy/chavez-wil-nieuw-kartel-van-4-of-5-oliesupermachten/153854.htm

 

 

DE AMERIKAANSE NACHTMERRIE: HELFT VS LEEFT VAN STAATSSSTEUN:
[In] het eerste kwartaal van 2010 (...) bleek dat 48,5 % van de [Amerikaanse] bevolking in een gezin leeft dat door de staat geholpen wordt":
http://www.demorgen.be/dm/nl/990/Buitenland/article/detail/1330075/2011/10/06/De-Amerikaanse-nachtmerrie-helft-VS-leeft-van-staatssteun.dhtml

 

Civilisations en collisions

Civilisations en collisions

par Georges FELTIN-TRACOL

En 1993, l’universitaire étatsunien Samuel P. Huntington publiait dans la revue d’inspiration mondialiste Foreign Affairs un article intitulé « The Clash of Civilizations ? » qui se voulait une réponse réaliste à la théorie idéaliste avancée en 1989 par Francis Fukuyama sur Le dernier homme et la fin de l’Histoire. Trois ans plus tard, Samuel P. Huntington développait son analyse dans un essai roboratif intitulé Le choc des civilisations. Loin de clore l’histoire, l’achèvement de la Guerre froide ouvrait le monde sur de nouvelles fractures identitaires et civilisationnelles. Le concept fut rapidement repris et simplifié, voire déprécié dans son acception, en le réduisant à la seule confrontation entre l’Islam et l’Occident euro-atlantique. Rares furent les commentaires prévenant que le débat Huntington – Fukuyama s’inscrivait dans le vaste champ intellectuel aux contours indistincts du néo-conservatisme étatsunien…

En 2009, le géopoliticien français Aymeric Chauprade réexaminait cette notion huntingtonienne dans un livre consacré aux enjeux actuels. Étudiant en priorité les suites du 11 septembre 2001, il avait l’honnêteté d’y exposer – sans nullement les approuver – des versions alternatives à la thèse officielle qui accuse Ben Laden et Al-Qaïda d’être les responsables des attaques. Un médiocre plumitif d’une feuille de chou quelconque accusa alors Aymeric Chauprade de « négationnisme » et obtint son renvoi immédiat du Collège interarmées de Défense par le ministre de la Défense d’alors, Hervé Morin, ineffable responsable d’un groupuscule politique au nom de secte et pilier de l’ambassade U.S. à Paris. Cette éviction a été cassée par la justice sans qu’il y ait pour l’instant la moindre réintégration.

Une réédition bienvenue

Les Éditions Chronique viennent de rééditer Chronique du choc des civilisations d’Aymeric Chauprade avec un texte fortement renouvelé, revu et corrigé. D’une dimension respectable et doté de magnifiques photographies et d’excellentes cartes qui assoient son exposé, l’ouvrage, très pédagogique, ne peut que satisfaire les décrypteurs avisés du monde.

Attention néanmoins de ne pas se méprendre ! Chauprade ne paraphrase pas, ni ne reprend ou ne vulgarise Huntington. Il expose un point de vue différent. Ainsi, à l’encontre du célèbre professeur, Chauprade dénombre une quinzaine de civilisations (anglo-saxonne, océanienne, européenne, est-européenne orthodoxe, arabo-musulmane, irano-musulmane, turco-musulmane, latino-américaine, etc.). Il ne réduit pas non plus en un choc unique des civilisations l’antagonisme islamo-occidental. Nous entrons dans l’ère des chocs des civilisations.

Ses démonstrations géopolitiques se déploient en dix chapitres, plus ou moins longs. Certes, il y a un choc entre l’Islam et l’Occident américanocentré moderne. Mais perdure aussi l’affrontement féroce, interne à l’islam, entre les sunnites et les chiites. L’« Islamérique » est par ailleurs en guerre occulte contre l’Europe. L’Oncle Sam veut en outre contenir la renaissance chinoise et empêcher la montée en puissance d’une Amérique latine enfin affranchie de sa tutelle. Quant à l’Islam, il s’oppose à l’hindouisme, à la Chine et au bouddhisme (le séparatisme islamiste des régions méridionales de la Thaïlande par exemple).

Tous ces événements témoignent des heurts civilisationnels passés, en cours ou à venir. Toutefois, « l’histoire ne se réduit pas au choc des civilisations ! prévient Chauprade. Point de caricature ici, ou de simplification historique. Il y a le choc des peuples et des États, le choc des grandes figures humaines, et aussi le choc des économies. […] Il y a bien un univers mental de la civilisation, touchant à la conscience populaire, et cet univers mental est l’un des moteurs essentiels de l’histoire (p. huit) ».

Plaidant en faveur de relations diplomatiques multipolaires, l’auteur remarque qu’une « guerre, de dimension planétaire, entre les forces de la multipolarité et celles de l’unipolarité, se déchaîne dans tous les compartiments de l’affrontement de puissance, du contrôle des ressources stratégiques jusqu’au contrôle de l’information, en passant par le redécoupage des frontières étatiques, la guerre des monnaies (statut du dollar), les fonds souverains… (p. 13) ». Puissance sur le déclin avec une économie au ralenti, un surendettement gigantesque, une paupérisation grandissant des classes moyennes et une hispanisation croissante, véritable Reconquista pour le Mexique dans les prochaines décennies, les États-Unis « ont compris que la roue de l’histoire est en train de tourner à leur désavantage. Les guerres qu’ils déclenchent visent à briser l’ascension de rivaux qu’ils voient naître à l’orient. À défaut d’imposer un ordre mondial américain, ils créeront le désordre sur le chemin de leurs ennemis (p. 11) ». Leurs actions sont multiples : militaires bien sûr, politiques et économiques évidemment, mais aussi culturelles et spirituelles. Aymeric Chauprade, à la suite de Thomas Molnar (1), évoque la « “ protestantisation ” du catholicisme américain [qui] ne passe pas seulement par un ralliement à un messianisme d’essence puritaine, il se traduit concrètement dans la pratique religieux : autant par l’affaiblissement progressif du rôle de la messe et du clergé au profit de petites communautés catholiques “ autogérées ”, que par la participation croissante de catholiques à des offices pentecôtistes (conséquence logique de l’œcuménisme prôné par Vatican II), par exemple (p. 245) ». Il souligne l’importance du rôle politique des sectes néo-protestantes d’émanation étatsunienne (pentecôtisme et évangélismes) en Amérique latine, en Afrique, en Asie et en Europe de l’Est. « La “ théologie de la prospérité ”, dont elles sont les propagatrices, a remplacé la “ théologie de la libération ” du temps de la Guerre froide : elle bâtit des temples, investit des universités et des chaînes de télévision, et exploite la détresse qui suit les catastrophes naturelles (cyclones, glissements de terrain et tremblements de terre ont durement frappé les pays d’Amérique centrale ces trente dernières années) (p. 243). »

De l’« État profond » étatsunien

Ces menées déstabilisatrices ne sont pas à imputer qu’aux seuls néo-conservateurs belligènes, mais aussi et surtout aux instances qui les soutiennent et les financent : l’« État profond ». Reprenant une terminologie en vigueur en Turquie, « par “ État profond ”, les dissidents entendent une structure de gouvernement à la fois invisible (par rapport à l’administration officielle) et continue (qui survit aux changements de président), rassemblant des éléments et des moyens du Pentagone, de la C.I.A. et du F.B.I., des sociétés militaires privées et, plus globalement, du complexe militaro-financier américain (p. 13) ». Cet « État profond » ne fait pas le deuil de son hégémonie planétaire évanouie. Déjà, la Chine, la Russie et l’Iran ont brisé la vieille « doctrine Monroe » en s’associant avec le Brésil, le Venezuela et d’autres États ibéro-américains. Contre cette chute inéluctable, l’« État profond » yankee favorise et encourage des diversions parmi lesquelles le regain de l’islamisme. C’est risqué ! Chauprade juge en effet qu’« à côté d’un altermondialisme stérile, car privé d’une puissance qui le soutienne, l’islamisme apparaît bel et bien comme le seul véritable internationalisme révolutionnaire (p. 19) », ce qui n’empêche pas Washington et ses affidés européens (Sarközy et Cameron) de s’acoquiner avec les franges les plus extrémistes du sunnisme salafiste et djihadiste. L’agression contre la Libye réactive cette vieille connivence « islamo-américaine » mâtinée à Benghazi et à Tripoli d’une horrible négrophobie de la part d’un pseudo-gouvernement rebelle croupion sans soulever l’indignation des belles âmes… Plus que jamais, O.T.A.N. et Al-Qaïda mènent le même combat !

Dans un entretien roboratif accordé à Flash, aujourd’hui disparu, Aymeric Chauprade n’hésite pas à proclamer : « Maintenant, ce qui fait sens, c’est distinguer les États-Unis de l’Europe. L’Europe est une vieille civilisation aujourd’hui asservie par la géopolitique américaine. Les signes de notre libération sont là. Nous avons deux grandes révoltes à mener : contre les États-Unis et contre l’immigration de peuplement qui est en train de submerger nos vieux peuples (2) ». Il y oublie une troisième révolte à fomenter contre les banques et les financiers rapaces de l’hyper-classe.

Chronique du choc des civilisations fourmille d’informations précieuses. On y trouve la carte (p. 31) d’un nouveau Moyen-Orient redessiné suivant les rêves déments des États-Unis qui parient sur une balkanisation généralisée. Chauprade rappelle que « contrairement à une idée répandue, les talibans n’ont jamais lutté contre l’opium. Ils ont interdit le haschich car il est consommé localement par des musulmans. Mais ils ont encouragé la production et l’exportation de l’héroïne afin de “ pourrir ” les “ Kafir ” (mécréants) occidentaux (p. 47) ». Il révèle des phases méconnues de la vie de Hassan Nasrallah, le secrétaire général du Hezbollah libanais. « Formé militairement en Corée du Nord à la toute fin de la Guerre froide, il gardera des liens étroits avec ce pays, comme la guerre de l’été 2006 l’a montré (ce sont en effet des conseillers nord-coréens qui ont préparé les miliciens chiites à la guerre souterraine) (p. 156). » La Corée du Nord, cette incroyable stratocratie qui continue à tenir tête à l’Abomination yankee !

On pourrait continuer les citations tant cet ouvrage est dense. On sait en revanche mieux pourquoi « depuis le 11 septembre 2001, les États-Unis ont repris la main sur l’histoire et sont engagés dans une vaste opération d’endiguement des forces multipolaires (Chine, Russie, Iran, Venezuela, Brésil…) (p. 13) ».

Pendant ce temps, les Européens s’enfoncent dans les délices de Capoue et dissertent à satiété sur le sexe des anges postmodernistes, c’est-à-dire la discrimination positive, la diversité ethnique et autres joyeusetés sociétales. Avec le réalisme qu’on lui connaît, Aymeric Chauprade se garde bien d’invoquer l’axe fantôme (et illusoire ?) Paris – Berlin – Moscou, surtout avec une Allemagne qui perd chaque jour des habitants alors que sa population extra-européenne est en croissance constante : « Berlin n’est-elle pas la troisième ville turque dans le monde, s’interroge Dmitri Rogozine ? (3) ». L’Allemagne d’aujourd’hui a définitivement accepté le lavage de cerveau collectif commencé il y a soixante-cinq ans par Washington. Il est clair que le pays d’Angela Merkel joue contre l’idée européenne au nom de ses intérêts consuméristes à court et moyen terme (d’où l’alliance énergétique avec la Russie et l’abandon de la filière nucléaire) et de ses puissants liens transatlantiques. « L’Union européenne devra-t-elle être la seule construction privée d’histoire ? (p. 29) ». Il faut le craindre avec, toutefois, l’espoir d’un sursaut possible dans des circonstances exceptionnelles.

Aymeric Chauprade ne verse pas dans le pessimisme. Pour lui, « l’affirmation islamique en terre d’islam comme à l’intérieur de l’Europe (immigration massive) pourrait néanmoins conduire de plus en plus d’Européens à considérer que l’enjeu identitaire est l’enjeu vital du XXIe siècle (p. 29) ». Il ne cache pas que « ce combat est essentiel; pour que l’Europe ne devienne jamais la périphérie soumise d’une Asie hyperpuissance ou que les filles de France n’aient pas à craindre demain la rigueur d’une police “ du vice et de la vertu ” (p. huit) ». Chronique du choc des civilisations établit un panorama passionnant des fractures de notre temps et en dessine les prochaines. Voilà un ouvrage indispensable pour saisir l’histoire en marche.

Georges Feltin-Tracol

Notes

1 : Thomas Molnar, « Où va l’Amérique impériale ? », dans Études, n° 1, tome 384, janvier 1996.

2 : « Comment les attentats du 11 septembre 2001 ont changé le monde… », entretien avec Aymeric Chauprade, dans Flash, n° 74, 8 septembre 2011.

3 : « L’O.T.A.N. refuse de surmonter l’héritage de la Guerre froide », entretien avec Dmitri Rogozine, dans Le Figaro, 17 et 18 septembre 2011.

Aymeric Chauprade, Chronique du choc des civilisations. Du 11 septembre au printemps arabe, actualité, analyses géopolitiques et cartes pour comprendre le monde, Éditions Chronique – Éditions de Noyelles (15 – 27, rue Moussorgski, 75018 Paris), 2011, 256 p., 31 €.

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Erwachen aus dem „amerikanischen Traum“

 

Erwachen aus dem „amerikanischen Traum“

Helmut Mueller

 

 

 

Ex: http://helmutmueller.wordpress.com/

Vor bald einem Jahr zitierte ich an dieser Stelle den Ökonomen John Kenneth Galbreith der „das selbstmörderische  Treiben der gesellschaftlichen Hoffnungsträger und politische Ignoranz“ für den wirtschaftlichen Niedergang der USA verantwortlich gemacht hatte. Es brauchte immerhin zwei Jahrzehnte, bis sich – begünstigt durch eine inzwischen unhaltbar gewordene soziale und ökonomische Lage – diese Erkenntnisse nicht nur im Kopf der „kleinen Leute“ durchgesetzt hatte,  sondern  die Wut im Bauch auch an die Öffentlichkeit dringen konnte.                                                                                                                              

Kurz und gut: das Unbehagen war unterschwellig schon lange vorher spürbar, es fehlte nur noch der geeignete Zeitpunkt zu dessen öffentlichem Hochkommen.

Die  bisher gewaltlosen „Aufstände“ sind daher auch nicht spontan über Nacht ausgebrochen, sondern wurden schon Monate vorher geplant und wurden z. B. von der „Midwest Academy“, die  radikale Aktivisten in den Taktiken der Protestkundgebung, Zielausrichtung, Konfrontation und Einschüchterung unterrichtet“, unterstützt.                

Von Anfang an waren aber auch schon Funktionäre von Gewerkschaften und Obama nahestehende Berater, so z. B. John Podesta, der  Obama’s Team zur Regierungsübernahme (transition team) mitleitete und der dem von George Soros finanzierten „Center for American Progress“ vorsteht, eingebunden.                                    

Daß Soros, im Gegensatz zu New Yorks Bürgermeister Bloomberg, dieser ebenfalls steinreich, sich nun auf der Seite der Demonstranten findet, überrascht daher nicht.

Der eher links-liberale und teilweise regierungsnahe Führungs-Hintergrund läßt mutmaßen, daß von demokratischer Seite eine Gegenbewegung zur republikanischen „Tea-Party“ geschaffen werden sollte. Anzunehmen ist auch, daß die Studien zur „Organisation  eines gewaltfreien Widerstandes“ des Politologen Gene Sharp (hier schon einmal erwähnt), die bereits von den jungen arabischen „Revolutionären“ beachtet wurden, erstmals im eigenen Land zum Tragen kommen. Wie weit? Man wird sehen.        

Ob Ratschläge der serbischen „Otpor“-Galionsfigur Srdja Popoviv, der – bekanntlich von Sharp inspiriert -  den „arabischen Frühling“ mitgestaltete, dabei auch eine Rolle spielen,  ist mir noch nicht bekannt.

Wenn es jetzt von Teilnehmerseite heißt, „das souveräne Volk jeder Nation habe die Macht, das Recht und die Pflicht das Schicksal der Nation mitzubestimmen“, dann mag das in manchen Ohren wie ein altbekanntes Lied klingen. Aber warum sollte diese bescheidene Vorstellung plötzlich jenseits des Atlantiks eher umgesetzt werden als hierzulande, wo übrigens die Volkssouveränität noch etwas weiter gedacht wird?                                          

Starke Zweifel sind angebracht. Eher ist davon auszugehen, daß die allmächtigen Eliten im Hintergrund  diese Protestbewegung längst in andere, für sie gefahrlosere Bahnen leiten. Und daß eine idealistisch bewegte Masse, nach einigen „Bauernopfern“, wieder einmal, wie schon beim Zusammenbruch der DDR oder jetzt in Nordafrika um die Früchte der Revolution bzw. ihren Traum betrogen wird. Alles andere wäre eine Jahrhundertsensation.

Aktueller Nachtrag: Soeben vernehme ich, daß Goldman Sachs in Zukunft in die Pfefferspray-Industrie investieren wolle. Wenn das kein Scherz ist?

Anhang:

Da die außenpolitische Vorgangsweise der USA seit Anbeginn nicht ohne Auswirkungen auf die Innenpolitik bleibt, folgt hier ein entsprechend ausführlicher Anhang für daran Interessierte:

Das Imperium  USA*  und dessen Außenpolitik

Der US-Präsident gilt hochoffiziell als grundlegende Institution der Außenpolitik, die  maßgeblich vom „Council of  Foreign Relations“  (zu 30%  Geschäftsleute, der Rest Diplomaten, Ex-Präsidenten, Universitätsprofessoren und Spitzenjournalisten) und weiteren „Think-Tanks“ gestaltet wird. Diese stehen ebenfalls nicht nur dem Außenministerium  bzw. der Regierung nahe, sondern vorwiegend auch den Konzernen und der Hochfinanz.

Offizielle oberste Priorität einer US-Regierung: Etablierung und Sicherung von Freiheit, Wohlstand und Frieden für die US-Bürger.

Inoffizielle oberste Priorität: Israels Wohlstand und Sicherheit gewährleisten. Jüdische Lobbies arbeiten und spionieren mittels  zionistisch inspirierter Mittelsmänner in und im Dunstkreis von Regierung, Repräsentantenhaus und Kongreß. Diese organisieren, gemeinsam mit christlichen Fundamentalisten, großzügige Israel-Unterstützung und verhinderten bisher eine gerechte  Friedenslösung zwischen  Palästinensern und Israelis. Auch zettelten sie mit getürkten Informationen den Krieg gegen den Irak an.

Die frühe amerikanische Außenpolitik wurde von der 1823 verkündeten  Monroe-Doktrin des Präsidenten  James Monroe  geprägt. Diese besagte, daß sich die europäischen Mächte vom amerikanischen Kontinent fernhalten sollten, bei gleichzeitiger Nicht-Einmischung der USA in die Angelegenheiten anderer Staaten.                                                                        

Daraus wurde  schließlich „Amerika den Amerikanern“. Doch Deutschland den Deutschen oder Europa den Europäern  hört man  dort wie anderswo schon weniger gerne. Man mischt sich überall ein, verbietet dasselbe aber für sich. Immerhin: nach den heute geltenden US-Vorstellungen hätte z.B. das zaristische Rußland zugunsten der Indianer eingreifen müssen.

 

Im Bürgerkrieg 1861-65 verfolgte die Nordstaaten-Armee gegen Kriegsende mit ihrem erbarmungslosen Vorgehen gegen unschuldige  Dörfer, Pflanzungen und selbst Tiere bereits lange vor Hitler eine Politik der verbrannten Erde.                                                    

Der Begriff „bedingungslose Kapitulation“ stammt aus dieser Zeit und erinnert an die Roosevelt/Churchill-Forderung in Casablanca 1943. Die US-Außenpolitik trägt ohne Zweifel barbarische Züge aus der Zeit der Kolonisierung Amerikas (Ausrottung der Indianer).

Die nachfolgende Industrialisierung führte zur Bildung großer  Konzerne, die durch ihre wirtschaftliche Macht-  repräsentiert durch Rockefeller, Morgan, Carnegie, Meyer Guggenheim  u.a. – auch die zukünftige Außenpolitik  beeinflussen sollten.                            In konzernnahen Denkfabriken wurde die spätere Globalisierung, wie wir sie heute kennen, entwickelt. Durch sie versprach man sich nicht nur einen größeren US-Einfluß, sondern auch enorme ökonomische Gewinne.                                                                          

Aber offensichtlich hatte man Nebenwirkungen der Globalisierung und die direkten und indirekten Schäden der so genannten Terrorbekämpfung und daraus resultierender Folgekriege nicht entsprechend bedacht.

Schon Präsident Theodore Roosevelt (1901–1909), der eine hegemoniale Machtstellung über die lateinamerikanischen Staaten beanspruchte, betrieb eine rein interventionistische Politik.  Der Vorfall im Hafen von Havanna 1898, wo das US-Kriegsschiff Maine auf rätselhafte Weise explodierte, war einer dieser seither immer wieder inszenierten Anlaßfälle einen „kleinen Krieg“ zu beginnen.                                                                             

Die spanische Flotte in Kuba, die damals die Waffen gestreckt hatte und abdampfen wollte, schoß man freundlicherweise gleich kurz und klein.

Federführend war  bereits im Hintergrund die Hochfinanz. So auch als es um Panama ging. Roosevelt wollte den von den Franzosen begonnen Kanal fertigbauen lassen, doch erstens lief der Vertrag aus und zweitens gehörte die Provinz zu Kolumbien. Was tun?                    Nun die Amerikaner sind erfinderisch: Man wiegelte Bewohner Panamas  auf, bewaffnete sie und unterstützte deren „Rebellion“ militärisch. Schließlich kaufte man den „Bloßfüßigen“ den Kanal ab und machte 1903 ein US-Hoheitsgebiet daraus.                       

Und weil beim Essen bekanntlich der Appetit kommt, hat man 1898 die Philippinnen  und Puerto Rico auch gleich den Spaniern, die militärisch nichts mehr entgegensetzen konnten, abspenstig gemacht. Hawaii war dann 1898 ohnehin nur mehr ein nicht ernst zu nehmender Jausengegner.

Während des  Ersten Weltkriegs blieben die Vereinigten Staaten bis 1917 formal neutral, unterstützten aber die  Entente  vor allem durch Nachschublieferungen, nachdem der verhinderte Engel Wilson mit dem Angriff auf die  „Lusitania“ überzeugt werden konnte, daß das Deutsche Reich diszipliniert werden müßte.. Dazu beizutragen versuchte  schon vorher eine Desinformation eines Herrn Morgenthau, damals Gesandter in Konstantinopel, der von einem deutschen Komplott gegen die freie Welt zu berichten wußte.                      

Doch noch wollte Wilson keinen Krieg. Am 6. April erklärten die USA, eigentlich die Hochfinanz, die die Milliarden, die sie bereits in ihre Freunde gesteckt hatten,  gewinnbringend wiedersehen wollte, dann doch Deutschland den Krieg.**

Nach dem militärischen Sieg versuchte Präsident  Woodrow Wilson (1913–1921) in Europa eine stabile Nachkriegsordnung zu etablieren, indem er in seinem  14-Punkte-Programm das Prinzip des  Selbstbestimmungsrechts der Völker sowie die Bildung eines  Völkerbundes durchzusetzen. Dieser Plan schlug (sofern er überhaupt ernst gemeint war) erwartungsgemäß fehl und die USA verfolgte fortan wieder eine mehr isolationistische Politik.                                                                                                                                                

Wilson aber soll nach dem Krieg an seinem Schreibtisch immerhin geweint haben. Was eigentlich wieder für ihn spräche. Ein früher Jimmy Carter sozusagen.

Bei Ausbruch des  Zweiten Weltkriegs – Präsident war inzwischen Heilsbringer Franklin Roosevelt, der vom ewigen Frieden träumte –  blieben die USA dem Wunsch der Mehrheit der Bevölkerung entsprechend zunächst neutral, unterstützten jedoch im Rahmen des  Leih- und Pachtgesetzes Großbritannien und die  Sowjetunion massiv mit Kapital- und Waffenlieferungen.. Auch aus innenpolitischen Gründen, so betrugen die Staatsschulden bereits 36 Mrd. Dollar.

Im Anschluss an den inszenierten  Angriff auf Pearl Harbor am 7. Dezember 1941, wo tausende Amerikaner für die Hochfinanz geopfert wurden,   erklärten Roosevelt und seine  „Gang“  Japan den Krieg und erhielten kurze Zeit später Kriegserklärungen von Deutschland und  Italien.                                                                                                             

Wie schon im Ersten Weltkrieg waren die Interessen des bereits erstarkten militärisch-industriellen Komplexes und das Potenzial der USA (290.000 Flugzeuge, 25.000 Panzer) entscheidend für den Sieg der Alliierten.                                                                                

Nicht unerwähnt bleiben soll die Anbiederung Roosevelts an Stalin, dem er vorschlug gleich einmal 50.000 deutsche Offiziere erschießen zu lassen. So war das Verhungern-lassen von hundertausenden deutschen Kriegsgefangenen durch die US-Befreier dann wohl ein Akt „humanitärer Sterbebegleitung“.

Wenn Hitler einer der Gründerväter  Israels ist, so ist Roosevelt dank seiner Sympathien für Stalin,   der Schöpfer  des einstigen kommunistischen Weltreichs. Daß der amerikanische Durchschnittsbürger von all dem auch nur das Geringste  mitbekommen, geschweige denn verstanden hat, darf bezweifelt werden.

Die USA waren nach dem Kriege maßgeblich an der Gründung der  Vereinten Nationen am 26. Juni 1945 in  San Francisco beteiligt, die im Einvernehmen mit der Sowjetunion stattfand, haben aber  inzwischen wegen des Mitspracherechts neuer, für sie wenig berechenbarer  Staaten große Vorbehalte gegen sie.

Bald mündeten die internationalen Beziehungen jedoch in den Kalten Krieg. Präsident  Harry S. Truman  (1945-52)  verfolgte eine antikommunistische  „Containment“-Politik, die in der  „Truman-Doktrin“ ihren Ausdruck fand. Was sogar  zur Folge hatte, daß pro-nazistische  so wie anti-semitische Fachkräfte aus Mittel- und Osteuropa angeheuert wurden.

In Abkehr von der  Monroe-Doktrin sagten die USA dann allen Ländern zur Wahrung ihrer Unabhängigkeit Militär- und Wirtschaftshilfe zu, legten zur Eindämmung des Kommunismus den  Marshall-Plan  auf und genossen die Friedensdividende. Auf die  Berlin-Blockade 1948/49 reagierten die Amerikaner mit der Luftbrücke.

Es folgte die Gründung der NATO 1949, die  danach mehrmals einer Zerreißprobe ausgesetzt war, zuletzt im Fall Libyen.  Relativ große Einigkeit gab es noch ein Jahr nach ihrer Gründung und während des Korea-Krieges (1950-53) , aber natürlich nur solange die Sowjetunion ein gefährliches Feindbild war.                                                                             

Unter dem Vorwand Sicherheit zu gewährleisten, verkaufte man der Welt die Idee, es gebe eine internationale kommunistische Verschwörung, die  allein durch Washingtons Macht gebannt werden könne. Man sagte, „indem ihr unsere Waffen kauft, unserem Militär und unseren Unternehmen erlaubt, sich in Euren Ländern auszutoben, von wem Euer Land geführt wird, werdet ihr von uns beschützt“.

Gleichzeitig hatte man es geschafft, die Europäer mit jenen herzergreifenden Floskeln von Demokratie und Freiheit aus ihren Kolonien zu verdrängen und ihnen die Idee der Entwicklungshilfe, die ihnen in Wirklichkeit nichts bringt,  aufzuschwatzen.                              In diesem Sinne ist die NATO, auch nach neuem strategischen Konzept und infolge neuer (auch künstlich geschaffener) Bedrohungsszenarien, ein Instrument zur Festigung des Engagements der USA in Europa.

Erwähnenswert danach die Kennedy-Jahre  1961-63: Erst das Desaster in der kubanischen “Schweinebucht“ ,dann der  Vietnamkrieg  1964-73 , der wie der Korea-Krieg unter demokratischer Präsidentschaft geführt wurde und den ein US-Kommentator als einen „Akt der Nächstenliebe“ bezeichnet hatte.                                                                     

Dieser Krieg  wurde durch den gefälschten Tonkin-Zwischenfall ausgelöst,  geriet zu einem militärischen und moralischen Fiasko, das unter dem Republikaner Nixon mit dem Abzug der US-Truppen 1973 endete.

Zwischenbemerkung: Der  Tonkin-Zwischenfall (auch Tongking-Zwischenfall genannt) war ein Ereignis vor der Küste Nordvietnams im August 1964, bei dem ein US-amerikanisches Kriegsschiff angeblich in ein Gefecht mit nordvietnamesischen Schnellbooten verwickelt wurde.

Der Zwischenfall wurde von der US-amerikanischen Regierung um  Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-69) als Vorwand für die offizielle Beteiligung der  USA an den damals stattfindenden Feindseligkeiten zwischen den beiden Landesteilen benutzt, die sich in der Folge zum Vietnamkrieg (1965–75) ausweiteten.

1971 veröffentlichte der Pentagon-Mitarbeiter  Daniel Ellsberg einen als  Pentagon-Papiere bekannt gewordenen Bericht, der die Darstellung des Zwischenfalls durch die frühere Regierung, als eine vom Geheimdienst später bestätigte bewusste Falschinformation (wahrscheinlich des militärisch-industriellen Komplexes) entlarvte.

Die Glaubwürdigkeit als Verbreiter demokratischer Werte stand hier und auch bei anderen Konfliktherden in Widerspruch mit der Unterstützung zahlreicher Militärdiktatoren oder  der Durchführung und Unterstützung von Militärputschen, wie den  Pinochets in Chile  1973-90 oder  Mobutos  1965-97  im seinerzeit  „Zaire“ genannten Kongo.

Die Furcht vor dem Kommunismus wurde denn auch zum Katalysator der Rüstungsanstrengungen (Wettrüsten) , an allen Ecken und Enden wurde der Feind ausgemacht. Am Ende erreichte die Autonomie des militärischen Establishments unglaubliche Ausmaße, die jeder demokratischen Kontrolle sich entzogen.

Als Architekt der Außen- wie auch der so genannten Entspannungspolitik  unter Ford (1974-77)  trat in diesen Jahren (1973 – 77) der in Fürth geborene Heinz Alfred Kissinger in Erscheinung. Vorher war er Sicherheitsberater unter Nixon 1969-74. In dieser Zeit gingen besonders viele geheime verdeckte Operationen der US-Außenpolitik über die Bühne, die unzählige  unschuldige Opfer forderten.                                                                 

2009 veröffentlichte übrigens Kissinger  einen Vorschlag zu einer neuen Weltordnung, die  sinngemäß vor allem eine neue Weltfinanzordnung sein sollte. In wessen Auftrag wohl?

Doch die  Ölkrise 1974 und die  iranische Geiselkrise 1979  unter  dem oft belächelten „Friedensapostel“ Carter  (1977-81) sowie die Folgen des Vietnamkriegs verursachten eine außenpolitische Orientierungslosigkeit. Nur für kurze Zeit.                                                        

Es war die  Regierung Reagan (1981-89)  die  schließlich einen Paradigmenwechsel der amerikanischen Politik erreichte, sowohl in der Innen-  als auch in der Außenpolitik.          Bereits unter diesem Präsidenten versuchte die  politische Gruppierung der Neokonservativen (Neocons)  sich zu profilieren,  insbesondere durch die Befürwortung einer interventionistischen Außenpolitik und  unilateraler Hegemonieansprüche. Die Invasion Grenadas war so ein Beispiel  bzw. ein Vorgeschmack auf das, was noch kommen sollte.

Die Neocons, wie sie (mit ihrem Gründervater Irvin Kristol) fortan genannt wurden,, entstammen meist aus unteren jüdischen sozialen Schichten, die erst einmal Sympathien für Marl Marx und Lenin  zeigten und sich erst später zu so genannten Neokonservativen entwickelten. In den letzten Regierungen waren sie durch Leute wie Richard Pearle, Wolfowitz  u.v.a. vertreten. Bei der Durchsetzung ihrer  Konzepte waren und sind sie bereit, die Missachtung traditioneller Formen der Diplomatie und sogar  des  Völkerrechts in Kauf zu nehmen.

Reagans acht Regierungsjahre (bis 1989) waren durch eine liberale Wirtschaftspolitik ( Reaganomics), die Verminderung staatlicher Subventionen und Sozialleistungen, Einsparungen  und ökonomische Probleme  gekennzeichnet. Die Rüstungsausgaben wurden erhöht und ein sogenanntes „Star-Wars-Programm“ (SDI-Projekt bzw.„Krieg der Sterne“) aufgelegt.                                                                                                                               

Was nicht ohne Konsequenzen für die deutsche Innenpolitik blieb, in der sich neben besorgten Bürgern und Friedensaktivisten vor  allem rot-grüne Schreihälse, später als Wendehälse à  la Joschka Fischer bekannt,  profilieren konnten.

Dem Kalten Krieger Reagan folgte Bush senior 1989-93 , der 1990 seine Neue Weltordnung  ausrief. Schon dessen  Politik wurde im eigenen Lande mit dem Imperialismus des alten Rom verglichen. Bushs Regierung vertraute nicht so sehr auf Zusammenarbeit und internationale Organisation, sondern auf einseitige Anordnung, die mit militärischer Gewalt durchgesetzt wird.                                                                           

Dieser Bush war aber immerhin der einzige Staatschef der Vier Siegermächte der die deutsche Wiedervereinigung befürwortete. Allerdings mit der Bedingung: Nur wenn Deutschland  in der NATO bleibt.

Eine widersprüchlich scheinende  US-Außenpolitik – die aus einer komplexen Gesellschaft mit einer Vielzahl an Strömungen und Interessen resultiert -  gegenüber Staaten, die die Menschenrechte nicht achten, also z. B.  an Riad und Tel Aviv festhalten, andererseits die durch mangelndes Verständnis für andere Kulturkreise mit daraus folgenden Fehleinschätzungen gekennzeichnet ist.

So hatte man schon nach dem Ausbruch des ersten Golfkriegs zwischen Iran und  Irak (1980–1988) aus Furcht vor den fundamentalistischen Kreisen in  Teheran den Diktator  Saddam Hussein unterstützt.                                                                                                         

Die Geld- und Waffenlieferungen an die  Mujaheddin in Afghanistan erwiesen sich ebenfalls als zweischneidig. Die Sowjetunion musste zwar nach zehn Jahren ihre Truppen abziehen, doch wurden gleichzeitig radikal-islamische Gruppen gestärkt. Ähnliches zeichnet sich in Tunesien, Ägypten und Libyen ab.

Mit dem Zusammenbruch der Sowjetunion, die man u.a. zu Tode rüstete, endete der Kalte Krieg 1991. Genau in diesem Jahr kam es unter Bush Senior  nach der Kuweit-Affäre im Rahmen der Operation Desert Shield zur schlimmsten Dauerbombadierung des Irak  bei dem unter anderem hunderte Menschen, darunter Frauen und Kinder, in einem Bunker verbrannten.  Aber wie heißt es so schön von Seite US-amerikanischer Militärs: „In diesen Ländern hat der Wert eines Lebens ohnehin eine andere Bedeutung“.

Unter dem demokratischen Präsidenten Bill Clinton  (1993–2001), kam  es zu einem länger anhaltenden wirtschaftlichen Aufschwung („ New Economy“). Präsident Clintons Außenpolitik führten die Außenminister  Warren Christopher während seiner ersten Amtszeit und  Madeleine Albright während seiner zweiten.                                                        

In dieser Zeit wurde das israelisch-jordanische Friedenabkommen 1994 trotz innenpolitischen Drucks und das Kyoto-Protokoll 1997 unterzeichnet. Mit dem Anschlag auf das WTC begann die Angst vor Terroranschlägen.

Clinton mußte am Ende politischen Exponenten der Rechten nachgeben und eine außenpolitische Kurskorrektur vornehmen. War er zunächst noch UNO-freundlich gesinnt, so wurde er immer mehr vom Kongreß dazu angehalten, die Welt auschließlich mit amerikanischer Macht und allenfalls amerikanischer Gewalt zu ordnen.                                Zum Beispiel: Nachdem es den europäischen Staaten nicht gelungen war, nach dem Zerfall Jugoslawiens die Region zu befrieden, griffen US-Truppen im Rahmen der  NATO völkerrechtswidrig  in Bosnien, Kroatien und Serbien ein. 1999 gelang es,  eine moderne, hoch entwickelte Gesellschaft auf  Dritte-Welt-Niveau zurück zu bomben.

Versuche, im Nahen Osten einen Frieden zwischen  Israel und Palästina zu erreichen, erlitten mit dem Attentat auf  Jitzchak Rabin einen schweren Rückschlag. Bis heute hat man sich davon nicht erholt.                                                                                                     

Clinton reagierte auf Provokationen des irakischen Diktators Saddam Hussein mit sporadischen Luftangriffen, ebenso wie im  Sudan und Afghanistan nach Terroranschlägen auf die US-Botschaft in  Nairobi 1998 und ein US-Kriegsschiff  vor der Küste Jemens. Diese Anschläge wurden bereits dem  Al Quaida- Netzwerk des  Osama bin Laden (eine CIA-Schöpfung) zur Last gelegt.

Die „Erfolge“ der US-Außenpolitik können sich auch sonst sehen lassen: Zwischen 1945 und 2005 versuchten die USA mehr als 30 nationale Volksbewegungen zu zerschlagen und mehr als 30 fremde Regierungen zu stürzen. Millionen Menschen  mußten dabei ihr Leben lassen, Millionen blieben in Not und Verzweiflung zurück.                                                          

Es ist eben so: Washingtons selektive Weltherrschaft, inzwischen allerdings  in Frage gestellt, folgt zwingend einer imperialen Logik, und zwar aus einer einzigartigen Machtfülle.

Auf  Clinton folgte der wenig ehrenwerte G. W. Bush  (2001-09)., dessen zweite Amtszeit alles andere als glorios bezeichnet werden darf. Nach den Anschlägen vom 11. September 2001, die Bush als große Chance bezeichnete, die Welt hinter den USA zusammenzuführen, verkündete der Präsident –  der, wie seine israelischen Partner und früher Reagan auch, seine Visionen aus dem Alten Testament bezieht und sonst neokonservativen Beratern das Ohr schenkte –  einen weltweiten „Krieg gegen den Terrorismus“.                                        

Was zunächst in weiten Teilen der Bevölkerung- mit einem 60-70 Millionen-Anteil  fundamentalistischer  Christen – Zustimmung fand. Bush identifizierte, ähnlich wie bereits Reagan, eine  „Achse des Bösen“ so genannter  Schurkenstaaten wie Irak, Iran, Kuba und Nordkorea.

Bushs Außenpolitik, getragen von einer bunten konservativen Sammlungsbewegung, war vor allem nach dem 11. September militärisch orientiert, grenzte sich zu ihren Verbündeten ab und behielt sich vor, ihren Weltmachtanspruch mit Gewalt präemptiv und präventiv  durchzusetzen.                                                                                                                 

In der Bush-Doktrin kam der imperiale Machtanspruch am deutlichsten hervor, auch wenn vordergründig von Kooperation, Menschenrechten, freier Marktwirtschaft und der  Bekämpfung von Terrornetzwerken und Schurkenstaaten die Rede war.

Im Oktober 2001 wurde durch einen Feldzug in Afghanistan das radikal-islamische  Taliban Regime gestürzt, das  Osama bin Laden beherbergt hatte, den man aber  in Wirklichkeit, nach Worten von CIA-Mann Michael Scheurer gar nicht stoppen wollte . (In 10 Fällen sei ihm ihm befohlen worden, sein Feuer zurückzuhalten. Während des Zeitraums 2007-09 konnten somit 285 Milliarden Steuerzahler-Dollar in betrügerische Firmen für den “Krieg gegen Terror” gepumpt werden).

Die durch das Afghanistan-Engagement erfolgten geostrategischen Verschiebungen im zentralasiatischen Raum blieben vorerst unbeachtet. Die Präsenz der USA drängte den Einfluß Rußlands zurück, und die US-Truppen werden als wichtigster Akteur gegen den islamistischen Terror akzeptiert, stützen  aber gleichzeitig die autokratischen Regime der Region.

Ebenfalls im Namen des „Krieges gegen den Terrorismus“  begann im März 2003 ohne UNO-Mandat der Krieg gegen den Irak (Dritter Golfkrieg)  mit dem Ziel, den Diktator  Saddam Hussein zu stürzen. Unter dem Vorwand, er besitze Massenvernichtungswaffen und habe Kontakte zu Bin Laden, erfolgte der durch Lügen gestützte Angriff ohne UN-Mandat, also völkerrechtswidrig.                                                                                        

Die auch dadurch eingeleiteten Veränderungen im Nahen und Mittleren Osten, wofür Bush ja eine „Road Map“, die nie vollendet wurde, präsentiert hatte, werden  erst jetzt in Ansätzen erkennbar.

George W. Bushs Hinwendung zu einem strategischen Konzept der „Präemption“  kann als Abkehr von der bisherigen amerikanischen Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik gewertet werden, die auf Abschreckung, Eindämmung sowie der Einwirkung  ökonomischer und kultureller Einflussnahme basiert hatte                                                                                       

In Bushs eigenen Worten:

1. „Make no distinction between terrorists and the nations that harbor them–and hold both to account.“
2. „Take the fight to the enemy overseas before they can attack us again here at home.“
3. „Confront threats before they fully materialize.“
4. „Advance liberty and hope as an alternative to the enemy’s ideology of repression and fear.“

Unter Bush (der sich selbst natürlich als „unschuldig, rein und frei von Sünde“ einschätzt)  beanspruchte der Verteidigungsetat etwa 400 Milliarden Dollar, was der Summe der Etats der zehn nächstgrößeren Staaten entsprach, womit die Mängel des Gesundheitssystems so wie ein Gros der Infrastrukturschäden behoben hätten werden können.

Nach der  Präsidentenschaftswahl  vom 4. November 2008 wurde der demokratische Senator des Bundesstaates  Illinois Barack Obama, am 20.Januar 2009  vereidigt. Er ließ die laufenden Militärgerichtsverfahren gegen Insassen des Gefangenenlagers Guantanamo für 120 Tage aussetzen, was als Beginn der Auflösung des Lagers gewertet wurde. Zudem sagte er zu, binnen 18 Monaten die Truppen aus dem Irak abzuziehen. Beides ist nicht geschehen. Insgesamt versuchte er zumindest stärker auf  Diplomatie als auf Konfrontation zu setzen.

Dennoch beschloß die Obama-Regierung 2009 den größten Verteidigungsetat der US-Geschichte in Höhe von 636,3 Milliarden Dollar, was gegenüber Obamas Vorgänger George W. Bush noch einmal -  bedingt auch durch  das Engagement in der arabischen Welt und die Milliardenhilfe für Israel – eine gewaltige Anhebung bedeutete.  Die US-Regierung hat jedoch bereits angekündigt, weitere 30 Milliarden Dollar  für Israel zu benötigen.                                                                                                                                          

Wie lange die amerikanische Öffentlichkeit angesichts großer wirtschaftlicher Probleme   diese von Hochfinanz, Konzernen  und Pentagon bestimmte Politik noch mitmacht, ist eine Frage der Zeit. Schon rumort  es ja.

Derweil hat man außenpolitisch  neue Prioritäten: Bereits 2010 hatte Außenministerin Clinton  eine Erhöhung der staatlichen Mittel für Bevölkerungskontrolle und -reduzierung in Entwicklungsländern angekündigt, die, zum »Kernstück der US-Außenpolitik« werden sollen.                                                                                                                                                  Mitte der 1970er-Jahre hat ja  schon der erwähnte Henry Kissinger als Außenminister das berüchtigte Geheimdokument NNSM-200 verfasst, durch das die Bevölkerungskontrolle insgeheim auf die Agenda der US-Außenpolitik gesetzt wurde.                                    

Weltweite Geburtenkontrolle und verdeckte Reduzierung der Welt-Bevölkerung sind also ein wichtiges Ziel der aufgefrischten Eugenik-Politik der USA (vor dem Zweiten Weltkrieg gab es so etwas ähnliches  ja schon einmal).

Die Supermacht USA mit  ihrem immer wieder neuem Neue-Weltordnung-Gefasel versucht also nach ihrem Gutdünken die Welt neu zu ordnen und drapiert ihre einseitigen, nicht unbedingt im Weißen Haus getroffenen Entscheidungen mit Hypermoral und einem abstrakten Sendungsbewußtsein.  Besser  stünde  ihr an, endlich einmal intensiv den einzigartigen Holocaust an Indianern und Schwarzen sowie auch ihre weltweiten Kriegsverbrechen (besonders an Deutschen) aufzuarbeiten.

Noch einige Schlußbemerkungen: Di e USA sind zwar nach wie vor  – als WK I- und WK II-Kriegsgewinner und mit dem Dollar als Leitwährung – der bestimmende außenpolitische, ökonomische und militärische Faktor  in der Welt. Aber ihre in jeder Hinsicht feststellbare Überdehnung und die einseitige Einmischung im Nahen und Mittleren Osten (mit Israel als Klotz am Bein) sowie das Afghanistan-Abenteuer werden sich noch als nachhaltig fatal (auch für verbündete Europäer)  herausstellen.                       

In Afrika versucht zwar Washington mehr Gewicht zu erlangen, wird es aber aus innenpolitischen Gründen und mit China, Indien und Brasilien als Konkurrenten dort zusehends schwerer haben.                                                                                                           

Die von den USA ausgehende, von der Politik und den Finanzspekulanten verursachte und von den europäischen Regierungen beförderte und verschleppte Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise ist ein Zeithammer, der uns noch hart treffen wird.                                    

„Amerika über  alles“  bleibt jenseits des Atlantiks zwar weiter die Devise, was allerdings nicht mehr überall goutiert wird und  längerfristig in einen neuen US-Isolationismus führen könnte. Dann würden die Karten neu gemischt werden, auch im Protektorat Europa.                                                                                                                                              

Ein gewißer Entfremdungsprozeß ist vor allem in den deutsch-amerikanischen Beziehungen jetzt schon nicht mehr zu übersehen, sollte vorerst aber nicht überschätzt werden. Noch funktionieren bewährte Seilschaften in beiden Lagern.

* Seit 1776 unabhängig, drittgrößter Staat, fast 10 Mio.km2, 311 Mio.EW, davon 1% Indianer, Supermacht und Weltpolizist

** Dazu schreibt Guido Giacomo Preparata, ein in Boston geborener Italiener, bis 2008 Assistenzprofessor für Volkswirtschaft an der Universität von Tacoma (Bundesstaat Washington,) in seinem im Jahre 2005 erschienen Buch „ Wer Hitler  mächtig machte – Wie britisch-amerikanische Finanzeliten dem Dritten Reich den Weg bereiteten“ u.. a. : „…die Politik Großbritanniens und der USA war von Anfang an darauf ausgerichtet war, Deutschland als mögliches Hindernis gegenüber westlichen Herrschaftsbestrebungen auszuschalten. Mitteleuropa sollte keine unabhängige und eigenständige Rolle spielen dürfen, sondern dem Westen einverleibt werden. Unter allen Umständen wollten die westlichen Eliten verhindern, dass es zu einer Annäherung Deutschlands und Russlands käme, weil das ihren Zielen der Beherrschung des eurasischen Kontinents diametral entgegengesetzt gewesen wäre“.                                   

In der Einleitung skizziert Preparata die Hauptthese seines Buches. Danach war das Aufkommen des Nazismus in Deutschland alles andere als ein Zufall. Mehr als 15 Jahre lang (1919–1933) haben sich seiner Ansicht nach die anglo-amerikanischen Eliten in die deutsche Politik eingemischt, um eine reaktionäre Bewegung zu schaffen, die als Schachfigur für ihre geopolitischen Intrigen benutzt werden konnte. Ohne diese (auch finanzielle) Unterstützung hätte es keinen Führer und keine Aufrüstung geben können.

Pericles & the Athenian Ideal

Pericles & the Athenian Ideal

By Troy Southgate

Ex: http://www.toqonline.com/

Bust of Pericles bearing the inscription “Pericles, son of Xanthippus, Athenian”. Marble, Roman copy after a Greek original by Cresilas, ca. 430 BC (Museo Pio-Clementino)

There is already much discussion in our circles about the example of Sparta, not least as a result of the recent Hollywood blockbuster 300 ^[1] which was rather loosely based on the exploits of King Leonidas, but in this article I intend to examine Sparta’s chief rival Athens.

The Athenian statesman, Pericles (495 – 429 BCE) once claimed that his city was an educational role model for the whole of Greece, but how far was this really true?

Pericles’ boast is part of his funeral oration recorded by Thucydides (460 – 395 BCE) in his The Peloponnesian War ^[2]. The aim of Pericles’ oration is to establish that Athens was a society worth dying for. Thus the speech is designed to exploit in his listeners deep-seated feelings of local pride and identity, inviting them to recall the glory of Athenian growth and prosperity. His verbal tapestry begins by lauding Athenian ancestry, emphasizing the fact that the people’s “courage and virtues have handed on to us, a free country.”

He mentions “the constitution and the way of life that has made us great” and points to certain social improvements such as power being democratically channeled into the hands “of the whole people,” the fairness and “equality before the law” and the fact that, in terms of social classification, status is not determined by “membership of a particular class, but the actual ability which the man possesses.” Pericles was also careful to mention the prevailing moral ethos which underpinned fifth-century Athenian society, that of sovereign, “unwritten laws which it is an acknowledged shame to break.”

Then Pericles lists what he considered to be the noblest attributes of his native city, with particular reference to the cultural activities that provided “recreation for our spirits.” This tactic was designed to pave the way for a contrasting description of the traditional enemy, Sparta.

Pericles then polemically denounced Spartan militarism and the rigorous training to which it “submitted” its youth, lauding the Athenian educational system by contrast. He also praised Athens for apparently maintaining a confident superiority above and beyond all other Greek states, emphasizing the importance of thought before action.

When Pericles finally describes Athens as “an education to Greece,” he explains precisely why he considers this to be the case. Athens stands for the freedom of the citizen, who is “rightful lord and owner of his own person.” Because of its constitution, Athens has waxed powerful: “Athens, alone of the states we know, comes to her testing time in a greatness that surpasses what was imagined of her . . . future ages will wonder at us, as the present age wonders at us now.” But with greatness comes peril: “it is clear that for us there is more at stake than there is for others who lack our advantages.”

Pericles then offers an inspiring account of the necessity of personal sacrifice. The slain warriors, in whose honor the funeral had been held, were depicted as heroes who had lain down their very lives for the continuation of Athenian culture, heritage and tradition, itself “a risk most glorious.” Pericles then challenges the living to emulate the honored dead, making “up your minds that happiness depends on being free, and freedom depends on being courageous .  .  . for men to end their lives with honor, as these have done, and for you honorably to lament them: their life was set to a measure where death and happiness went hand in hand.”

But can Athens really can be considered to have been a role model for the whole of Greece, or was Pericles merely deluding  himself and his contemporaries? Let us examine the historical record.

Pericles is renowned for the prominent role he played in the democratization of the Athenian political system, which itself had “been fixed by Cleisthenes (570 – 507 BCE) and further reformed after the battle of Marathon” (J. B. Bury, A History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great ^[3] [Macmillan, 1951], 346).

After overthrowing Thucydides and assuming the leadership of the people, Pericles and Ethialtes (d. 461 BCE) set about reducing the power of the judiciary in the Areopagus. At this time, the archons or chief magistrates were appointed by lot, but only from a select number of pre-elected candidates. Pericles abolished this system with the result that the archons themselves became “appointed by lot from all the eligible citizens [who now] had an equal chance of holding political office, and taking part in the conduct of political affairs” (Bury, 349). This system was also extended to the Boule, or Council of the Five Hundred.

In addition, Pericles effectively dismantled the hereditary powers of the traditionally oligarchic Areopagus completely, restricting its activities in order to redefine its role as little more than a “supreme court for charges of murder” (A. R. Burn, Pericles and Athens ^[4] [English Universities Press, 1964], 46). In 462 BCE, Pericles also initiated a scheme whereby jurors and those holding offices of state received payment for their services to the city, “a feature which naturally won him popularity with the masses” (Bury, 349).

This very popularity, in fact, had been deliberately engineered by Pericles himself in order to counteract the large support that Cimon (510 – 450 BCE), an accomplished naval hero, was able to command from the Athenian nobility. Although Pericles was himself an aristocrat, he “decided to attach himself to the people’s party and to take up the cause of the poor and the many instead of that of the rich and the few, in spite of the fact that this was quite contrary to his own temperament”(Plutarch, The Rise and Fall of Athens: Nine Greek Lives ^[5] [Penguin, 1960], 171).

Indeed, Thucydides attacked Periclean reforms and labeled them “democracy in name, but in practice government by the first citizen” (Plutarch, 173). So what began as Greek democracy under Cleisthenes around 500 BCE had become a dictatorship under Pericles by 430 BCE.

Despite all the speculation surrounding Pericles motives for initiating democratic reforms, in terms of her constitution and statecraft Athens undoubtedly stood far ahead of her rivals.

One measure of the seriousness of Athenian democratization was the introduction of new political technologies, such as allotment-machines, water-clocks, juror’s ballots, and juror’s tickets.

Another sign of Athenian political acumen is the transfer of the headquarters and treasure of the Delian league from Delos to Athens in 454 BCE. The Delian League was a crucial alliance of 150 Greek city-states established prior to the Peloponnesian wars to defend Hellas from the Persians. The transfer of its headquarters to Athens gave the Athenians enormous political and economic influence over the member states.

Sparta had an entirely different political structure. In Bury’s words, Sparta was imbued with a “conservative spirit.” The Spartan constitution, unlike its continually revised and reformed counterpart in Athens, had remained virtually the same since its inception.

Sparta had a mixed constitution with monarchical, aristocratic, and democratic elements. Sparta was ruled nominally by kings, an order going back to the times of Homer. The aristocratic element was the Council of Elders, or Gerusia, which consisted of thirty men who were elected for life and chosen by acclamation in the general assembly of citizens. Membership was described as a prize for virtue. However, the Spartan Assembly of the People, or Apella, contained only males over thirty years of age who decided matters of state purely on the basis of a particular speaker receiving the loudest cheers from those in attendance. Theoretically, the Spartan constitution was democratic, but if the elders and magistrates did not approve of the decision of the majority, they could annul the proceedings by refusing to proclaim the decision.

The Athenians were always very keen to stress the political differences between themselves and their Peloponnesian rivals. Many island states — often artificially created by colonial means — usually followed the example of Athens rather than Sparta. Athenian democracy, unlike the American variety, was not spread around the world at gunpoint. Instead, the states that adopted the Athenian system seemed genuinely inspired by her example.

Sparta, on the other hand, had few imitators, and the states that did resemble Sparta did not appear to imitate her. So as far as Athenian politics was concerned, at least, Pericles was right to claim that Athens was the educator of Greece.

Athens was an example to Greece in politics. But what about the economic and cultural realms?

According to Plutarch, Athens became fantastically wealthy after Themistocles (524 – 459 BCE) had directed the revenue of the city’s lucrative silver mines at Laurium towards the construction of a strong navy, including a new fleet of triremes, which made possible the reconquest of Athens after its inhabitants had been forced to flee from the invading Persians.

When Athens became host to the treasury of the Delian League in 454 BCE, Pericles used its funds for the rebuilding of Athenian temples, claiming they had been destroyed by the Persians in the common cause of Greece, thus it was appropriate that they be rebuilt from the common funds.

In 449 BCE, a pan-Hellenic Congress was proposed to raise funds for further projects. This plan met with fierce opposition from Thucydides among others. According to Plutarch, Pericles answered his critics by declaring that “the Athenians were not obliged to give the allies an account of how their money was spent, provided that they carried on the war for them and kept the Persians away.” Pericles had effectively plundered the common treasure of Greece and turned it into the adornment of Athens.

Athenian trade also began to flourish during the rule of Pericles, and Themistocles’ fortification of the Piraeus made Athens one of the greatest ports in Greece. The decline of merchant cities in Ionia also contributed greatly to the Athenian economy.

But the most striking developments in fifth-century Athens took place in the cultural sphere.

Although Greek philosophy began in Ionia, it flourished in Athens. Because of her wealth, political power, and cultural refinement, she attracted the best minds from all over Greece. The Sophists, in particular, contributed much to the development of political theory, rhetoric, and logic and stimulated the thought of Athens’ native geniuses Socrates and Plato.

Athens is also renowned for her great architecture, a matter in which Pericles himself played a prominent role. Pericles enlisted Pheidias (480 – 430 BCE) to be the director of his building program, assisted by such skilled architects as Callicrates, Ictinus, Coroebus, and Metagenes. Among their projects were the Parthenon, the Temple of Athena, the adornment of the Acropolis, the Odeon, the Concert Hall, and the temples of Eleusis and Hephaistos.

When Pericles was attacked for his lavish use of public funds, he offered to pay for the construction work himself, if he could take all the glory. This did the trick. Even Pericles’ most zealous critics wished to share in his renown, so they insisted that he complete the buildings at public expense.

Pericles’ construction projects were remarkable not merely for their expense, but also for their artistry, craftsmanship, and good taste, which no other Greek states were able to match, least of all Sparta. In fact, C. M. Bowra wrote that the “remains of Sparta are so humble that it is hard to believe that this was the power which for many years challenged and finally conquered Athens” (Periclean Athens [Wiedenfeld and Nicolson, 1971], p. 180). But although Pericles’ construction program clearly was an “education” to the rest of Greece, it was no safeguard against eventual Spartan conquest.

What we call ancient Greek drama is better deemed ancient Athenian drama. The great tragedians Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripedes were Athenians, as were the comic playwrights Aristophanes and Menander. Sparta had its share of talented poets — among them Tyrtaeus during the mid-seventh century BCE — but they could not compete with the new trends being set in Athens. As Bury put it, when a stranger visited Sparta he must have experienced “a feeling of being transported into an age long past, when men were braver, better, and simpler, unspoiled by wealth, undeveloped by ideas” (p. 134).

The social status of women in Athens was far lower than it was in Sparta. Athenian women took no part in public life and were instructed solely in domestic arts. In his Funeral Oration, Pericles said that women should merely aim “to be least talked about by men, whether they are praising you or criticising you.” In Sparta, however, women were permitted to engage in gymnastic training and “enjoyed a freedom which was in marked contrast with the seclusion of women in other Greek states” (Bury, p. 133). So as far as respect for women was concerned, Athens could not really claim to have exported an policy worthy of emulation, although Ionia also shared the fundamental Athenian weakness of excluding women from education.

Religious and sporting festivals were much the same throughout Greece and, although it is always the Athenians who are remembered for their gods and sporting heroes, most other Greek states were equally advanced.

Thus when Pericles declared that Athens was “an education to Greece.” he was, on the whole, making an accurate observation. This is not to say that Athens was superior to Sparta in every respect, of course, and her democratic system left much to be desired.

Although other Greek states shared some Athenian political, social and economic principles, it remains the case that Athens gave birth to some of the finest Greek accomplishments. These accomplishments, moreover, provided key elements for the development of European art, architecture, drama, philosophy, rhetoric, and politics for 2500 years. Thus Athens continues to serve not only as an “education” for Greece, but for the world.

Troy Southgate

Troy Southgate is from Crystal Palace in South London and has been a Revolutionary Nationalist activist and writer for almost 25 years. He has also been involved with more than twenty music projects. He is a founder of National Anarchism and author of Tradition and Revolution (Aarhus, Denmark: Integral Tradition).

Sortie du n°6 du Livr'arbitres

Sortie du n°6 du Livr'arbitres...

Rappel : A l'occasion de la sortie de ce nouveau numéro, la revue organise une soirée littéraire et amicale le mercredi 12 octobre à partir de 20 heures au bar le 15 vins, 1, rue Dante, 75005 Paris (cliquez ici).

Avec la participation (et les possibles dédicaces) de: Francis Bergeron, François Bousquet, Patrick Gofman, Michel Mourlet, Emmanuel Ratier, Joseph Vebret, Miège, Innocent....

 

 

Mega-US-Botschaften im Zentrum des »Eurasischen Balkans«

Wolfgang Effenberger

 

Mit Neugier und Interesse folgte der Verfasser einer außergewöhnlichen Offerte nach Armenien. Die Einladung an die Wiege des Christentums und die Schnittstelle  der Welten hatte der Präsident der DUA (Deutsche Universität in Armenien), Herr Eduard Saroyan, ausgesprochen. Vorgesehen waren jeweils ein Vortrag am Orientalischen Institut der Akademie der Wissenschaften von Armenien zum Thema »Armenien – Opfer geo-strategischer Interessen« sowie an der DUA. Hier sollte die Schwierigkeit im Umgang mit dem Völkermord an den Armeniern beleuchtet werden.

 

Quelle: the armenian reporter

Schon auf der Fahrt vom modernen Flughafen nach Eriwan fiel dem Verfasser  entlang der Ausfallstraße ein kaum enden wollendes, mauerbewehrtes Areal auf.

Von meinem Gastgeber und Fahrer wurde ich unvermittelt aufgeklärt:

Es handelt sich um die US-Botschaft in Armenien! Dem Verfasser drängte sich sofort die Frage nach dem Zweck und den Motiven dieser ungewöhnlich großen und außerhalb der Hauptstadt liegenden Botschaft für einen Staat von drei Millionen Einwohnern auf.

Mehr: http://info.kopp-verlag.de/hintergruende/geostrategie/wolfgang-effenberger/mega-us-botschaften-im-zentrum-des-eurasischen-balkans-.html

Poutine relance l’idée d’une Union Eurasiatique

Andrea PERRONE:

Poutine relance l’idée d’une Union Eurasiatique

Dans un article publié dans le quotidien Izvestia, Poutine, nouveau candidat au Kremlin, souligne la nécessité de créer un espace économique commun de l’Atlantique au Pacifique

L’Eurasie, c’est l’avenir, a dit le premier ministre russe Vladimir Poutine, qui vient de relancer son projet d’une “Union Eurasiatique”, c’est-à-dire d’une union de toutes les anciennes républiques soviétiques en un espace économique unique et commun.

Il a annoncé ce projet dans un article intitulé “Projet d’intégration pour la nouvelle Eurasie: le futur en train de naître aujourd’hui”, et publié dans le quotidien de langue russe Izvestia. Le nouveau candidat à la présidence russe prévoit également, dans cet article, l’entrée possible du Kirghizistan et du Tadjikistan dans l’Union douanière existant déjà entre la Russie, la Biélorussie et la Kazakstan. Cette union recevrait pour nom “Communauté économique eurasiatique” et prendrait effet dès le 1 janvier prochain: elle se développera graduellement pour devenir un espace économique commun qui abolira toutes les barrières encore en place aujourd’hui. Dans son article, Poutine souligne que la Communauté aura une législation uniformisée et autorisera la libre circulation des citoyens de tous les pays qui en feront partie. Le nouveau candidat au Kremlin explique ensuite en détail quelles seront les perspectives que cette union rendra possibles, et déplore qu’en Occident on la stigmatise déjà comme un retour au passé. Poutine déclare alors que cette interprétation occidentale est “ingénue”. “Nous proposons un modèle d’union supranationale puissante capable de devenir l’un des pôles du monde moderne et de déployer un rôle efficace”. Cette union, ensuite, constituera un pont “entre l’Europe et la dynamique région de l’Asie-Pacifique”, le tout en une époque de globalisation accélérée. Depuis le 1 juillet 2011, a rappelé le premier ministre russe, “tout contrôle a été aboli sur la circulation des marchandises aux frontières intérieures de nos trois pays”. Cette mesure a permis de parachever un système douanier unique, dont les perspectives sont claires et permettront rapidement de réaliser de plus vastes initiatives commerciales. Et, ajoute Poutine, au départ de cette union douanière, “nous ferons un pas en avant vers un espace économique commun; nous sommes en train de créer un marché colossal, avec plus de 165 millions de consommateurs, avec une législation uniforme et une libre circulation des capitaux, des services et des forces de travail”.

C’est là un projet, précise Poutine, qui trouve ses racines dans l’actuelle union douanière entre la Russie, la Biélorussie et le Kazakstan: “La création d’une union douanière et d’espaces économiques communs ouvrent la porte à l’émergence, dans l’avenir, d’une union économique eurasiatique”. Grâce à cela, poursuit Poutine, “entrer dans cette Union Eurasiatique apportera des bénéfices économiques mais permettra aussi à tous les pays qui en feront partie, de s’intégrer à l’Europe plus rapidement, en partant d’une position de force”.

Poutine: “Le parcours pour en arriver à ce point fondamental a commencé il y a vingt ans, lorsque, après l’effondrement de l’Union Soviétique, on a créé la “Communauté des Etats Indépendants”. En règle général, nous pouvons dire que nous avions trouvé là un modèle qui a contribué à sauver une myriade de liens spirituels, de liens de civilisation, qui avaient uni nos peuples. Aujourd’hui nous agissons pour sauver la production, l’économie et les autres rapports, sans lequels notre vie serait inconcevable”, a conclu le premier ministre russe.

Le projet soutenu avec force par Poutine existe déjà dans les faits: il a été amorcé par l’Union douanière entre la Russie, la Biélorussie et la Kazakstan, qui, a affirmé Poutine, sera déjà complètement formalisée en 2012; une intégration plus ample verra ensuite le jour un an plus tard, en 2013. Telle qu’elle est conçue par le nouveau candidat au Kremlin, l’Union Eurasiatique est destinée à faire de sérieux bonds en avant à partir du 1 janvier prochain, par la création d’une énorme marché à trois, avec plus de 165 millions d’habitants, où citoyens et entreprises pourront se mouvoir librement pour asseoir la modernisation d’un vaste espace économique capable d’entrer en compétition avec l’UE mais aussi de dialoguer avec le Vieux Continent pour favoriser les échanges commerciaux et le rapprochement, tant sur le plan politique que sur le plan économique.

Andrea PERRONE

( [e-mail] )

(article paru dans “Rinascita”, Rome, 5 octobre 2011, http://www.rinascita.eu ).

Karzai s’éloigne du Pakistan et se rapproche de l’Inde

Ferdinando CALDA:

Karzai s’éloigne du Pakistan et se rapproche de l’Inde

Le Président afghan rencontre Singh pour renforcer les rapports bilatéraux

Le Président de l’Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, revient d’une mission en Inde, à un moment plutôt délicat pour les équilibres et les alliances qui sont en train de se modifier dans la région. La visite du leader afghan —qui, le 4 octobre 2011, a rencontré le premier ministre indien Manmohan Singh et le ministre des affaires étrangères S. M. Krishna—  revêt une signification particulière, à la lumière des tensions récentes entre les Afghans et leurs voisins pakistanais, ennemis historiques de la Nouvelle Dehli.

Tout en rappelant qu’Islamabad est l’unique interlocuteur plausible pour chercher à faire avancer un processus de paix avec les Talibans (vus les rapports présumés et privilégiés des services secrets pakistanais de l’ISI avec les miliciens islamistes et vu le fait que “tous les sanctuaires des terroristes se trouvent sur le territoire pakistanais), Karzai et quelques autres ministres de son gouvernement ont accusé le gouvernement du Pakistan de “ne pas soutenir nos efforts pour ramener la paix et la sécurité en Afghanistan”. L’assassinat récent de Burhanuddin Rabbani, chef du Haut Conseil de Paix afghan en charge des négociations avec les Talibans, a refroidi les rapports entre l’Afghanistan et le Pakistan. Une commission d’enquête afghane a affirmé que le fauteur de l’attentat est venu du Pakistan; hier, Kaboul a accusé les Pakistanais de ne pas collaborer à l’enquête.

Et tandis que le gouvernement afghan envoie des inspecteurs à Islamabad, Karzai s’envole vers la Nouvelle Dehli, pour la deuxième fois en un an, avec la ferme intention de renforcer dans l’avenir la coopération entre son pays et l’Inde. L’Inde ne peut certes étendre “militairement” son influence sur l’Afghanistan (du fait qu’elle n’a pas de frontière commune avec ce pays) mais pourrait très bien devenir un important partenaire commercial de Kaboul. Ce n’est pas un hasard si l’Inde est de fait l’un des principaux donateurs pour l’Afghanistan, où elle a investi plus de deux milliards de dollars depuis 2001. Cet effort semble avoir donné ses fruits, si l’on considère qu’au cours de l’année fiscale 2009-2010, le volume des échanges commerciaux entre les deux pays a atteint le chiffres de 588 millions de dollars. Il faut souliger tout particulièrement que l’Inde est aujourd’hui l’un des plus importants marchés pour les exportations afghanes de produits agricoles, un secteur sur lequel le gouvernement de Kaboul mise beaucoup. Cette nouvelle visite de Karzai devrait renforcer ultérieurement l’implication indienne en Afghanistan. Certaines sources évoquent d’ores et déjà un “accord de partenariat stratégique”, qui impliquerait les Indiens dans l’entraînement et la formation des forces de sécurité afghanes.

Mais l’Inde n’est pas le seul pays à vouloir occuper une place de première importance en Afghanistan, dès que les troupes de l’OTAN auront quitté le pays. Par sa position stratégique, tant économique que militaire, l’Afghanistan, comme depuis toujours, suscite bien des convoitises. Mis à part les Etats-Unis, qui sont en train de négocier avec Kaboul le droit de maintenir leurs bases pendant quelques décennies, il y a aussi la Russie et, surtout, la Chine qui investissent déjà dans la reconstruction du pays, dans l’espoir de s’accaparer des riches ressources du sous-sol afghan et de se réserver une présence garantie et stable sur le territoire. Il ne faut pas oublier non plus deux autres puissances régionales, l’Iran et l’Arabie Saoudite, dont la présence potentielle n’est certes pas aussi affichée, mais qui ne voudront sûrement pas courir le risque d’être exclus de tout contact avec l’Afghanistan dans les prochaines décennies.

Enfin, et ce n’est certainement pas là le moins important des facteurs en jeu, le Pakistan continue à voir dans les massifs montagneux afghans un éventuel refuge inaccessible, tout comme sont inaccessibles les dangereux sanctuaires des groupes armés islamistes, en cas de nouvelle guerre avec l’Inde.

Ferdinando CALDA.

( [e-mail] ).

(article paru dans “Rinascita”, Rome, 5 octobre 2011 – http://www.rinascita.eu ).

J'avais un camarade par Angerfist62

J'avais un camarade par Angerfist62

This Difficult Individual Eustace Mullins—& the Remarkable Ezra Pound

This Difficult Individual Eustace Mullins—& the Remarkable Ezra Pound

By Beatrice Mott

Ex: http://www.toqonline.com/

Eustace Mullins

Earlier this year my friend Eustace Mullins passed away. He had been ailing for some time — at least since I first met him in 2006. Hopefully he is in a better place now.

Mr. Mullins made a huge mark on the nationalist community here in the United States, but also has a following in Europe and Japan. For those who have not read his books, Mr. Mullins attempted to expose the criminal syndicates that manipulate governments and the international financial system.

But Mr. Mullins’ most sparkling claim to fame was his partnership with Ezra Pound in order to write Secrets of the Federal Reserve — probably the most well-known exposé of how our government really works.

But nobody’s life is all sunshine and light. While Mr. Mullins’ work is among the most famous in the nationalist community, it is also some of the worst researched. He often fails to reference where he uncovered the material in his books. While Mr. Mullins was very perceptive of historical trends, his insights were sometimes overshadowed by unbalanced statements.

Authors wishing to quote Eustace’s books in their own writing make themselves an easy target for reasonable critics or hate organizations like the ADL. In this way, Mr. Mullins has done more harm to the movement than good.

I learned this the long way. Having read Secrets, I drove down to Staunton, VA in the summer of 2006 and spent an afternoon talking with Mr. Mullins. My goal was to find the origin of several stories and statements which I could not reference from the text. Mr. Mullins was an elderly gentleman and he couldn’t remember where he had found any of the material I was interested in. He simply replied: “It’s all in the Library of Congress. Back then they would let me wander the stacks.”

So I moved to D.C., a few blocks from the library and spent the better part of two years trying to retrace Mr. Mullins’ footsteps. Prior to this I had had several years’ experience as a researcher and was used to trying to find the proverbial “needle in a haystack.” They wouldn’t let me wander around the book storage facility (the stacks), but I scoured the catalog for anything that might contain the source for Mr. Mullins’ statements. I couldn’t verify any of the information in question.

Sadly, I realized that it would never be good practice to quote Mr. Mullins. But I hadn’t wasted the time. I know more about the Federal Reserve now than most people who work there and I learned about the fantastic Mr. Pound.

Ezra Pound is among the most remarkable men of the last 120 years. He made his name as a poet and guided W. B. Yeats, T.S. Elliot and E. Hemingway on their way to the Noble Prize (back when it meant something). He is the most brilliant founder of Modernism — a movement which sought to create art in a more precise and succinct form. Modernism can be seen as a natural reaction to the florid, heavy Victorian sensibility — it is not the meaningless abstractions we are assaulted with today.

Born in Idaho, Pound left the United States for Europe in 1908. In London he found an audience of educated people who appreciated his poetry. He married Dorothy Shakespear, a descendant of the playwright. Pound also befriended some of the most brilliant artists of the time and watched them butchered in the First World War.

Henri Gaudier-Brzeska ^[1], a sculptor and one of Ezra’s best friends, was one of these sacrifices. The Great War changed Pound’s outlook on life — no longer content with his artistic endeavors alone, he wanted to find out why that war happened.

The answer he got bought him 12 years as a political prisoner in St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Anacostia, just across the river from the Capitol in Washington D.C. Pound was never put on trial but was branded a traitor by the post-war American media.

What answer did Pound find? Our wars begin and end at the instigation of the international financial houses. The bankers make money on fighting and rebuilding by controlling credit. They colonize nations and have no loyalty to their host countries’ youth or culture. No sacrifice is too great for their profit.

Much of Pound’s work chronicles the effect of this parasitic financial class on societies: from ancient China to modern-day Europe. Pound was a polyglot and scoured numerous (well-documented) sources for historical background. The education that Mullins’ work promises is delivered by the truckload in Pound’s writing. Pound often lists his sources at the end of his work — and they always check out.

Eustace Mullins got to know Pound during the poet’s time as a political prisoner. He was introduced to Pound by an art professor from Washington’s Institute of Contemporary Arts which, in Mullins’ words, “housed the sad remnants of the ‘avant-garde‘ in America.”

According to Mr. Mullins, Pound took to him and commissioned Eustace to carry on his work investigating the international financial system. Pound gave Eustace an American dollar bill and asked him to find out what “Federal Reserve” printed across its top meant. Secrets, many derivative books, and thousands of conspiracy websites have sprung from that federal reserve note.

And here is where the story goes sour. Pound was a feared political prisoner incarcerated because of what he said in Italy about America’s involvement with the international bankers and warmongering. Pound was watched twenty four hours a day and was under the supervision of Dr. Winfred Overholser, the superintendent of the hospital.

Overholser was employed by the Office of Strategic Services (the CIA’s forerunner) to test drugs for the personality-profiling program, what would be called MK-ULTRA. (See John Marks’ The Search for “the Manchurian Candidate”: The CIA and Mind-Control ^[2].) Personality profiling was St. Elizabeth’s bread and butter: The asylum was a natural ally to the agency.

Overholser was also a distinguished professor in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Department of George Washington University. This department provided students as test patients for the Frankfurt Schools’ personality profiling work, which the CIA was very interested in. Prophets of Deceit, first written by Leo Löwenthal ^[3] and Norbert Guterman in 1948, reads like a clumsy smear against Pound.

It does seem odd that a nationalist student would be allowed to continue the work of the dangerously brilliant Pound right under Winny’s nose. The story gets even stranger, as Mr. Mullins describes his stay in Washington during this time. He was housed at the Library of Congress — apparently he lived in one of the disused rooms in the Jefferson building and became good friends with Elizabeth Bishop ^[4].

Bishop was the Library of Congress’ “Consultant in Poetry” — quite a plum position. She was also identified by Frances Stonor Saunders as working with Nicolas Nabokov in Rio de Janeiro. Nabokov was paid by the CIA to handle South American-focused anti-Stalinist writers. (See The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters ^[5].) If what Saunders says is true, then it puts Eustace in strange company at that time of his life.

According to the CIA’s in-house historians, the Library was also a central focus for intelligence gathering ^[6] after the war, so it is doubly unlikely that just anybody would be allowed to poke around there after hours.

Whatever the motivation for letting Mullins in to see Pound was, the result has been that confusion, misinformation and unverifiable literature have clouded Pound’s message about the financial industry’s role in war. Fortunately Pound did plenty of his own writing.

According to Eustace, his relations with Pound’s relatives were strained after Pound’s release from prison. Pound moved back to Italy where he died in 1972. He was never the same after his stay with Overholser in St. E’s. The St. Elizabeth’s building is slated to become the new headquarters of the Department for Homeland Security ^[7].

Eustace went on to write many, many books about the abuses of government, big business and organized religion. They are very entertaining and are often insightful, but are arsenic from a researcher’s point of view. A book that contains interesting information without saying where the information came from is worse than no book at all.

While lackadaisical about references in his own writing, Mr. Mullins could be extremely perceptive and critical of the writing of others. I once told him how much respect I had for George Orwell’s daring to write 1984 — to which he sharply replied: “It’s a great piece of pro-government propaganda — they win in the end.” Mr. Mullins is of course right: Orwell’s Big Brother is always one step ahead, almost omniscient — and therefore invincible.

Eustace Mullins was much more than a writer. He became a political activist and befriended many prominent people in the American nationalist movement. But Mr. Mullins didn’t have much faith in American nationalism: It is a movement, he told me, that the government would never let go anywhere.

The Occidental Observer ^[8], March 20, 2010

Krantenkoppen Oktober 2011 (2)

Krantenkoppen

Oktober 2011 (2)

WIR KONNEN DIE HERAUSFORDRUNGEN DER ZUKUNFT NUR ZUSAMMEN MIT RUSSLAND MEISTERN:

‎"Die Deutschen sind das Lieblingsvolk der Russen. Russland will eine Modernisierungs-Partnerschaft mit Deutschland":
http://www.eurasischesmagazin.de/artikel/?artikelID=20111004

 

 

RUSSIA'S PUTIN SAYS WANTS TO BUILD 'EURASIAN UNION':

‎"Putin said the new union would build on an existing Customs Union with Belarus and Kazakhstan which from next year will remove all barriers to trade, capital and labor movement between the 3 countries. 'We are not going to stop there and are setting an ambitious goal - to achieve an even higher integration level in the Eurasian Union'."
http://goldsilver.com/news/russia-s-putin-says-wants-to-build-eurasian-union/

 

 

SPECIALE RECHTBANK OM IJSLANDSE PREMIER TE BERECHTEN:

‎"Ex-premier Geir Haarde van IJsland zal zich weldra voor een speciale rechtbank moeten verantwoorden voor de instorting van het IJslandse financiële systeem in 2008":
http://www.knack.be/belga-algemeen/speciale-rechtbank-om-ijslandse-ex-premier-te-berechten/article-1195113246525.htm

 

 

HET PROBLEEM IS NIET TE WEINIG GROEI, HET PROBLEEM IS TE VEEL GROEI ...:

‎"De EU is zo groot geworden dat ze nog moeilijk ter verantwoording kan worden geroepen. Zo groot dat ze onder haar eigen gewicht dreigt te bezwijken. Bedrijven zijn zo groot geworden dat ze democratieën bedreigen en globale plutocratieën worden die enkel nog hun eigen belangen verdedigen":
http://www.express.be/business/nl/economy/het-probleem-is-niet-te-weinig-groei-het-probleem-is-te-veel-groei/153619.htm

 

 

STRAKS BREEKT DE PLEURIS ECHT UIT:

"Als de beer los is, gaan we een echte crash meemaken zoals die in de VS al lang heeft plaatsgevonden. In scenario’s die het ministerie van Financiën onlangs heeft vrijgegeven, dalen de huizenprijzen bij een nieuwe financiële crisis wel me...t zo’n 20% – een enorm vermogensverlies. Dat heeft een vernietigende invloed op het consumentenvertrouwen, waardoor de huizenmarkt volledig tot stilstand komt en de bereidheid om geld uit te geven tot een nulpunt daalt. De bouw van nieuwe woningen valt ver terug, wat opnieuw voedsel geeft aan de economische krimp.
De crash betekent dat zeker de helft van de huishoudens straks een hypotheeklening heeft die groter is dan de waarde van de woning."

http://www.depers.nl/economie/600260/Straks-breekt-de-pleuris-echt-uit.html

 

 

GEHEIMPLAN D-MARK:

"Duitsland bereidt in het diepste geheim terugkeer van de D-Mark voor":
http://www.ftm.nl/original/complot-van-de-dag-geheimplan-d-mark.aspx

 

 

'OCCUPY'-BEWEGING SLAAT OVER NAAR NEDERLAND:

‎"Er staan demonstraties op stapel in het financiële centrum van Londen en ook in Den Haag en Amsterdam. (...) Het protest op Wall Street gericht tegen de financiële elite en de bankensector, vindt elders navolging. (...) Maar OccupyDenHaag gaat verder dan alleen een betoging tegen het financiële systeem":
http://www.rnw.nl/nederlands/article/occupy-beweging-slaat-over-naar-nederland

 

 

LES VICTOIRES DU PROTECTIONNISME EN AMERIQUE DU SUD:

‎"L'economie va bien. (...) Le taux de chômage, qui avait dépassé 20% en 2002 est retombé à 7.3%. Bref, le protectionnisme, bien utilisé, peut permettre la croissance. Mieux, au contraire, il semble plutôt un pré requis pour la croissance. Les ayatollahs de l’anarchie commerciale oublient bien souvent qu’il est au cœur de la réussite économique asiatique":
p://www.gaullistelibre.com/2011/10/les-victoires-du-protectionnisme-en.html#more

 

 

LIBIE: TOEAREG VERNIETIGEN TANKS EN PANTSERVOERTUIGEN:

‎"Met een interval van enkele minuten werden gisteren 35 NAVO-tanks en pantservoertuigen uitgeschakeld nabij Zintan":
http://nicodegeit.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/libie-touareg-vernietigen-tanks-en-pantservoertuigen/

 

 

LIBIE UPDATE: MACHTSSTRIJD, MASSAMOORD, SIRTE SOS:

‎"Tussen de verschillende rebellengroeperingen woedt een (soms gewapende) machtsstrijd en in Sirte pleegt de NATO-rebellen-NTC een massamoord op 75.000 inwoners":
http://www.boublog.nl/04/10/2011/libie-update-chaos-machtsstrijd-sirte-sos/#more-12274

 

 

LIBYAN CONFLICT LURCHES OUT OF NATO CONTROL:

‎"The TNC is in utter disarray and chaos, now with in-fighting in Misurat and in Benghazi (...). Bani Walid is Green, Sirt is Green, Tobruk is Green, Ghadames is Green, Al Jufra is Green, Sabha is Green, Fezzan is Green, Tarouna is Green, all the South is Green and the huge majority of the tribes are with Colonel Gaddafi. Al-Zawiyah is Green. Large parts of Tripoli are Green. Areas along the Tunisian frontier are Green":
http://english.pravda.ru/hotspots/conflicts/04-10-2011/119217-libya_nato-0/

 

 

LIBYE: DERNIERES NOUVELLES DU FRONT (05/10/2011):

"Les Touaregs ont infligé de lourdes pertes aux mercenaires du CNT/OTAN avec brio. (...) Le chef militaire de Tripoli, l’islamiste Beladj aurait fui la ville (...).
Des Tribus algériennes ont conclu un pacte avec des chefs tribaux libyens dans une déclaration intitulée « La Guerre pour la Libération de l’Afrique du Nord » dans un silence médiatique de l’Occident. C’est la naissance du Front nord africaine contre l’OTAN":
http://allainjules.com/2011/10/06/libye-dernieres-nouvelles-du-front-05-10-2011/

 

 

DEXIA ONTMANTELD, BELGEN GEPLUIMD:

‎"Dexia investeerde heel veel geld in rommelkredieten die hoge winsten beloofden maar uiteindelijk een luchtbel bleken te zijn zoals eertijds de Amerikaanse huizenmarkt en nu de overheidsobligaties van landen uit het zuiden van Europa. Dexia staat voor 20,9 miljard euro bloot aan obligaties van noodlijdende Europese overheden":
http://www.dewereldmorgen.be/artikels/2011/10/04/dexia-ontmanteld-belgen-gepluimd

 

 

HACKERSVERENIGING 'ANONYMOUS' DREIGT MET VERNIETIGING FACEBOOK OP 5 NOVEMBER 2011:

‎"Facebook verkoopt informatie aan overheden en veiligheidsbedrijven opdat die op een clandestiene manier mensen van overal ter wereld kunnen bespioneren. Anonymous benadrukt dat Facebook enkel en alleen gratis is omdat persoonlijke informatie wordt doorverkocht. Facebook kan ook alle informatie die je ooit op Facebook hebt gezet recupereren, ongeacht of je ze hebt verwijderd. Facebook weet meer over je dan je eigen familie":
http://www.express.be/business/nl/technology/hackersvereniging-anonymous-vernietigt-facebook-op-5-november-2011/150539.htm

 

 

3 OP 4 VLAMINGEN ZIJN TROTSE BELG:

‎"Driekwart van de Vlamingen is trots Belg te zijn en ziet Vlaanderen liever niet onafhankelijk worden. Twee op de drie denken dat België nog lang overleeft":
http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/957/Belgie/article/detail/1329551/2011/10/06/Drie-op-vier-Vlamingen-zijn-trotse-Belg.dhtml

 

 

12.000 BETOGERS BIJ NIEUW PROTEST TEGEN WALL STREET:

‎"De actie wordt gesteund door verschillende syndicale organisaties, lokale groepen en Democratische verkozenen":
http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/3424/economische-crisis/article/detail/1329481/2011/10/06/12-000-betogers-bij-nieuw-protest-tegen-Wall-Street.dhtml#.To1TVy7QRQU.facebook

 

Manger local : S’approvisionner et produire ensemble

Ex: http://fortune.fdesouche.com/

Notre système alimentaire présente une grave faiblesse, trop souvent ignorée : la France, comme la plupart des nations du monde, a perdu sa souveraineté alimentaire. A partir des années 1950, la logique de l’agriculture intensive a conduit chaque zone géographique à se spécialiser dans quelques cultures et à importer le reste d’autres pays, parfois lointains.

"Vendeuse de marché aux fruits, légumes et volailles" - Joachim Beuckelaer, 1567

Aujourd’hui où se dessine l’ère de l’après-pétrole, il apparaît donc nécessaire de retrouver la maîtrise de notre alimentation, en privilégiant les “circuits courts” et les producteurs locaux, ou en produisant soi-même légumes, fruits ou œufs.

Il suffit que les transports soient interrompus quelques jours pour que les pays, au nord comme au sud, se retrouvent en situation de pénurie.

Cette relocalisation permet de savoir comment sont produits et transformés les aliments, mais aussi de renouer un dialogue avec les agriculteurs et de leur garantir un revenu à la hauteur de leur travail et de leur rôle nourricier. Il y a au moins trois bonnes raisons de manger local.

D’abord, parce que notre approvisionnement dépend pour une trop large part d’importations en provenance de pays parfois lointains, ce qui le rend fragile. On a calculé que, si les transports étaient interrompus, une ville comme Paris, par exemple, n’avait que trois ou quatre jours d’autonomie alimentaire.

Ensuite, parce que ces importations sont coûteuses en pétrole, une énergie qui va devenir rare et chère, et en pollutions. Enfin, parce que renouer un lien avec les producteurs locaux permet de savoir comment est produit ce que l’on mange.

Cependant, comment faire pour manger local ? Retrouver la maîtrise de son alimentation oblige à réapprendre des gestes souvent oubliés (jardiner, préparer des conserves…) et à redécouvrir la coopération et l’entraide qui conditionnent le plus souvent la réussite. Pour aider à cette grande “requalification,” les auteurs de Manger local proposent vingt-six initiatives qui reposent sur des expériences vécues, réussies et facilement reproductibles, ordonnées de manière à amener le lecteur des actions les plus simples à mettre en œuvre (créer un marché de producteurs, un réseau de paniers, approvisionner une cantine en produits bio et locaux ou démarrer son potager) aux plus “engagées” (se réunir autour d’un jardin partagé, créer un éco-hameau, mettre les initiatives locales en réseau…).

Chaque initiative est exposée de manière pragmatique, avec ses succès et ses accidents de parcours. Une liste de conseils pratiques suit chacun de ces récits et donne une idée juste du travail à accomplir et de la marche à suivre pour adapter les différentes idées maîtresses à son propre territoire (quartier, village, ville, vallée…). Cette liste est accompagnée d’un annuaire très fourni qui permet au lecteur de poursuivre sa réflexion pour s’engager localement.

« Manger local : s’approvisionner et produire ensemble » de Lionel Astruc et Cécile Cros Tamzin Pinkerton et Rob Hopkins, initiateurs du mouvement locavore (manger local) signent la préface de ce livre.

Extrait : « La convergence du pic pétrolier, des changements climatiques et de la contraction de l’économie implique que le travail qui consiste à redonner vie à la production alimentaire locale à travers le monde s’effectue avec un sentiment d’urgence nouveau. La sensibilisation à ces questions et la détermination à en atténuer les conséquences ne cessent de croître. Partout dans le monde, les listes d’attente pour obtenir une parcelle à jardiner s’allongent, les ventes de graines de plantes comestibles augmentent et les consommateurs recherchent activement des produits locaux.

Les projets décrits dans ce livre traitent de la transformation des pelouses, des terrains de jeux et des champs en lieux de créativité et de pédagogie autour des aliments. C’est le bon côté des défis auxquels nous sommes confrontés – et ce n’est que le début. En rendant hommage au travail extraordinaire qui a été réalisé jusqu’ici par le mouvement international en faveur d’une alimentation locale, nous devons également reconnaître la nécessité d’aller encore plus loin dans cette voie. »

- Les auteurs :

Après des études de sciences politiques, Lionel Astruc est devenu journaliste spécialisé dans l’environnement. Ses enquêtes le conduisent à visiter des projets écologiques pionniers. Ses reportages paraissent dans la presse et ont fait l’objet de nombreux livres, parmi lesquels Voyage en Terre durable (Glénat), Échappées vertes (Terre Vivante), Aux sources de l’alimentation durable (Glénat)… Cécile Cros, titulaire d’un master en gestion de l’environnement de l’université de Plymouth, en Grande-Bretagne, est chargée des relations extérieures et rédactrice à la Fondation Goodplanet.

- Références :

Manger local : s’approvisionner et produire ensemble de Lionel Astruc et Cécile Cros – Coédition Actes Sud/Colibris – Collection : Domaine du possible – Date de parution : 5 octobre 2011 – 220 pages – ISBN 978-2-7427-9893-3 – Prix indicatif : 19,00€

CDurable

Thilo Sarrazin im Interview mit dem österreichischen »Kurier«

Thilo Sarrazin im Interview mit dem österreichischen »Kurier«: »Wo man recht hat, muss man es sagen können.«

Laura Küchler

 

Anlässlich des Jahresjubiläums von Deutschland schafft sich ab hat der ehemalige Bundesbankvorstand und Ex-Berliner Finanzsenator Thilo Sarrazin dem österreichischen Kurier ein sehr detailliertes Interview über die demografische Situation Deutschlands und die Nachteile von ungesteuerter Einwanderung gegeben. Er hatte durch seine aus Sicht der Mainstream-Medien provokant formulierten Thesen eine längst überfällige Debatte in Deutschland angestoßen, deren Gegenstand zunächst die Migrationssituation in unserem Land war. Durch die empörten Reaktionen der politischen Klasse auf seine Aussagen einerseits und die im Gegenzug überdimensionale Zustimmung und Sympathie der Bevölkerung andererseits hatte sich diese Debatte ausgeweitet auf die Frage nach Meinungs- und Redefreiheit in unserem Land.

 

Dass Sarrazins Thesen und Feststellungen nicht einfach unter den Tisch gekehrt werden können, belegen schon die Verkaufszahlen seines Buches: Allein im September vergangenen Jahres verkaufte er über 800.000 Exemplare. Mittlerweile ist Deutschland schafft sich ab 1,3 Millionen Mal über die Ladentheken der Buchhandlungen gegangen. Der Bestseller wird ein Longseller, was die enorme Bedeutung des Buches belegt und immer wieder erneut bestätigt. Im Interview mit dem österreichischen Kurier ist unter anderem die derzeitige Schuldenkrise in der Europäischen Union ein Thema.

Mehr: http://info.kopp-verlag.de/hintergruende/deutschland/laura-kuechler/thilo-sarrazin-im-interview-mit-dem-oesterreichischen-kurier-wo-man-recht-hat-muss-man-es-sagen.html

Lettre aux enfants européens (nés en 2011) : devenez des hommes

Dans cette épître, Michel Geoffroy dresse un panorama glacial de ce qui attend les nouveau–nés. C’est aussi une satire sans concessions du système contemporain. Un système, il est vrai, en voie d’effondrement.

Bayard en 1504, défendant seul le pont du Garigliano (peinture de Félix Philipotteaux, XIXe siècle)

Mes pauvres enfants, vous êtes nés dans un monde finissant et vous allez participer à son agonie. Vous, les jeunes Occidentaux, votre cauchemar ne fait que commencer.

 

Vous avez échappé à l’avortement et vous êtes nés dans ce qui reste de la famille en Europe. Elle sera peut-être « monoparentale », c’est-à-dire réduite à une seule personne. Ou bien constituée de deux personnes aux noms différents, voire de même sexe. Vos grands-parents, vous les verrez de temps en temps, pour qu’ils vous fassent des cadeaux ou pour qu’ils vous « gardent » pendant que vos parents travaillent ou s’amusent ; avant qu’ils ne rejoignent l’hospice car ils finiront aussi par gêner. Vos parents divorceront un jour, sans doute, s’ils se sont mariés (un mariage sur deux finit en divorce selon les statistiques). Votre famille se réduira au droit de visite.

Vous n’aurez pas le réconfort d’avoir beaucoup de frères et de sœurs car la démographie occidentale s’effondre : vous n’aurez que des copains, des potes et des adresses Internet. Vous n’aurez que des amis en silicone. Cela vous suffira puisque de toute façon vous allez passer 4 heures par jour devant la télévision. Le reste du temps, vous écouterez de la musique déracinée avec vos copains en « boum », en « boîte » ou sur votre MP3 et vous tapoterez sur votre téléphone-ordinateur-appareil photo-GPS portable.

Vous lirez peu et rarement de vrais livres. L’accès à la culture ne vous sera pas accordé sauf si vos parents sont riches. On vous dressera ainsi à rester des éternels spectateurs du monde : des objets et non des sujets de l’histoire.

L’école publique ne vous apprendra rien de votre passé, de votre histoire, de votre culture, de vos racines ou de votre religion. Elle vous apprendra seulement à respecter les commandements de l’idéologie dominante et qu’il est normal de copuler avec vos petits copains et copines. Elle vous apprendra à vous repentir de votre civilisation, à mépriser vos ancêtres et à suspecter vos parents. A la cantine on vous fera manger halal car il ne faut pas discriminer vos petits camarades musulmans. On vous apprendra à consommer et à céder à ce que vous croirez être vos libres pulsions, alors que vous serez seulement victimes de la suggestion publicitaire omniprésente.

Si vos parents ont un peu d’argent, vous vous inscrirez à l’université puisque tout le monde y va, bien que vous ne sachiez pas bien l’orthographe, à la différence de vos arrière-grands-parents qui n’avaient que leur certificat d’études primaires mais qui savaient lire, écrire et compter et qui connaissaient les chefs-lieux de départements. Avec un peu de patience vous obtiendrez un diplôme, comme tous les autres, et vous devrez alors chercher du travail. Comme tous les autres, car vous entrerez dans un monde où le travail durable est un privilège rare, désormais.

Vous serez en concurrence avec le monde entier : avec les Chinois et les Indiens qui fabriquent chez eux ce que l’on vous somme d’acheter, et avec les Africains qui sont installés en Europe. Des législations compliquées, destinées à empêcher de « discriminer » tout le monde sauf vous, ont en outre été mises en place. Il faudra vous contenter de peu si vous voulez travailler. Il faudra aussi faire preuve de docilité et de mobilité car la délocalisation de l’emploi industriel est désormais la loi. Et puis, compte tenu des prix de l’immobilier – car c’est le seul bien qui n’a pas encore été dévalué par les crises financières à répétition –, il vous faudra beaucoup vous déplacer entre votre domicile et votre travail, et de plus en plus longtemps puisque les centres villes sont de plus en plus chers. Et vous voyagerez dans les transports collectifs bondés car les routes sont saturées ou interdites.

Vous vivrez dans des banlieues et non plus dans des villes, des villages et des campagnes, comme vos ancêtres. Vous logerez entre le centre commercial, le centre culturel et le parking. La nuit, il vous faudra éviter de circuler pour ne pas rencontrer des « jeunes », des criminels récidivistes ou des contrôles de police musclés. Le mieux pour vous sera de rester chez vous à regarder la télévision. Vous y verrez des tas de choses auxquelles vous ne pourrez jamais accéder mais cela vous fera rêver, avant de vous endormir. Et cela vous donnera l’idée de vous endetter un peu plus pour acheter des objets inutiles que vous aurez « vus à la télévision ».

Mais il vous faudra éviter d’être malade, surtout si vous n’avez qu’un emploi à durée déterminée. Parce que les systèmes de sécurité sociale font faillite et qu’on remboursera mal vos dépenses médicales. Et parce qu’un arrêt de longue durée peut signifier un début de chômage, la dégringolade sociale irrémédiable dans un pays où 10% de la population n’a pas d’emploi.

Vous n’apprendrez pas le métier des armes puisque le service militaire a été aboli et qu’il est interdit de posséder des armes. Vous n’apprendrez pas à protéger votre nation, votre foyer, vos proches. Si vous êtes militaire de carrière on vous enverra guerroyer au loin, jouer les mercenaires de l’OTAN.

Vous n’apprendrez pas à être un citoyen qui participe à la vie de la cité. Non, si on vous fait militer ce sera pour des causes lointaines : on vous fera faire de « l’humanitaire » ou sauver les bébés phoques. On vous consultera sur pas grand’ chose d’important ; on vous laissera tranquille ; on vous demandera seulement de voter pour les candidats choisis par la télévision.

On vous apprendra à être un bon petit sujet docile, une gentille « ressource humaine » au service de l’économie, qui fait confiance aux institutions, aux conseils d’administration des entreprises et aux experts financiers pour vous « protéger ».

Il faudra aussi vous habituer à respecter les multiples prohibitions dont on a rempli votre vie, pour votre bien : trier sagement vos déchets ménagers, ne pas rouler trop vite, mettre votre ceinture de sécurité, ne pas fumer, ne pas manger trop sucré ou trop salé, ne pas boire plus d’un verre de vin, ne pas transporter d’objet pointu et coupant dans les avions et surtout ne pas avoir de mauvaises pensées.

Il faudra aussi que vous appreniez à être minoritaire. Minoritaire dans le monde, car les Européens ne représenteront plus que 7,5% de la population mondiale en 2050. Minoritaire à l’échelle de l’Union européenne élargie, car cette union n’est qu’un nain politique. Minoritaire dans votre pays, car vous devrez vous « ouvrir » aux us et coutumes de tous les peuples qui vous feront l’honneur de venir s’installer en France, si vous ne voulez pas qu’on vous accuse de « racisme » et subir les foudres de la justice. Minoritaire, il faudra que vous appreniez à baisser les yeux dans la rue.

Avec un peu de chance vous durerez ainsi au moins 80 ans, dans la solitude ou en la partageant avec un autre individu que vous aurez rencontré. Avec votre petite retraite et les quelques économies qui auront survécu aux différentes crises financières, vous traînerez votre vie inutile et sans but. Peut-être aurez-vous décidé de faire des enfants pour qu’ils profitent à leur tour de ce paradis terrestre ? Mais il faudra vous résigner à ce qu’ils n’aient pas une meilleure situation que la vôtre.

A moins que dans un suprême effort vous ne rejetiez ce système : que vous décidiez d’être des hommes et des Européens, comme vos ancêtres. Alors tout ce qui précède n’aura été qu’un mauvais souvenir ou qu’un affreux cauchemar.

Polémia

Julius Evola’s Concept of Race: A Racism of Three Degrees

Julius Evola’s Concept of Race: A Racism of Three Degrees

By Michael Bell

Ex: http://www.toqonline.com/

Since the rise of physical anthropology, the definition of the term “race” has undergone several changes. In 1899, William Z. Ripley stated that, “Race, properly speaking, is responsible only for those peculiarities, mental or bodily, which are transmitted with constancy along the lines of direct physical descent.” ¹ In 1916, Madison Grant described it as the “immutability of somatological or bodily characters, with which is closely associated the immutability of physical predispositions and impulses.”² He was echoed a decade later by German anthropologist Hans F.K. Gunther, who in his Racial Elements of European History said, “A race shows itself in a human group which is marked off from every other human group through its own proper combination of bodily and mental characteristics, and in turn produces only its like.”³ According to the English-born Canadian evolutionary psychologist J. Philippe Rushton:

Each race (or variety) is characterized by a more or less distinct combination of inherited morphological, behavioral, physiological traits . . . Formation of a new race takes place when, over several generations, individuals in one group reproduce more frequently among themselves than they do with individuals in other groups. This process is most apparent when the individuals live in diverse geographic areas and therefore evolve unique, recognizable adaptations (such as skin color) that are advantageous in their specific environments.⁴

These examples indicate that, within the academic context (where those who still believe in “race” are fighting a losing battle with the hierophants of cultural anthropology), a race is simply a human group with distinct common physical and mental traits that are inherited.

Among white racialists, where race has more than a merely scientific importance, a deeper dimension was added to the concept: that of the spirit. In The Decline of the West, Oswald Spengler set forth the idea of the Apollinian, Faustian, and Magian “soul forms,” which can be understood as spiritual racial types.⁵ In this highly influential Spenglerian tome Imperium, Francis Parker Yockey elaborated this notion, asserting that while there are genetically related individuals within any particular human group, race itself is spiritual: it is a deeply felt sense of identity connected with a drive to perpetuate not just genes, but a whole way of life. “Race impels toward self-preservation, continuance of the cycle of generations, increase of power.”⁶ Spiritual race is a drive toward a collective destiny.

The spiritual side of race, however, was never systematically explained to the same extent as the physical. Its existence was, rather, merely suggested and taken for granted. It was only in the writings of the much overlooked Italian Radical Traditionalist and esotericist Julius Evola that the spiritual dimension was finally articulated in detail. One who has studied race from the biological, psychological, and social perspectives should turn to Evola’s writings for a culminating lesson on the subject. Evola’s writings provide a wealth of information that one cannot get elsewhere. Through a careful analysis of ancient literature and myths, along with anthropology, biology, history, and related subjects, Evola has pieced together a comprehensive explanation of the racial spirit.

My purpose here is simply to outline Evola’s doctrine of race. Since Evola’s life and career have been thoroughly examined elsewhere,⁷ the only biographical fact relevant here is that Evola’s thoughts on race were officially adopted as policy by Mussolini’s Fascist Party in 1942.⁸

Body and Mind

Evola’s precise definition of “race” is similar to Yockey’s: it is an inner essence that a person must “have”; this will be explained further below. In the meantime, a good starting point is Evola’s understanding of distinct human groups.

Evola agrees with the physical anthropologists that there are distinct groups with common physical traits produced by a common genotype: “the external form . . . which, from birth to birth, derives from the ‘gene’ . . . is called phenotype.”⁹ He refers to these groups as “races of the body,” and concurs with Gunther that suitable examples include the Nordic, Mediterranean, East Baltic, Orientalid, Negroid, and many others.¹⁰

Evola describes the “race of the soul” as the collective mental and behavioral traits of a human stock, and the outward “style” through which these are exhibited. Every race has essentially the same mental predispositions; all human peoples, for example, desire sexual satisfaction from a mate. However, each human stock manifests these inner instincts externally in a different way, and it is this “style,” as Evola terms it, which is the key component of the “race of the soul.”

To illustrate this point, compare the Spartan strategos (Nordic soul) to the Carthaginian shofet (Levantine soul)¹¹: the Spartan considers it heroic to fight hand-to-hand with shield and spear and cowardly to attack from a distance with projectiles, whereas the Carthaginian finds it natural to employ elephants and grand siege equipment to utterly shock and scatter his enemies for an expedient victory.

The names of these races of the soul correspond to those of the body, hence a Nordic soul, a Mediterranean soul, Levantine soul, etc. Evola devotes an entire chapter in Men Among the Ruins to comparing the “Nordic” or “Aryo-Roman” soul to the “Mediterranean.” The Nordic soul is that of “‘the race of active man,’ of the man who feels that the world is presented to him as material for possession and attack.”¹² It is the character of the quintessential “strong and silent type”:

Among them we should include self-control, an enlightened boldness, a concise speech and determined and coherent conduct, and a cold dominating attitude, exempt from personalism and vanity . . . The same style is characterized by deliberate actions, without grand gestures; a realism that is not materialism, but rather love for the essential . . . the readiness to unite, as free human beings and without losing one’s identity, in view of a higher goal or for an idea.¹³

Evola also quotes Helmuth Graf von Moltke (the Elder) on the Nordic ethos: “Talk little, do much, and be more than you appear to be.”¹⁴

The Mediterranean soul is the antithesis of the Nordic. This sort of person is a vain, noisy show-off who does things just to be noticed. Such a person might even do great deeds sometimes, but they are not done primarily for their positive value, but merely to draw attention. In addition, the Mediterranean makes sexuality the focal point of his existence.¹⁵ The resemblance of this picture to the average narcissistic, sex- and celebrity-obsessed American of today – whether genetically Nordic or Mediterranean – is striking. One need only watch American Idol or browse through the profiles of Myspace.com to see this.

Race of the Spirit

The deepest and therefore most complicated aspect of race for Evola is that of the “spirit.” He defines it as a human stock’s “varying attitude towards the spiritual, supra-human, and divine world, as expressed in the form of speculative systems, myths, and symbols, and the diversity of religious experience itself.”¹⁶ In other words, it is the manner in which different peoples interact with the gods as conveyed through their cultures; a “culture” would include rituals, temple architecture, the role of a priesthood (or complete lack thereof), social hierarchy, the status of women, religious symbolism, sexuality, art, etc. This culture, or worldview, is not simply the product of sociological causes, however. It is the product of something innate within a stock, a “meta-biological force, which conditions both the physical and the psychical structures” of its individual members.¹⁷

The “meta-biological force” in question has two different forms. The first corresponds to an id or a collective unconscious, a son of group mind-spirit that splinters off into individual spirits and enters a group member’s body upon birth. Evola describes it as “subpersonal” and belonging “to nature and the infernal world.”¹⁸ Most ancient peoples, as he explains, depicted this force symbolically in their myths and sagas; examples would include the animal totems of American aborigines, the ka of the Pharaonic Egyptians, or the lares of the Latin peoples. The “infernal” nature of the latter example was emphasized by the fact that the lares were believed to be ruled over by the underground deity named Mania.¹⁹ When a person died, this metaphysical element would be absorbed back into the collective from whence it came, only to be recycled into another body, but devoid of a recollection of its former life.

The second form, superior to the first, is one that does not exist in every stock naturally, or in every member of a given stock; it is an otherworldly force that must be drawn into the blood of a people through the practice of certain rites. This action corresponds to the Hindu notion of “realizing the Self,” or experiencing a oneness with the divine source of all existence and order (Brahman). Such a task can only be accomplished by a gifted few, who by making this divine connection undergo an inner transformation. They became aware of immutable principles, in the name of which they go on to forge their ethnic kin into holistic States – microcosmic versions of the transcendental principle of Order itself. Thus, the Brahmins and Kshatriyas of India, the patricians of Rome, and the samurai of Japan had a “race of the spirit,” which is essential to “having race” itself. Others may have the races of body and soul, but race of the spirit is race par excellence.

Transcendence is experienced differently by different ethnic groups. As a result, different understandings of the immutable arise across the world; from these differences emerge several “races of the spirit.” Evola focuses on two in particular. The first is the “telluric spirit” characterized by a deep “connection to the soul.” This race worships the Earth in its various cultural manifestations (Cybele, Gaia, Magna Mater, Ishtar, Inanna, etc.) and a consort of “demons.” Their view of the afterlife is fatalistic: the individual spirit is spawned from the Earth and the returns to the Earth, or to the infernal realm of Mania, upon death, with no possibility.²⁰ Their society is matriarchal, with men often taking the last names of their mothers and familial descent being traced through the mother. In addition, women often serve as high priestesses. The priesthood, in fact, is given preeminence, whereas the aristocratic warrior element is subordinated, if it exists at all.

This race has had representatives in all the lands of Europe, Asia, and Africa that were first populated by pre-Aryans: the Iberians, Etruscans, Pelasgic-Minoans, Phoenicians, the Indus Valley peoples, and all others of Mediterranean, Oriental, and Negroid origin. The invasions of Aryan stock would introduce to these peoples a diametrically opposed racial spirit: the “Solar” or “Olympian” race.

The latter race worships the heavenly god of Order, manifested as Brahman, Ahura-Mazda, Tuisto (the antecedent of Odin), Chronos, Saturn, and the various sun deities from America to Japan. Its method of worship is not the self-prostration and humility practiced by Semites, or the ecstatic orgies of Mediterraneans, but heroic action (for the warriors) and meditative contemplation (for the priests), both of which establish a direct link with the divine. Olympian societies are hierarchical, with a priestly caste at the top, followed by a warrior caste, then a caste of tradesmen, and finally a laboring caste. The ruler himself assumes the dual role of priest and warrior, which demonstrates that the priesthood did not occupy the helm of society as they did among telluric peoples. Finally, the afterlife was not seen as an inescapable dissolution into nothingness, but as one of two potential conclusions of a test. Those who live according to the principles of their caste, without straying totally from the path, and who come to “realize the Self,” experience a oneness with God and enter a heavenly realm that is beyond death. Those who live a worthless, restless existence that places all emphasis on material and physical things, without ever realizing the presence of the divine Self within all life,, undergoes the “second death,”²¹ or the return to the collective racial mind-spirit mentioned earlier.

The Olympian race has appeared throughout history in the following forms: in America as the Incas; in Europe and Asia as the Indo-European speaking peoples; in Africa as the Egyptians, and in the Far East as the Japanese. Generally, this race of the spirit has been carried by waves of phenotypically Nordic peoples, which will be explained further below.

Racial Genesis

Of considerable importance to Evola’s racial worldview is his explanation of human history. Contrary to the views of most physical anthropologists and archaeologists, and even many intellectual white racialists, humanity did not evolve from a primitive, simian ancestor, and then branch off into different genetic populations. Evolution itself is a fallacy to Evola, who believed it to be rooted in the equally false ideology of progressivism: “We do not believe that man is derived from the ape by evolution. We belive that the ape is derived from man by involution. We agree with De Maistre that savage peoples are not primitive peoples, but rather the degenerating remnants of more ancient races that have disappeared.²²

Evola argues in many of his works, like Bal Ganghadar Tilak and Rene Guenon before him, that the Aryan peoples of the world descend from a race that once inhabited the Arctic. In “distant prehistory” this land was the seat of a super-civilization – “super” not for its material attainments, but for its connection to the gods – that has been remembered by various peoples as Hyperborea, Airyana-Vaego, Mount Meru, Tullan, Eden, and other labels; Evola uses the Hellenic rendition “Hyperborea” more than the rest, probably to remain consistent and avoid confusion among his readers. The Hyperboreans themselves, as he explains, were the original bearers of the Olympian racial spirit.

Due to a horrific cataclysm, the primordial seat was destroyed, and the Hyperboreans were forced to migrate. A heavy concentration of refugees ended up at a now lost continent somewhere in the Atlantic, where they established a new civilization that corresponded to the “Atlantis” of Plato and the “Western land” of the Celts and other peoples. History repeated itself, and ultimately this seat was also destroyed, sending forth and Eastward-Westward wave of migrants. As Evola notes, this particular wave “[corresponded[ to Cro-Magnon man, who made his appearance toward the end of the glacial age in the Western part of Europe,"²³ thus leading some historical evidence to his account. This "pure Aryan" stock would ultimately become the proto-Nordic race of Europe, which would then locally evolve into the multitude of Nordic stocks who traveled across the world and founded the grandest civilizations, from Incan Peru to Shintoist Japan.

Evola spends less time tracing the genesis of nonwhite peoples, which he consistently refers to as "autochthonous," "bestial," and "Southern" races." In his seminal work Revolt Against the Modern World, he says that the "proto-Mongoloid and Negroid races ... probably represented the last residues of the inhabitants of a second prehistoric continent, now lost, which was located in the South, and which some designated as Lemuria."²⁴ In contrast to the superior Nordic-Olympians, these stocks were telluric worshippers of the Earth and its elemental demons. Semites and other mixed races, Evola asserts, are the products of miscegenation between Atlantean settlers and these Lemurian races. Civilizations such as those of the pre-Hellenes, Mohenjo-Daro, pre-dynastic Egyptians, and Phoenicians, among countless others, were founded by mixed peoples.

Racialism in Practice

Racialist movements from National Socialist Germany to contemporary America have tended to emphasize preserving physical racial types. While phenotypes were important to Evola, his foremost goal for racialism was to safeguard the Olympian racial spirit of European man. It was from this spirit that the greatest Indo-European civilizations received the source of their leadership, the principles around which they centered their lives, and thus the wellspring of their vitality. While de Gobineau, Grant, and Hitler argued that blood purity was the determining factor in the life of a civilization, Evola contended that "Only when a civilization's 'spiritual race' is worn out or broken does its decline set in."²⁵ Any people who manages to maintain a physical racial ideal with no inner spiritual substance is a race of "very beautiful animals destined to work,"²⁶ but not destined to produce a higher civilization.

The importance of phenotypes is described thusly: "The physical from is the instrument, expression, and symbol of the psychic form."²⁷ Evola felt that it would only be possible to discover the desired spiritual type (Olympian) through a systematic examination of physical types. Even to Evola, a Sicilian born, the best place to look in this regard was the "Aryan or Nordic-Aryan body"; as he mentions on several occasions, it was, after all, this race that carried the Olympian Tradition across the world. He called this process of physical selection "racism of the first degree," which was the first of three stages.

Once the proper Nordic phenotype was identified, various "appropriate" tests comprising racism of the second and third degrees would be implemented to determine a person's racial soul and spirit.²⁸ Evola never laid out a specific program for this, but makes allusions in his works to assessments in which a person's political and racial opinions would be taken into account. In his Elements of Racial Education, he asserts that "The one who says yes to racism is one in which race still lives," and that one who has race is intrinsically against democratic ideals. He also likens true racism to the "classical spirit," which is rooted in "exaltation of everything which has form, face, and individuation, as opposed to what is formless, vague, and undifferentiated."²⁹ Keep in mind that for Evola, "having race" is synonymous with having the "Olympian race" of the spirit. Upon discovering a mentality that fits the criteria for soul and spirit, a subsequent education of "appropriate disciplines" would be carried out to ensure that the racial spirit within this person is "maintained and developed." Through such trials, conducted on a wide scale, a nation can determine those people within it who embody the racial ideal and the capacity for leadership.

Protecting and developing the Nordic-Olympians was primary for Evola, but his racialism had other goals. He sought to produce the "unified type," or a person in whom the races of body, soul, and spirit matched one another and worked together harmoniously. For example: "A soul which experiences the world as something before which it takes a stand actively, which regards the world as an object of attack and conquest, should have a face which reflects by determined and daring features this inner experience, a slim, tall, nervous, straight body - an Aryan or Nordic-Aryan body."³⁰

This was because "it is not impossible that physical appearances peculiar to a given race may be accompanied by the psychic traits of a different race."³¹ To Evola, if people chose mates on the basis of physical features alone, there is a good chance that various mental and spiritual elements would become intermingled and generate a dangerous confusion; there would be Nordics with Semitic mental characteristics and Asiatic spiritual predispositions, Alpines with Nordic proclivities and fatalistic religious attitudes, and so on. Such a mixture was what Evola considered to be a mongrel type, in whom "cosmopolitan myths of equality" become manifested mentally, thus paving the way for the beasts of democracy and communism to permeate the nation and take hold.

Evola cared more about the aristocratic racial type, but he did not want the populace to become a bastardized mass: "We must commit ourselves to the task of applying to the nation as a whole the criteria of coherence and unity, of correspondence between outer and inner elements."³² If the aristocracy had as its subjects a blob of spiritless, internally broken people, the nation would have no hope. For the Fascist state, he promoted an educational campaign to ensure that the peoples of Italy selected their mates appropriately, looking for both appearances and behavior; non-Europeans would of course be excluded entirely. The school system would play its role, as would popular literature and films.³³

Another way to develop the "inner race" is through combat. Not combat in the modern sense of pressing a button and instantly obliterating a hundred people, but combat as it unfolds in the trenches and on the battlefield, when it is man against man, as well as man against his inner demons. Evola writes, "the experience of war, and the instincts and currents of deep forces which emerge through such an experience, give the racial sense a right, fecund direction."³⁴ Meanwhile, the comfortable bourgeois lifestyle and its pacifist worldview lead to the crippling of the inner race, which will ultimately become extinguished if external damage is thenceforth inflicted (via intermixing with inferior elements).

Conclusion

American racialists have much to gain from an introduction to Evola's thoughts on race. In the American context, racialism is virtually devoid of any higher, spiritual element; many racialists even take pride in this. There are, without a doubt, many racialists who consider themselves devout Catholics or Protestants, and they may even be so. However, the reality of race as a spiritual phenomenon is given little attention, if any at all. For whatever reason, American racialists are convinced that the greatness of Western civilization, evinced by its literature, architecture, discoveries, inventions, conquests, empires, political treatises, economic achievements, and the like, like solely in the mental characteristics of its people. For instance, the Romans erected the coliseum, the English invented capitalism, and the Greeks developed the Pythagorean theorem simply because they all had high IQs. When one compares the achievements of different Western peoples, and those of the West to the East, however, this explanation appears inadequate.

Intelligence alone cannot explain the different styles that are conveyed through the culture forms of different peoples; the Greeks' Corinthian order on the one hand, and the Arabs' mosques and minarets on the other, are not results of mere intellect. Sociological explanations do not work either; the Egyptians and Mayans lived in vastly different environments, yet both evoked their style through pyramids and hieroglyphs. The only explanation of these phenomena is that there is something deeper within a folk, something deeper and more powerful than bodily structures and mental predispositions. As Evola elucidates through his multitude of works - themselves the result of intense study of ancient and modern texts from every discipline imaginable - race has a "super-biological" aspect: a spiritual force. Ancient peoples understood this reality and conveyed it through their myths: the Romans used the lares; the Mayans used totemic animal symbols; the Persians used the fravashi, which were synonymous with the Nordic valkyries;³⁵ the Egyptians used the ka; and the Hindus in the Bhagavad-Gita used Lord Krishna.

To better understand the spiritual side of race, the best place to look is Julius Evola. Through his works, which have greatly influenced the European New Right, Evola dissects and examines the concept of the Volksgeist, or racial spirit. It is the supernatural force that animates the bodies of a given race and stimulates the wiring in their brains. It is the substance from which cultures arise, and from which an aristocracy materializes to raise those cultures to higher civilizations. Without it, a race is simply a tribe of automatons that feed and copulate.

When the super biological element that is the center and the measure of true virility is lost, people can call themselves men, but in reality they are just eunuchs and their paternity simply reflects the quality of animals who, blinded by instinct, procreate randomly other animals, who in turn are mere vestiges of existence.³⁶

Nowhere would Evola's racial ideas be more valuable than in the United States, a land in which the idea of transcendent realities is mocked, if not violently attacked. Even American racialists, who nostalgically look back to "better" times when people were more "traditional," are completely unaware of how the Aryan Tradition, in its purest form, understand the concept of race. Many of these people claim to be "Aryan" while simultaneously calling themselves "atheist" or "agnostic," although in ancient societies, one needed to practice the necessary religious rites and undergo certain trials before having the right to style oneself an Aryan. Hence the need for these "atheist Aryans" to become more familiar with Julius Evola.

Michael Bell writes about race and popular culture from a Radical Traditionalist point of view.

________________________________

[1] William Z. Ripley, The Races of Europe: A Sociological Study (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1899), 1.
[2] Madison Grant, The Passing of the Great Race (North Stratford, NHL Ayer Company Publishers, Inc., 2000), xix.
[3] H.F.K. Gunther, The Racial Elements of European History, trans. G.C. Wheeler (Uckfield, Sussex, UK: Historical Review Press, 2007), 9.
[4] Philippe Rushton, “Statement on Race as a Biological Concept,” November 4, 1996, http://www.nationalistlibrary.com/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=1354.
[5] Oswald Spengler, The Decline of the West, 2 vols, trans. Charles Francis Atkinson (New York: Knopf, 1926 & 1928), vol. 1, chs. 6 and 9; cf. vol. 2, ch. 5, “Cities and Peoples. (B) Peoples, races, Tongues.”
[6] Francis Parker Yockey, Imperium (Newport Beach, Cal.: Noontide Press, 2000), 293.
[7] See the Introduction to Julius Evola, Men Among the Ruins, trans. Guido Stucco, (Rochester, Vt.: Inner Traditions International, 2002).
[8] Evola, Men Among the Ruins, 48.
[9] Julius Evola, The Elements of Racial Education, trans. Thompkins and Cariou (Thompkins & Cariou, 2005), 11.
[10] Evola, Elements of a Racial Education, 34-35.
[11] For more on the Levantine “race of the soul” see Elements of Racial Education, 35.
[12] Evola, Elements of Racial Education, 35.
[13] Evola, Men Among the Ruins, 259.
[14] Evola, Men Among the Ruins, 262.
[15] Evola, Men Among the Ruins, 260. Evola’s descriptions of Nordic and Mediterranean proclivities show the strong influence of Gunthers’s The Racial Elements of European History.
[16] Evola, Elements of Racial Education, 29.
[17] Julius Evola, Metaphysics of War: Battle, Victory, & Death in the World of Tradition, ed. John Morgan and Patrick Boch (Aarhus, Denmark: Integral Tradition Publishing, 2007), 63.
[18] Julius Evola, Revolt Against the Modern World, trans. Guido Stucco (Rochester, Vt.: Inner Traditions International, 1995), 48.
[19] Evola, Revolt Against the Modern World, 48.
[20] Evola, Elements of Racial Education, 40.
[21] Evola, Revolt Against the Modern World, 48.
[22] Julius Evola, Eros and the Mysteries of Love, trans. anonymous (Rochester, Vt.: Inner Traditions International, 1991, 9.
[23] Evola, Revolt Against the Modern World, 195.
[24] Evola, Revolt Against the Modern World, 197.
[25] Evola, Revolt Against the Modern World, 58.
[26] Evola, Revolt Against the Modern World, 170.
[27] Evola, Elements of Racial Education, 30.
[28] Julius Evola, “Race as a Builder of Leaders,” trans. Thompkins and Cariou, http://thompkins_cariou.tripod.com/id7.html.
[29] Evola, The Elements of Racial Education, 14, 15.
[30] Evola, The Elements of Racial Education, 31.
[31] Evola, “Race as a Builder of Leaders.”
[32] Evola, Elements of Racial Education, 33.
[33] Evola, Elements of Racial Education, 25.
[34] Evola, Metaphysics of War, 69
[35] Evola, Metaphysics of War, 34.
[36] Evola, Revolt Against the Modern World, 170.

« Le territoire de l’euro, môle de la résistance et de la reconquête européennes »

Par Gérard Dussouy

Ex: http://fortune.fdesouche.com/

Gérard Dussouy, universitaire, professeur de géopolitique à Bordeaux IV, fait autorité dans son domaine. Il a été l’un des conférenciers de l’Université de rentrée du Bloc Identitaire qui s’est tenue les 9, 10 et 11 septembre devant 150 personnes. Il livre en exclusivité pour Novopress son analyse sur la crise de la dette et en particulier sur l’actualité grecque : une bouffée bien nécessaire d’optimisme, notamment appuyée par les travaux du très important “Laboratoire européen d’anticipation économique” (LEAP) qui publie l’excellent bulletin mensuel appelé GEAB.

Gustave Moreau - Europe et le taureau (1869)

La mondialisation, contrairement à ce qu’en disent les adeptes d’Adam Smith (ceux qui voient en elle l’émergence d’une société globale, démocratique et pacifiée par la prospérité du marché), est un état de guerre. Les principaux enjeux n’en sont plus militaires, pour combien de temps nul ne le sait, mais commerciaux, financiers et monétaires.

Les assauts sont aujourd’hui dirigés contre le territoire de l’euro, le seul territoire européen authentique réalisé à ce jour puisqu’il réunit 17 États qui disposent des mêmes signes monétaires et qui sont dirigés depuis un centre unique (la Banque centrale européenne sise à Francfort/Main). C’est donc une situation inédite dans l’Histoire, inhérente aux transformations du monde, qui veut qu’une construction politique, celle de l’Europe, se cristallise maintenant autour de sa défense monétaire.

 

Les ennemis sont désignés (GEAB n° 57, 15 septembre 2011), à savoir les opérateurs financiers de Wall Street et de la City qui sont devenus les grands féodaux d’une mondialisation qu’ils ont mise en coupe réglée et qui n’entendent pas voir s’organiser face à eux une puissance de type étatique, susceptible de conduire une politique économique contraire à leurs intérêts, et qui leur échapperait.

Ils tirent parti, bien entendu, de l’insuffisante intégration de l’Union européenne, des disparités économiques qui la caractérisent, et des gestions approximatives de trop nombreux gouvernements. Les alliés potentiels existent aussi en la personne des BRICS (économies émergentes), parce qu’ils ont besoin des débouchés européens, mais à condition de régler certains différends commerciaux. Ce qui pourrait se faire grâce à la substitution du néomercantilisme régionalisé au multilatéralisme ultralibéral en vigueur.

La situation de la zone euro est certes difficile en raison du mauvais état des finances publiques de plusieurs États-partenaires. Mais cela justifie-t-il l’alarmisme qui règne à son encontre ?

Des économistes de divers horizons ont annoncé sa dislocation à brève échéance, suite à la défaillance de la Grèce (annoncée pour octobre ou novembre 2011) et à l’emballement consécutif des crises italienne, portugaise, espagnole et irlandaise… Certains chiffres, s’ils devaient se vérifier, sont impressionnants, puisque pour sauver la Grèce, il faudrait lui procurer de 340 à 380 milliards d’euros entre 2012 et 2019, tandis qu’à plus court terme, de 390 à 440 milliards d’euros seraient nécessaires pour soutenir les autres pays en difficulté.

A cela, on peut tout de même opposer les énormes capacités de l’Europe de l’euro (Ee) qui dispose du second PNB du monde avec un total de 8400 milliards d’euros en 2010 ; ce qui présuppose un pouvoir de négociation d’importance pour peu que l’on arrête une stratégie unitaire. Le PNB de la Grèce, quant à lui, en représente moins de 3%, ce qui relativise le pays à risque qu’elle peut être aux yeux de certains, et a fortiori l’impact de sa sortie éventuelle. L’Ee détient un fonds de solidarité, le Fonds européen de stabilité financière (FESF) d’environ 500 milliards d’euros.

Et surtout, comme le souligne le LEAP/2020, grâce à la prise de conscience née de la crise, l’Ee est devenue un espace permanent de discussion en quête de solutions. Parmi celles-ci, la monétisation des dettes des pays les plus en difficulté (ce qui permet de réduire la pression des marchés sur ces États), sachant que dans ce domaine la BCE dispose d’une énorme capacité de rachat. D’autres procédés financiers et monétaires sont à l’étude, comme le renforcement du FESF, et comme la restructuration de la dette de la Grèce qui ne veut pas quitter le territoire monétaire européen, parce qu’elle n’y a aucun intérêt.

A quoi bon se retrouver sur la scène internationale avec une monnaie dévaluée, qui ne vaut pas un kopeck (surtout quand il faut emprunter à un taux alors usuraire), quand il faut importer toute son énergie, ses biens d’équipement, et que l’on n’a rien à exporter ? Et cela vaut pour beaucoup d’autres en Europe, même pour ceux qui ont la prétention d’être encore une grande nation.

La situation actuelle est donc moins désespérée qu’elle n’y paraît ou que les grands médias anglo-saxons se plaisent à le dire et à l’écrire. Mieux encore, elle devrait permettre un pas en avant dans l’intégration européenne et un autre vers l’homogénéisation des systèmes sociaux et économiques des pays européens, dont plusieurs ne peuvent plus faire l’impasse sur leur rationalisation (voir leur modernisation). Techniquement parlant, le territoire de l’euro a les moyens de traverser la crise qu’il connaît.

Beaucoup dépend de la clairvoyance, de la sérénité et de la volonté des dirigeants des États européens. Des échéances électorales s’annoncent dans plusieurs pays. En France, quel que soit l’élu (ou l’élue) parmi les candidats qui ont les meilleures chances, on peut craindre malheureusement, encore une fois, l’exercice d’un « quinquennat inutile ». Pourtant, l’Ee, malgré les défaillances des uns et des autres, devrait assumer son rôle de bouclier quand la crise américaine, annoncée comme inéluctable par beaucoup, va se transmettre au reste du monde.

Car la situation des États-Unis, comme celle de la Grande Bretagne, pays qui est le plus endetté du monde si l’on cumule la dette privée et la dette publique, est bien plus comprise et même inextricable que la nôtre (GEAB n° 57). Le déficit public américain va encore s’accroître, tandis que les coupes budgétaires vont rendre le climat social insupportable. Il est donc peu probable que l’Administration Obama soit reconduite en 2012.

Et en 2013, il est bien possible qu’une nouvelle présidence républicaine dure donne le signal du retour au protectionnisme (seul cadre dans lequel les États-Unis peuvent se ressourcer, et ils en ont les moyens), pour peu qu’elle trouve un compromis avec la Chine, son principal bailleur de fonds. Les gouvernants américains n’ont pas d’état d’âme quand il s’agit de l’intérêt économique des États-Unis : business is business.

En 1934, Franklin Roosevelt n’a pas hésité à dévaluer le dollar de 40% pour essayer de surmonter, en vain, la Grande crise qu’ils n’ont vaincue que grâce à la Seconde guerre mondiale. Mais en déclenchant une cascade de dévaluations et en déstabilisant le commerce international. En 1971 puis en 1973, Richard Nixon a d’abord suspendu la convertibilité en or du dollar, puis l’a dévalué de près de 30 %, ne tenant pas compte du fait que la monnaie américaine était le pilier principal des accords de Bretton Woods (1944) voulus par les États-Unis.

Face à un contexte économique mondial qui risque fort de changer, d’être bousculé sinon bouleversé, les États de l’Ee ont tout intérêt à demeurer soudés autour de leur monnaie unique. Car le retour à des monnaies nationales sans aucun pouvoir d’achat n’ajouterait qu’au désarroi, et ferait le jeu d’un dollar en déshérence.

En revanche, le territoire de l’euro, au delà de la résistance qu’il est en mesure d’offrir aux tourmentes de l’économie mondiale en récession, peut permettre à l’Europe de reconquérir toute sa souveraineté. Il faudra pour cela que les Européens se décident enfin, et le moment sera venu, à utiliser l’euro comme leur véritable monnaie internationale, monnaie de réserve mais aussi monnaie paiement, et à en faire l’instrument d’une véritable politique conjoncturelle européenne. Ce qui est une façon de poser la question de l’Etat européen…

Novopress

Ignatius Royston Dunnachie Campbell: A Commemoration

Ignatius Royston Dunnachie Campbell:

A Commemoration

By Kensall Green

Ex: http://www.counter-currents.com/

So much fine writing already exists here concerning Roy Campbell (October 2, 1901–April 22, 1957) that it would be hardly fair to Counter-Currents’ previous Campbell biographers to repeat—my own rephrasing notwithstanding—this  poet’s life story once again. Let it simply stand that October 2, 2011 is Roy Campbell’s 110th birthday, and we remember him as poet, as a man of action, and as a heroic defender of the faith.

It is a mighty testament to his talent that his work and life are commemorated still, considering how much suppression his poetry — and therefore his very existence as a poet and hero — were subject to by the intellectual cabal of his day, and all the days since. He died, neck broken in an auto accident in Portugal, April 1957.

The following poems of Campbell both appeared in Sir Oswald Mosley’s BUF Quarterly magazine, published sometime between 1936 and 1940.

The Alcazar*

By Roy Campbell

The Rock of Faith, the thunder-blasted—
Eternity will hear it rise
With those who (Hell itself outlasted)
Will lift it with them to the skies!
‘Till whispered through the depths of Hell
The censored Miracle be known,
And flabbergasted fiends re-tell
How fiercer tortures than their own
By living faith were overthrown;
How mortals, thinned to ghastly pallor,
Gangrened and rotting to the bone,
With winged souls of Christian valour
Beyond Olympus or Valhalla
Can heave ten million tons of stone!

*In the summer of 1936, during the early part of the Spanish Civil War ^[2], Colonel José Moscardó Ituarte ^[3], and Spanish Nationalist Forces in support of General Franco, held a massive stone fortress, The Alcazar, against overwhelming Spanish Republican ^[4] forces. Despite being under continual bombardment, day and night, Col Moscardo and the Nationalists (reportedly nearly 1000 people—more than half of which were women) held out for two months.

The Fight

By Roy Campbell

One silver-white and one of scarlet hue,
Storm-hornets humming in the wind of death,
Two aeroplanes were fighting in the blue
Above our town; and if I held my breath,
It was because my youth was in the Red
While in the White an unknown pilot flew—
And that the White had risen overhead.

From time to time the crackle of a gun
Far into flawless ether faintly railed,
And now, mosquito-thin, into the Sun,
And now like mating dragonflies they sailed:
And, when like eagles near the earth they drove,
The Red, still losing what the White had won,
The harder for each lost advantage strove.

So lovely lay the land—the towers and trees
Taking the seaward counsel of the stream:
The city seemed, above the far-off seas,
The crest and turret of a Jacob’s dream,
And those two gun-birds in their frantic spire
At death-grips for its ultimate regime—
Less to be whirled by anger than desire.

‘Till (Glory!) from his chrysalis of steel
The Red flung wide the fatal fans of fire:
I saw the long flames, ribboning, unreel,
And slow bitumen trawling from his pyre,
I knew the ecstasy, the fearful throes,
And the white phoenix from his scarlet sire,
As silver the Solitude he rose.

The towers and trees were lifted hymns of praise,
The city was a prayer, the land a nun:
The noonday azure strumming all his rays
Sang that a famous battle had been won,
As signing his white Cross, the very Sun,
The Solar Christ and captain of my days
Zoomed to the zenith; and his will was done.

Roy Campbell. Poet, hero, comrade. You are commended and celebrated. Your talent shall not fade, nor shall your works grow old, age shall not bury you, nor every future time condemn.[1] Happy birthday.

Note

1. Paraphrase of Laurence Binyon’s “For The Fallen,” as quoted by Paul Fussell, The Great War and Modern Memory (New York: Oxford University Press, 1977), p. 56.

 

 

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Article printed from Counter-Currents Publishing: http://www.counter-currents.com

La Legion marche par Angerfist62

La Legion marche par Angerfist62

Ötzi, l’homme des glaces alpines: extraordinaires révélations sur la vie quotidienne des Européens proto-historiques

 

Harald WINTER:

Ötzi, l’homme des glaces alpines: extraordinaires révélations sur la vie quotidienne des Européens proto-historiques

Le paléolithique, de même que les débuts de l’âge du bronze en Europe centrale, n’ont pas été des époques étudiées de manière optimale jusqu’ici. Les esprits se sont longtemps focalisés sur l’Asie Mineure et sur l’Egypte donc bon nombre d’archéologues ont négligé leur propre patrie européenne. Le dogme “ex oriente lux” n’a cessé de troubler les esprits et les a empêchés de chercher à comprendre le développement de la culture autochtone européenne. On entend encore trop souvent parler des “sauvages en peau de bête” quand on évoque les habitants d’Europe centrale avant et pendant les migrations des peuples, consécutives à la chute de l’Empire romain.

Mais l’étonnement est venu quand on a constaté qu’Ötzi, l’homme des glaces alpines, portait des chaussures fermées qui n’étaient pas, comme on l’avait cru jusqu’ici, en peau de cerf ou de chevreuil mais avaient été confectionnées avec de la peau de bovidé. Les réalisations culturelles en Europe centrale à cette époque étaient donc beaucoup plus avancées et complexes que les archéologues conventionnels ne l’avaient cru jusqu’alors. En effet, pour pouvoir fabriquer de telles chaussures, avec un tel matériau de base, cela implique qu’il y avait élevage d’animaux, fonctionnant bien, c’est-à-dire un élevage suffisamment sophistiqué où l’on prévoit du fourrage que l’on fauche puis que l’on stocke. C’est là une technique de vie qui n’est pas aisément applicable dans une région qui connaît des hivers durs.

Mais ce qui est particulièrement imporant, c’est la découverte de tatouages sur l’épiderme de l’homme des glaces. Sur la peau de la momie du glacier alpin, on a trouvé quarante-sept marques tatouées (sous la forme d’un trait), qui sont classables en quinze groupes différents. Neuf des quinze tatouages se trouvent exactement sur les points (ou à proximité de ceux-ci) que retient l’acupuncture classique. La position et surtout les combinaisons possibles de chacun de ces points sont encore utilisées aujourd’hui en acupuncture pour soigner les maladies dérivées de l’arthrose. Le corps d’Ötzi est étudié sous toutes les coutures depuis vingt ans maintenant et les scientifiques ont découvert que notre homme de la proto-histoire souffrait de modifications arthriques des vertèbres lombaires de la colonne vertébrale et de dégénérescences des articulations des jambes. Outre les modifications observées de la colonne vertébrale et des articulations des jambes, les médecins proto-historiques d’Europe centrale, qui se sont penchés sur le cas d’Ötzi, ont apparemment soigné aussi des complications de l’appareil digestif, dues très probablement à des parasites. Les tatouages aux niveaux de la vésicule biliaire, de la rate et du “méridien du foie” plaident en faveur d’un traitement pareil à celui de l’acupuncture. L’acupuncture repose sur le phénomène suivant: des excitations par piqûres en des endroits spécifiques de l’épiderme entraînent des modifications dans la fonction des organes internes. Plusieurs effets de l’acupuncture sont scientifiquement attestés aujourd’hui, comme par exemple la diminution du tonus musculaire ou des effets ralentissant l’inflammation ou encore des influences sur le système nerveux central, dans la mesure où l’endorphine se produit alors en quantité supérieure.

Le fait est désormais patent: l’acupuncture était connue dès 3200 avant l’ère chrétienne en Europe centrale et non pas seulement pour jouer sur les seuls symptômes. Elle était bel et bien pratiquée, ce qui laisse supposer qu’elle émanait d’une tradition plusieurs fois centenaire. Cela signifie aussi que la pratique de l’acupuncture est beaucoup plus ancienne que Ötzi lui-même, car le fait qu’il en ait bénéficié implique une longue expérience antérieure de cette pratique médicale. Ensuite, on sait désormais que la pratique de l’acupuncture ne trouve pas seulement ses origines en Chine.

Au début des recherches sur le cadavre d’Ötzi, les archéologues avaient nié que les tatouages avaient pour but de guider un acupuncteur. Il a fallu que des journaux médicaux réputés, comme “The Lancet” et “Science”, publient des articles sur la question pour que les avis des archéologues s’alignent sur ceux des médecins. Comme jadis, les dogmes ont la vie dure, surtout celui de l’ “ex oriente lux”. Tenir à ces dogmes semblent pour beaucoup  de nos contemporains plus important qu’accepter les observations dérivées de l’intelligence et de la logique humaines et les faits objectifs que celles-ci mettent à jour. Cette vérité ne vaut pas que pour les études préhistoriques et protohistoriques.

Harald WINTER.

(article paru dans “zur Zeit”, Vienne, n°38/2011 – http://www.zurzeit.at ).

Karl Otto PAETEL: Von neuer Bruderschaft

Karl Otto PAETEL: Von neuer Bruderschaft

Aus: Karl O. Paetel – Ernst Jünger. Weg und Wirkung. Eine Einführung, Stuttgart: Klett 1949   

 

Ex: http://www.fahentraeger.com/

Nur Fragende, nur Haderer mit der eigenen Lehre können heute Lehrer und Führer sein. Das heißt nicht, dass Renegaten der plumpen oder sublimen Art nach einem Jahrzehnt des Liebäugelns mit der Macht sich uns wieder anschließen sollen. Ihnen gilt das alte Wort von denen, die ihr Pfund verwuchert haben. Es heißt, dass nicht einfach die grauen und gesichtslosen Gestalten der saturierten konservativen Bürgerlichkeit, die nie einen Juden vergast, nie einen Russen geschlagen haben, aber auch nie angstvoll von der Zukunft ihres Landes geträumt haben, als sich die nationalsozialistische Hybris über Europa emporreckte, nie an die Würde des Menschen gedacht haben, als man in ihrer Gegenwart polnische Arbeiter an Meistbietende feilbot, sich heute an die konservative Renaissance anhängen dürfen.

 

Wer „unerschüttert“ durch die letzten zwanzig Jahre ging, hat nichts mit uns zu schaffen. Es geht um die, denen die Realität dieser Zeit das Angesicht des Göttlichen so verdunkelte, dass sie die Unzulänglichkeit der alten Wortlehren stark genug empfanden, um an die Grenze des Nihilismus zu gelangen. Die Nihilisten von gestern werden die Boten des neuen Konservativismus sein.

 

Wer nicht gespürt hat, dass in der Zeit der bombastischen Heilslehren das Fragezeichen zum Kennwort der neuen Bruderschaft werden musste, hat nicht verstanden, dass wir an einem Abschnitt der deutschen Geschichte stehen, an dem alle alten Tafeln neu geschrieben werden müssen.

 

Man gestatte mir, diese – ein wenig veränderten – Sätze aus einem kleinen an anderer Stelle veröffentlichten Aufsatz von mir noch einmal zu wiederholen. Sie mögen verdeutlichen, weshalb mir heute gerade ein Hinweis auf das Schaffen Ernst Jüngers notwendig, mehr, weshalb mir ein Ja zu diesem Werk ein Gebot der Redlichkeit zu sein scheint.

 

Wenn irgendjemand, hat Ernst Jünger heute den um einen neuen geistigen Standort Ringenden gerade deshalb etwas zu sagen, weil er die Erschütterungen der Zeit, die Inflation der Ideen, die Tiefen, in die der Mensch fallen oder in die er sich bewusst stürzen kann, nicht nur als Beobachter, als Analyst mit eisesklarer Logik auf ihre Zwangsläufigkeiten zu untersuchen unternahm, sondern stets in sich selber die damit verbundenen Visionen aus Zerstörung und Kampf sich ergebender neuer Welten erlebte: Beobachter, Kritiker – aber auch Träumer – und träumender Täter. Arthur O´Shaughnessys Ode an die Träumer der Welt gibt etwas von dem wieder, was hier gemeint ist. (…)

 

Nur wenn man die Jüngerschen „Visionen“ sowohl der „Herrschaft des Arbeiters“ wie des nachhitlerischen „Friedens“ – alle exakte Beobachtung und Berichterstattung damit einschließend – als Selbstaussagen eines solchen an einer im „Träumen“ vorweggenommenen und doch ganz realen Welt bauenden Geistes begreift, versteht man, dass Jünger selbst mit ein wenig Verwunderung dem zuschaut, dass man ihn immer wieder mit aus dem Zusammenhang gerissenen Zitaten in die Karteibegriffe tagespolitischer Pro- und Contra-Stellungnahmen einzuordnen trachtet.

 

„Träume“ dieser Art erweisen sich als existent im sichtbaren Bereich, wenn man nur deutlich genug hinschaut. Hat E.G. Winkler nicht recht gehabt, wenn er z.B. die „Herrschaft des Arbeiters“, einfach aus der täglichen Realität ablesend, dahin kommentiert: „Er herrscht gerade durch die Vollständigkeit, mit der es sich unterwirft. Jeder Vorbehalt würde sein Maß an Herrschaft vermindern. In dem, der bis zum letzten sich opfert, findet die Herrschaft ihr stärkstes Bewusstsein. Das Ganze regiert. Aber das Ganze, die ‚Gestalt‘, kann nicht darum wissen. Es ist nicht ein jemand, der herrscht, es wird geherrscht, am stärksten, am mächtigsten, wenn alle aufs Äußerste dienen.“ Vielleicht muss man in Amerika leben, dem Land, in dem wirklich die „Gestalt des Arbeiters“ alle soziologischen Definitionen in Wirklichkeit längst völlig weggesprengt hat, um zu sehen, wie „Labor“, die Arbeitswelt, als ursprüngliche Ganzheit, bei aller „Beherrschtheit“ des einzelnen Werktätigen, souverän herrscht, Literatur und Kunst, Religion und Ethos, menschliche Beziehungen und staatliche Aktionen nach ihren Notwendigkeiten entscheidend mitformt und dirigiert.

 

Jünger selbst hat sehr früh gesehen: „Überall wo der Mensch in den Bannkreis der Technik gerät…macht man sich nicht nur zum Subjekt der technischen Vorgänge, sondern gleichzeitig zu ihrem Objekt. Die Anwendung der technischen Mittel zieht einen ganz bestimmten Lebensstil nach sich, der sich sowohl auf die großen wie auf die kleinen Dinge des Lebens erstreckt.“

 

Nur sind Träume dieser Art nichts Statisches. Sie ähneln mehr als der Photographie dem Film: unablässig wandeln sich die Bilder. Was gestern fruchtbar schien, wirkt heute tödlich; was gestern bereicherte, beraubt heute. Jede Antwort birgt in sich neue Fragen. In der deutschen Nachhitlerliteratur und –publizistik kommt das Ausrufezeichen viel zu häufig vor.

 

Jeder hat einen Plan bei der Hand, ein Rezept, eine schlüssige Antwort auf die Nöte der Zeit. Parteien, Konfessionen, Gruppen aller Art – sie alle wissen nur zu genau, was zu tun und zu denken ist.

 

Ernst Jünger gehört zu denen, die sachlich, wenn auch mit innerster Anteilnahme, von den Dingen reden, die Realität sind.  Die Tatsache der internationalen „Totalen Mobilmachung“, die heute im Zeitalter des Atoms hinter allen politischen Konferenzen steht und manche idealistische Lösung wohlmeinender Weltverbesserer leicht komisch erscheinen lässt, hat er als einer der ersten in knappen Strichen gezeichnet. Man hat ihn daraufhin als einen Prediger des teuflischen Technizismus denunziert. Heute spricht er von der Substanz einer christlich-abendländischen Ordnung, die als eine objektiv feststellbare Kraft eine Garantie des neuen Völkerfriedens sein könnte. Die Naivlinge machen daraus, dass er zum Katholizismus „konvertierte“, die Erben der Aufklärung zeichnen ihn als einen modernen Verfolger der wissenschaftlichen Forschung und beschuldigen ihn, der kämpfenden Kirche die Vesten des freien geistigen Lebens auszuliefern, wie sie vorher Zeitkritik mit Aufrufen gleichsetzten.

 

Welch Missverständnis! In den Zeiten der Bereitung auf die große weltpolitische Auseinandersetzung sah er – viel klarer als die dazu „beruflich“ Berufenen – neben dem Kampf der Armeen die Mittel der totalen Kriegführung des technisierten Jahrhunderts. Heute, wo es nicht nur um die Gewinnung des äußeren Friedens in der Welt geht, sondern auch und vor allem um die Wiedergewinnung eines europäisch-deutschen Bewusstseins, sieht er mit gleicher Deutlichkeit die seelischen Kräfte, die mobilisiert werden können, um allgemein-menschliche Gefühls- und Glaubenswerte als Schutzwälle wirksam zu machen gegen die den Kontinent durchrasenden modernen apokalyptischen Reiter: Not, Verzweiflung, Hoffnungslosigkeit und neue Tyrannis. Und wieder tritt er dabei nicht als Propagandist auf.

 

Er wirbt nicht. Er stellt Fragen. Zeigt Fragestellungen.

 

Nie, wenn er hinter den Fakten Hintergründe andeutete, hat er damit gesagt, dass er das Notwendige auch als ein persönliches Glück empfindet oder als Heilmittel anpreist. Aber er hat stets seine Stimme in den Dienst der kompromisslosen Wahrheitssuche gestellt – ob er als Analytiker die zivilisatorischen Gegebenheiten in ihren Bewegungsgesetzen bloßlegte oder als „Metaphysiker“ im Grunde Kierkegaards Vision neu vor die sich wandelnde Welt stellt: „Es geht um eine neue Gesinnung. Europa ist gekleidet in blutbefleckte Lumpen…Der Umsturz der Gewalten und Sitten, von dem die nächsten Generationen Europas leben und in Krämpfen des Hasses und des Zornes und des Neides beben werden, ist nur zu verhindern durch den Umsturz der Gesinnung. Dann könnte vieles bleiben, weil alles neu würde.“

 

So entsteht, fasst man das Werk Ernst Jüngers in einem Kennwort zusammen, eine Art Theologie der Unruhe, ein Brevier des heiligen Fragezeichens. „Kommt es doch nicht darauf an, dass die Lösung, sondern dass das Rätsel gesehen wird.“ Und darin, nicht in den schiefen und tagespolitisch bestimmten Auseinandersetzungen um die „Kriegsschuld“ Jüngers, liegt auch die Erklärung dafür, dass Werk und Persönlichkeit gerade dieses Schriftstellers heute allerorten aufgeschlossene und suchende Menschen nicht loslassen und zur Stellungnahme zwingen.

 

Schaut man genauer hin, erkennt man, dass es in Wirklichkeit gar nicht um die Einzelfigur geht, sondern um die Herausforderung, die die Neueinführung des Fragezeichens in die geistige Selbstverständigung ganz allgemein bedeutet. In allen Völkern erheben sich die gleichen Stimmen. Überall ist eine heimliche Bruderschaft der Ewig-Unruhigen am Werk, sinnlos gewordene Tabus zu zerstören, mit bohrender Intensität die Fragwürdigkeit von Scheinwerten zu entlarven und hinter der Welt der Ideologien nach einem neuen, persönlich erfahrbaren Lebenssinn zu suchen, Der Italiener Ignazio Silone, der Franzose André Maulraux, der Ungar Arthur Koestler, der Amerikaner Dwight Macdonald und viel andere erheben die gleiche Frage: Kann man noch auskommen mit dem Erbe des 19. Jahrhunderts?

 

Bezeichnend dabei ist, dass in der praktischen Politik die Männer der anscheinend gleichen Fragestellungen an sehr verschiedenen Orten der „Parlamentsgeographie“ stehen. Silone, in seiner Jugend ein kommunistischer Jugendführer, später sozialistischer Redakteur, hat z.B., nachdem er im Exil sich in manchen Formulierungen sehr weit von einer im eigentlichen Sinne „linken“ Position entfernt hatte, nach seiner Rückkehr nach Italien wieder im Rahmen der sich neu bildenden sozialistischen Arbeiterbewegung zu wirken versucht. Wenn man indirekten Berichten glauben darf, nicht ohne ein zweites Mal vom Apparat in seiner persönlichen Unbedingtheit enttäuscht worden zu sein. André Malraux, Kommunist der alten Garde, ernüchtert und enttäuscht von der Borodinschen Politik in China, Verfasser des großartigen, als „trotzkistisch“ gekennzeichneten Buches „Man´s Fate“, ist, nachdem er im spanischen Bürgerkrieg als Flieger in den Reihen der Loyalisten Dienst getan hat, heute einer der nächsten Berater von General de Gaulle. Trieb Silone das Gefühl der theoretischen Mitverantwortlichkeit zurück in die Reihen der Organisation, so bewog Malraux der nie zum Schweigen gekommene Drang zur Tat, sich wieder am realpolitischen Kräftespiel zu beteiligen. Arthur Koestler, gleichfalls einst in der „roten Front“ stehend, hat, aus der Todeszelle Francos entlassen, in Kontakt mit allen „links“ von den Kommunisten stehenden Tendenzen, sich zeitweise trotz vieler Vorbehalte doch für die Sache der „halben Wahrheit gegen die ganze Lüge“ während des Zweiten Weltkrieges eingesetzt, hat, für viele völlig unerwartet, sich zugunsten der militanten jüdischen Freiheitsbewegung Irgun erklärt und vor kurzem in überfüllten Versammlungen in den USA die amerikanischen Liberalen beschworen, von der grundsätzlichen Gegenüberstellung „frei oder unfrei“ abzusehen und im Kampf gegen den Stalinismus sich für das „kleinere Übel“ der westlichen Welt zu entscheiden.

 

Der italienische Sozialist, der französische Patriot, der ungardeutsche antikommunistische Liberal-Dissident: was haben sie eigentlich gemeinsam? Und was haben sie gemeinsam mit dem ehemaligen deutschen Nationalisten und heutigen Europäer Ernst Jünger?

 

Unter anderem die im politischen Tageskampf auffällige Reaktion, dass niemand, selbst unter ihren fanatischsten parteipolitischen Gegner, ihnen jemals den Vorwand gemacht hat (d.h. hat machen können!), dass sie von irgendeiner Institution in ihren Entscheidungen „gekauft“ worden seien.

 

Die Angriffe liefen im Grunde immer auf das gleiche hinaus: ein hoffnungsloser Außenseiter nimmt persönliche Erfahrungen und Erkenntnisse über Gebühr wichtig und ordnet seinen politischen Standort danach an. Anders ausgedrückt heißt das nichts anderes, als dass individuelle Gewissensentscheidungen im Zeitalter der Massenmobilisierung verdächtig, unbequem und gefährlich erscheinen. Die Bruderschaft der Fragenden, der Beunruhigten aber, die nicht das geringste zu tun hat mit irgendwie etwa parallel zu organisierenden Stellungnahmen zu tagespolitischen Ereignissen, geht aus von der den Menschen unserer Zeit als einziges souveränes Recht gelassenen Wiederholung des sturen Lutherwortes: „Hier steh ich. Ich kann nicht anders!“

 

Ein paar Dutzend Männer in aller Welt, allen Völkern und Rassen zugehörig, in den verschiedensten Konfessionen beheimatet und mannigfachsten philosophischen Systemen folgend, sprechen das heute aus. Ernst Jünger ist nur einer von ihnen. Der Spanier Ortega y Gasset hat eine Begriffsbestimmung der hier zugrunde liegenden geistigen Situation gegeben: „Das sind die einzigen wahren Gedanken, die Gedanken der Schiffbrüchigen. Alles andere ist Rhetorik, Maske, inwendige Heuchelei. Wer sich nicht in Wahrheit verloren fühlt, verliert sie ohne Gnade, d.h. er findet sich niemals, er stößt niemals auf die eigentliche Wahrheit.“

 

Schiffbrüchig aber konnte nur jemand werden, der teilhatte am Geschehen. Sie alle, die am Brevier der Unruhe unbewusst mitarbeiteten: Jünger, Silone, Malraux, A. de Saint-Exupéry, Koestler und manche andere, sie waren (oder sind teilweise noch) dabei, die Welt zu verändern, und mitten im Handeln legt sich dann plötzlich die Frage des „Wozu?“ wie ein Mehltau auf die Aktionsbereitschaft.

 

Ein relativ unbekanntes Buch Malraux´s schließt mit den folgenden Zeilen: „‘Es gibt…keinen Tod. Es gibt – nur mich.‘ Ein Finger berührte den Schenkel. ‚Mich…der stirbt!‘ In einem Ansturm von Hass erinnerte sich Claude an ein Gebet aus seiner Kindheit. ‚Oh Gott, sei bei uns in unserem letzten Todeskampf…‘ Ach, wenn er nur durch einen Blick oder eine Bewegung, wenn schon nicht mit Worten, die verzweifelte Bruderschaft zum Ausdruck bringen könnte, die ihn aus dem Selbst herausriss. Er legte seinen Arm um Perkens Schulter. Perken sah ihn an, als ob er ein Fremder wäre, ein Eindringling aus einer anderen Welt.“

 

Der antifaschistische Dichter Silone, um „für ein Vorhandensein Zeugnis abzulegen, das vielleicht nur ein Fortbestehen ist, einen Willen zur Treue zu bekunden, den Willen nicht Verrat zu üben, was auch geschehen mag“, schließt seine Rede an den Pen-Klub 1947 mit den Worten: „Es geht nicht um die Denkart der Intellektuellen, es geht um ihre Art zu führen und zu leben. Das Heil liegt nicht in irgendwelchen Begriffen oder Theorien, denn die Dekadenz hat sich auf Wortführer der verschiedensten und widersprechendsten Lehren erstreckt. Und auch unter den unanfechtbaren Anständigen sind Männer, die die verschiedensten Philosophien und Meinungen über die Gesellschaft und den Staat vertreten. Das Heil liegt ausschließlich in einer ehrlichen, geraden, unmittelbaren, beständigen Treue zur tragischen Wirklichkeit, die die menschliche Existenz im Grunde ist. Das archetypische Bild dieser Wirklichkeit ist für den Christen das Kreuz. Im persönlichen Leben ist es die Unruhe des Menschenherzens, die kein Fortschritt, keine politische und soziale Veränderung je stillen kann. Auf der Ebene der Geschichte ist es das Leiden der Armen…“

 

Und der „Nationalist“ Jünger formuliert in der Friedensschrift: „Der Mensch darf nie vergessen, dass die Bilder, die ihn jetzt schrecken, das Abbild seines Innern sind. Die Feuerwelt, die ausgebrannten Häuser und die Ruinenstädte, die Spuren der Zerstörung gleichen dem Aussatz, dessen Keime lang im Innern sich vermehrten, ehe er an die Oberfläche schlug. So hat es seit langem in den Köpfen und in den Herzen ausgesehen.“

 

Die Gleichsinnigkeit der hier angedeuteten Positionen ist nicht zu übersehen. Die tagespolitischen Bezeichnungen „rechts“ und „links“ haben in diesem Bereich jeden Sinn verloren.

 

Die Wiedereinführung des Elements der persönlichen Verantwortlichkeit in die Betrachtung historischer Ereignisse – das ist etwas sehr anderes als das immer geforderte „Schuldbekenntnis“! – ist hier offensichtlich.

 

So weit auseinander dabei auch die Ausgangspunkte der Erwähnten sind, eins ist offenbar: Die Abwendung von vorgefassten, dogmatischen Gedankengängen, die Unruhe der Herzen, führt keineswegs, wie die Fetischisten der Organisation stets den „Außenseitern“ vorwerfen, zur Verachtung des sozialen Lebens, sondern im Gegenteil: Die Vereinzelung brachte eine vertiefte, verantwortungsvolle Hinwendung zum brüderlichen Geist mit sich. Diese Front quer durch die alten ideologischen Aufspaltungen ist keine Angelegenheit der Organisation. Nicht einmal der Kontakte untereinander. Die Zusammengehörigkeit scheint teilweise dem Beobachter klarer zu sein als den Beteiligten. So erscheinen etwa Silone und Koestler, gelinde gesagt, ein wenig uninformiert über Jüngers Position zu sein, wenn der erste z.B. in einem Aufsatz über den Nihilismus sich darauf beschränkt, den von Jünger erhofften Menschentyp als einen lebendigen Robot zu zeichnen, dessen Freiheit darin bestände, sich in kommenden Kriegen und Bürgerkriegen mechanisch einzusetzen, oder der zweite lapidar ihm die von Gregor Strasser stammende Formulierung von der „antikapitalistischen Sehnsucht der Massen“ in den Mund legt.

 

Wenn wir von einer inneren Verwandtschaft dieser Autoren als Ausdruck einer die nationalen und Parteigrenzen sprengenden neuen Bruderschaft sprechen, so meinen wir weniger eine solche der Formulierungen und der gegenseitigen Zustimmung als eine solche der gleichen Haltung. Wir meinen die Hinwendung zu einer kompromisslosen Unbedingtheit im Geistigen und die Abwendung von einem gruppenmäßig bestimmten dogmatischen Fanatismus, einen Unterschied, den Friedrich Georg Jünger einmal sehr treffend dahin umschreibt; „Der Fanatismus verrät immer eine unvornehme Denkweise, einen pöbelhaften und zügellosen Instinkt, der sich selbst nicht mehr in der Gewalt hat. Er entwürdigt und beschmutzt den Menschen und zeigt wenig Männlichkeit, denn man ist nicht mehr Mann, wenn man den Kopf verliert. Die Unduldsamkeit aber ist gerade die Frucht einer urteilskräftigen Einsicht. In allen Dingen, auf die es ankommt, ist Toleranz nicht möglich, denn die Dinge gehen lassen, heißt sich selber gehen lassen.“ Wir meinen darüber hinaus die gemeinsame Bereitschaft, als Einzelner auszusprechen, was ist, auch auf die Gefahr hin, dafür selbst von den politischen Anrainern mit Steinen beworfen zu werden. Silones und Koestlers Aufhellungen der sozialistischen Realitäten haben ihnen die gleichen Vorwürfe des „das eigene Nest Beschmutzens“ eingebracht wie Jünger die der Dekadenz der westlichen Welt und des sich historisch überholenden Nationalstaatsgedankens. Bürger und Marxisten reagierten hier ähnlich. Und Jüngers sarkastische Bemerkung: „Nach dem Erdbeben schlägt man auf die Seismographen ein. Man kann jedoch die Barometer nicht für die Taifune büßen lassen, wenn man nicht zu den Primitiven zählen will“, trifft nicht nur auf die landesübliche Jüngerkritik, sondern auf fast alle Auseinandersetzungen zu, die den – verständlichen – Versuch machen, unbequeme Kommentatoren der Entzauberung von Aktion, Politik und Ideologie empört zur Ordnung zu rufen.

 

Sie gilt sogar, paradoxerweise, nicht nur da, wo hämische Verfälschung das ganze Gespräch immer wieder auf die Ebene der intellektuellen Denunziation führt und nach dem Richter für „Vorbereitung“ oder „Weiterführung“ des Nazismus ruft, sondern auch da, wo ein überdurchschnittlich gebildeter, aufgeschlossener Betrachter Jünger – und damit natürlich der ganzen Tendenz der neuen „Fragezeichen-Theologie“ – am Schlusse bescheinigt, dass, so reizvoll, anregend und aufschlussreich – bei aller Gegnerschaft im einzelnen – die frühere desillusionierende, rebellische, die Brüchigkeit der bürgerlichen Ordnung aufzeigende Position Jüngers war, die neue, die abendländisch-christliche Wertlehren wieder in die Selbstverständigung einführende Blickrichtung doch nur enttäuschend „banal“ und unfruchtbar sei. Louis Clair fasst sein Urteil über die „Wandlung“ dahingehend zusammen, dass trotz eines menschlich bewegenden, aber im Grunde doch nur moralisierenden Appells an die schöpferischen Kräfte des Einzelnen die Unterwerfung unter die eisernen Gesetze der technologischen Notwendigkeiten nur ersetzt worden sei durch die Unterwerfung unter religiöse Aspekte. Und das, steht zwischen den Zeilen, hat der moderne Mensch ja schließlich längst überwunden.

 

In Wirklichkeit hat weder Ernst Jünger noch irgendeiner der anderen heute überall auf neue Fragestellungen hinweisenden „Verräter am Geist“ das getan, was Louis Clair behauptet, nämlich noch einmal sich zu der Machtlosigkeit des Menschen bekannt, sein eigenes Schicksal zu gestalten und sich deshalb der Religion zugewandt. Das gerade Gegenteil ist der Fall.

 

Berechtigterweise warnt z.B. die „Rheinische Zeitung“ vor einer Kanonisierung der „abendländisch-christlichen Wendung“ Jüngers, soweit man sie etwa als eine neue kulturoptimistische Haltung verstehen möchte. Dazu ist Jünger denn doch zu weit in die Schächte des voraussetzungslosen Denkens eingedrungen. Heinz Weniger sagt: „Es besteht…sogar die Gefahr, dass Jünger dieser vorschnellen Wendung zu christlich-abendländischem Kulturoptimismus mit seiner weitverbreiteten Schrift über den ‚Frieden‘ Vorschub leistet. Er ist seiner Zeit immer um einige Nasenlängen voraus, aber eben gesinnungsmäßig, doch auch nicht mehr. Seine gestrige Kulturkritik zugunsten der Zivilisation als Schicksal lag seit Spengler in der Luft. Was nun seine neueste Wendung zum Christentum und zur Bejahung der abendländischen westlichen Kultur betrifft, die heute bereits jeder Spatz ohne Risiko bis zur Ermüdung von allen Dächern pfeift, so ist ihm zugute zu halten, dass er diese Wendung bereits vor 1945 vollzog, als sie noch originell und ein Wagnis war…Auf die Gefahr hin, dass damit manchem der soeben erhoffte Zugang zu Jüngers Denken verbaut wird, möchten wir aus unserer Kenntnis Jüngerschen Wesens vermuten, dass seine Wendung zum Christentum und zur abendländischen Kulturbejahung kaum im Sinne dieses Neu-Positivismus, der heute überall grassiert, gemeint ist. Das würde u.E. gar zu sehr gegen seine bisherige Denkentwicklung sprechen. Es würde sie gerade desavouieren. Es ist wohl der erfreulichste Zug von Jüngers geistigem Charakter, dass er niemals wie ein Fettauge im Strom der Zeit zu schwimmen pflegt. Auch scheint uns seine Wendung zum Christentum ganz und gar un-paulinisch und ohne geistiges Damaskus vor sich gegangen zu sein. Wir möchten sogar vermuten, dass er diese allgemein kulturoptimistische Wendung bereits längst hinter sich gelassen hat. Sollte es jedoch ein echtes Damaskus sein, so wird es genau so wenig im Zuge der Zeit schwimmen wie Kierkegaards ‚Bekehrung‘ damals…“

 

Eigenartigerweise hat sich der jungkonservative Preis um die Pechelsche „Deutsche Rundschau“ Jünger gegenüber stets recht kritisch verhalten. Pechel selbst hat in seinem Buch „Deutscher Widerstand“ Ernst Jünger ausdrücklich abgelehnt, während er F.G. Jünger lobend erwähnt. Auch kürzlich hat die „Deutsche Rundschau“ noch einmal „das Problem Ernst Jünger“ angefasst. Es heißt dort u.a. über den „Frieden“: „Wir halten diese Schrift für eine nicht unbedeutende Gefahr. Sie bietet eine verlockend einleuchtende Möglichkeit des Ausweichens. Die Unerbittlichkeit, mit der die historische Konsequenz und ihr Erleben, mit der unser Gewissen und die Fragwürdigkeit unseres Lebens uns heute zur Nachdenklichkeit zwingen wollen, wird durch ein derartiges Werk abgeschwächt. Das einzig Fruchtbare des großen Leidens unserer Tage ist die ständige Aufforderung zum Wesentlichen aus dem Zwang der Erinnerung und dem Stachel des Gewissens. Diese Nötigung ist die ganze Kostbarkeit unserer so erschütternd armen Existenz. Die Spannung, in die wir als Folge unseres Tuns gegen unseren Willen hineingeraten sind, findet nun in solchen Gedankengängen wie denen Jüngers ein Loch, durch das sie zu einer seichten Pfütze abfließen kann. Es ist ein trostvolles und ermutigendes Zeichen, dass der Instinkt für die Erbärmlichkeit und Sinnwidrigkeit solchen Ausweichens heute in Deutschland lebendig ist. Immerhin ist ja dieser Aufsatz nirgends gedruckt worden. Er würde auch sicher von der weitaus überwiegenden Zahl der Leser entschieden abgelehnt werden. Aber andererseits hat er seine Gemeinde, und schlechte Beispiele verderben bekanntlich gute Sitten.“

 

Hermann Rauschning hat seinerzeit in seinem klügsten und wichtigsten Buch eine ganze Reihe richtiger Dinge über die deutschen Generationen gesagt, für die Ernst Jünger zeitweise eine Art Sprecher wurde. Er sah sehr deutlich, dass zwischen dem in der NSDAP verkörperten Nationalsozialismus und der doktrinlosen Elite- und Arbeitsvorstellung der von Jünger beeinflussten nachdrängenden Schichten ein unüberbrückbarer Gegensatz bestand. Aber er machte in seiner Analyse einen wesentlichen Fehler, der ihn dazu führte, die nichtaktivistische, zeitkritische Seite der Jüngerschen Position völlig zu übersehen; er sah in ihm nur en Theoretiker der „zweiten Welle“ der deutschen nihilistischen Revolution, in seinen Freunden die Träger einer zweiten Revolution: „Beide, Jünger wie Niekisch, haben einen sehr beträchtlichen Wirkungskreis, der sich jedoch weniger zahlenmäßig als durch die Intensität ihrer Ausstrahlung erfassen ließ. Das Bedeutende ihrer Gedanken liegt darin, dass sie der vorweggenommene Ausdruck für reale Ordnungsvorgänge sind, die sich in der heraufkommenden zweiten Phase der neuen Revolution und nicht nur im Deutschen Reich immer stärker durchsetzt.“ Diese Prophezeiung hat sich als irrig erwiesen.

 

Die politischen Kräfte, die mit Jüngers Position verbunden schienen, sind seinerzeit in dem Prozess gegen Ernst Niekisch mühelos ausgeschaltet worden. Ihr Einfluss in der NSDAP selbst, insbesondere innerhalb der SS, die Rauschning in diesem Zusammenhang immer erwähnt, hat sich damals als nicht bestehend erwiesen. Was wichtiger ist, Ernst Jünger hat nach dem Machtantritt des Nationalsozialismus keine Zeile mehr geschrieben, um eine politische Gefolgschaft zu verstärken, sondern hat sich abseits gestellt; die Verbindungslinien, die von der Friedensschrift später zur Gruppe des 20. Juli liefen, sind, wie er selbst ausdrücklich hervorhebt, im Grundsätzlichen in bewusster Distanzierung angeknüpft worden.

 

Der Weg seiner letzten Bücher führt nicht zur zweiten nihilistischen Revolution, sondern zur Rückbesinnung auf die Substanz, zur Wiederentdeckung des Freiheitsbegriffes, zur „jungkonservativen“ Wiedergewinnung eines christlich-abendländischen Bewusstseins, zum Widerstand der Herzen, nicht zur Aktion. Auch nicht zur „sozialistischen“ Entscheidung. Den Weg des aus der Zuchthaushaft von den Russen befreiten Freundes Ernst Niekisch zur neuen ostwärts gerichteten Arbeiterbewegung geht er nicht mit. Allerdings haben selbst Freunde Jüngers jahrelang seine Position ähnlich wie Rauschning eingeschätzt, nur dass dabei das, was bei dem konservativen Rauschning seinerzeit als Bedrohung der westlichen Tradition, als gegnerisch gesehen wurde, dort als eine Art Verheißung erschien.

 

Im Jahre 1934 erschien in Deutschland eine kleine Jüngerbiographie von einem enthusiastischen Gefolgsmann Jüngers, dem inzwischen im Zweiten Weltkrieg gefallenen Wulf Dieter Müller. In diesem Büchlein, in dem weder das Wort Nationalsozialismus noch der Name Hitler ein einziges Mal erwähnt werden, wird zu Beginn des „Dritten Reiches“ die Position der antibürgerlichen und antiideologischen Revolutionierung Deutschlands so stark unterstrichen, so in Gegensatz gestellt zu unzulänglichen „musealen“ Kennworten wie „Blut und Boden“, dass der Gesamteindruck der gleiche ist, den Rauschning hat: Hinter Jünger formieren sich die kalt-sachlich und antiidealistisch eingestellten Jugendschichten zum Kampf um die Macht.

 

Inzwischen hat sich herausgestellt, dass sowohl der Danziger Senatspräsident wie der junge Nationalrevolutionär nicht nur die deutsche Realität, sondern auch die Persönlichkeit Jüngers missverstanden. Sie haben Analysen für Appelle, den Beobachterstand für einen Befehlsstand gehalten und Jüngers Versuch, die Welt zu erklären, mit der marxistischen Umkehrung, sie mit Hilfe von Organisationen zu verändern, verwechselt. Man hatte den Blick für sehr einfache Tatbestände verloren:

 

Das Zeitalter der Wehrpflicht, die Einführung der Massenheere, hat den Einzelnen seines göttlichen Rechts: der Freiwilligkeit, beraubt.

 

Das Zeitalter der Klassenkämpfe maß ihm nur den Wert bei, den er im Strom der vorwärtsdrängenden sozialen Kraft zum „allgemeinen Nutzen“ beisteuerte.

 

Die Periode des rassistischen Faschismus versuchte, ihn fatalistisch zu binden an ein Erbgesetz, das der Rasse.

 

Bereitschaft zum Werk, Liebe zur Heimat, Gehorsam zum Staat waren nicht mehr Ausfluss eines männlichen Ja als Antwort auf den Appell des sich aus Einzelnen zusammensetzenden nationalen Organismus. Sie waren vorherbestimmt durch soziale, konfessionelle und ethnologische Größen, die die Entscheidungen vorwegnahmen.

 

Heute gilt es, wieder Abstand zu einem derartigen Mythos der Gemeinschaft zu gewinnen. Nicht etwa, dass individualistische Ablehnung verpflichtender überpersönlicher Gebilde zum konservativen Denken gehörten. Im Gegenteil. Nur der konservative Mensch hat wirklich eine Beziehung zum überpersönlichen, doch auch jenseits der Gruppen stehenden Wir. Aber die Selbstverständlichkeit dieser Verwurzelung wurde durch den Einbruch liberalistischer Ideen mitten im Konservatismus zerstört. In dem Moment, in dem Männer wie Othmar Spann den scheinbar so „zeitgemäßen“ Versuch begannen, der marxistischen Klassentheorie die der „ständischen“ Aufgliederung entgegenzustellen, gab man das wirkliche unteilbare Element in der Ich-Wir-Beziehung preis. Hier wie im Marxismus schaltete sich eine – naturnotwendigerweise interessengebundene – Gruppe ein in die Beziehungen des Einzelnen zum jahrtausendealten Volks- und Kulturzusammenhang und entleerte ihn seiner eigentlichen Substanz.

 

Der Nationalsozialismus mit seiner These „Die Partei befiehlt dem Staat“ hat diese Ersetzung des echten Gemeinschaftsbegriffes Volk durch den partiellen Begriff der avantgardistischen Bewegung nur zu Ende geführt. Und er hat hier – ohne es zu wissen? – im Grunde gutes, altes, marxistisches Gedankengut in die Praxis umgesetzt.

 

Das alles wirft neue Fragen für die nachfaschistische Periode auf. Der junge Konservativismus – wenn es jemals ihn als eine geistige Realität wieder geben sollte  - muss entschlossen sein, ihnen zu begegnen. Er darf nicht nur Kritik an Liberalismus und Marxismus üben, sondern muss sich der Erkenntnis stellen, dass mitten im eigenen Lager die unlebendigen und eigensüchtigen Kräfte aus dem, was einst eine schlichte Lebensmacht war, aus deren Sicherheit Menschen aller Klassen in Deutschland lebten, eine zweckbetonte „realpolitische“ Ideologie gemacht haben, mit deren Hilfe daran interessierte Gruppen düstere Geschäfte machten.

 

Die Rückbesinnung auf die konservative Substanz, die die deutsche Bruderschaft der Fragenden fordert, benötigt mehr als die Zurückweisung überalterter liberalistischer Wunschträume: die Reinigung des eigenen Hauses. Der Hauptfeind eines neuen konservativen Bewusstseins ist das Kleben an alten Vorstellungen. Nur wenn eine wirkliche Scheidung von der „Reaktion“ erfolgt, kann das geschehen. Und das meint nicht nur kastengebundene politische Zirkel, die mit Junkertum, Industriellen und Bankiers die Vorstandssitze aller konservativen Gruppen übernahmen, sondern vor allem die Denkweise, die meist noch zynischer als Liberalismus und Marxismus die „Ideologie“ als „Überschau“ für recht reale Machtkämpfe benutzte.

 

Die konservative Substanz ist nur wiederzugewinnen, wenn man Ernst macht mit der Ausschaltung der Gruppe zwischen Ich und Wir. Nicht die Kirchen stehen zwischen Gott und dem Einzelnen; nicht der Stand oder die Klasse zwischen dem Individuum und seinem Volk. Wenn das geschieht, werden eine Reihe – nicht alle – der angedeuteten Probleme sich fast von selbst erledigen. Familie, Volk, Ehe, Religion, Tradition und Geschichtsbewusstsein und manches andere werden aus dieser neuen Standortbestimmung einen neuen Akzent bekommen. Möglicherweise vorerst nur in der Fragestellung, nicht in einer verbindlichen Antwort. Aber: es sich nicht zu leicht zu machen, sollte vielleicht der erste Vorsatz ein, den der Einzelne fasst, der auf die Suche nach der verlorengegangenen konservativen Substanz geht.

 

La Europa arqueofuturista de Adriano Romualdi,

Alfonso Piscitelli

http://www.idpress.org/

http://adrianoromualdi.blogia.com

El carro de batalla y el rayo láser


Los treinta años de la muerte de Adriano Romualdi caen en un momento de discusión –quizá también de confusión– con respecto a la identidad cultural de Europa. A la civilización del Viejo Continente, Adriano dedicó densas páginas llenas de entusiasmo y de rigor cultural; hoy su intelecto –alcanzada la edad de la plena maduración cultural– habría supuesto un aporte determinate y una enorme contribución a la definición de un concepto de Europa que fuera una sístesis de tradición y modernidad. Una contribución decididamente superior a la de los políticos que asumiendo, la función improvisada de “padres constituyentes”, durante semanas se han deleitado a añadir y quitar renglones al soneto del “Preámbulo” de la Constitución europera. Obviamente, no tiene sentido imaginar qué podría haber sucedido si la más valiosa promesa de la cultura de Destra (¿sólo de Destra?) de la postguerra italiana no se hubiera extinguido en una autopista en agosto. Mayor sentido tiene constatar cómo una parte de la obra de Adriano haya sido en el fondo olvidada con el paso de los años, y cuántas intuiciones expresadas con un lenguaje todavía juvenil puedan hoy reaparecer en nuestro contexto.

Para Romualdi la idea de Europa y el intento de elaborar un nuevo mito del nacionalismo-europeo representaron la vía de escape del callejón sin salida en que se habían metido los movimientos patriotas (también los más revolucionarios) a través de las peripecias de dos guerras mundiales. Como historiador partía del presupuesto de que el año 1945 había supuesto una derrota para todas las nacionalidades europeas. No sólo los húngaros, también los polacos restituidos al más brutal de sus tradicionales opresores. No sólo los alemanes, también los rusos, que veían consolidado un régimen que en el fondo estaba ya moribundo en 1939 y destinado a una natural implosión. No sólo los italianos, también los franceses y los ingleses privados de sus imperios, reducidos al rango de potencias medianas, sinó nada menos que a Dominio(1). Todos los pueblos europeos habían sido sustancialmente humillados y miraban por primera vez a la cara el abismo de su abnegación cultural. Al gran mal, Romualdi contrapuso el extremo remedio de un retorno a la fuente primordial: la vanguardia política y cultural de Europa habría debido reconocer que las patrias con sus especifidades procedían de un origen, claramente distinto en su fisonomía desde la alta Prehistoria. En este sentido, las raíces debían estudiarse bajo un visión más profunda que la del racionalismo moderno o la del cristianismo medieval. Tarea de la antropología, de la lingüística, de la arqueología, de la historia en un sentido amplio, debería ser la de reconstruir el rostro de la tradición europea, mediante los más abanzados instrumentos de investigación científica.

En este punto llegamos a un segundo aspecto fundamental de la obra romualdiana. Adriano intuyó la necesidad estratégica de apoderarse del lenguaje, de los instrumentos, incluso de las conclusiones de la ciencia moderna occidental. De su relación con Evola extrajo su amor por el elemento arcaico, por todo aquello que en un pasado remoto era testigo de la pureza de un modo de ser todavía incorrupto. Sin embargo reaccionó enérgicamente a la sombra “guenoniana” del pensamiento tradicionalista: un comportamiento anticuado e incluso un poco lunático que en nombre de dogmas inmutables inducía a despreciar todo aquello que había cambiado en la historia de los últimos diez siglos, a despreciar las grandes creaciones del genio europeo moderno. De esta manera, mientras los guenonianos se perdian tras “metafísicas arabizantes” (la simpática definición es de Massimo Scaligero) y alimentaban interminables polémicas sobre la “regularidad iniciática” o sobre la “supremacía de los brahmanes”, Adriano Romualdi quiso dar una nueva definición del concepto de Tradición. La Tradición europea, como la entendió Romualdi, era algo dimánico: en ésta encuentran su lugar el mos maiorum (el patrimonio de los valores eternos), pero también la innovaciones tecnológicas. En el fondo, los antiguos indoeuropeos irrumpieron en la escena del mundo en carros de batalla, una extraordinaria invención de la época. Desde el principio los indoeuropeos se caracterizaron por sus innovaciones técnicas; y su concepción espiritual del mundo es tal de atribuir un significado superior a las mismas creaciones materiales. En India las ruedas del carro de batalla (los chakras) devienen el símbolo de los centros de energía vertiginosa que el yogini activa en su interioridad. En Grecia, el herrero, que forja las armas y otros objetos de hierro, deviene imagen del dios-ordenador del cosmos según la concepción platónica del demiurgos. En las modernas hazañas espaciales, en la audacia investigativa de la ciencia moderna, en el límpido estilo de las creaciones tecnológicas, Romualdi vislumbraba por lo tanto los frutos más maduros del genio europeo. Digamos la verdad, cuando nuestros amigos franceses de la Nouvelle Droite han empezado a valorar los estudios de sociobiología, la etología de Konrad Lorenz y los más heterodoxos estudios de psicología, no han hecho otra cosa que desarrollar un impulso ya dado por Adriano Romualdi. Y todavía más, cuando Faye ha lanzado la brillante provocación del Arqueofuturismo proponiendo reconciliar Evola y Marinetti, o dicho de otra forma las raíces más profundas de Europa y sus modernas capacidades científico-tecnológicas, en el fondo ha retomado un conocido tema de Romualdi. Quien haya leído El fascismo como fenómeno europeo recordará que Romualdi en el mismo caso de los fascismos distinguía el tentativo de defender los aspectos más elevados de la tradición con los instrumentos mas audaces de la modernidad. Mirando al futuro venidero que se anunciaba en los ambiguos años de la contestación, Romualdi advertía del riesgo que los europeos sucumbieran en la debilidad del bienestar, callendo como frutos demasiado maduros en el saco de los pueblos menos civilizados y más vitales ( leer el prefacio a Corrientes políticas y culturales de la Destra alemana). Sin embargo no despreció nunca los aspectos positivos de la modernidad europea y de la misma sociedad de bienestar construida en Occidente. Hoy probablemente se habría burlado de los intelectuales que dentro de la Destra han tentado de abrazar toscas utopias talibanas. Romualdi quería una Europa ancorada a su arké, y al mismo tiempo moderna, innovadora, a la vanguardia de la tecnología. Una Europa cuyos hombres sepan dialogar idealmente con Séneca y Marco Aurelio mientras conducen automóviles veloces, utilizan instrumentos de comunicación satelital, y hacen operaciones quirúrjicas con el láser. Esta imagen de Europa – esbozada en pocos años por Romualdi – queda hoy como el mejor “preámbulo” para un continente viejísimo y sin embargo todavía con orgullo.



Publicado en la revista italiana Area nº 82, julio-agosto 2003

Une génération instable a-t-elle surgi en Europe ?

Ex: http://fortune.fdesouche.com/

Des voitures ont été brûlées en banlieue de Paris, des bagarres se sont produites dans le centre d’Athènes, des manifestations ont eu lieu à Madrid avec la participation de quelque dix mille personnes et Londres a été le théâtre d’émeutes. Du fait de la crise financière, l’Europe est en proie à une crise sociale si profonde que les jeunes européens ont de la peine à contenir leur colère.

La génération instable en Europe peut être divisée en trois catégories : un petit nombre de nécessiteux comme des voyous. Ils ont tendance à la criminalité. La deuxième catégorie : les jeunes ayant reçu une bonne éducation ont espéré pouvoir trouver un bon travail. Mais leur désir ne peut pas être satisfait. Pour la troisième catégorie, les jeunes salariés, qui avaient une expérience de travail, ont perdu leur position ancienne, du fait de la crise économique. Ils ont alors reporté leur colère sur les étrangers.

Cette catégorie de personnes est vulnérable à la démagogie des éléments d’extrême droite et devient des facteurs dangereux susceptibles d’ébranler le mode social de l’Occident. Le vrai danger est la croissance de la xénophobie et des forces nationalistes hostiles à l’intégration de l’Europe.

Les jeunes sont les premières victimes de la crise économique. A l’heure actuelle, le taux de chômage parmi les jeunes âgés d’entre 15 et 24 ans s’est élevé à 20,4%, soit une augmentation de plus de 30% par rapport à celui de 2008.

Parmi les pays européens, la situation est la plus désastreuse en Slovénie et en Pologne : parmi les employés âgés de moins de 25 ans, 60% sont ceux à temps partiels. Et ce pourcentage a dépassé 50% en Allemagne, en France, en Suède, en Espagne et au Portugal. En Espagne, le salaire des jeunes âgés d’entre 16 et 19 ans ne représente que 45,5% de celui des adultes. Le salaire des jeunes âgés d’entre 20 et 24 ans ne représente que 60,7% de celui des personnes d’âge moyen.

Un professeur de l’Université de Bath en Grande-Bretagne indique que la crise économique a fait naître une nouvelle couche dangereuse : une génération instable.

La génération instable touche non seulement à la stabilité de l’État, mais aussi aux relations entre les jeunes et les personnes âgées. L’Europe a fourni un bon système de bien-être aux jeunes, les plaçant sous protection. Tant que ce système commençait à vaciller, les élites politiques qui vieillissent en Europe pensent d’abord à protéger les intérêts de leur génération. Ce qui ne peut qu’accroître le désespoir de la jeune génération.

Les jeunes européens qui ont participé à une manifestation, ont porté une large banderole sur laquelle on lisait : « Nous ne sommes pas opposés au régime. C’est le régime qui ne nous aide pas. » Tenant compte que leur propre avenir est affecté, les jeunes européens ont commencé à s’interroger si les idées de la vieille génération conviennent encore ou non à la situation de nos jours.

En fait, l’Europe devrait permettre aux jeunes de créer une occasion de se transformer et d’améliorer le système. Et cela est plus important que l’aide matérielle.

Le Quotidien du Peuple (Chine)