ricketyclick

Lupo-leboucher makes the case that “The Edwardian era was the last era of high civilization”:

Everything we are today dates from the late Edwardian era. That era set the standards for what we have to work with in science, and most forms of useful technology we have now were in place or at least in their infancy in those days. European literature reached its heights then. The world was fully explored and mapped by then. In short, the Edwardian era defines us. It was the apex of European civilization in the same sense that the era of Pericles was the apex of Ancient Greek civilization. Anything you can’t trace to that era is almost certainly barbarism. Nothing important that wasn’t an obvious downfall has happened since then.
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Edwardian manners and social custom were also a sort of peak of civilization. Now people are practically required to discuss their bodily functions, their emotional static, their insipid political beliefs, their sexual immorality, their petty swindles and all kinds of other disgusting personal facts no Edwardian would dream of boring you with. Edwardians understood that good manners consist of not embarrassing anyone else around them, and they would talk of sport, the weather, or some amusing joke. A man would doff his hat to a lady, and a lady would act like a lady, rather than a “feeble hybrid manikin dwarf, with all the defects and none of the strength of the male.”
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The Edwardians were held up as figures of ridicule by 1960s reprobates. The Beatles entire aesthetic schtique was based on this. It’s because the Edwardians were everything the hippies were not; they were civilized, productive, refined, creative people who made beautiful things. If we are ever to progress as a society; that is the direction we must go on. It’s not going to be towards more sexual freedom; that has been an unmitigated disaster for everyone but those who cater to the consumer fetishes which “sexual freedom” has brought about. Progress will be in the direction of more restraint. Progress won’t be done by flabbby slobs in proletarian sneakers and t-shirts. It will be done by steely eyed men in elegant starched collared suits. Progress will not be in a direction towards ever more obscure and decadent musical styles. It will be towards courtly waltzes and classical operas. Of course, this all sounds ridiculous, not because what I am saying is false, but because we live in a time of decline where this will be as impossible as bringing the mighty spirit of a Republican Roman like Mucius Scaevola into the degenerate time of Diocletian.

There’s a lot more; read the whole thing.

I don’t agree with every word; I think the casually-dismissed Internet will indeed have an impact on our society every bit as deep as the internal combustion engine, although certainly, an Edwardian sense of manners would make it much more palatable.

Boucher also mentions the Great War as breaking the dam, and I think he’s right on that point. However, I believe the underlying issue of the twentieth century was the downfall of the idea of a small, hereditary, ruling noble class. Unfortunately, what came out of the rubble was the idea that everyone should be common, which is the rotten core of socialism. My generation, the hippie generation, is at fault for bringing that about, and we boomers will be rightly excoriated for that in the history books.

Instead, what Boucher seems to be advocating is that every one should be noble. That was the great promise of the abundance brought about by the rise of twentieth century technology. I hope it’s not too late.

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Ooh, this guy goes on my daily read list. Check out “The Most Important Article On Psychiatry You Will Ever Read“. It’s a fascination introduction to the way psychoactive drugs actually work, and it contains this piece of deliciously snarky wisdom:

One of the central themes of the postmodern critique of our values is that aesthetics must trump truth as long as aesthetics remains undefined. That’s the semiotic conundrum, why psychiatry is politics: the truth is demanded only when it supports a preset ideology.

WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?

Nothing. Let’s move on.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 5th, 2009 at 11:57 am and is filed under Cool Stuff, Culture War, Dammit!, Fashion. No, Seriously, History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.