tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post2028903539908055425..comments2024-03-28T21:32:26.550+00:00Comments on Bruce Charlton's Notions: I am a serf, like a medieval peasantBruce Charltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-68433561876995952582014-11-07T17:14:48.738+00:002014-11-07T17:14:48.738+00:00The major difference between serfdom and now is th...The major difference between serfdom and now is that The Lord recognized an obligation downward for receiving his obligations upward. No such decency attaches to our elite: they want you to OBEY, but they refuse to recognize any requirement for them to do so. Feudalism would be an improvement.ElectricAngelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-56071660150146584772014-11-05T16:44:38.561+00:002014-11-05T16:44:38.561+00:00There is a marvelous Russian Orthodox classic call...There is a marvelous Russian Orthodox classic called The way of a Pilgrim apparently written by a serf who gets injured and cannot work, then his wife dies - so he is granted a Passport to leave his Lord's service and domain and wander around Russia begging and living a life of Holy poverty (if he loses the passport, he is liable to jail). He discovers the Philokalia and the Jesus Prayer, and has all sorts of trials and tribulations and triumphs - just throwing himself on the mercy of the world. But at that time and place, in Holy Russia, people such as the Pilgrim had a place in the scheme of things; and many felt obliged to help with food and shelter.Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-42662806352567326032014-11-05T16:33:32.473+00:002014-11-05T16:33:32.473+00:00As for contemporary literature, your post reminded...As for contemporary literature, your post reminded me of something I read once about the hugely popular Hunger Games series. The elites in that dystopian world lead morally bankrupt lives. The serfs in the districts lead lives of poverty, but love and nobly sacrifice for their friends and family. Leonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-62133315828647875112014-11-05T14:41:19.898+00:002014-11-05T14:41:19.898+00:00@Bruce
I shall have to ponder this. At least, li...@Bruce<br /><br />I shall have to ponder this. At least, like the Prisoner of Chillon at the end of the poem, we now have a much larger and more comfortable prison and more freedom, if we can grasp it. <br /><br />Speaking of endings of poems, we could view our situation more optimistically, even if the optimism is colored with melancholy:<br /><br />"The World was all before them, where to choose<br />Thir place of rest, and Providence thir guide:<br />They hand in hand with wandring steps and slow,<br />Through EDEN took their solitarie way."<br /><br />One final poetic thought. Invictus was a poem written by a Victorian Englishman beloved of American capitalists. It is hard to imagine a 20th Century Romanian writing it after surveying his country's history. Leonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-90909565386978375782014-11-05T14:07:40.211+00:002014-11-05T14:07:40.211+00:00@Last Furlong
To the extent that the GOP represen...@Last Furlong<br /><br />To the extent that the GOP represents the robber barons, the US Congressional elections have granted your wish. The Senate will now act as a check on the President. All this is imprecise and messy, but one can hope for some modest improvements in government. <br /><br />A key to the media coverage of US elections: A win by the Democrats is covered as a mandate for change and the product of permanent and inevitable demographic factors. A win by the Republicans is treated as a temporary outlier that can be ignored and ascribed to the power of corporate money in politics. <br /><br />I noticed you grew up without TV. We limited TV for my children, perhaps not enough. Some of my grandchildren are growing up largely without broadcast or cable TV. I do not current have it in my home. My son without TV has a book titled Amusing Ourselves to Death. I haven't read it, but I get the idea. Leonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-44424074438249059672014-11-05T12:29:31.945+00:002014-11-05T12:29:31.945+00:00@tlf - Thanks
For more on Piers P -
http://char...@tlf - Thanks<br /><br />For more on Piers P - <br /><br />http://charltonteaching.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=piers<br /><br />I like your blog:<br /><br />http://thelastfurlong.wordpress.com/<br /><br />I shall keep an eye on it. <br /><br />Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-27560876582544825992014-11-05T12:13:19.790+00:002014-11-05T12:13:19.790+00:00Oh - excellent piece - thank you. My blog today is...Oh - excellent piece - thank you. My blog today is strangely similar - not as well crafted. Mine came from reading a CH Lewis quote....and lead to the thinking about the cause of how deformed democracy is. In the UK, we have a tyranny of “good”. Our government is not a democracy, but a lobbyocracy. The reason why laws get passed in parliament, is not that the people want them, but because fronts/charities/entities/ lobby groups intent to change society “for its own good” make it happen. That is why, when you live in the UK, the laws seem so discordant with what most ordinary people think.<br /><br />Back to the plowman - I do not know him as I am not intricately educated. But I know poor people are capable of deep happiness without wealth or education.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com