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1754 -
Bishop Thomas Newton in his "Dissertations on the Prophecies" noted three versions of the scripture, Daniel 8: 14.
It was the answer to the question of how long a time would pass before the Jewish temple, which had been desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes in June, 168 B.C., would be cleansed. This would also be the duration of the oppressed Israelites (Hebrew: "those who strive with God") It is generally read in the King James and other versions:
"And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred (2300) days;
then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."
Bishop Newton found in the Greek Septuagint (the translation made by 70 men from the original Hebrew to Greek in the year 285 B.C.) - used by the Jews in the day of Jesus Christ, that the number of days mentioned
is clearly recorded as 2400.
Bishop Newton also found a third version, to which the early church leader, Jerome, referred to in his commentaries on Daniel. It noted the time period as 2200 days.
The timing of the prophesy is not about near future events as the angel cautions Daniel in 9: 26 -
"... shut thou up the vision; for it shall (not) be for many days (in the future)."
This is affirmed in Ezekiel 4: 4-6. Therefore, it is likely that the vision received by Daniel was for a number
of "biblical" years.
The length of these years was 360 days.
If one uses the reference to 2200 "days" as years, extended by 360 days per year,
the answer becomes 792,000 Earth days.
Divided by the Earth year of 365.25 days, the duration becomes 2,168.4 years before the Messianic cleansing of the sanctuary. As the desecration of the Temple took place in 168.9 B.C. (late fall), the added 2168.4 years would then have the Messianic return, cleansing of the Temple, and redemption of God's people take place in the fall of A.D. 2000.
Divided by the then calendar year of 360 days, the duration becomes 2,200 years before the Messianic cleansing of the sanctuary. As the desecration of the Temple took place in 168.9 B.C. (late fall), the added 2168.4 years would then have the Messianic return, cleansing of the Temple, and redemption of God's people take place
in the early part of A.D. 2030.
Other possibilities of interpretation range between the above of 2000 and 2031 A.D.
If you care, you had better get Spiritual Guidance on it.
1755 - On November 1,
An 8.6 Magnitude Earthquake struck the Lisbon, Portugal area.
At least 60,000 persons died following the initial
9.40 am tremor from either toppled buildings, a tsunamis (tidal wave) or
the associated fire which laster for 3 days.
Many of those who died had
fled to safety from falling buildings to a large open stone quay which
suddenly sank into the sea, taking them with it underwater to a depth of
600 feet. Most of the 250,000 population were attending All Saint's Day
services in the churches. The noise produced by the sudden quake was said
to be loud enough to be heard in Stockholm, Sweden. About 10,000 died in
neighbouring Morocco from the same earthquake.
1756 -
A man named Dupre demonstrated a kind of ultimate weapon to King Louis XV who had become ruler of France at the age of 5 in 1715. At the time the
state was heavily indebted from the wars of Louis XIV while the court continued
in extravagant expression. Much of the rest of Europe was in turmoil as
regional groups sought autonomy from the empires they had been made part
of. In 1748 the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle resulted in France returning the
Austrian Netherlands and the British colonial territories.
Dupre announced that he had discovered a substance which burned so rapidly
and intensely that there was no way to stop it, especially since water
made it burn more violently, rather than extinguishing it. He demonstrated
his invention at the Paris arsenal and before the king at Versailles. When
Louis XV realized that anyone who possessed the substance could burn a
whole fleet or destroy a city, he forbade its use. Even though he was at
war at the time with the English, and the destruction of their fleet might
have brought him victory, he refused to employ such a weapon and suppressed
it for the good of mankind.
1758 -
Comet Halley, on the evening of December 24, is sighted.
Its return had been predicted by Edmund Halley in 1705 as 1758 or 1759.
The orbit would be consistent with a period of 76 years.
1764 -
Abolition of the Jesuits was decreed effective in all French possessions following a government inquiry into the trading practices
of a Jesuit trading house at Martinique in the West Indies. Louis XV tried
to save the society from penalty for its illegal defrauding of the French
government by demanding a reform of the order's constitution - a demand
refused by the general of the order. Three years later they would be expelled
from Spain.
1765 -
The Kamarilla, a national security council with a network of spies is established by Emperor Joseph II of Germany.
As happens frequently in human history,
he learned of the concept from a fellow leader, Frederick II of Prussia.
Joseph also acquired ideas from the city states of Venice and Florence
which combined to form his political approach. Only top level political
and military administrators of the Hapsburg empire were appointed as members
of the KAMARILLA and received the secret intelligence summaries provided
by the supreme chancellors of state, or, by the police minister.
Spies penetrated all classes of the community.
Their duties were to monitor court intrigue, the armed forces, bureaucrats, and revolutionaries.
Most of the reports came from the Hungarian, Italian, and Polish provinces.
Postal service interference and mail opening were adopted in the latter stages.
Vienna became the center for the agents.
The executive body was the "Haute Police"; they were disbanded about 1860.
1769 -
Dr. Benjamin Blayney of Oxford, England, after 4 years of work, produces a comprehensive revision of the King James Version of the Bible. Although never formally authorized by either the monarchy or
the government, it becomes known as "the Authorized Version."
1771 -
Insectoids, formerly from the Earth, acquire a population limiting virus on their new planet.
1772 -
A Poltergeist ("noisy spirits") Incident, in Stockton, Surrey, England, was suspected when a number of unusual happenings were reported
by an elderly widow. Plates crashed from a shelf, an egg sailed across
the kitchen and broke on a cat's head, and objects - such as a cask of
beer in the cellar - were overturned. A young maid later confessed to a
clergyman that she had initiated the occurrences. She had yanked a hidden
wire to dislodge the plates, pelted the cat with the egg, and secretly
performed the other acts. Simply a case of human juvenile acting out, which
the old woman assertively sought an answer to.
1773 -
Solicitudo omnium Ecclesiarium is issued by Pope Clement XIV in an effort to end the controversey and criticism
which the activities of the Jesuits were bringing against the papacy and
the Roman Catholic church. The Society was temporarily restricted in most
European and South American countries and the members of the order were
commanded to:
1. leave their houses (monasteries, etc.);
2. not wear the garb of the order;
3. renounce their homosexual activities of intercourse;
4. put themselves under the direction of other orders, or,
5. be guided by the will of the bishops.
The Society received annuities from their confiscated estates, except
in Portugal and Spain where they were prohibited from staying. In Upper
Italy, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and France - most were made to carry on
their existence as common private persons.
The segregation of humans by gender together with their continued concentration
on the performance of physical tasks under the direction of an absolute
human authority frequently encourages the development of homosexual relationships
and sexual behaviours in humans. For any strong basis of health to be maintained
by a human, a strong sensual interaction is required. Sensual experience
is not sexual expression. Only in societies in which an awareness of sensual
experience has been denied, restricted, or rejected - does sensual experience
become equated to sexual activity. Positive sexual expression involves
a considerable degree of sensual involvement; a person's lifestyle may
be almost continuously sensual and yet devoid of sexual desire or expression.
Sensuality may be expressed and experienced by stroking, smoothing, rolling, touching, lightly pinching,
tensing, relaxing, kissing, exploring, acknowledging, accepting, giving,
.... Deprive newborns of tactile stimulation and they will die. Deprive
young children of attention and direction and they will have a tendency
to become anti-social by the adoption of psychological defense behaviours
which can range from catatonic autism to violent acting out; from extreme
shyness to dominance obsessiveness. Whenever possible, the human so confronted
will attempt to "balance" this parental or spousal or friendship loss with
whatever sensual replacements are available. These may be either or several
of the following:
1. addictive obessive-compulsive behaviours;
2. focused mental dynamic activity;
3. meditative release of endorphins;
4. reduced consciousness through under/overnutrition;
5. co-dependent homosexual involvement;
6. tactile stimuli tasks and lifestyle;
7. care of animals or pets or children;
8. auto-eroticism and masturbation;
9. eroticism of dependent or weaker others.
Depending upon the nature of and intensity of the beliefs taught within
such a group, contributions of a mentor or innovativeness of the individual,
opportunity and freedom of access to options, ability and willingness to
change, and, the strength of one's inherited and experientially induced
sensual requirement - one or more selections will be made according to
the drive for survival of the individual. Each of the above alternatives
offers either a constructive or destructive, safe or dangerous, acceptable
or unacceptable, temporary or longer-term means for balancing a need for
sensual stimulation disrupted by restrictions imposed by society, ecology,
or history.
When society restricts the freedom of the individual to receive
sensual comfort from one's parent as a child, to provide sensual comfort
to others who are distressed, and to share sensual pleasuring with others
on a consensual basis - the individual will experience either a decline
in physical, emotional, intellectual or spiritual healthfulness. More simply:
the greater one's sensual need, the greater will be one's anxiety about
and preoccupation in obtaining some form of relief for a felt insufficiency.
Restrictions may also arise from the sudden loss of one's relatives, friends
and associates due to widespread fatal epidemics, pestilences, floods,
volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, wars, wars and wars. The emotional
effect is one of abandonment. The trauma-induced biochemical patterns transferred
by your heredity to you by generations and centuries of experience can
also contribute to your degree of sensual need (see NRGY.BLK appendix).
Each human is as individual as his or her heredity; each shares the history
of humanity; each can release the influence of trauma, build new awareness
of constructive alternatives and reach a balance of health. What are alternatives
for sensual experience?
The eroticism of dependent or weaker others usually applies to the stimulation or manipulation
of babies, infants, children, passive peers, physically weaker peers and
seniors, disabled persons, students, employees, and physically weaker spouses
(usually the wife or girlfriend). The inherent lack of respect for the
other person, victimization of the other person, and apparent lustfulness
of the perpetrator - all contribute to a human psychological taboo of these
relationships. As a part of the definition of the activity here, this form
of eroticism is undertaken without the permission of the victimized party
or at such a stage of immaturity and naivety that the victimized party
is unaware of the meaning and consequences, and, thus, unprepared and ill-equipped
to assert an opinion or decision.
These forms of inter-relationship can be expected to appear when other forms of sensual appreciation are ignored or denied due to aversive training, or, due to a rational avoidance of
their emotional basis. Frequently, such behaviours are never considered
unless they have been modelled for the individual by a parent or significant
other. Still, the absence of a playful and constructive experience of most
of the alternatives mentioned above by a mentor (an aware adult) can leave
the sensually unbalance and needy individual seeking.
For centuries, western cultures have attempted to avoid individual over-dependency
and consideration of masturbation
by the disemination of child-like superstitions and fears including such
affirmations as the growth of hair on one's palm, the loss of one's sight,
the loss of one's fertile capability, the loss of one's sanity, and the
permanent disfigurement of one's sexual organ(s). Without considerable
excess, none of these consequences are relevant. Yet children have often
been encouraged to believe that ANY such activity is cause for concern.
Since auto-eroticism is a normal behaviour of all mammals, its total exclusion
by force of fear is destructive.
The care of animals, pets or children can also be very sensually rewarding when tools and
apparati are not used to diminish this benefit. Parents (usually mothers)
who are restricted in their daily experience to the continual care of several
babies, infants and toddlers - are likely to be sensually "touched - out"
by the end of the day. That is, they have wrapped, bathed, cuddled, soothed,
carried, guided, encouraged, disciplined, fed, clothed, warmed, dried and
cooled their way through the day. Now, their neurological system is tired
of continual activation and stimulation. What is needed is time to oneself
- devoid of the sensual: relaxation, rest, or sleep. The last activity
desired may be sexual - for there is nothing left to give and one is too
exhausted to receive.
A more balanced regimen could be shared caring for the dependents such that the caregiver has sensually active periods and
sensual rest periods. Tiring out the youngsters with physical activities
can lead to a rest period for both the youngster and the caregiver. Other
similar alternatives exist, yet their sensual appreciation is often lost
within human societies which dissociate all lifeforms apart from that of
humans. This self-pride is hardly justified by the history of humanity.
There is much that humans could learn from and share with other lifeforms.
While more than 50% of North Americans are statistically represented
in 1996 as owners of pets, or within a household which has a pet - the sensual appreciation of such
animals is often acquired with little awareness. Stroking, petting, brushing,
carrying, training, encouraging, washing, feeding and playing with - are
some of the similar sensual activities which humans can share with animals
even as they do with each other. Within the human authority based culture,
animals and pets provide the lowest rung in the pass down cycle of abuse.
That is, no matter what age or level of authority and responsibility the
person has, any pet or animal is accepted as a legitimate target for one's
impatience, anger, frustration, rage, and blame.
The Target can't assert its rights, its freedom, its innocence.
Striking, kicking, swatting, throwing, punching and yelling at - are NOT sensual experiences; rather, they are
shock experiences - the opposite of sensual. Band organizations of humans
never presumed that they were significantly superior to all other lifeforms.
They learned from other lifeforms inter-species respect, knowledge and
survival. Besides the potential practical benefits of pest control and
protection which some pets provide humans, a sensual appreciation of them
can add a significant influence to balancing one's sensual need and reducing
one's possessiveness and immaturity.
For the itinerant herdsman, it was his "pets" which sustained the life of himself and his family.
While they provided the practical benefits of
milk, cheese, butter, horns, hair, hide, and meat - they were a potential
daily source of sensual experience. They could be stroked, petted, brushed,
carried, ... even as smaller, more agrarian lifestyle pets could be. The
change from caring for herded animals to the growing of largely irresponsive
independent plantforms grossly reduced the sensual experience of humans
and left them to find other alternatives - like those considered here.
Tactile stimuli tasks and lifestyle became a natural development for agriculturally-based societies.
Making hide or leather clothing was much less sensually intensive than the weaving
and sewing of fabrics where every stitch of thousands was felt, guided,
looped, inserted, pulled, twisted, knotted and pressed. While cooking was
totally unnecessary for the gatherer, more necessary for the hunter, and
sometimes necessary for the herdsman - it was mandatory for the agricultural
society. Eating raw, dried grains was a way to break your teeth. Eating
uncooked flour was comparable to eating mud, for taste.
Both for digestibility and palatability, grains had to be cooked.
That required cleaning, sorting,
grinding, mixing, kneeding, forming, stirring, pouring, heating, smelling,
sampling, touching, and carrying - all of which can be sensual experiences
when conducted in a relaxed and flowing manner. In fact, when such movements
are effected in a mechanistic, sharp, jerky, forceful manner - cooking
"accidents" and wastefulness is likely to occur. Inevitably, even with
these new sensual alternatives, humanity had more energy remaining for
sensual expression. Increased sexual activity contributed to population
increases beyond that experienced earlier.
Co-dependent homosexual activity has been encouraged in the ancient Greek, Roman, Turkish and other cultures particularly amongst men who were employed as mercenaries and full-time
soldiers as well as by the economic and power elite. With a long-duration
ignorance of human reproductivity and fertility, processes and mechanisms
which enabled sexual expression without impregnation have only been developed
with any degree of dependability in the latter part of the 1900s. Within
some highly stratified agricultural societies with a high population density
and human based authority, it became obvious that material wealth was dispersed
relative to the size of one's family. If only the male adult was the income
provider and material collector within the family, 4 children would require
a larger volume of necessities than 1 child. If the employment position
of the male separated him from the female for long periods, the likelihood
of maintaining a consensual understanding diminished.
In hunting and gathering bands, the whole family spent most of their waking and sleeping time together.
Herding and agricultural activities provided for a marked separation of
young humans from their male providers. Full-time bureaucratic adminstration,
religious counselling, political debating and military preparation separated
the human genders not only by distance but also by the nature and significance
of their tasks and the degree of sensual satisfaction involved in those
tasks. It wasn't so much that the women were sexually uninterested as it
was that they were sensually satiated. And for these men, a failure to
engage in some sensual aspect of there task would encourage the development
of unsatiated sensual desire.
Thus, sanctioned homosexual relationships might be condoned not to separate families, but rather to equal the level of sensual experience and reduce the degree of inter-spousal sexual frustration.
Additionally, sexually driven or simple sensual expresion between males
never resulted in unwanted pregnancies or large, poor families. Oher societies
either chose to provide and adopt other means of sensual experience, or,
levels of penalty, self-depreciation, frustration and directed aggressiveness
as mechanisms for self-denial.
Reduced conscious awareness through the dulling aspects of over/undernutrition
is also used by humans to fill an unmet need for sensual expression. An
unconscious preoccupation with eating food, buying clothing, sexual promiscuity,
or menial task reptition (ie. computer games) - all serve to augment the
sensual experience of the individual. Overeating involves a dependency
upon orally available, non-threatening, non-defensive, non-possessive,
and non-authoritarian substances: food. The person so directed takes extensive
pleasure from the feel, taste, smell, sound, and appearance of the food
available, or, from the habit, desirable. While this degree of sensual stimulation
helps soothe the desire for sensual experience, it inherently lacks the
"taking" aspect of the sensual experience.
Balanced sensuality is an awareness of both the taking and giving nature of the senses.
When the equation of the experience is restricted to the person continually taking and the object
continually giving, the outcome does not bring contentment. Pleasure can
and often will be achieved and that pleasure will suggest to the human
mind that, like the pre-orgasmic sensual phase of sexual intercourse, that
with just a little more of the same - ecstasy and the relief of contentment
are attainable. Like most potentially addictive substances, the demand
and expectation within the mind of the participant does not match the reality.
No matter how much food the individual consumes there is little likelihood
that the sought for orgasmic contentment will be achieved. This means to
sensual fulfillment becomes a deception which withholds the sought for
end from the participant. Instead of drawing closer, the physical results
of obesity pushes the individual further away from the possibility of goal
attainment. A feeling of heaviness from a bloated stomach may, over time,
encourage the development of excessive fat tissue buildup, overwork of
key digestive organs, clogging of arteries, fogging of the brain, decreased
loss of sensation, laboured breathing, loss of flexibility, decreased movement,
reduced interpersonal contact. In return, feelings of shame, guilt, depression,
anxiety, futility and frustration threaten to destroy the individual's
positive self-esteem and evaporate the wilfulness and power of the spirit.
While overnutrition is obviously a destructive alternative in one's
attempt to replace withheld or absent sensual experience, undernutrition
can also be a destructive alternative. Fasting, carefully and knowledgeably
undertaken, can act as a rest period for the organs of the human body.
While giving them time to build their strength, appropriate juices and/or
supplements taken during the period can gently assist the organs in releasing
toxins and garbage which hinder their performance and healthfulness.
When undernutrition results in malnutrition (ie. junk food), the body receives
an adequate energy load without the minerals, vitamins, enzymes, hormones,
protein, and other nutrients which it requires for optimum performance.
In an effort to balance this deficit, hunger for more food becomes an attempt
to fill this gap, and overnutrition can result. Otherwise, the most frequent
result is that the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual balance
of energies within the individual becomes weighted towards reduced immune
efficiency, negative attitudes and feelings, intensification of emotional
expression and physical performance, and an increasing dependency upon
ritual to replace choice. Whenever the diet chosen, or available, does
not meet the requirements of the individual,
undernutrition and overnutrition can result in malnutrition.
Starvation is seldom a result of choice so it is not a factor here.
Bulimia is an addictive behaviour which develops from a perceived absence of acceptable
senusual source replacements and thus is also not a factor of choice. Only
a diet balanced to the needs of the individual and participated in by the
individual gaining the sensual benefits from its selection, preparation,
serving, partaking, and, cleaning up afterward - represents a positive
source of sensual experience.
Meditation is a more easily available and less effortless and more immediate source of sensual experience.
Meditative exercises which alternately tense and relax the muscles of the
body, increase the self-awareness of one's capabilities and one's senses,
provide a development of mental and physical self-control, and, exercise
the feeling of reverence - contribute to a variety of sensual experience.
Increased sensitivity and awareness can magnify the pleasure of humility
and achievement, compassion and grace, search and discovery, self-sacrifice
and control, and, honesty and certainty.
As a physical benefit, these activities have a tendency to release endorphins which have the real capability of
extending pleasure into the realm of contentment. While a physical orgasm
is usually not involved for humans, a spiritual orgasm in which the revelation
of new information providing a guidance to perfect decisionmaking, new
and more expansive degrees of awareness and perception, and, positive and
powerful skills - is possible. It is this goal for which most monasteries
and nunneries were founded. Most have failed to provide guidance, instruction
or an environment in which such could be sought or found.
When human history is surveyed, there are no institutions which have maintained this emphasis
in their drive for authority, power, and control. In the 1900s, there are
few schools, under any government, religious or private direction - which
either appear to be aware of the positive social benefits of such an approach
or have the understanding of and motivation for the promotion of such spiritual
skills for the balancing of sensual needs. It would appear that humanity
has been and continues to fall deeper into an abyss of sensual deprivation
with the resulting attraction of choice to socially, personally and spiritually
destructive alternatives.
Sensual mental activity does NOT apply to the materialistic and addictive activity of fantasy.
Persons who cannot cope with reality, do not appreciate the excitement
of reality, who have been traumatized into a denial of reality, or, choose
to abandon reality through one or more combinations of fear, insecurity,
pride, revenge, envy or despair - choose fantasy to construct a perception
which is frequently destructive and has been termed rational masturbation.
Fantasy frequently enables the individual, or society, to construct a belief
system on assumptions, superstitions, spurious rationalizations, and statements
which have no support or relevance to experience.
This act of denial of reality can preclude failure by persuading the individual that certain factors are real, or can easily be made real - when there is no basis of
support for such conclusions beyond the pure speculation of the human ego.
Fantasy is an irreverent act for it enables the individual, or society,
to act as if it were God, when in reality it does not understand the factors
involved, is unaware of the relevant choices available, is closed to the
constructive potential of feedback, experience and teamwork, and, takes
pride in assuming an outcome of pleasure, power, riches, and excitement
- where the outcome is often self-directed social exclusion, self-deception,
misdirection of others, false hope, lost constructive productivity, and
intolerance. The potential for addiction arises from the fact that the
process is often given an image which promises positive expectations which
it almost never can deliver.
Focused constructive mental activity is another form of sensual experience.
It has been said that the human brain is the most sensual organ a human has, yet few humans know how to appreciate, stimulate and sense their mind in this manner.
Focused constructive mental activity is involved in some forms of meditation,
prayer, open-minded exploration and discovery, professional approaches
to science and investigation, and, positive artistic expressions of many
trades.
The keyword here is "reverence."
The individual may be a gathering and hunting band member living a simple lifestyle.
It is simple because the individual interacts directly and immediately with the surroundings, other individuals and for the benefit of his or her survival as well as
that of others. Orderliness and predictability within such an environment
is seldom expected. In accord with the natural reality, the person approaches
every bush, tree, animal, insect, hill, stream, individual, trail and campsite
with a feeling of novelty, exploration, fascination, appreciation, assertion,
caution, hope, openness, and desire. There is a Present awareness that
no matter how many times one has met another person of crossed a stream,
changes and experiences may have taken place in the intervening period
since the last contact.
It is a matter of self-respect (intelligence, knowledge of one's limitations) and of expressed dignity for the other which occasions a wise exploration of and testing of the reality and presence of the other
person, hunted animal, or stream to be crossed or bathed in - before one
assumes that the past has remained unchanged. This constant experiential
sensory awareness provides both a contentment-providing level of endorphin
release within the individual but also enables a responsiveness of behaviour
rather than a reactive one ritualized according to untested expectations.
At the end of the day, this hunter and gatherer can be as sensually exhausted
as the mother who has cared for several infants or young children throughout
the day.
The expression of this openness of attitude and responsiveness
of behaviour seldom results in accidents, misunderstandings, humiliation,
impatience, anxiety, anger, pride, sloth, despair, or other forms of personal
failure. This same activity, and its positive results, is expressed by
the more modern terms of reference noted above. You have the choice to
make every minute of every day a source of exploration, discovery, fascination,
involvement, and joy. Or, you can follow the rituals, assumptions, expectations,
and addictions which you have been encouraged, indoctrinated or forced
to adopt.
Addictive obsessive-compulsive behaviours are the result of an overdependence upon any of the factors mentioned above which are destructive. That is, they promise to deliver sensual contentment, and fail. The fact that you believe that such factors
have the power to change your reality denotes the degree of lack of choice
which you have impressed upon yourself. These beliefs may be subtle or
direct.
The modelled behaviour of significant others (respected friends,
parent, associates, leaders, heroes, ...) who over-indulge in any activity
provides a high degree of suggestibility that the activity must be both
constructive and effective. The assumption, made in pride, in that no one
we respect (often because of their outward display of power, certainty,
prestige, wealth, or privilege) would consciously practice a behaviour
which was destructive. The assumption is that the behaviour is the result
of a conscious decision.
The reality is that the behaviour is the predictable reaction to a stimuli or feeling which qualifies it as a compulsive ritual. Such
behaviours are NOT the result of conscious choice. Rather, they are the
enslavement of choice by a weakness of spirit. Thus, weakness of spirit
may often be the basis for compulsive behaviours, the intolerance, intensity
and ruthlessness of which contribute to the aggregation of material power
by the disregard for the feelings, abilities and rights of others. It is
easy to become materially rich by stealing from others.
When society emphasizes its sanction of material wealth at the rejection of spiritual honesty -
it predisposes the future of its participants. Whether in a monastery,
behind a business desk, before a class, beside an associate, or behind
a cause - a challenge for every human is whether a choice will be made
for spiritual honesty and strength or materialistically-based deception
and manipulation. Sensual participation in life or authoritarian enslavement:
your choice, either, or how much of each?
Both previously and in the future, religious organizations structured
similar to that of the Jesuits would leave a grossly spiritually destructive
legacy, not fully acknowledged until the 1980s. Particularly in the passive-aggressive
abusive co-dependent relationships established in any society, sexual and
physical abuse of persons of lower authority is a historical reality. The
more restrictive the freedoms of the individual and the degradation of
the member's self-esteem within such organizations, the more likely it
is for a human in social contact with others to act out dominance scenarios
against those over whom a paternal relationship is expected to exist.
In situations where this behaviour is expressed, the abused individual often
cannot, either by immaturity or by authority indoctrination, constructively
and assertively cope with events which take on a perspective of rape. Rationalizations
are spuriously contrived by the victim in an effort to structure and justify
the events and remove a sense of intense confusion. Since the betrayal,
humiliation and lust of the god-like human authority has been so impressed
as to exclude question or criticism, the victim often assumes that the
abusive acts involved have been elicited in some way by themselves. This
makes such involvement both involuntary and doubly shamefull.
That is, the victim becomes traumatized and obsessed with the shame of an act felt
to be immoral in which he or she has participated, as well as for the guilt
and shame of having involved a person deemed to be righteous. The result
may be demonstrated in the lifelong behaviour of the victim by any, a variety
of, or all of the following:
a) intense and chronic periods of depression;
b) shyness and anti-social patterns;
c) an inability to establish constructive intimate relationships;
d) a tendency to act out violence and rage;
e) a likelihood of dominance behaviours against others;
f) a confused obsession to initiate child molestation acts;
g) a compulsive attraction to physical and visual sexuality;
h) a revulsion of whichever gender was the original aggressor;
i) feelings of lack-of-control, cowardice, great anxiety;
j) involvement in chemical addictions to dull consciousness;
k) an obsession with rituals, work, procedures, perfection.
1774 -
Captain Cook arrives at Rapa Nui (Easter Island).
Inter-tribal warfare, disease, and famine since 1722 had promoted cannibalism and resulted in a marked decrease in the population. American whalers would later visit
to kidnap natives for slaves and to shoot others for target practice. Histories
were now being written on wooden boards but by the 1870s a scarcity of
wood and the death of many of the literate would result in some of the
boards being used for firewood and boat building.
1775 -
The American Puritan attitude towards Prostitution, by this year, had been institutionalized in laws which identified religious "sin" with illegality.
Prostitutes, as the more socially visible participants of the trade, were,
and would continue to be, the parties most resisted by the sanctimonious
civil leaders.
Spiritually, the trivialization of human intimacy by its commercialization,
encouraged the participants in prostitution to accept themselves as slaves
to their sexual obsessiveness, or, to their material capital-based existence.
The male participants, secretive or expressive about their sexual frivolity
respective to their social standing, served to promote the public impression
that prostitution was an industry which served those of lower income and
lower social achievement. This enabled the public to adopt a triple standard.
Women who promoted their sexual industry were publicly whipped in the streets.
Secondly, those who chose to conduct their business discretely behind the
deception of a manipulative marriage or a concealed involvement as a mistress
- were often financially secure and received considerable respect within
the community. Thirdly, the male participants continued to be treated
as slaves to their desires, irresponsible, and naieve to the distrustfullness
and deceptions of women. Since the men were being alleviated of all responsibility
for their participation in this "crime", why should any of them champion
either the rights of the women involved or the irresponsibility of parties
of their gender?
Women sent to the new frontier with little or no constructive or accurate
information on relationship building, sexual physiology, birth control,
pregnancy, positive self-esteem, birthing and parenting - found any reference
to the topic or act of sexuality as fearful, shameful, and, sinful. Because
of their childbearing role in the biological successfulness of the sexual
act, women became the persons who could not deny or avoid the eventual
outcome: pregnancy and childbearing.
The majority of early male settlers were equally ignorant of the topics noted above; the difference was that
they could easily deny their responsibility for the provision of the market
for prostitution or for illegitimately born children - who would subsequently
be abused by their society. It would be centuries before any large "modern"
human culture would try to find and provide constructive information on
the topics mentioned above.
Sexuality was a momentary pleasure to which was attached lifetime curses, for the moment, for most humans, in the authority- and capital-based cultures of both the Americas and elsewhere. Usually, ignorance resulted
in lack of preparation and awareness of one's partner and a high degree
of anxiety: painful and forced intercourse, illegitimate children, poverty
ensured by large family numbers, an endemic and compulsive need for greater
material security, a partition of male-female emotions and expectations
and roles. Spiritual, emotional and physical disrespect and hurt contributed
to inter-gender distrust and manipulation. Ignorance and lack of self-direction
encouraged loyalty to a politically and socially accepted form of institutionalized
authority: secular faith dominated by secular men preaching divine redemption.
This was not a new pattern of cultural formation.
From the first time that massive tragedies had occurred to human populations resulting in the
deaths of most adults, the refounding of society based upon misunderstandings,
ignornace, obsession, and deferred leadership - had encouraged this process.
Major ecological traumas - including huge volcanic eruptions, widespread
high mortality pandemics, and large meteoric or comet-based impacts - had
contributed to changes which wiped out significant portions of the human
population on the Earth.
Political humanity had manufactured its own repetitive population assaults through the perpetuation of wars, the spread of illness
by residence relocation, and, the abuses of power through execution of
the deprived, depraved, and, enslaved. The social and religious approach
to the commerce of prostitution is significant at this point as an illustration
of the fundamental approach taken by the community toward perceived outcasts
in the community. These outcasts were penalized for participating in a
capital-based culture by providing a marketable service which those with
social or financial stability were either unwilling to provide or incapable,
largely because of their "training" received within the community, to enjoy
and share.
As had always and would continue to be the practice, preachers and ministers
more often chose their vocation for the egotistical feelings of power,
security, respect and popularity, they received. Others joined the profession
for the negative shame-based obsessions of acting out retributions on the
community which they themselves believed they deserved as individuals.
As an addiction, no degree of "cleansing" of the neighbourhood or the world
would ever be sufficient to erase the pain which they felt themselves from
their actual or perceived original moral error.
Institutionalized human religions have seldom been effective in the promotion of truely spiritual values. Nor were they here. Forgiveness, acceptance, sharing, assertiveness, the promotion of material self-sufficiency, and respect for one another
were seldom considered here. Rather than seek to build on a materially
sufficient society and a spiritually and emotionally constructive family
unit, churchmembers and their leaders tended to proudly deny the weaknesses
evident within the community, to redirect blame and penance on others,
and remain ignorant of their individual enslavements and capabilities.
1775 - On April 18,
The American War of Independence began with an armed clash between American militia and British troops at Lexington. Economic and expansion restrictions placed on the colonists by the British government increasingly aggravated the settlers. Most of the settlers were politically naive and
had endured against the harsh circumstances of trying to change a hunting
and fishing ecology into an agricultural and industrial one.
Social interaction and sophistication for many were lacking and a general attitude of "frontier irresponsibility" provided a basis for a lack of concern for the rights
or requests of the nations from which they had fled, escaped, or been expelled.
The primitive social context of "I'll take whatever I want and can get"
left little respect for the original inhabitants who were constantly bullied
and excluded from lands they had long occupied.
The British had forbade the settlers to go west of the Appalachians
in recognition of the national jurisdictions claimed by France and Spain
as well as the treaties made with the various aboriginal tribes and states.
The generally materially greedy American frontiersmen sought riches to
allay the crushing poverty, frequent abuse and poor self-esteem which ignorance
and a spiritually deficient environment encouraged in them. There would
always be stories of furs, gold, open lands, ... beyond the borders. In
a fragmented society with rudimentary law and order, following rules and
regulations was often obeyed on the basis of whether doing so suited your
mood at the moment.
Taxes on goods imported from Britain by Britain in order to help pay
the cost of recent British wars had led to a boycott of British goods.
Restrictions on trade with other countries by Britain was intended to force
the settlers back to British goods. Instead, it led to social disobedience.
Demands for representation within the British Parliament so that settlers
could have a say in the regulations placed on them showed a complete lack
of understanding, or of acceptance, of the status quo of colonies of the
era. Colonies existed by the grace of the empire and were to be administered
for the benefit of the "home" nation, not for the benefit of the settler-labourer.
In 1774, as economic and political relationships became increasingly
awkward and resentful, the First Continental Congress of America was held
at Philadelphia. Delegates from 13 colonies attended: Massachusetts, New
Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania,
Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
It had been agreed that trade with Britain would be suspended until a better
relationship with Britain could be formalized. To the king and his government
this was little different from a mutiny and British troops were commanded
to restore order.
3 million settlers with little military training or organization, little
capital for expenses and materials and inconsistent leadership opposed
the British colonial Army, the British "loyalists" and those Indian tribes
allied with Britain. Part of the British colonial army was 17,000 mercenaries
who had been sold by the German princes of Hesse and Brunswick to the British.
1775 -
Genocide in California, U.S.A. took place beginning in the late 1700s and continuing for over 100 years.
It is estimated that at the beginning of the period over 225,000 natives lived peaceably in California.
Over the next 100 years their numbers were decimated to about 25,000, NOT counting loss of newborns.
Displaced Europeans comprised the majority of those which invaded
the territory seeking material wealth in the form of land ownership, commercial
profit or gold mining and panning.
The natives were often expected to be fierce and dangerous by the Easterners who had been exposed to mass media accounts which dramatized events in the favour of invading settlers which had abused the native peoples first. New settlers tended to shoot first
and then ask questions, even shooting natives who had been converted to
Christianity and were approaching them to offer welcome or assistance.
Others were slaughtered because they occupied preferred locations.
Scalping was a custom begun by greedy and vengeful European settlers in the Eastern
U.S.A. and resulted in bounty hunter-mercenaries being paid for each
"Indian" scalp turned in as a way of clearing a territory of the largely
peaceful hunting and farming natives.
1776 -
Hydrogen is discovered by the Englishman, Henry Cavendish.
1776 - On July 6,
The American Declaration of Independence is announced.
For centuries, the correct date of the signing of the Declaration would be recorded and assumed by both historians and astrologers to be July 4, 1776. It was at
11:00 A.M. L.M.T., on July 6, 1775, through a formal Declaration of War,
that the United Colonies became an independent STATE, severing all political
and economic ties with Great Britain.
It would not be until Helen M. Boyd and others were given access to copies of the Journals of the 1st and 2nd Continental Congresses, plus their Secret Journals, that the accurate signing date of August 2, 1776, would be discovered. While this would be discovered in the 1960s, most histories and the public perception would remain unchanged and inaccurrate to the end of the 1990s!
This document opened the way for refugees fleeing from persecution throughout
Europe, including Britain and Russia. Previously, the American and Canadian
colonies in North America had been chiefly the destination of British and
French criminals, colonial administrators and their policing forces, and
both independent and royally or company sponsored entrepreneurs, acting as agents.
1779 -
Mount Vesuvius, Italy erupts again, in a major way.
1780 -
By now, an Earthquake extends from Iceland thousands of miles down to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
25% of the population of Iceland is killed.
1780 -
British interference with Baltic shipping led Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Russia to form a "League of Armed Neutrality" to protect the rights of neutrals. The English became especially
antagonistic toward the Dutch, who had capitalized on Britain's preoccupation
with the American War for Independence (1776-1783) by acquiring England's carrying (maritime shipping) trade. The Dutch contributed to the Revolution by selling supplies
on credit and by purchasing American bonds.
At the beginning of the war, thirteen diverse disorganized colonies
faced the most powerful empire in the world. Strategic and logistical problems
associated with fighting a war at a distance, the dispersed nature of the
colonists, hostilities with Spain and France, red disunity in the willingness
to war against former subjects all hindered the English. A small colonial
civilian militia, poorly trained and organized were more a guerilla force
than a traditional fighting army. For a variety of reason, many colonists
refused to support the revolution confusing England's ability to plan against
a force of unknown numbers and concentrations.
The issue of centralized taxation had precipitated the revolution, yet
the American colonies faced the problem of financing the war. Congress
borrowed money by selling bonds abroad. Colonies individually contributed
monies. Both the states and the federal Congress issued paper money which
depleted quickly in value through inflation. Many of the aboriginal tribes
had maintained their independence and neutrality, although increasingly
frustrated by frontier whites who occupied their lands claiming squatter's
rights to ownership.
When the Americans invaded the territory of the Seneca
in the north, in pursuit of British agents, the Senecas took the British
side. The Cherokees, in the south joined the British also because of repeated
invasions of their lands. The Americans recruited other tribes and retaliated
forcefully against those siding with the British. The secret of the American's
eventual success was that they fought to preserve their troops, like modern
guerillas, whereas the British fought for territory. As long as the American
resistance existed, the British could not declare victory.
Conventional armies fighting in brush and forest against an enemy more knowledgeable
of the terrain and difficult to contain, together with an uncooperative
population lost lengthy military engagements. This led to Louis XVI of
France to recognize the United States and even to send supplies to the
U.S.A. by covert means to support the revolutionary struggle.
In their participation in the Vietnam War, between the late 1940s
and the mid 1970s, the Americans would fail to see the parallels between
the Vietnamese and the Americans of this era. Many of the reasons for their
failure then would be the same as those by which England failed here.
1780 -
Hanson Lake, a North American native prophet, during the Revolutionary War, begins to speak of "The Great Purification of the Earth". He notes that such an event will happen when the trees have an appearance
of dead sticks and the waters are muddy and dirty. He also describes a
dark cloud which hovers over the Earth for a long time preventing the Sun
from shining through. The images he describes are similar to those which
would be expected after either of the following:
a) a huge volcanic eruption;
b) a large meteor impact;
c) a nuclear war.
1781 -
Peruvian Inca doctors, in their benevolent character, relieved the malaria of the Countess of Cinchon,
wife of the Spanish Viceroy to Peru, with an infusion of bark from a local
tree which produced symptoms in her identical with those of malaria. Thereafter
known as "cinchon bark", the remedy was sold by monks in Spain to the rich
for its weight in gold and given to the poor for nothing.
1781 -
Christian W. Dohm advocates emancipation of the Jew in Germany from a merely tolerated element of the population, exposed to legal discrimination into citizens of equal rights in his book, Uber
die burgerliche Verbesserung der Juden (On the Improvement of the Jew's
Status as Citizens). His thesis is that the supposed Jewish "imperfections"
were the result of legal inequity, whereas the granting of equal rights
would make them into good citizens.
1781 -
Emperor Joseph II, abolishes the houses of some monastic orders.
Others are limited in size by the numbers allowed in each location.
Economic connections and capital transfers to or from foreign countries
are made illegal.
1782 -
Father Amiot, a French Jesuit, translates "The Art of War", the Chinese military manual written in 500 B.C.
Napoleon would use the small digest in his campaigns, winning when he adhered to it and losing when he did not.
1783 - During the year,
The astronomer Herschel discovered bright lights in the middle of the dark Moon during an eclipse of the Sun.
1783 -
The First Hot Air Balloon was sent aloft by the Montgolfier brothers for an unmanned flight.
It was fueled by wet straw. The brothers
had seen that smoke rose and deduced that a bag filled with smoke might
also rise. It was not until some time later that balloonists realized that
it was the influence of the heat that provided the lift and not the smoke.
This type of balloon enjoyed a tremendous vogue for a few years with
competitions between cities achieving air "firsts" for humanity. The major
problem with hot air balloons of this time was the need to keep a fire
burning in order to keep them aloft. A 2 or 3 hour flight was a real achievement.
1783 -
With the "Peace of Paris" Britain recognizes American independence:
Tobago in the West Indies and Senegambia become French colonies; Spain receives Minorca and Florida.
This represents a significant defeat for
Britain in that it places a restriction on the British transatlantic empire.
For successful military exploits at a distance, an excellent Navy is insufficient.
Sufficient capital and the ability to transfer and move large numbers of
troops is required. In addition, widespread civilian guerrilla rebellions
are practically impossible to restrain: better to maintain the support
of colonists from the start.
For France, the additional war debt acquired in the overseas war added
to the high deficits already pushing public finances to the point of near
state bankruptcy. French volunteers were acclaimed as freedom fighters
yet this resulted in a backlash against the administration when the war
was lost. When humans are motivated to battle on high principles which,
in reality, are irrelevant, and then lose - they will seek for a fundamental
problem as the rationalization for their failure. French troops blamed
the old French bureaucracy for mismanagement of the War.
While America was the only apparent winner, by default, the other parties
having withdrawn, it lost 70,000 dead. British loyalist colonists emigrated
to Canada. The poorly planned, equipped and led revolutionists had not
organized politically before the War with any intent of creating a government
following the conflict. Constitutional problems and interstate rivalries
and differences would threaten the union afterwards.
1783 -
J.A.C. Charles flew the first hydrogen gas balloon, two months after the Montgolfier discovery.
This enabled flight of a longer duration than
that possible with the current hot air balloons but the ability to manoeuvre
up and down at will by stoking and damping the fire was lost.
Pilatre de Rozier, the first man to ascend in a balloon, was inspired with
the concept of combining the long duration capability of the hydrogen balloon
with the manoeuvrability of the hot air balloon. The explosion and fall
following the ignition of the hydrogen killed him. Most early balloons
were simply bags of 1,000 to 10,000 cubic metres volume having a vent on
the top controlled by a rope and made of a treated fabric.
Consider the fact that it took humanity thousands of years of recorded
history to reach this far in its understanding of flight and technology.
1785 - On January 4,
Jacob Grimm was born.
He would co-author the folktales later published as "The Brothers Grimm' Collection of Fairy Tales".
Some of these and other enduring
folktales had originated as far back as 1200 A.D. Murder, mutilation, cannibalism,
infanticide, and incest were among the themes spoken of.
The tales were spread by travelling storytellers commonly refered to as witches and gypsies. Beginning before the popularity of printing at a time when history was
remembered and shared almost exclusively by voice, these tales became extensions
of the news of the day. Many were remembered because of their shock and
horror dramatism. Before the 1700s, illiteracy was the most common level
of European education. Parents kept up the tradition of conveying them
to their children as semi-moral modelling examples and as a way in which
to garner respect as an authority by refered fear.
Children, particularly after the Black Pandemic, were often regarded
as small adults. In Europe, most families had lived in 1 room residences
for over 1000 years. The concept of shielding youngsters from the behaviours
and crudeness of their parents and relatives would have been considered
ridiculous. Like adults, children were exposed to sexually explicit language,
drunkenness, acts of sexual infidelity and sexual innovation, as well as
public floggings, hangings, and draw and quartering human butchering.
Many of the now published folktales would later be revised in accord
with the norms of the Catholic and Protestant churches. In their earlier
form, Sleeping Beauty was raped while unconscious by a married man and
produced twins which his wife murdered and tried to feed to him; Little
Red Riding Hood performed a striptease provocation for the Big Bad Wolf;
Cinderella broke her stepmother's neck; the wicked queen in Snow
White was forced to dance to death in red-hot shoes; Goldilocks
was an angry, homeless old woman dropping in on 3 affluent bears who tried
to burn her and drown her.
Indeed, in child-like fashion, many of the original
"news" reports probably received considerable idiosyncratic variation during
their travels as gossip. Immature adults and children will often use such
a story to act out their fears, frustrations, anger and trauma. Thus, concerns
may be directly mirrored or converted into symbolism which enables either
a coping release of the experience through verbal expression, or, an obsessional
preoccupation with the troubling matter.
1785 -
Christian Samuel Hahnemann: a physician of note who was a chemist, linguist, translator of medical
works, and the author of a comprehensive apothecaries' lexicon. Following
on the example of the use of "cinchon bark", that is, quinine, for the
treatment of malaria, as discovered by the Spanish in Peru, Hahnemann tested
and found many substances which the smallest amount in a tincture would
cure various diseases.
When he proposed this approach to the field of medicine,
he was quickly ostracised and ridiculed by the establishment which disliked
his animosity towards their practices of bleeding and cupping their patients
as well as the likely loss of their profits from the sale of such small
quantities of drugs as he was proposing.
1786 -
Europeans had begun interest in the Indian "Rg-veda" scriptures and during this decade, and with great difficulty, a few brahmans
in Calcutta would be persuaded to share their oral record of the ancient
texts. The vedas had been maintained in an oral tradition for almost 3,000
years by an elitist "teaching" caste. Once the first translations were
made public, other brahmans cooperated with their contributions.
It was soon discovered that the text as transmitted in Kashmir (far
northern India) was scarcely different from that transmitted in Tamil Nadu
(far southern India). Yet for all their ritualistic and rational accuracy,
few brahmans had the vaguest notions of its meaning. This was partly because
the language which had been used in ancient times was almost unintelligible
to one trained only in classical Sanskrit. It was as though generations
of brahman teachers had ritualistically memorized the texts without any
appreciation for either the grammar or the idioms.
The idioms and slang which form the popular basis of all human languages has tended to change
context from as infrequent as every century to as frequent as every decade.
Unless the student of such learning is instructed according to the "spirit"
of the collected wisdom, a ritual indoctrination of the words according
to the "letter" of the spoken or written authority encourages the loss
of all relevance. Knowledge without relevance is irrelevant. Such ritualized
and legalistic repetition changes the nature and the worth of the original
communication. Rather than continuing to have the capacity of presenting
a guide, it is transformed to either a materialistic idol, or, to a verbal
magical incantation.
The former has been left by a spiritually gifted individual
in the hope of facilitating spiritual awareness and performance in the
student. The latter is a transformation of that spiritual intent into one
of idolatry in which the student seeks to curry the favour of God by the
superstitious incantation of phrases which, at worst, convey neither meaning
nor guidance, and, at best, serve to imprint an acceptance of human-based
authority and the expectation of spiritual salvation by way of obsessive
self-hypnotic activities. This is the pattern which ALL ancient spiritually
gifted works have taken within EVERY human culture.
1786 - In September,
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a German and privy councillor and director of mines for the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar, began
a secret trip south through the Brenner Pare to Venice, Italy. For years,
Goethe, a fine poet, had been distressed by the limitations involved in
a merely analytical and intellectual approach to the plant world, typified
by the cataloguing mind of the eighteenth century, and a theory of physics
which submitted the world to blind laws of mechanics.
His interest in plants grew intense yet he found the academia establishment dead for all its arbitrary divisions of the sciences and the petty contradictions of university scholars. Goethe had studied electricity, magnetism, galvanism, mesmerism, mysticism,
alchemy, magic an medicine. Goethe strove to find the ultimate secret of
nature.
In his travels, Goethe developed an acute interest in plants stemming
from the variety he observed and its complexity. He frequently meditating
on the life cycle of plants as a tranquillizing activity. He noticed that
in the fan palm, all lateral outgrowths of the plant were simply variations of a single structure: the leaf. With this new way of looking at plants, Goethe came to the conclusion that nature, by bringing forth one part through another, could achieve
the most diversified forms through modification of a single organ.
Plant forms were not predetermined, but were "happily mobile and flexible, enabling
them to adapt to the many conditions throughout the world, which influence
them, and to be formed and re-formed with them".
Goethe also recognized that the process of development and refinement
of form in plants worked through a threefold cycle of expansion and contraction.
The expansion of foliage was followed by a contraction into calyx and bracts;
there followed a splendid expansion into petals of the corolla and a contraction
into the meeting point of stamen and stigma; finally there came a swelling
into fruit followed by a contraction into seed. This six-step cycle completed,
the essential plant was ready to start all over again. A further step,
noticed by but not specifically detailed by Goethe was a principle of renunciation.
Ernst Lehr, later described this principle thus:
"In the life of the plant (renunciation) shows itself most conspicuously
where the green leaf is heightened into the flower. While progressing from
leaf to flower the plant undergoes a decisive ebb in its vitality. Compared
with the leaf, the flower is a dying organ. This dying, however, is of
a kind we may aptly call a "dying into being". Life in its mere vegetative
form is here seen withdrawing in order that a higher manifestation of the
spirit may take place.
The same principle can be seen in the insect kingdom
when the caterpillar's tremendous vitality passes over into the short-lived
beauty of the butterfly. In the human being it is responsible for that
metamorphosis or organic process which occurs on the path from the metabolic
to the nervous system, and which we came to recognize as the precondition
for the appearance of consciousness within the organism."
Later in life, Goethe introduced several other principles of plant life.
He labelled the vertical tendency in plants, with its sustaining principle,
male; the spiral tendency, which conceals itself during the development
of the plant but predominates during blossoming and fruiting, female. He
extended this to a belief that male and female opposites represented spiritual
opposites in the universe: sides of a unity necessarily split apart for
physical growth, yet reunited in new living creations. In a different principle
of polarities, Goethe noted that the action of the root of the plant is
directed earthward toward moisture and darkness, whereas the stem or trunk
strives skyward in the opposite direction toward the light and the air.
To explain it, Goethe suggested a force of "levity" opposing Newton's "gravity".
Goethe was to be initially spurned for his poetry; later greatly accepted.
Because of the compartmentalized and authoritarian views of his time, his
early scientific writings on plants were set aside because he was seen
to be a poet. Eighteen years after his first publication on plants, he
was hailed as a genius, in another country - Switzerland. He compared the
earth and its hydrosphere, in which he included the humid atmosphere and
its clouds, to a great living being perpetually inhaling and exhaling,
an ecological principle. He is credited with the discovery of the volcanic
origin of mountains and the establishment of the first widespread system
of weather stations. Charles Darwin and Rudolf Steiner were to follow his
ideas.
Goethe's acceptance of plants as lifeforms, capable of sex, growth,
complexity, adaptation and change acting which a living universe set the
foundation for possible cultural expansion into the more spiritual principles
of harmony, and ecology overwhelmed by centuries of human preoccupation
with competition and disassociation. He displayed great reverence for plants,
unlike many of humanity before him, and much of it before the late 1990s.
Humans seem to frequently forego positive and real possibilities in slavish
obedience to the authority and ignorance of the institutions they create
as apparent servants to themselves. If a superior plant intelligence was
to approach us with our harbouring such negative and unreal cultural concepts
as generally held by "educated" humanity, what would our response to their
presence likely be?
1787 -
Father Sicard, a Roman Catholic priest, learned
"that in the village of Ouardan,
Egypt, there was a dovecote full of papyrus manuscripts covered
with magic characters, and that they had been bought from some schismatic
Coptic monks. I did what had to be done with them (he burned them) and in their place
I planted a Cross of Jerusalem, which the Copts revere with great devotion."
1787 - During the year,
The astronomer Herschel again sees bright lights on the Moon.
He believed that some of the lights seemed to move above its surface.
1789 - On June 17,
The French National Assembly was formed by the Estates General at Versailles.
The Third Estate, which had doubled
in size following the public banckruptcy of the state in 1886, and represented
smaller landholders, demanded voting by individual rather than a continuation
of voting by estates. A pledge was taken that the Assembly would not separate
until a new constitution had been drawn up. A limited authority monarchy
was demanded by the voters.
Capital-based economy nations can declare bankruptcy.
How France became such a debtor should be instructive. The French kings, in attempting to surpass the past legendary extravagances of their neighbouring imperialist
nation, Spain, taxed their population and their economy to the maximum.
An oppressive system of elitist land ownership and near enslavement of
the peasant commoner plus an unjust legal system and constant abuses from
those in authority - encouraged civil unrest. To make this collection of
capital efficient and orderly over a wide territory, a great number of
government clerks and collectors became necessary.
This increased the expense of the government without any direct contribution to the public in return for it. In order to assume the image of a great world power, the French kings increased their standing military forces at least 10 times greater
than would be required for defensive purposes. They then became involved
in wars which were costly disputes between heavily armed enemies and themselves
rather than between themselves and poorly armed natives in poorly prepared
states. To continue financing all of these destructive activities, the
state then took huge loans from international bankers - which, increasingly,
they could not pay. Eventually, Jacques Necker, a Geneva-based banker,
publicized the state of the French government finances, and, the public
became enraged.
The king acknowledged the constitutional changes but his political and
military attempts to control the threat of civil unrest only led to the
July 14, 1789 public storming of a political prison known as the Bastille.
In sympathy, the army command dissolved itself. Peasant uprising followed
all over France and many of the nobility emigrated to avoid public violence
against them. The administration fell into disorder.
Famine and fear of political reprisals resulted in ruthless violence on behalf of the public.
Church lands (the Church was a major landowner) were confiscated by the
state, the Church was made into a state operated entity with the priests
being elected and paid by the state. Capital spending by the newly rich
church led to inflation in the economy and further hardships. In June,
1791, Louis XVI, following the murder of others of the elite, attempted
to flee from France, was caught, returned to Paris, and lost all political
power to the Assembly. Discussions followed as to whether abolish the monarchy
or to retain it, or, to kill its representatives.
All religious orders and monasteries in France are declared abolished.
This example would be followed by all states incorporated with France under
the protection of Napoleon I. Monasteries had come to be seen by too many
as elitist associations which avoided government taxation while the commoner
faced heavy taxation. Monasteries had tended to be and held an image of
prosperity during a time of economic distress for many. Many of the monasteries
had participated in the activities of the Inquisition, were authoritarian
in style, and were increasingly being held responsible for acts of genecide
and mass torture.
1791 -
The French National Assembly grants citizen's rights to those Jews who take a loyalty oath.
Jews, until now, were largely considered
as gypsies who travelled at will from one country to another with no particular
national loyalty. Because their cultural practices separated them from
the activities of the general population and because of their concentration
of occupational activity in trade, business and usury, the general population
often viewed them as sources of opportunity (their products and services)
and of temptation (the influence of the presence of their opportunities).
Jews, like any capitalist-based enterpriser, lived according to the profits they made.
In some situations, lack of respect for the non-Jew encouraged some Jews to be ruthless, legalistic and greedy in their transactions.
The person so victimized, as is true of humans today, would remember and
magnify the insult and communicate it to many others. At the same time,
the shopkeeper or administrative specialist who served the public well
and in a compassionate manner (as expected) received little publicity in
terms of referred customers to show appreciation for such behaviour.
In some nations, Jews were not allowed to participate in agriculture (Russia);
in others, they might be restricted as to locations where they could live
and as to whether they could hold political positions. Always true of human
behaviour, discrimination encouraged a response of discrimination. Special
restrictions on freedoms could result in ruthless and deceptive dealings
- which could influence frustration, anger, and hatred, - resulting in
restrictions on freedoms.
1791 -
William Gregor, a British clergyman, first draws attention to an element in the black sands found on Cornish beaches.
He publishes his observations and the conclusions of his experiments and calls the element menaccanite, after the Cornish town of Manaccan, near the site of his discovery.
1791 -
Philippe Pinel, a doctor in Paris, France, has his treatise on the humane treatment of the mentally ill,
"Sur l'Alienation Mentale" published. In the following year he is made
directing physician at the Bicetre asylum, and, in 1794, at the Salpetriere
asylum. He was to provide an example and inspiration for the future humane
treatment of persons affected by mental disorders.
Previously, those persons who either were incapable of following the
status quo of social behaviour, or, chose not to do so - were either abandoned
by the community to die, publicly humiliated by placement in restraining
devices termed "stocks," physically punished by the state, tortured and/or
executed by the state on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church (as heretics),
or, placed in long-term or permanent confinement. If the latter option was
chosen for them, they were often housed in dirty, crowded surroundings
with little contact with "healthy" persons and little if any freedom to
the outdoors.
Their custodians were more like jailors than doctors.
Often their nutrition and health care were minimal. The insane were often regarded
as possessed by evil spirits, or, of being due little more respect than
an obstinate domesticated animal. Control was often sought by coercion
by means of beatings and physical restraint.
Such treatment was a strong motivator for anyone with nervous disorders
to either control such disorders in public, or to seek a solitary lifestyle.
While this extended to persons with obsessional behaviours and addiction
behaviours, such persons - if somewhat self-directed - could also find
acceptance in such civil service positions as the military or exploration.
Both areas enabled anti-social behaviours to be used as a manner of acting
out in foreign countries where a lack of public media removed public awareness
and concern for their activities.
Execution and confinement were primitive, and sometimes effective, eugenics proceedures.
Acceptance of a person's inability to learn adequately or of their inability to maintain a focus of attention frustrated were a remote reality removed largely from the intolerant, insecure, afraid and uncompassionate masses. Pinel sought to change this harsh treatment to one which sought to initiate and build positive
coping skills and behaviors which would enable some degree of dignified
and constructive participation in the culture.
1791 -
Wolfgang Mozart, baptised Johannes Chrysostomos Wolfgangus Theophilus, dies.
"Amadeus" and "Theophilus" both mean "loved by God." He used Amadeus only in family letters and as a humerous reference to himself. Effects of blood-letting administered to counter acute rheumatic fever, and the
fever itself lead to his death.
A myth would be spread for centuries that he had been poisoned, presumably because he was known to attract women. This attraction may have been greatly inspired by his sick child-like appearance, his skill at composing and playing music, and, the wealth which he enjoyed, and freely spent, in the last 8 years of his life. He has been frequently described as short, perpetually sickly, very thin and pale of complexion
and hair. It is possible that he had parasites much of his life.
Amebiasis is a single-celled parasite which lives in the large intestine,
may spread to the liver, lung or brain. Infestation with it may arise from
the eating of contaminated food or water, or, from sexual promiscuity.
Symptoms may include recurrent diarrhea, weight loss, impaired growth,
chills, fever - which may become high. Some societies have had endemic
occurrence in the past with up to 40% having few symptoms, and, only folk
remedies offering any cure.
Bleeding was a common procedure applied to most every symptom at this time.
It would have been helpful in removing the toxic accumulations from the blood which largely were acquired from the practice of using white lead oxide facial powder (by both genders)
to conceal facial imperfections. With much of the herbal remedies of earlier
centuries having been lost by the influence of the Inquisition, and the
concept of using pharmaceuticals not yet being considered, "bleeding" a
person provided the prospect of removing heavy metals, bacteria and virus,
along with the blood.
This might provide the new cells manufactured by
the body to make up the loss of blood, an environment with less toxins
to begin with. In essence, the patient gave themselves a blood transfusion,
or, "cleansed" a part of their blood. The process of bleeding could assist
the liver to better health. It might lessen a parasitic presence but it
would not eliminate it.
Mozart's income during the final 8 years of his life was 3,000 to 4,000
florins - somewhere comparably between (1986) US $65,000 and $80,000. He and his wife Constanze lived grandly, and employed 2 servants. Addicted to gambling, and with
both he and his wife spending money as quickly as they got it, he died
heavily indebted.
1792 -
Joseph Ignace Guillotin's invention for execution becomes the official execution instrument in France.
Guillotin regarded his invention as a quick and merciful type of execution.
A heavy steel knife with a slanted edge was fitted into grooves in 2 posts joined by a crossbeam.
A cord held the knife suspended. The victom was positioned such that the neck was in
the travel of the blade. When the string was released, the blade fell and
severed the victim's head. The Guillotine was official.
1793 - On January 17,
The death penalty was narrowly accepted by the Assembly (361 to 360 votes) for the French king, Louis XVI.
In accord with the cultural trends which had been extended over the previous 100 years,
the method of execution was more technical, efficient, faster, easier,
and more dissociated than the previous common use of an axe: the guillotine,
a falling axe. On January 21, 1793, King Louis XVI was executed by guillotine.
1793 -
Mount Vesuvius, Italy, has a major volcanic eruption for the 5th time including 79 A.D. and the second time in less than 15 years.
1795 -
Jedidiah Morse, an American Christian minister, declares in a sermon that:
"... secret and systematic means have been adopted and pursued, with
zeal and activity, by wicked and artful men in foreign countries, to undermine
the foundations of this religion, Christianity, and to overthrow its alters."
1795 -
Martin Heinrich Klaproth, proposes the name " TITANIUM " for the element termed "menaccanite" by its founder William Gregor in 1791.
It will eventually be found to be the 9th most abundant element in the Earth's crust.
Without technological sophistication it will be difficult
to isolate and manufacture due to its high reactivity. Largely unused until
1950, it will become a 6 billion dollar industry by 1995. NONE of its uses
will be of practical necessity to the individual human.
1796 -
Edward Jenner discovers that vaccination with cowpox imparts immunity to humans against smallpox.
It would take until 1950 before the last case of smallpox is recorded in the USA.
In 1967, 2 million people would die worldwide in an epidemic.
The last natural case would occur in Somalia in 1977.
400 samples would be kept under heavy security in freezers at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, until the mid-1990s. A further 200 samples would be kept in heavily
guarded laboratories in Moscow, Russia. Remember this.
Jenner had made the discovery when he witnessed that dairymaids sometimes
became infected with cowpox, a similar disease resulting in sores on the
cow's udder. In humans, cowpox was a mild disease that quickly healed.
Jenner noticed that those milkmaids who had contracted cowpox did not become
infected by smallpox.
In May, 1796, he took pus from fresh cowpox sores
on the fingers of a dairymaid named Sarah Nelmes and used it to inoculate
an 8-year-old boy, James Phipps. During the next 2 days, the boy developed
a slight fever and a small sore, but he got neither cowpox nor smallpox.
By 1800, more than 100,000 people would be made immune in this manner.
1798 -
Benjamin Rush, a USA colonial physician, condemns tobacco use out of concern for the health problems he believed were associated with it. Many prominent physicians were expressing concern by 1800. A relationship
was suggested between tobacco smoking and coronary heart disease, even
recognizing the potential association between passive smoke exposure and
heart disease. Also noted was a correlation with lip and nasal cancers.
Smoking was still relatively rare with individuals having to hand roll
their own cigarettes or use pipes, cigars, snuff or chewing varieties.
1798 -
Robert Malthus, a shy don in Jesus College, Cambridge, England, published anonymously the first edition of his
"Essay on the Principle of Population as it affects the Future Improvement of Society".
He had been born with a hare lip, the social ostracism
of which encouraged him to become socially withdrawn and academically minded.
He had just taken up his teaching position in a small Surrey county parish
at the age of 32 just before publishing his essay. He would end his career
teaching history to boys at Haileybury College.
In his essay he noted the vastly improving reproductive rate of humans and its noticeable result of population crowding as greater numbers of people increasingly occupied the same relative territory. He found that humans quickly multiplied up to the greatest density which the land would support at the current technological level. At that point, the population levelled off with the excess being destroyed by starvation,
pestilence, or war.
By the use of simple mathematics and theoretical rates of population increase, he cautioned that at some point, every square foot
of the Earth's land mass would be occupied by a human. For human societies
to avoid continuing and increasing conflict, human population would have
to be either decreased or stabilized.
No cultural leadership would ever seriously try to cope with this challenge
either on a national or an international scale. Before you can ever convey
confidence in population stabilization to other countries you must be able
to demonstrate that you have a plan which you have been successful with
inside your own nation.
1799 - On January 1,
Income tax is introduced in Britain by Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger.
The purpose: to help pay the cost of military opposition against Napoleon.
1799 -
Bodies of Mammoths are found in the Siberian tundra.
In regions of permanent permafrost, the bodies are found perfectly preserved
such that sledge dogs ate the flesh without ill effects. The flesh is found
to be firm and marbled with fat and appears as fresh as well-frozen beef.
The mammoth was the largest know animal of the Pleistocene (500,000 to 3700 B.C.) era in Asia.
Its contemporary in North and Central America was the mastodon.
A highly developed member of the intelligent elephant
family, comparable in size to the 20th century Indian elephant, its tusks
were often 10 feet in length. Its teeth were highly developed, with a greater
density than other elephants. It was ideally fit for the herbivorous life
of a sub-tropical and an equatorial forest.
When the frozen animals were found, grass and leaves were still found
in their mouths and stomachs, still undigested: they died suddenly. The
vegetation they were eating at the time would be growing 1000 miles further
south in the 1990s. After arctic storms in the 1900s, tusks of mammoths
would be washed ashore, having broken loose from some of the ice and melted
free in the open water. Frozen mammoths would be found, preserved in masses
of ice, in either kneeling or standing positions: they died quickly yet
had to be supported by the snow and ice surrounding them, or, they would
have fallen over on their sides. Evidence of other quick-frozen species
would be discovered by 1960.
1800 -
Alessandro Volta demonstrated the electric pile which became the forerunner of the electric battery.
It soon became a practical source of electric current.
1803 -
A meteor shower over Paris, France, provides the first modern, recorded evidence which would be considered scientific proof that pieces of rock falling to the Earth from space were independent of origin
and not accessories of comets. Until that time, superstitions and spurous
theories put forward by academics concluded that meteors and meteorites
were particles which were thrown out of the tail of a passing comet - an
image which has both terrorized and fascinated humanity throughout history.
This belief in the destructive influence of passing comets would still
be held by the public and promoted by the mass media in the early 1900s.
It would not be until the latter part of the 1900s that humans would realize
that comets are largely composed of masses of ice.
1803 -
The First Paper Mill in Canada is set up at St. Andrews East, Province of Quebec, by entrepreneurs from New England. Wood pulp and papermaking would become one of Canada's primary resource industries
and a large contributor to its international trade.
1807 -
The establishment of the Great Sanhedrin as the highest Jew, created a centralized Jewish organization, somewhat parallel to the Christian Roman Catholic papacy. It did not carry a political intent, which would
have resulted in opposition to the state of Napoleon I.
1808 -
"The Decret Infame" politically limited the freedoms of the Jew within France and its colonies.
It was later repealed.
1808 -
Charles Thomson, after 20 years of work, published the first American English translation of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament requested by Ptolemy II (285-246 B.C.). He
would also produce the first New Testament translation to be published
in the USA.
Thomson had begun his work at the age of 60, after retiring from his career as Secretary of the Continental Congress.
1809 - early in the century,
The oily essence Nicotine, the main active ingredient in tobacco is chemically isolated and termed nicotianine.
It is later found to contain 4700 chemical compounds, including 43 cancer promoting substances.
1811 - by this year,
John Elert Bode, a German astronomer, had published a catalog of 17,240 stars
(12,000 more than any previous chart in modern history) and become known for his presentation of an arithmetical
formula of planetary distances from the Sun, which would come to be called Bode's
Law, even though it was introduced by Kepler and Titius of Wittenberg.
The arithmetical formula assumes the series of 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, etc.
To each term within this series 4 is added to produce a new series 4, 7, 10, 14, 28, 56, 100, etc.
These numbers would prove to be a rough approximation of the relative distances of the planets of the Earth's solar system from the Sun, with the exception of 24, which would later be found to be occupied
by a ring of asteroids. It would receive little attention or acceptance
until the rediscovery of planets in the solar system during the 1900s.
While several rationalizations for the absence of the planet and the
presence of the asteroid belt were posed, Bode himself believed that the
best interpretation was that a previously existing planet had blown up
for some reason and that only the fragments remained which had remained
captured within the original gravitational orbit.
1811-1812 -
Earthquakes of Magnitudes from 7.3 to 7.8, the major shocks of, occurred near New Madrid, Missouri State, USA, on December 16, 1811, January 23, 1812, and February 7, 1812. Few casualties resulted due to the sparse population in the area. The shocks were felt most intensely in southeastern Missouri and Arkansas with tremors being reported as far as Washington, D.C. and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Massive fissures opened
in the ground, forests were flattened, river courses were changed - a new
lake appeared, and for a time, the Mississippi flowed to the north. The
town of New Madrid was badly damaged, and subsequently destroyed by river
erosions.
1812 -
St. Augustine Volcano in Alaska, produces a major eruption.
1812 -
The U.S.A. declares war on Great Britain after a decade of frustration with European disregard of American neutrality, commercial restrictions and impressment of American citizens. Western settlers were more concerned with a depression in farm prices (caused largely by high transportation
costs) than they were with the frustrations of their politicians, and blamed
British interference with American exports for their problems.
Federalists, in their commitment to the republican experiment, believed that continued humiliation at this point would threaten their political integrity leading
to a threat to their liberty and an inability to safeguard the property
of their citizens. Unable to accept the concept of loyal dissent, the Republicans
viewed their opponents as conspiring subversives.
The same forms of intolerance, irresponsibility and damaged pride would be demonstrated at the end of the 1940s when the American media and politicians
would accuse the Soviet Union of being responsible for all the ills of
the world; would mount a campaign of persecution against citizens expressing
an interest in social equality; would fear for the collapse of their economic
system unless continued expansion of their markets together with continued
justification for high levels of government spending were maintained.
The state of public finance in 1812 America was fragile.
To finance the government, the United States had relied on customs duties, but the
outbreak of war reduced the income from that source in addition to increasing
the expenses. A reluctant federal Congress was persuaded to establish excise
taxes, yet these proved inadequate and the government was forced to borrow
money. The banking systems were inadequate. Bonds were the next resource,
but these brought in far less money than anticipated because New Englanders
contributed little support for the unpopular war.
American strategy called for invasion of Canada as the easiest way to attack Britain, since the American Navy was almost non-existent for a direct
attack. During 1812, 3 attacks were made on Canada: one army surrendering
to Canadians and Indians; a second withdrawing when the militiamen refused
to cross state lines; a third force withdrew when militiamen refused to
fight in foreign territory. Once the British concluded their military activities
in Europe, with the defeat of Napoleon, they planned more vigorous attacks
on the Americans. In 1814, they burned most of the public buildings in
Washington, including the White House. The humiliation led to the Federalists
redrafting the Constitution with 6 new conventions:
1. taxation vote would be based on the white population, favouring the north;
2. a 2/3rds vote of Congress was needed to admit new states, slowing expansion;
3. embargoes were limited to 60 days and required a 2/3rds vote of Congress;
4. declarations of war would require a 2/3rds vote of Congress;
5. naturalized citizens would be barred from office, preserving homogeneity;
6. presidents were to be limited to one term in office.
The Treaty of Ghent was negotiated in December, 1814, by American and British delegates ending the war.
The Americans won no concessions although conventions agreed to in the years following greatly structured commerce to the advantage of American expansion.
Communications of the time led to an oddity.
A major British force dispatched from Canada attacked New Orleans in January 1815
and were defeated by the American defense led by Andrew Jackson. Overnight,
he became a national hero and salvaging American pride: he had won a battle
after the war had ended!
1813 -
France abolishes Child Labour in the mines.
1813 -
Political Conflict was popular during this year:
Prussia declared war on France;
Napoleon was victorious at Lutzen;
Austria declared war on France;
Wellington defeated the French at Vitoria;
Napoleon was defeated at the "Battle of the Nations" at Leipzig.
1815 - during the year,
The Tambora volcanic eruption, lofts so much volcanic ash into the atmosphere that 1816 was later termed "the year without a summer", due to the climatic influence. Crops failed and diseases ran rampant over
Europe.
1815 -
A Japanese Junk (ship), after drifting across the Pacific Ocean for 17 months, was found near Santa Barbara, California, with one sailor alive. For a time, it was displayed at Catalina Island near Los Angeles.
1815 - In May,
Henry Gross, an American dowser from Maine state, sitting at his kitchen table, pinpointed on a map of the British-governed island of Bermuda, on which there was no source of fresh water had been
found, just those spots where he said drilling would produce it. To everyone's
amazement, Gross was correct.
Dowsing, in the so-called modern world, dowsing would only be used whenever the status quo science could provide no answers in situations considered
urgent. Repeatedly, dowsing would easily provide the answer sought, yet
because humans could not intellectually understand or explain it, they
suppressed what they could not control.
You cannot control a person's ability to dowse; you cannot uniformly teach people the skill of dowsing; to some degree the perfection of the art and its use for positive ends is relative to the spiritual advancement of the person involved. Greed, envy and fear would ensure that a skill that could impart so much benefit to humanity
would be ridiculed, and often forgotten in favour of science which succeeded
by pain, profit, pride, and political power.
1817 -
The National Council of the Cherokee meet under the leadership of John Ross, their chief and a wealthy landowner. The Cherokee have accepted the ways of the European settlers wherever those changes seemed preferable
and reasonable. This has included ownership of land and slaves, agriculture,
living in houses, adopting Americanized education and clothing, to some
extent. Now, they change their clan-based government with that of an American-based
republic model.
1819 - on June 16,
An extremely violent Earthquake, occurred over a very large area in the Rann of Kutch region of India.
It was felt up to 1,000 miles away and land movement was as much as 20 feet in some areas.
A very large area of land sunk underwater and a very long band (the Allah Bund) of land,
traceable for many miles, raised.
1820 -
Hans Christian Orsted discovers that an electric current moving through a conductor induces a magnetic field around the conductor.
It would be another 11 years before Michael Faraday would be able to demonstrate that a magnetic field could induce a current in a moving conductor.
1820 -
In the spring, Joseph Smith, in the state of Vermont, USA, had a "vision" while praying aloud secretly in a forest.
Like Mohammed, Smith was most concerned over the unspiritual attitudes and behaviours of the multiple Protestant
sects practising in his region:
"For notwithstanding the great love which the converts to these different
faiths expressed at the time of their conversion, the great zeal manifested
by the respective clergy ... it was seen that the seemingly good feelings
of both the priests and the converts were more pretended than real; for
a scene of great confusion and bad feeling ensued; priest contending against
priest, and convert against convert; so that all their good feelings one
for another, if they ever had any, were entirely lost in a strife of words
and a contest about opinions."
He was devout in that he had taken as guidance to have faith in the
admonishments of the Christian disciple, James: (Epistle of James,1:5)
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men
liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."
Joseph Smith sought the wisdom to know which was right and why everything
around him seemed to be so confused. After he had gone to the secluded
spot in the forest he prayed vocally for God's help:
"I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some
power which entirely overcame me, and made such an astonishing influence
over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness
gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed
to sudden destruction.
But exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the
power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at that very moment when
I was ready to ... abandon myself ... to some actual being from some unseen
world, who had such marvellous power as I had never before felt in any
being ... I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness
of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which
held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw 2 Personages, whose
brightness and glory defy description, standing above me in the air. One
of them spake to me, calling me by name, and said - pointing to the other
- This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!" ...
I was answered (as to which sect to join) that I must join none of them,
for they were all wrong, and the Personage who addressed me said that those
professors were all corrupt; that 'they draw near to me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me; they teach for doctrines the commandments
of men: having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.'
(After saying many other things to me) I came to myself again, I found
myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven."
Several days later, Joseph Smith described his "vision" to a Methodist preacher.
Smith was surprised to find the preacher exceedingly negative
to the experience, suggesting that it was the work of the devil, and stating
that such visitations had ended with the prophets centuries before. Before
long, Smith found that the local gossip had incited a great deal of prejudice
and persecution against him, excited by "men of high standing". Despite
this social opposition, Smith could not deny the reality of his experience.
Smith expressed the lament of many who had or would encounter spacebeings
or be abducted or mentored by them:
"Why persecute me for telling the truth? I have actually seen a vision;
and who am I that I can withstand God, or why does the world think to make
me deny what I have actually seen? ... I could not deny it, neither dared
I do it; at least I knew that by so doing I would offend God, and come
under condemnation."
1820 -
Wildcat Banking during the first half of the century, grew in the USA when state-chartered banks began issuing their own paper money, banknotes. Many of these banks were organized more for the purpose of issuing banknotes than for taking deposits or making loans: many failed.
1821 -
The astronomer Herschel during the year, again sees bright lights on the Moon.
He believed that some of the lights seemed to move above its surface.
1821 - During the year,
A Cherokee named "Sequoia" completes an alphabet for transcribing the Cherokee language.
The Cherokee Phoenix, a newspaper, quickly follows.
1821 - during the year,
Britain introduces the gold standard into Europe.
Used much earlier in China, it is unique to Europe.
By making gold the standard, coins and paper notes could be issued with a value relative to the amount
of gold which is symbolically represented. As was the case in China, this
allows the valuable part of the trading activity, the gold, to be stockpiled
in national treasuries. This standardized and made both more efficient
and more safe the transportation and use of "capital" in economic transactions.
At this time, huge state expenditures for the purchase of armaments
would not have been possible without the use of paper notes to replace
the awkwardness and weight of a gold transaction. Once the example was
present, it would increasingly become easier for the government or ruler
of a nation to issue banknotes on the "credit" or lien of future taxes
against the population, or, profits from conquests and the administration
of colonies.
1823 - In September,
Joseph Smith, after retiring to bed, prayed to God for forgiveness of all his sins and follies, and also for a manifestation of God as he had received earlier. In the interim years since his first
"vision", without the guidance and support of belonging to a religious
sect, and, that being a period during his teenage years, Joseph "frequently
fell into many foolish errors, and displayed the weakness of youth, and
the foibles of human nature; which ... led me into divers temptations,
offensive in the sight of God (yet none were of any great or malignant
a nature):
"When I was in the act of calling upon God, I discovered a light appearing
in my room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than
at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside, standing
in the air, for his feet did not touch the floor.
He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness.
It was white beyond anything earthly I had ever seen; nor do I believe that any earthly thing
could be made to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant. His hands were
naked, and his arms also, a little above the wrists; so, also, were his
feet naked, as were his legs, a little above the ankles. His head and neck
were also bare. I could discover that he had no other clothing on but this
robe, as it was open, so that I could see into his bosom.
Not only was his robe exceedingly white, but his whole person was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly like lightening. The room
was exceedingly light, but not so very bright as immediately around the
person. When I first looked at him I was afraid; but the fear soon left
me. (The spacebeings from the Pleiades are very spiritually advanced compared
to the highest spiritually inclined human and have the capability to assume
whatever form is deemed positive to the individual human; they can communicate
telepathically and "read" a subject's mind.)
He called me by name, and said that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had work
for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all
nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil
spoken among all people.
He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this (North American) continent,
and that the fullness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as
delivered by the Saviour to the ancient inhabitants.
Also, that there were two stones in silver bows - and these stones fastened
to a breastplate, constructed what is called the Urim and Thummim - deposited with the plates: and the possession and use of these stones were what constituted "seers" in ancient and former times; and that God had prepared them for
the purpose of translating the book.
After telling me these things, he commenced quoting the prophecies of the Old Testament.
He first quoted part of the chapter of Malachi ... though with a little variation from ... our Bibles ... and other verses (from this and other chapters and books of the Bible).
After this communication, I saw the light in the room begin to gather
immediately around the person of him who had been speaking to me, and it
continued to do so until the room was again left dark, except just around
him; when, instantly I saw, as it were, a conduit open right up into heaven,
and he ascended till he entirely disappeared, and the room was left as
it had been before this heavenly light had made its appearance. ...
I suddenly discovered that my room was again beginning to get lighted,
and in an instant, as it were, the same heavenly messenger was again by
my bedside. ... He commenced again and related (all that he had done in
the previous visit) ... and informed me of great judgements which were
coming upon the earth, with great desolation by famine, sword, and pestilence;
and that these judgements would come on the earth in this generation. Having
related these things, he again ascended as he had done before.
... re third time the messenger appeared from out of the heavens and repeated all that he had said before) and added a caution to me, telling me that Satan would try to tempt me (in consequence of the indigent circumstances of my father's family), to get the plates for the purpose of getting rich.
This he forbade me saying that I must have no other object in view in getting
the plates but to glorify God, and must not be influenced by any other
motive than that of building his kingdom; otherwise I could not get them.
(The messenger) again ascended into heaven ... when almost immediately ... the cock crowed, and I found that day was approaching, so that our interviews must have occupied the whole night. ... (on going to work) I
found my strength so exhausted as to render me totally unable (was instructed
by his father to return home) and in attempting to cross the fence out
of the field ... my strength entirely failed me, and I fell helpless on
the ground, and for a time was quite unconscious of anything.
The first thing that I can recollect was a voice speaking unto me, calling
me by name. I looked up, and beheld the same messenger standing over my
head, surrounded by light as before. He then related to me all that he
had related to me the previous night, and commanded me to go to my father
and tell him of the vision and commandments which I had received."
Joseph Smith told his father.
He then went to the location where he was told he would find the plates and the interpreting devices.
On attempting to take them out of their stone box, the messenger appeared again and instructed
Smith to leave them where they were for another 4 years.
1826 - On April 14,
A British Parliamentary Select Committee studying emigration heard Robert Chambers, a police magistrate in London, describe the street children problem and his solution. He noted:
"I conceive that London has got too full of children."
They were begging in the streets and sleeping in the gutters, and turning
whole neighbourhoods into dens of thievery. This tide was always running
in Chamber's courtroom and his solution for London and for the poor was
to send them to the colony of Canada.
He demonstrated that there had been a great increase in the number of juvenile offenses brought to his court, which he attributed first to an
increase of the population, and secondly, to the want of employment for
children. Thirdly, there were cabin boys discharged from ships after their
return from the sea who added to the unemployed. He presented letters from
officials of various municipalities, each one encouraging him in his view
that children who were or who came from destitute families, those 12 years
of age and up, should be sent to Canada. There, they were to be apprenticed
to become workers on the land - farmers. Chambers directed his conclusions
to include both abandoned children and children who lived with their parents
in workhouses. He believed that "if the parent saw that government was
going to take the children under its protection, and that there was a prospect
of their future welfare, they would be glad to offer their children for
that purpose."
A month later, William Henry Bodkin, a philanthropist and secretary
of a charity group, echoed the plea that "if any judicious scheme could
be devised for the sending away of these (vagrant) boys, it would be a
great public benefit ...."
Richard John Uniacke, the attorney general of the Canadian province
of Nova Scotia, had gone to London to appear before the Committee also.
He said that farmers in Nova Scotia would be ready to take children as
young as five if they could get them. "In fact, the want of labour is so
great they will take anything; but a boy of 5 years old is able to do something
for a living, and he soon begins to earn his clothes and his maintenance.
Living conditions for most farmers in Canada were difficult.
Almost none of the new settlers arrived with any education or experience in farming.
Much of the land converted to farmland was forest which had to be cleared, then often burned, with the stumps being laborious to dig and pry out. In some regions, the stripped land then had to be cleared of surface rocks
left behind by the retreating ice sheets of long past ice ages. Mistakes,
errors, and incompetence in the operation of a farm could be devastating
- a lost crop, a lost life through disease, a lost limb through an accident.
Many of the colonizers were as inept in the raising of a house as they were
in the raising of children. Frustration levels could run high and coping
and communication skills were often minimal. Colonists tended to have been
opportunists, runaways, civil servants including military and administrative
personnel, banished criminals, exiled political troublemakers, prostitutes,
and educated middle class families hoping to find better living circumstances
anywhere different from their home in Britain. The state wanted the colony
settled: it was only possible to be productive and worthy of colonizing
if it were exploited.
Cheap labour would be an asset for mechanization was still far off.
A typical farmer's day would be physical labour from before sunrise until after sunset.
Houses were draughty and tended to be cold. Lighting was supplied by a smoky fireplace or an oil lamp.
There were no phones, no electricity, no radio or television, no plumbing. If you arrived with money
and were open-minded to learning and fortunate to know about or find out
about the better ways to conduct a farming enterprise, a comfortable living
was possible, and, a step up from the prospect of destitution left behind
in overpopulated and underemployed industrial Europe. Many did not, were
not, and would not have or experience such benefits.
1826 -
Nicephore Niepce, a Frenchman and a lithographer, made the first successful photograph.
It would be 10 years before the next advancement in the technology would be made by Jacques Daguerre who would be able to manufacture negative plates from which positive prints could be developed (daguerrotype).
1826 -
The "3rd Department" was set up by Nicholas I, soon after coming to power in 1825.
His autocracy was supported by the Russian Orthodox Church, which wanted a restoration of order in the country, and, by Russian nationalism, which interpreted "empire" as the domination and enslavement
of other peoples leading to an opulent lifestyle for themselves.
After the Napoleonic Wars, order and government had been restored by Alexander
I, who became a Christian convert. Enabling both discussion and dissent,
military settlements had been set up which resembled penal (forced labour)
colonies. The spread of western European idealism encouraged reaction against
the ruling feudal aristocracy and Nicholas was determined to covertly promote
the monarchy, monitor rebellious groups, and, crush opposition.
The 3rd Department was what in later human history would be refered
to by such names, in other governments, as "The office of Propaganda,"
"The Office of Government Statisics," "The White House/Prime Minister's
Press Secretary," "The Federal Bureau of Investigation Counter-Intelligence
Program," "The KGB," "The Communications Security Agency," "The Central
Intelligence Agency," "The National Security Agency," and, a myriad of
other departments, bureaus, offices, government front companies, and promotional-disinformation organizations - paid for by the levies and taxes of the common public for the purpose of manipulating and deceiving them into continued servitude to and support of elitist and autocratic leaderships.
The 3rd Department was the hidden eyes and ears of the Tsar.
It was the hidden purveyor of gossip, both pro-Russian empire and anti-democratic.
Essentially, the schools, universities, and press - were encouraged and directed to convey to the
public the image that the Tsar was the benevolent dictator who sought to
bring them a better lifestyle. Self-sufficiency was detered as accepting
poverty and hardship - which empire conveyed to other people. Self-assertiveness
and self-directedness were ridiculed as leadership by the ignorant and
inexperienced. This rationale has always been put forward by the leadership
cult, and, by result, has almost always proven to be erroneous.
For all their education and experience, human leaders make more egotistical and
more assumption laden decisions than non-leaders. Nicholas I began his
reign with many good intentions for his subjects and with the realization
that for many of those good intentions to succeed he would have to have
the support of the majority of his subjects.
Count Benckendorff was charged with the establishment of the state secret police.
At first, it was a national undercover intelligence (data, opinions,
reports, gossip) gathering department. With revolutionary movements rising
all over Europe, Nicholas I became inspired to contain the orderliness
which he believed was the foundation of modern society and the benefactor
of the materialistic idols of grandiose cathedrals, paintings, statues,
ornate huge museums, .... : feudalism. Involvement in the politics and
orderliness of Poland, Hungary, Germany, and the Middle East would provide
opportunities to extend the work of the 3rd
Department beyond national borders.
1827 - On September 22,
Joseph Smith, in Vermont State, U.S.A., retrieved the gold plates with the sacred writings on them, shown to him earlier, with the cautions of a messenger present from the heavens once more that:
"I should be responsible for them; that if I should let them go carelessly,
or through any neglect of mine, I should be cut off; but that if I would
use all my endeavours to preserve them ... they should be protected. ...
no sooner was it known that I had them, than the most strenuous exertions
were used to get them from me. Every stratagem that could be invented was
resorted to for that purpose. The persecution became more bitter and severe
than before, ... (but) they remained safe in my hands, until I had accomplished
by them what was required at my hand (to translate them). When, according
to arrangements, the messenger called for them, I delivered them up to
him; and he has them in his charge ...."
Gossip and rumour continued in the surrounding area and let to the usual
human result of falsehoods being circulated, persecution to the point of
driving the Smiths out of the region to the state of Pennsylvania. It was
there that Joseph Smith used the translating devices (the Urim and Thummim)
to translate the plates between December, 1828, and February, 1829.
In February, 1829, Mr. Martin Harris, a friend and supporter,
picked up the translations and took them to Professor Charles Anthon,
in New York City. Anthon found that the writings were "more correct" than
any that he had seen translated from Egyptian and said that those shown
him in the untranslated state were of the Egyptian, Chaldaic, Assyriac,
and Arabic languages and alphabets. Anthon provided a certificate of authenticity
to Harris to return to Pennsylvania with. As he was leaving, Anthon enquired
of the source of the plates and when Harris replied that an angel of God
had revealed it unto him, Anthon then took back the certificate and tore it into pieces, saying
that there was no such thing now as ministering of angels, and that if
Harris would bring all of the plates to him he would translate them. Harris
informed him that a portion of the plates were sealed, whereupon Anthon
replied, "I cannot read a sealed book." Harris left him and went to Dr.
Mitchell, who sanctioned what Professor Anthon had said respecting both
the characters and the translation.
On the 5th day of April, 1929, Oliver Cowdery went to Harris's house,
stated that he had been teaching school in the neighbourhood where Harris's
father lived and that through that family he had learned of the circumstances.
He had come to inquire of Harris. Two days later, Harris began translating
the Book of Mormon and Cowdery began to write out the translation.
1828 -
Fredrich Wohler (1800-1882), a German chemist, synthesizes the organic compound urea from ammonium cyanate, an inanimate molecule. This recorded achievement of awareness would forever change the human perception that substances were either exclusively organic or mineral, but not immediately. As so
often happens when individual humans become aware of aspects of reality
which are counter to the status quo, those who represent authority in the
old status quo must fall into disfavour, retire, die, or, a striking need
must arise which demands a more serious consideration of what has been
discovered, yet denied.
For decades, the field of organic chemistry would separate chemistry
from biology. Chemists would wonder about the meaning of living matter
and and biologists would wonder about the possible inter-relatedness of
biological forms. Chemical functions were studied apart from biological
behaviours; each saw what they wanted to see and denied what they could
not understand.
1828 - In November,
Andrew Jackson uses his reputation as an Indian fighter to be elected President of the USA.
Deposits of gold are discovered in Georgia, the home of the Cherokee Nation. Hundreds of financially desperate socially and spiritually immature persons invade the Cherokee lands, greedy for
riches and disrespectful of the rights of the Cherokee. Jackson, himself
a land speculator, tells the prospectors,
"Build a fire under the Cherokee; when it gets hot enough, they'll move."
1829 -
Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky of Russia publishes his version of non-Euclidean mathematics.
1829 -
Sir Robert Peel, English Home Secretary, sees his "Police of the Metropolis" Bill passed in Parliament.
For 50 years efforts had been made to form civil policing forces to cope with incidents of disorder such as demonstrations, strikes, and other disorders without having to resort to military troops
trained and equipped to kill. These were domestic problems not international
ones. The Metropolitan London Police were formed as an outcome of the Bill.
In the "Statement of Principles" set forth for the London Police, nine statements were made:
1. To prevent crime and disorder, as an alternative to their repression
by military force and by severity of legal punishment.
2. To recognize always that the power of the police to fulfil their
functions and duties is dependent on public approval of their existence,
actions and behaviour, and on their ability to secure and maintain public
respect.
3. To recognize that to secure and maintain the respect and approval
of the public means also the securing of the willing co-operation of the
public in the task of securing the observance of laws.
4. To recognize always that the extent to which the co-operation of
the public can be secured diminishes, proportionately, the necessity of
the use of physical force and compulsion for achieving police objectives.
5. To seek and to preserve public favour, not by pandering to public
opinion, but by constantly demonstrating absolutely impartial service to
law, in complete independence of police and without regard to the justice
or injustices of the substance of individual laws; by ready offering of
individual service and friendship to all members of the public without
regard to their wealth or social standing; by ready offering of sacrifice
in protecting and preserving life.
6. To use physical force only when the exercise of persuasion, advice
and warning is found to be insufficient to obtain co-operation to an extent
necessary to secure observance of law or to restore order; and to use only
the minimum degree of physical force which is necessary on any particular
occasion for achieving a police objective.
7. To maintain at all times a relationship with the public that gives
reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and that
the public are the police; the police being only members of the public
who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent
on every citizen, in the interests of community welfare and existence.
8. To recognize always the need for strict adherence to police executive
functions, and to refrain from even seeming to usurp the powers of the
judiciary or avenging individuals or the state, and of authoritatively
judging guilt and punishing the guilty.
9. To recognize always that the test of police efficiency is the absence
of crime and disorder, and not the visible evidence of police action in
dealing with them.
1830 -
The First Railway was built between Liverpool and Manchester, England.
By 1848, the rail network would be extended
5,000 miles. Rail transportation enabled the combining of large amounts
of heavy and bulky raw materials which were usually found apart from one
another - to be readily combined in an unimaginably large volume. One such
combination was that of iron and coal which were utilized to make steel.
The railway would open the way for truly mass agriculture to develop with
markets in the cities. And now that cities could become parasites on the
countryside, the guild tradesmen could be aggregated into larger groups
for higher productivity from a particular town location. Railways would
make and would ensure that Britain would become and remain the major European
industrial nation for the remainder of the century.
1830 - On May 28,
The USA "Indian Removal Act" is made law.
It pronounces that the aboriginal nations east of the Mississippi must surrender their lands permanently and move to new lands in Oklahoma. The Cherokee, and others, who had earlier been assured that the land which they occupied would be theirs forever, feel betrayed.
Major Ridge and John Ross, both Cherokee, had fought beside Andrew Jackson earlier in battles and had since tried to replace the traditional lifestyles with that of the American. The Cherokee Council met in Georgia and vehemently opposed removal from their lands. A death penalty was instated against anyone who sold Cherokee land without permission. George Harkin, a Cherokee, stated that they just "wanted to
be let alone ... justice ... not be driven about as beasts."
1830 -
The "July Revolution" became the culmination of civilian efforts, following the end of the Napoleonic Empire (1812), to try and establish a form of cooperative rule with their returning monarchy, Charles
X. The reader should acknowledge that most civilians lived in the countryside
on farms and largely in the career position of serf (labourer). They had
done so for the majority of their known history.
Life was mostly concerned with doing one's labour and enjoying domestic life as best as one could.
There were few books, little education, transportation was slow and costly, and the market - for most - was a farmer's market. The life of the non-urban peasant and the manor (farming estate) owner were aggravated by the degree of tax which was levied upon them by their government.
Taxes were a hardship to the average Frenchman and an aggravation to urban-centred merchants.
Merchants took substantial risks and earned a
profit in return. Risks involved the frequent loss of sailing ships, theft
by pirating and similar practices, and the ability to distribute and market
the cargo once it was received from its origin.
Investment was critical to each of these endeavours: sources of supply had to be located by exploration
and networking; sources of supply had to be ensured for continued and substantial
availability (colonization, plantations, military coercion, ...); ships
had to be made, crewed, and stocked with provisions; warehouses had to
be let and safeguarded; cargos had to be loaded, unloaded, recorded, confirmed,
repackaged, stored, distributed, and, sold.
Inevitably there would be some loss through accident, spoilage, or pilferage.
Capital had to be invested
to cover each of these factors, and, for the wise entrepreneurs, insurance
would also be bought. Expenses were many and risk was comparatively high
relative to growing food and cattle on an agricultural plot.
As the rural population continued to expand, growing plots became smaller
and cropping became more intensive. Basic agricultural and herding practices
had changed little in over 1500 years. The amount of surplus that could
be shared with the manor owner and with the king or queen and the government
bureaucracy was decreasing.
At the same time, for centuries, government
leaders had used territorial expansion as their remedy to this problem:
take someone land and possessions from someone else and share them between
yourself and your obedient followers. This practice inevitably, and increasingly,
led to larger and more powerful and closer governments trying to steal
from one another.
The requirement for military defense and offense led to armies of increased size and permanency.
This increased the cost of
government. In addition, frequently when a king or queen and their armies
and diplomates were successful materially the riches were many and the
enticement to lavish oneself (leaders and officers) proved too tempting.
Having increased one's standard of living from adequate to opulent, few
were interested in returning to adequate. Governments had needed capital
for the above reasons for centuries. They had promoted exploration and
international trade. Rural peoples were rebelling against the squeeze of
taxes; the urban elite wanted to retain their luxury; merchants had the
greatest access to capital profits.
Charles X had instituted a constitutional monarchy on his return.
Almost as soon as land resettlement, equality before the law and civil rights
were acknowledged, Charles, with the support of the Ultra-royalists, sought
the restoration of priveleges for the nobility. Tampered election results
favoured the Ultras in 1816, and, was quickly followed by the arrest of
70,000 administration bureaucrats for the taking of bribes, misuse of funds,
and a host of other illegal activities. Tensions continued to rise and
Duc De Berry, the son of Charles X, was murdered. Finally, the electoral
laws were changed and the small though capital rich merchant class became
taxed the heaviest, in an effort to raise government income.
With increasing civil unrest, Charles X, supported by the Roman Catholic
Church and the Ultra aristocracy, closed the legislature, censored the
press, and effected more electoral changes. Encouraged by the writings
of Adolphe Thiers, historian and editor of the National ,
fighting broke out (The July Revolution), the king abdicated. The bourgeoise
Ultra party proved more powerful than the Republicans and proclaimed the
Duke of Orleans, Louis Philippe I as "King of the French." Property owners,
merchants, and industrialist came to form the capital-based elite. The
July Revolution had failed.
1830-1831 -
Democratic and Nationalist Movements arose in Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Poland.
Encouraged by the civilian unrest and the July Revolution in France, civilians elsewhere sought increased regional self-direction, security and peace. It was generally recognized that manors, city states, cantons, and provinces were too small to maintain adequate military power
required for political independence. Alliances, negotiations, federations,
confederations, and other cooperative unified political structures would
have to be tried if a successful resistance to the recurrent overruns and
wars of autocratic would-be emperors was to be stopped.
With the fall of feudalism from a state of landowner benevolence and tenant farmer gratitute to a state of landowner oppression and slave-like poverty-stricken farmer
- the majority of people felt desperation and a need to stop the capital
waste where it was greatest: abolish monarchy and dictatorship rule and
build self-sufficient, self-directed nations in place of authoritarian,
expansionist empires of (enslaved) followers. Printing, reading, and writing
had expanded and spread widely over Europe during the past century. Ideologies
intellectualized 10 or 20 years ago were now common knowledge either by
education, communal gossip, or enthusiastic promotion.
1831-1832 - During this period,
The Choctaw Tribe, is the first group influenced by the USA Indian Removal Act.
Of the 13,000 driven west from their homes, 2,000 would die during the trip from cold, abuse and hunger.
1831-1836 -
Pope Gregory XVI rejected as indifferentism/laicism attempts to reach a compromise between liberalism and ecclesiastical authority which had been put forward by Lacordaire, Montalembert and Lamennais. The
changes would have set the Roman Catholic Church apart from the Holy Roman Empire political elements and focused its purpose on the "religious" side
of human life.
Pope Gregory preferred to perceive the Church as only meaningful
if it exerted full authority over every aspect of the individual's life.
Relevant authority brings with it responsibility. The Church was having
increasing difficulty in having the political and economic power to effect
such responsibilities save have the capabilities.
1831 -
Victor Hugo, a French novelist, had his "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" published.
He would write stories telling of the poor and oppressed and dramatizing the need for justice and mercy for such persons.
1832 -
The Giovane Italia (Young Italy) secret society is established.
Its aims are to
1) rouse the masses from innertia;
2) renew the concept of the state;
3) the cooperation of all nations in a democratic league of nations.
It would lead in 1834 to the establishment of the militant "Young Europe"
movement in Bern, Switzerland. Proceeding from Piedmont, a network of conspirators
was established to prepare uprisings and assassinations. It had been acknowledged
that in mass society individual actions openly expressed have little influence
on changing the political (power) structure. Talk was cheap. It often led
to public support of a speaker until action was called for which would
make the individual accountable.
Usually out of fear of persecution, many would then back away, leaving the speaker isolated, humbled, embarrassed, and, ashamed of those whom were considered peers. Some of these intensely
motivated individuals (often arising from a personal or a witnessed experience
of abuse) would be graduated by this new energy block (traumatic experience)
to a state of rage (in which violence becomes an acceptable means of expression).
It is not documented as to whether civilian arrest and murder by officials
pre-dated civilian plans to murder officials. Authorities do not keep records
of the atrocities they commit which they know are morally wrong or for
which they hold little regard. Assaulting "troublemakers", promoting lynchings
and stonings, and threatening one's own life as well as that of one's loved
ones have been time worn strategies for maintaining autocratic authority.
Most of the practitioners of such arts have been historically found to
have learned them from the example of others or to have carried them out
under the command of others whom they either idolically revere or fear.
Commitment to harshly defined ideals is often founded on the destructive emotions of possessiveness and hate which encourage a distanced and intolerant attitude towards others who are seen to represent opposition. These emotions themselves, in human history, are amply promoted by examples of materially
frustrated parents physically abusing their children, abused children abusing
one another, children seeing their parents or friends verbally or physically
abused.
The history of the Inquisition itself provided both a background
to the instruction of establishment "enforcers" as well as to generations
of stories of parents and relatives and friends having been taken away
and "broken" to the will of the authority concerned. The destruction carried
out by civilian-based terrorism has never and will never approach a small
percentage of the spiritual, emotional, mental and physical acts of degradation
carried out by human authorities and the institutions which serve them
blindly.
1832-1842 -
"Positivism", a new philospophy accredited to the pioneer sociologist August Comte, gained in popularity and was acceptable to and mirrored the status quo of the period. Human progress was defined as folowing 3
stages:
1. the theological stage interpreted the world supernaturally;
2. the philosophical stage with the aid of abstract ideas forces;
3. the positive stage, makes possible the consolidation of phenomena into laws.
Scientists and industrialists were to unite social theory and practice
to guide the world. The motto became, "Know to see the future, see the
future to prevent." A hierarchical system was outlined in which each discipline,
that is, topic or field of study, built upon a preceding one:
mathematics - astronomy - physics - chemistry - biology - sociology.
Fundamentally, this system became a religion of humanity - with humanity
as its subject. Social engineers would secure a happy life for society.
Laws of history were sought through precise factual research (H. Thomas Buckle).
Environment became a factor which shaped humanity (Hippolyte Taine).
The life of Jesus Christ was described on the level of human and natural phenomena (E. Renan).
Sacred writings were interpreted as myths (D.F. Strauss).
The historical existence of Jesus Christ and other sacred leaders was questioned (B. Bauer).
Religion was interpreted as an illusion of humanity (Ludwig Feuerbach).
Immortality was to be found only in the future works of one's children.
This progressing secularization and rationalization of life became assumed
into laboratory and social science theories. All experience and reality
were said to be derived from energy and matter alone (Ludwig Buchner).
Human thought was little more than a chemical process (Moleschott). Linear
reasoning was applied to politicized human history to propose that the
past determined the future in that the laws (patterns) of the past were
the future (Karl Marx).
The ideological structure of humanity and history depended on the substructure ("Unterbau").
That is, conscious awareness
and its expression through art, science, religion, law, politics - were
limited to options made available by economic and social conditions. So
depressing and dissociated from the spiritual were such mirrors of the
emerging status quo that for them reality could only be understood on the
basis of victimization.
On this basis, Hegel related the forces of production (tools, human
skills) to the "relations" of production. The accumulation of property
and the division of labour were the foundations of increased productivity.
Yet these factors and this conclusion also influences individuals to surrender
their freedom by becoming (confining, intolerant, obsessive, unemotional,
ruthless, tactless, demanding, aggressive, technical) authoritarian in
behaviour and attitude. The sacrificing and self-chosen elite become property
(profit) owners - who now seek to maintain a capital-based profit-focused
political and economic (status quo) system.
The other side of this equation consists of the average dignified individual (who has not sacrificed their soul), are exploited by those who have, and constantly seek to return to a more balanced former period in history. With the foregoing perception,
the concept of endless class struggles throughout human history both predicts
and justifies revolutions. These "reactions" to negative influences are
expected to purge manipulator-exploited animosities, modify the ideological
structure of humanity (hopefully for something more constructive), and
introduce periods of qualitatively improved history (progress). History,
within this perception, extends from initial communism (or communalism)
through various political-economic structures until ultimate communism
is attained in which the exploitation of one another and the sacrifice
of self-honesty is eliminated.
Having explored ideology, political structure and the experiential twisting
and reshaping of the self, other individuals reflected and projected on
the predictability of capability and performance of humans in general and
in groups. It would become increasingly easy to define such groups of differentiation
by nation, culture and race as general observations became codified into
driving principles and laws. Biological development was made responsible
for adjustments to the environment resulting in acquired traits (Lamark).
Evolution, as a trend in which variation, heredity, and surplus population survived as a factor of suitability to the environment, set aside the suggestion
of a "planned" or intended purpose for life (Darwin). Other writers followed
to promote the authoritarian-based and rationaly biased "survival of the
fittest" summary. The above beliefs contributed to a religious humanism
in which all individuals would share equally in a worldwide democracy.
Yet, some would share, for the near future, more equally than others (Jacob
Burckhardt).
As in all cases of extended open intellectualization, there rose critics
to the above material heaven on Earth. Alexis de Tocqueville, historian
and sociologist, questioned whether scientific and material progress could
be maintained in a society devoid of competition and need: without the
motivation of profit. Soren Kierkegard chastised the status quo churches
and Christian conformism and challenged them to find strength in faith
- even if denial of doubt and the power of others led to one's martyrdom.
Discouraged by the historical record of those who professed to believe
in and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, Friedrich Nietzche called
Christianity "the shame of humanity" for their hypocracy and refered to
its followers as "cultured philistines" and glutted bourgeoise who followed
a slave morality of unmediated acceptance of the direction put forward
by their human authorities in the name of a God. These aspects of Christianity
were that which were most frequently seen, experienced and modelled during
this period.
In his anger, intellectual reactionism, and frustration - Nietzsche called for humans to set aside this meaninglessness of life (servitude), pessimism (victimization) and nihilism (lack of purpose) and become supermen
(self-directed, self-respected) and bring back a "will to power" (self-assertiveness)
and a morality (of constructive actions). Rational and intellectualized
alternatives had been separately expressed in opposition to the innertia
of habit and status quo, and, against the destructiveness so often linked
to emotional (greed, hate, vanity, ...) motivations as foundations to the
decisions of political and military leaders. No consideration of a spiritual
perception was expressed.
Among the many factors not considered were these:
1. "Objectivity" was abstraction based on personal assumptions;
2. Linear, mechanistic systems deny the capability of choice;
3. History considered was short in duration and narrow in location;
4. Conclusions were being drawn on ethnocentric political histories;
5. Immortality is how one lives on in memories and in monument;
6. "Blind" faith is as spiritually weak as compulsive negativity;
7. "Progress" can be a wholistic goal centred on quality-of-life;
8. Egotistical self-direction is as destructive as following leaders;
9. Decisionmaking guidance is available from a non-human source.
In short, there was a disatisfaction with the outcome of history
to date and a desire to find something, the result of which would be more
constructive in the future. Blame for past mistakes was directed everywhere
excepting at oneself or the group which one promoted as righteous. Manipulation
was promoted as a prefered and necessary means of leadership. Prayer, meditation,
compassion and forgiveness had been pushed so far into the background through
persecution, abuse, disuse and misuse that the average person no longer
knew of them as decisionmaking options - so did not deny them - and, felt
neither shame nor guilt nor grief at their absence.
You cannot find what you do not know of; you cannot miss or wonder about something you have
never had nor experienced. Without experience, example, or description
- how would you recognize what might be ?
1833 -
The first "Factory Act" of England would lead to the prohibition of female labour in the mines in 1842 and a reduction of the work day for women and children to 10-hours in 1847 and to include men in 1850.
1833 -
The first recorded use of the word "Scientist" takes place.
Before this time, what would later be described by the term "scientist" would have been anyone who chose to use intellectualization and experimental activity in an attempt to find a solution to a problem or an explanation
to a point of confusion.
Before now, and for a few decades more, most such individuals self-funded their own idiosyncratic self-indulgent form of play. Thus, many grew out of the aristocratic and the commercially wealthy
families. Others were determined, self-assured individuals with inspired
innovation and open-mindedness.
Scientists would later be divided by name according to the discipline, that is, segment of reality, in which their primary interest and experimentation rested. But for now, most scientists were tinkerers, alchemists, magicians, and, risk-takers. No one asked them where they had learned their trade: they were creating their trade. Most would be shunned as crazy, time- and money-wasters, dreamers, radicals, irreligious, fantasy-builders. A very few would become geniuses, miracle-workers, creative innovators, entrepreneurs, and, rich men.
Much of the difference would reside in the perception of the public.
Some would become successful through the use of spiritual skills melded with intellectual and/or mechanical skills and maintained with persistence; others still, by what appeared to be the luck or awareness of being in the right place at the right time
with the right innovation to be popularized.
1835 - During the year,
Comet Halley, is observed as it passes through the Earth's solar system.
1836 - During the spring,
The Cree Indians, are forced to surrender all of their lands to the American military and journey west.
One third of them die during the forced journey west. Typically, they are forced from their homes at
bayonet point, with no time to pack or pick anything up. Neither are provisions
or blankets provided along the journey to replace those which they had
been forced to leave behind.
John Ross, representing the Cherokee, meets with USA President Andrew Jackson, writes hundreds of letters to Congress, and, lodges 2 lawsuits in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court rules that the Cherokee is a separate
nation; Jackson disregards the decision and challenges the Chief Justice
to enforce the rule himself. State troops begin forcing the Cherokee owners
from their homes and plantations; the government sells off the properties.
Ross declares that resistance will only lead to military losses and further
victimization.
Major Ridge, a Cherokee, goes to Washington and secretly concludes a treaty in which the USA agrees to pay the Cherokee $5 million for their land and to assist them in moving to new Oklahoma lands. He then returns
home to Georgia and attempts to persuade the Cherokee Council to accept
the treaty. They reject it. Major Ridge, his sons, and about 2,000 others,
sell their lands in defiance of their own Cherokee law and move west. On
May 17, Congress ratifies the treaty by 1 vote and give the Cherokee 2
years to move west.
1836 - On July 4,
The USA "Patent Act" was signed by USA President Andrew Jackson, thereby establishing the first patent system in a human nation on the Earth. This system was the first institutionalization of the ownership
of original concepts, designs and information. It would encourage experimentation
and a more open expression of ideas in the fields of engineering and other
sciences. Previously, the experimenter and inventor frequently ran out
of capital before the inspired product could be manufactured and marketed
- and the idea was then often set aside and its development lost or severely
retarded.
In other situations, an inventor may have spent considerable
personal effort and risk and all of his capital to develop a prototype
which he could not afford to put into production. Having demonstrated the
principle and the prototype to other individuals, the inventor had no protection
from one of such spectators raising or utilizing their own capital to produce
and market the product, exploiting the inventor's labours - and not sharing
any of the financial gain with the person who had incurred the risk.
This happened frequently enough that an undercurrent attitude of apathy
was developing such that an innovative person might believe that the direction
of their efforts in towards developing something beneficial to society
was too much of a sacrifice and personal affront because someone else would
likely receive the profits from its manufacture. Now, for a fee of $30.,
a completed application form, a detailed description and a set of drawings,
the designer or inventor could register any "new and useful art, machine,
manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvements
thereof."
The patent system allowed the inventor to freely demonstrate any new device to the public and to investors with the protection that once registered with the patent office no one else could legally duplicate
the design. In this manner, the inventor received a 17-year monopoly, and
motivation, to develop and market the concept or design, which, if he was
unsuccessful or unwilling to do so, anyone else could then attempt development
or duplicate the design. By the end of the century, over 2 million U.S.
Patents had been issued.
1837 -
Monasteries are abolished by decree in Portugal.
A severe attack would be made on them in the Revolution of 1910.
Both here and in Spain, the monasteries had been managed by lay persons for centuries with
a rationalization of their activities so as to focus on attaining land,
wealth and power. Small farmers who had poor crops and taxes to pay were
encouraged into indebtedness by and to the monasteries so as to continue.
When these debts could not be maintained by the farmers, which was often,
the properties were seized, added to the monastery's possessions.
The former farmers were then hired for low wages and treated much as slaves by their
new and harsh employers. The young were severly indoctrinated with the
most conservative and authoritarian version of Roman Catholicism which
stressed idolatrous rituals and strict obedience to the edicts of the orders
and the pope on fear of excommunication and eternal damnation of their
souls. Since the monasteries were exclusive of taxation and influential
in local politics, there was little active demand for change.
1837 -
The term Industrial Revolution is coined by Blanqui.
It would be used by Engels in 1945. Religious intolerance and conservatism
had encouraged an obedient and obsessional perspective of work. As each
Christian came to be taught that they were destined for either heaven or
hell and that they could sway the scales of judgement in their favour by
the performance of good works, or, the purchase of favours from the Church
- the individual became motivated to increase their capital worth.
Almost anything could become forgiveable as a sin, in the authority of the Church
- provided the adherent could pay the assessed capital penalty. Thus, the
ascetism of diligence, frugality and sober striving for profits beyond
the satisfaction of one's individual needs became strong practices and
motivators. This striving for forgiveness, for one's manifold sins of being
alive - contributed to the coffers of the Churches and to the grwing sum
of private capital available for investment.
Productive and profitable enterprises became prime targets for investment.
Frequently, these were product distribution companies, or, firms which were using the latest methods to speed production. This Protestant "Work Ethic", built more on exploited shame and sanctioned guilt, led to the financing of many scientific efforts and technical innovations intended to increase productivity while decreasing costs.
1838 -
General Winfield Scott, in the spring, with 7,000 American soldiers, arrives in Georgia with instructions to remove the Cherokee by any method deemed necessary. Thousands of Cherokee are collected from their homes with only
what they were currently carrying. They are held in stockades for extended
periods with poor hygienic conditions, and minimal food, water, clothing
and housing. Many die. Those who show any resistance are placed in chains
and imprisoned.
In the "Journey of Tears", 16,000 Cherokee are moved west by force in winter conditions.
4000 (25%) of the group die of cold, starvation, abuse, or disease on the way - including the wife and some relatives of John Ross.
Several hundred Cherokee escape and make their way to the Smokey Mountains, long their homelands.
While living there, a group of 12 Cherokee are found by the American troops.
When one of the women is jabbed with a bayonet,
the remainder resist and 2 soldiers are shot. General Scott responds with
the statement that "the Indians will have to pay."
With winter now approaching, and General Scott's patience decreasing
and his desire for vengeance increasing, an ultimatum is issued to the
Cherokee that the wandering Cherokee surrender, or, be hunted down and
killed by 7,000 troops. Sully, a member of the abused group of 12, offers
to surrender himself, on the condition that the remainder of the dispersed
Cherokee be allowed to remain in their Smokey Mountain homeland. Scott
agrees. Sully surrenders his gun. Scott takes Sully and his family prisoner,
escorts them to a nearby river, has each of them tied to a tree - and executes
them by a firing squad on November 25.
1839 -
Child Labour in factories in Prussia, was abolished for those under the age of 9-years.
In 1854, child labour under the age of 12 was disallowed.
1839 - During the early summer,
Major Ridge, his son and his nephew, are assassinated by enraged Cherokee in their new Oklahoma territory - for selling away the heartland of the Cherokee.
1840-1842 -
The Opium War between China and England begins when Chinese officials destroy a large quantity of opium imported by British merchants. Large quantities were grown in India under a government monopoly
of the British government. The Chinese would lose the war and supplies
would continue to serve the agricultural peasants who suffered from endemic
chronic pain arising from long hours of high-strain physical labour, parasitic
infections and arthritic-like symptoms.
As late as 1909, Britain, via the
India monopoly, would benefit by (1908) US $20,000,000 per year - comparable
to (1996) $ trillion! in value. This revenue was divided between the growers,
the merchants, and the state. Economically, it served to balance the payments
between the two countries to cover the supply of tea from China, and, to
finance the building of a state empire expanding military.
This war would historically be perceived by future Chinese as the beginning
of their struggle against imperialism and for independence. Many conflicts
would be lost by the Chinese. Eventually, they would interpret their desired
success only in terms of the control of most of Asia (1997) after they
had adopted a capital-based economy (1980). Capital-based economies are
only successful under monopolistic market realities. Free markets are only
beneficial to such an economic system as a means of deception of one's
competitors when one already controls the market, or, one is confident
that the market can be manipulated successfully.
1840-1860 -
The Oregon Trail through New York State, the northern part of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois states and then through central Iowa and Nebraska states, southern Wyoming, morthern Utah, southern Idaho, and, finally through central Oregon - would be travelled by 300,000 settlers.
At least 10% would die along the way from accidents, arguments settled
with firearms, and disease. On average there would be 15 unmarked graves
for every mile of the trail. The Interstate 80 Highway would later follow
the Trail closely.
1841 -
Justus Liebig, a founding German chemist developed the process of synthetic fertilization of agricultural crops.
During a period of growing concern that the economy was being overstripped by population, Liebig demonstrated
that chemistry could provide increased crop yields to ease the crisis.
His analysis of elements in 1831 had been a fundamental start wherein he
approached problems by defining the chemical constituents involved and
then recombining a selection of those chemicals to produce a synthetic
compound.
Applying the same principle to meat, he published a book on meat in 1847 and set about to develop a nutritional chemical capable of supply food cheaply to the masses. The product termed OXO was the result.
He became so well known and respected that the connection of his name to
a product guaranteed its success. He himself became confident that whatever
he said a product consisted of or was good for the public would believe
because he, a scientist, had said so.
His product developments and his research methods would lay the foundation
for the production of synthetic dyes and the success of such chemical corporations
as Farbwerke Hoechst and Badische Anilin and Sodafbrik (BASF).
1843 - Near March,
The planet "Chiron", would be in perihelion (closest to the Sun) in the Earth's solar system.
Its unusual path brings it close to the Earth every 50.68 years. One of two largely overlooked
planets in the Earth's solar system, Chiron approaches close to Saturn
and then orbits out almost to Uranus.
Astrologically, its influence on the Earth and its lifeforms may be
expected to be subtle. The presence of Chiron in an individual's natale
chart will influence that ot those areas with characteristics described
as discipline, severity, coldness, and, responsibility. Mythologically,
Chiron was given the responsibility of guiding the young to maturity; awakening
humanity in time to cope with challenging realities. Chiron was one of
the more civilized and well-mannered beasts of mythology. Friendly towards
humans, Chiron was a protector who taught morals, music, and medicine.
1843 -
A group of French Missionaries land on Rapa Nui (Easter Island); they were massacred.
1843 -
The Facsimile machine is invented by Alexander Bain, an Englishman.
It is patented yet develops slowly. It would be 100 years before slow, bulky, heavy,
expensive models were being used by military, police and large business
offices. It would be 150 years before it began to become a commonly used
device by all forms of business and a personal use market developed.
The image of a written or pictorial document would be read and converted to
analog sound signals at the origin point, transmitted (usually over telephone
lines) to a second unit which would convert the analog signals back into
a mode from which the machine could print a duplicate of the original document.
1844 -
Arthur Schopenhauer published Volume II of his "The World as Will and Idea".
His early volume of 1819 had perceived the possibility that history could be meaningful and used as a guide from which to plan improved strategies for the future. Now, he no longer saw such a meaningful purpose to the actions of humanity in history; rather, he saw the blindness of the will as the unreal cause of the world - a "playground
of passions" turning aimlessly in circles. Schopenhauer, and other writers,
felt they were being reminded almost daily of the egotistical foibles which
often comprised the background of important political decisions.
Schopenhauer was looking for the spiritual perspective, which when
added to decision-making - results in new and positive constructive options
being undertaken in place of old and worn irrevelant choices easily at
hand. Unfortunately, the Church and political institutions of his time
had so distantly misplaced any context of spirituality that it would have
seemed like heresy and disloyalty to find it. Schopenhauer, and increasingly
many others, could neither define nor find what they had never seen or
heard about. They were left defeated, in pessimism and political paralysis.
And so the band played on.
1845-1846 -
"The Great Potato Famine" in Ireland began when overspecialization and overdependency of cropping intended partly for mass market distribution
encountered a wetter season than usual. A blight/mould set in on crops,
and especially, on mounds of harvested produce. The blackening staples
looked terrible and were assumed by those involved to be unfit for eating.
Unknown until much later, perhaps 70% of the discarded potatoes could have
been used for food if they had been cooked before showing much deterioration.
Instead, about 1 million died of starvation from a population of 8.3 million;
that is, 1 in 8 died of starvation. Over 1 million other persons emigrated
to North America as new settlers. With the social and economic conditions
in such upheaval, many young people began actions toward independence for
Ireland, while a few others became harsh, ruthless, smugglers and lawbreakers.
In 1846, Britain repealed the duty protecting their agricultural products
in favour of free trade.
Free trade now invited any capital-based economy to become a participant in international trade.
This encouraged mass production efforts further, encouraged industrialization and led to a permanent downsizing of British agriculture. It should be noted that in a capital-based economy, specialization
only provides for a temporary elitist labour enslavement form of employment.
Professionalism is not simple specialization. Professionalism is a attitude,
not a skill. Skills come and go in market popularity but professionalism
includes the self-directedness to convert and extend old skills to fulfill
new requirements.
For the same reasons that industrialization grew and agriculture waned
in the British Isles, so also it did in France. There, the economic crisis
lacked the capital investment required for as fast industrialization as
Britain was undergoing, and, elementary socialism began to develop. Job
security was demanded together with national work shops.
1847 - This year,
Karl Marx would finish his "Communist Manifesto".
His principal work, "Das Kapital" would be completed in twenty years in 1867.
Marx took the concepts being expressed by many earlier intellectuals of the era and melded them together in the
heat of current political and social upheavals. He synthesized these works
into single volumes which reflected the hopes of the oppressed and the
ideals and behaviours of the evident status quo. As a form of analytical
materialism of the day, Marx produced a rationalized linear interpretation
of history which could only seem obvious and correct to anyone who had
never sat on the management side of enterprise.
Together with Friedrich Engels, they proclaimed a new religion (lifestyle guide) founded on principles which they believed directed capital-based economies. The development of capitalism was woven from the exploitation
of the wage-earner into profits which the business owner made from surplus
value, that is, value-added services or overproduction (beyond subsistence).
These profits could then be accumulated into investment capital whci made
technological innovation and progress possible. This cycle unfortunately
resulted in a reduction of required production workers and led to an increase
in the "industrial reserve army" of unemployed and underemployed.
In defense of unstable employment and the increasing necessity for new employees to
regain an average material standard of living, workers strove for higher
wages, employers could reduce wages (because of the glut of labour), and,
general misery increased in presence. Through competition to supply a limited
market, the number of capitalist (entrepreneurs) was forced lower through
monopolization of markets. Consequently, the number of proletariate wage
earners grew, and, within them, the number of disenchanted entrepreneurs
who now felt the hardships, shame, frustration, and anger of a self-directed
rich man become enslaved and poor (class-consciousness).
Meanwhile, the forming monopolies concentrated the available capital in the control of a few persons.
A crisis between overproduction - from the rush to profit,
and, lessening purchasing power - from the downsizing of the workforce
would rise to a threshold of aggravation at which point the labouring masses
would rebel politically (Socialism) against the capitalists. Now, the structure
would be reversed: labour would expropriate industry and commerce; equalize
financial and material benefits to the individual. Communism would emerge
as the political structure of preference with the rational planning of
economies, careers, and social life. All would be guaranteed justice, freedom,
and respect.
That was the idealistic (best-for-all) theory.
Everything was simple
and direct. The participants, in the several described political structures
were either robots within the status quo, or, rebels seeking the selfless
freedom of an equal and comfortable life. Yet the path to communism fell
into denial about fundamental aspects of human reality. Some of these included:
a) Industry and innovation grew from an initial earned wealth of time/capital;
b) Industry and innovation grew from the obvious needs of masses of poor;
c) Industry and innovation were furthered by the ego prospect of wealth;
d) Leadership and autocracy demand followers and enslavement of will;
e) All of the expressed modes of government would enact leadership;
f) Planning, standards, and intentions are all subjectively determined;
g) Rationalization and "objectivity" are group subjectivity as authority;
h) BOTH capitalism and communism are driven by a material insufficiency;
i) Material insufficiency results from overpopulation and domination.
That is, absolute equality could only be equal to absolute enslavement (lack of freedom).
All personal decisons would be decided by others on
the basis of maintaining an "average" benefit for all members. Interpretation
of truth, ideology, aggression, need, and right - would be defined by an
elite of material-biased decisionmakers who collectively would decide where
you should live, what your career should be, who you would work for, how
your taxes would be spent, how your production surplus would be distributed
and shared with others, who your surplus would be shared with, what you
were taught, how you were disciplined, who you could court, who you could
marry, whether you could have a baby, how large your family would be, who
your friends and neighbours would be, ....
This loss of freedom would be compounded by a loss of the factors which had made industry possible: wealth, "play" and free investigation time, concern for the material lifestyle of others, and, personal ego enjoyment. These were only the inconsequential
aspects to be found on the proletariate side of the balance sheet. As the
poor and long-hours wage earners were too exhausted and depressed to consider
the loss of something that already seemed to be missing - they looked to
what they were told they could gain, a commom human dynamic.
While many of the supporters of Socialism-Communism would come from
wage-earning lower income backgrounds, some also hailed aboard from educational
institutions - young adults with little experience in labour and far less
in management. Profit was derisively perceived in the outward material
displays of its extravagence and abuse. Some of those who became rich made
themselves public spectacles to be admired, worshipped, envied. While thousands
went hungry, these individuals entertained lavishly, lived in multiple
residences surrounded in each by a company of servants, exotic and expensive
arts and foods, and free to travel and relax in relaxation and contentment.
The media and gossip spread descriptions of the actions of the few to condemn
the partaking by any.
Yet for many entrepreneurs, profit was simply a just reward for self-discipline
and hard work (in accumulating an investment or persuading the giving of
credit), high risk of loss (the reality of all capital-based economies
is that the majority of aspiring entrepreneurs lose their investment and
incur debt), the provision of a relevant service to the community (it's
not good enough to provide what people "want", they must be willing to
buy (sacrifice) for it), and, manage the business in such a manner as to
keep it financially viable and efficient.
With few exceptions, this "character" of obsessive effort - often for long periods of exclusion from, or reduction in personal, intimate, social and spiritual positive experiences - is founded
on the traumas experienced by the sensitive individual while still a child
in a society which already is rampant with pain. It is frequently the outcome
in humans that to twist the balance of the spirit to the overpositive is
to invite an expression of the overnegative when the former appears to
have been attained, at least in part.
Almost any individual, compelled by feelings of shame, anger, grief, rejection, insecurity - who accepts self-sacrifice and demands incessant self-discipline - will weaken eventually to feelings of and behaviour to express envy, gluttony, greed, lust, pride, sloth, and, vice. The little pleasures denied are festered within the ego to extremes - as if all of the lost individual experiences are now sought
with a desire to meld them into one huge intense release.
For these few, often critical participants within the capital-based
economy, the spirit which has been submerged in them beneath layers of
trauma-induced energy blocks will never be satisfied by such excessive
expressions of material enjoyment. For these few, the two opposing realities
of self-sacrifice and excessive material involvement will form an addiction
in which each set of actions is justified by the desperation and ruthlessness
of the "any means" rationalizations which have ignited them. In a material-based
society in which there is no material loss of lack or risk - there is no
"environmental" factor which lights the fuse to capital accumulation. Without
such profit at some level, the society rests in material limbo, or, declines.
1848 -
The February 4, French Revolution was set afire by a prohibition against the assembling of groups of civilians to discuss desired reforms. Rioting and rebelling students, workers and the national guard led to the abdication of the "bourgeois king" and a proclamation of the Second Republic.
A temporary government was formedand Louis Blanc, minister of labour, established
national workshops to employ the unemployed. In April, the first general
election resulted in a bourgeois majority which was then rejected and demonstrated
against by the Socialists in May.
The national workshops, some of which were simply providing make work activities (one group of labourers to dig holes and another to fill them in), proved in total to be unprofitable
and were closed. With masses of people unemployed again and essentially
forced to become street beggars and vagrants, uprisings of the Paris workers
broke out in June. The minister of war, Eugene Cavaignac, was granted dictatorial
powers to re-establish order; he ordered the troops to open fire against
the "red peril" and 10,000 of the demonstrators and rioters were killed .
Continuing to be worried about security, the bourgeoise government gave
Louis Napoleon, the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte a 75% vote - making him
the next president.
Louis Napoleon was a master of the bureaucracy and the army.
Ruling in opposition to the elitist bourgeoise parliament, he gained the confidence
of both the people and the church. Napoleon negotiated and lobbied successfully,
at times against the Republicans, and, at times against the parliament
itself. In December, 1851, he staged a Coup d'etat by dissolving the parliament,
arresting his opposition, and ordering a plebiscite to consider his re-election
and a change of constitution.
The popular vote approved both and the January, 1852 constitution awarded Louis a 10-year presidential term, a legislature with power only to approve or reject legislation (not to submit it or amend
it), and, control of the press and the national guard. Louis had the best
of both political worlds: he had more power than many of the present day
ruling European kings and queens, and, he had the support of the majority
of his countrymen. By December, 1852, the Empire of Napoleon III, "emperor
of the French by the grace of God and the will of the nation" had come
into existence.
1848 - Between March and August,
The Gerra Santa (Holy War), in Italy between Austria, which considered the Papal states as colonies, and
Italian volunteers, was lost when the Italian princes became quarreling
between themselves over the planned political reorganization. Pope Pius
IX fled to Gaeta during the popular uprisings and appealed to Austria,
Naples and France for help.
Garibaldi and his troops captured a number of key centres and proclaimed a Roman Republic.
France entered the unrest, defeated Naples, captured Venice, Austria declared an armistice and retained
overall power, and the rebellion was finished. The power of the aristocracy
and the monarchies sided with that of the Roman Catholic Pope; emperors
support emperors rather than the enemies of emperors.
1848 -
Claude Bernard (1813-1878), practices Biochemistry as his method of research.
Taking an overall (macroscopic) observation of events affecting living matter, a more detailed and analytical approach to biological processes became possible than in the past. This year, Bernard defined the role of
sugar in the animal or human organism and discovered the glycogenic function
of the liver. In 1856, he would go on to the study of digestion and the
absorption of fats.
1848 - On December 10,
Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte) is elected president of the French Republic with a vote of 5,434,226 (72.5%) to 1,448,107 (19.3%) for Cavaignac, in second place - out of a total vote
count of 7,500,000. He would now be called the prince-president and would
try to fulfill his believed destiny as Emperor of the French, as his uncle,
Napoleon I had been.
Charles Louis had been born in Paris in 1808 and educated in Switzerland and Germany.
His cousin, Napoleon II, had died in 1832 and since then he
had tried, with great failure and good outcome to mount a coup over the
government. In 1836, he had attempted to secure the garrison of Strasburg,
and was fortunate in only being exiled to the USA. With the death of his
mother, he returned to Europe and lived for a time in England.
In 1840, he had tried to capture Boulogne, and, was fortunate again in only being
sentenced to perpetual confinement in the fortress of Ham. After 6 years
he escaped and in 1848, with the outbreak of the revolution, he hastened
to Paris, secured a seat in the National Assembly and ran for the presidency.
Now he would lobby for an increase in the government budget, first to
600,000 francs; then to 3,000,000 francs; finally, to 6,000,000 francs.
With this he managed to win a term of 10 years as the President and residence
in the Tuileries, a former palace of the French kings and queens. It had
been sacked in 1830 and Napoleon III set to restoring it. In 1848, it would
be pillaged again, with revolution again appearing likely.
1850 -
"The Perfumed Garden" (1394-1433), a treatist of aphrodisiac recipes and behaviours, originally written in Tunisia, is found by a Staff Officer of the French Army and translated into French. About 25 "autograph
copies" of the translation are first distributed.
1851 - On December 2,
Paris was declared in a State of Seige by Napoleon III, who issued a decree dissolving the General Assembly and placing 180 of the members under arrest. Anyone who further expressed opposition
was shot down in the streets by the soldiers. Further decrees re-established
universal suffrage and the election of the president for 10 years. The
latter was subsequently reaffirmed by a large majority of the votes (over
7.4 million). During the following January, the National Guard would be
restored, a new constitution adopted, and new orders of nobility released.
1852-1865 -
The Rebuilding of Paris, in accord with the plans of the Prefect Baron De Haussman to make it the "capital of the world" would result in the construction of almost 60,000 new buildings, boulevards and
fortifications. The working day lasted 12 hours, strikes were prohibited,
workers were forbidden to join unions, construction workers' dwelling were
provided, public librairies were added, and public funds were sometimes
available for welfare requirements of the sick, injured, or widowed.
1852 - On December 1,
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte was proclaimed Emperor, as Napoleon III.
1853 -
Sir David Brewster, a specialist in optics with the British "Association for the Advancement of Science", exhibited a crystal that had been found in a buried "treasure house" in Nineveh. The audience balked
at the prospect that the jewel was a "true optical lens" ground in antiquity.
The "lens" was catalogued as a jewel and was put on exhibit at the British
Museum along with other Assyrian artifacts. Other ancient lenses have been
found in other parts of the world since.
1853-1856 -
The French Count, De Gobineau writes and publishes his book about the inequality of the human races, "Essay
sur l'inegalite des races humaines". In it he advocates the superiority of the "Arian" race and interprets the history of the world in racial terms. Economic problems expressed as a racial struggle were further extended
by imitators who perverted the findings of Charles Darwin and zoological
findings. Eventually, Arian would be equated with Germanic and then with
German.
1853-1856 -
The Crimean War began over a dispute between Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic monks over who should have exclusive access to the Holy Places in Jerusalem - another example of humanity's obsession with reducing spiritual principles to physical idols. Nicholas I, whose Russian autocracy was supported by
the Russian Orthodox Church and Russian nationalism entered the deliberations.
During the period, the French, acting to protect the Roman Catholic faith,"
so justified interference in Chinese politics, Syria, and Indo-China.
The British supported the French and together they engaged in the first instance
of trench warfare in the Seige of Sabastopol after landing in the Crimea.
They had rejected the Russian Prince Menshikov's ultimatum of a Russian
protectorate over Orthodox Christians. Cholera, winter cold and battle
fatalities accounted for 118,000 French and English soldiers dead. Florence
Nightingale instituted a system of medical care for the wounded.
Foot soldiers frequently have to withstand incredible demands on their physical stamina.
They are required to make long marches with little sleep
in order to go into battle lasting many days. Often, they have inadequate
food, and even water may be scarce. Bathing and shaving are forgotten luxuries.
Mud, rain and insect pests are constant companions, and what little sleep
they can snatch during a lull in battle is due more to profound fatigue
than to physical arrangements facourable to slumber. The noise of the battle
seldom lets up, and even in sleep it is difficult to escape the constant
auditory irritation of exploding bombs, artillery shells and small arms
fire.
The universally hostile atmosphere of the combat scene gives rise to
an equally universal fear in combat men. Among so many dangers no one is
safe. Ground force troops face dangers coming from many widely different
sources and as a result their fears are apt to be generalized to the entire
battle. Fear is cumulative, because the longer the individual stays in
combat, the more remote appears his chance of coming out alive or uninjured.
The death of a buddy is felt as keely as the loss of a brother. The men
not only suffer from the sense of bereavement, but from having seen the
anguish of a bloody and painful death.
The sight of their tentmates being cut down and slaughtered becomes stamped on their memories.
The empty spaces in the tents at night reflect this memory. The grief persists and, though it is dulled by time, new losses are added to it. In addition, the loss of friends stimulates increased anxiety. What happened to his buddy may well happen to himself, since they are so much alike. This double load
of grief and anxiety is part of the heritage of emotional stress incident
to combat.
In France, Napoleon III was endeavouring to decrease class conflict by providing employment.
Massive infrastructure programs were instituted including railways, roads, canals, harbours, and the rebuilding of Paris as the "capital of the world". 60,000 new buildings, boulevards, and fortifications
were constructed and although public funds were provided for aid, the construction
worker's dwellings and public libraries, the working day was still 12 hours
and strikes were prohibited. A great amount of capital was also exported
to colonies to develop industries and commercial infrastructures with the
expectation that future profits would repay the debt many times over with
international trade and so raise the common standard of living as well
as the assets of the government.
A considerable intrusion of banking and the use of credit into the national economy for this purpose served to raise national debt to extremes, condition the commoners to authoritarian
rule frustrated by an exposure to socialist welfare programs to assist
the economically disadvantaged, and encourage a conceited and bureaucratic
approach within the colonies.
1854 - On January 6,
"Sherlock Holmes", the world's first literary image of a consulting detective, was noted as born in North Riding, Yorkshire, by his creator, the writer, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle had heard of Canadian astronomer Simon Newcomb, born in the province of Nova Scotia and superintendent of the U.S. Nautical Almanac Office, from an astronomer friend Colonel Alfred Drayson. Doyle
used what he heard about Newcomb to fashion his hero's nemesis character,
Professor James Moriarty.
Both the character Moriarty and the real Newcomb (1835-1909) were mathematical
geniuses who published papers on the binomial theorem at age 20 and later
wrote about the orbits of asteroids. They were professors of mathematics
at small universities until forced to resign. Their leadership was based
on repeated successes, intimidating personalities and the fear of their
associates.
Doyle created the myth of the detective persona who diligently examines the smallest of clues at the scene of a crime and from something next to insignificant determines who the perpetrator is. In reality, Doyle either
wrote about crimes which had been solved, and, for which all of the details
were determined, or, he devised crimes in fantasy for which he knew which
character would be responsible before he began to write. After the popularity
of his "Sherlock Holmes" grew, Doyle was asked on occasion by admiring
police personnel if he would like to assist them in their investigations.
He declined, stating that in the crime mysteries which he wrote, he knew
all the facts before beginning to write.
Thus, the suggestion that by rational deduction all truth could be determined was simply a deception.
As is so often true of rational searches for the truth, the line of reasoning which
led to the criminal was really a line of excuses and corroborations for
what had been decided upon as an acceptable result. Such idolatry of rationalization
would result in a considerable number of convictions of innocent persons
and result in prison terms, disgrace, or execution - while many more guilty
persons would be released because of the persuasiveness of the rationalizations
by their lawyers.
The fallacy of this "rational" approach to investigative work is that it is frequently impractical relative to the financial and human resources which are available to solve the crime. While a few real examples of such
an approach and its potential for success would develop in the next century,
they would require unique conditions. They would usually evolve where an
investigator or detective was unrestricted by institutional bureaucracy
and was considerably self-directed, willing to sacrifice considerable personal
energies and time beyond that authorized, and, received the voluntary assistance
of others.
Thus, a detective who was either working in a remote district
or who was poorly supervised might spend 6 months of intensive effort on
the investigation of a crime for which he was only expected or authorized
to spend several weeks. The assistance of other personally, adept investigators,
without pay or recognition - might be elemental to the success of the investigation.
Finally, with such intensive, persistent, and free-ranging exploration,
a definitive result might be found. The originating example came from the work of a police detective working in the Yukon Territory, the name and details of which I have lost.
This "scientific" approach would become elemental to the success of "basic research."
The success of such studies would tend to follow the same guidelines such that the more "institutionalized" the research became, the less successful it would be.
1854 - In March,
Napoleon III united France with England to declare war in the interest of Turkey against Russia.
1855 - On September 15,
It was stated in an article printed in the Texas State Times:
"... it is a notorious fact that the monarchs of Europe and the Pope of Rome are at this moment plotting our destruction and threatening the extinction of our political, civil, and religious institutions."
1856 -
Napoleon III, sought to serve at the "Paris Peace Congress" and took advantage of Anglo-Russian disagreements.
Russia lost territory, France gained power - which would be used to unify Italy, a European protectorate
was formed over the Turkish Christians, the Black Sea was declared neutral,
rules of international naval warfare were adopted, and Austro-Russian tensions
in the Balkans would grow from the frustrations.
1857 -
An epidemic of Yellow Fever killed 6,000 people in the port of Lisbon, Portugal, after a trading ship from Africa arrived. British sailors took to calling it "yellow jack" because quarantine flags were
flown on ships below the British "Union Jack" flag to warn others of the disease. Common in Africa, where centuries of exposure had raised the resistence in the population, Yellow Fever would now be transported from Spain, Portugal
and Africa to the Americas by ship.
1857 -
The First Economic Crisis growing out of chemical industry achievements arose in Prussia when overproduction led to overpopulation and chemical industries provided products worldwide resulting in profits
and a considerable increase in the amount of capital available for investment.
Developed by Justus Liebig, the process of synthetic fertilization increased
agricultural yields. This flooded the markets which were not yet prepared
to distribute effectively and efficiently the new surplus. Fortunate farmers
thrived; others fell into poverty and debt.
The production of synthetic dyes laid the foundation of large scale chemical industries.
Previously, clothing and linens had had little colour variation and marketability of
multiple items was entirely dependent upon an elite market which could
afford the needle artistry of different designs. Artifical dyes provided
inexpensive ways of colouring and patterning cloth so as to encourage the
poorer of society to purchase multiples where previously they may have
only bought one or two of an item.
Home hand knitting and sewing would have previously added the artistic designs to the clothing of the average
income person. Despite emigration, improved nutrition, increased birth
rates, increasing urbanization and an increasingly dense population were
resulting in increased poverty, increased unemployment and indebtedness,
and the threat of increased social unrest.
The new entrepreneurs, at the same time, sparked into risk in search
of security, and, amassing capital from the successes of synthetics - leveraged
the economy with their investments. Mining, railways and the machine industry
were forwarded in an attempt to distribute mass production goods to a wider
market more efficiently. Banking, insurance, transport, communications,
the electrical and the optical industries were expanded. Business interests
demanded the political stability and uniform laws, regulations, taxes and
duties which come with national unity.
Economic expansion would otherwise continue to be expensive (multiple duties, taxes and services required before delivery of a product could be effected) and uncertain (risk of confiscation, damage, delay, and ransom during passage through territories
politically foreign to that of the merchant and manufacturer. Building
a private railway across state or national borders posed the same potential
problems of multiple licencing, safety, and timeliness.
The drive for nationalism would begin with the hope of prosperity for all.
Something had to draw tribal gatherings of people into a socially and politically intimate sense
of relationship. Large landowners, the Protestant Church, and the bureaucracy
supported the police system in a bid to maintain order. Historians and nobility began to promote patriotism and cultural celebrations.
The human population was continuing to grow.
The Germanic peoples were becoming restricted in their local options for territorial expansion.
With decreasing agricultural land area per capita, artifical fertilization overcompensated and provided massive surplus crop yields relative to the past. Excess product was built upon investment; an inability to sell and deliver saleable product became an effective economic loss.
Similar developments in the chemical industry were initiated with the early chemical discoveries.
Some became richer; some became poorer. The poorer incurred more debt or became homeless drifters. The richer invested their profits into services which contributed to the success of their endeavours (i.e. transportation: railways). External political unity, and potential threat, might lead to an internal political
unity.
1858 -
Leadership of the Roman Catholic Pope over a Federation of Italian States was established at the meeting of Plombieres at which Napoleon III promised military aid against Austria so as to make the federation possible. Military preparations on the part of Sardinia-Piedmont and the refusal to meet an
ultimatum provoked Vienna to declare war in 1859. Fear of Prussian interference
in the French plans when central Italian uprisings followed, led to the
Peace of Zurich, in November, 1859, which left Italy ununited.
1858 -
Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902), a German physician and politician, contributed to the cell theory of life with the formula: "every cell comes from a cell and not from some prior organic magma." This was long contested by other
researchers who remained content to follow the assumption that fibers were
the elemental biological unit.
1858 -
An Assassination attempt against the Emperor, Napoleon III, in France, by the Italian nationalist, Orsini, was used in the media by Cavour, the prime minister of Sardinia-Piedmont (Italian states) to garner French
support against Austria in a drive for independence from the influences
of other states.
1859-1900 - During this period,
Sunspot Activity is noted to be greater in one of the Sun's hemispheres than in the other.
1859 - on March 26,
The observation of the planet "Vulcan" is first recorded in a recent human literate era, by Dr. M. Lescarbault, an amateur astronomer. Its elusive, unusual and vague orbit was to prevent its early description as a planet.
Vulcan, later named Icarus, has a 411.8-day orbit around the Sun, travels
very close to the Sun, within the orbit of Mercury, and then travels out
to Mars. At its closest approach to the Sun, it is 21 million miles away;
at its furthest, it is 177 million miles away. It approaches as close as
4.6 million miles to the Earth every 19 years resulting in weather cycles
on the Earth - as would later be recorded by the Smithsonian Institute.
Astrologically, Vulcan is perceived by many astrologers as the true
dominant force over the sign Virgo and its 6th house of health and the
work environment. Individuals who have 2 or 3 planets in Virgo in their
astrological natale chart often display youthful looks like the mythological
Icarus. They often show a strong interest in nutrition and health, also.
Several have a talent for working in the healing professions and some,
in their humble manner, display an element of sacrifice for others, often
wanting to be helpful.
Like Chiron, the manner in which Vulcan/Icarus complicates the rational
orderliness and ease of description and display of the Earth's solar system
will result in its exclusion from almost all of the teaching and learning
tools used by humans up to 1996. Like many similar instances, this reality
exhibits a lot about the character of human political, scientific and religious
systems - for in this manner they usually work in parallel.
Linear thinking for the human is and will increasingly become dominant; skills in the use of abstract thought, intuitive insight, and, spiritual guidance - will continue to decline as a percentage of use by the percentage of population. That is, thes forms of decisionmaking will be reserved for an elite which
frequently is ostracised, persecuted, or, ignored.
1859 - In April,
Napoleon III sides with Sardinia in a military conflict with Austria.
The Austrians were defeated in the ensuing war with the result being the "Peace of Villafranca", March 10, 1869. Austria ceded its province of Lombardy to Italy, and the provinces of Nice and Savoy were given to France in recognition of its powerful military support of Sardinia.
1859 -
John Brown leads a militia raid on a USA armoury in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia on the justification that the federal government had become
immoral and corrupt.
1859 -
Felix Pouchet, a respected biologist from Rouen, Normandy, France, wrote his "Heterogeny" or treatise on spontaneous generation.
Louis Pasteur, a chemist, had begun his research into fermentation in 1857, had taken the position that microorganisms could not emerge from decay because, on the contrary, they were the cause of it. Thus, as an extension of his chemistry assumptions, Pasteur believed that there were two types of form: living and complex,
and, inert and simple.
When Pouchet and Pasteur happened to meet in Paris, they entered a discussion in which each championed the assumptions of their trade against one another. Strong-willed and aggressive, both defended themselves by calls on authority, political bravery, and religious integrity. They ended by trying to prove each other wrong by repeating the experiments which the other had done and interpreting them according to their personal
perspective. At the end of Pasteur's repetition of experiments, he was encouraged
to conclude from the results that even in microorganisms, living creatures
are born of living creatures.
By proving the apparent fallacy of spontaneous generation, Pasteur reinvoked the concept of "vitalism". Thus, by the design of the Creator, the differences in lifeforms were believed to appear spontaneously, at some prehistoric instant. Thus, while chemists continued to believe in the differentiation of all reality into physical
components, biologists turned to the belief of vitalism and their own purpose
as one of differentiation between species rather than a consideration of
the connectedness between species. Such a perception is the basis for all
human beliefs which create intolerance, for if each lifeform is created,
from the beginning of the universe, as unchanging and different, for all
time, from other forms - then it becomes an easy rationalization that a
hierarchy must be mandated.
It is easy for humanity, in its ego-centred perceptions, to presume
that all other forms have been created subservient to itself. Within the
rationalistic materialistic orientation of "historical" humanity, humans
have been the most powerful of God's creations on the Earth. To prove this,
humanity can evidence pride in its ability to be violent, destructive,
and obsessive to a larger end result than any other earthly lifeform.
If this stratification of power is believed to be both intended and applauded,
it is a minor rationalization for humans to further divide humanity into
apparent elitist groupings according to race, colour, religion, language,
educational status, wealth accumulation, political persuasiveness, gender,
age ....
In the power hierarchy, without spiritual direction on how best
to use such power, everyone becomes an abuser of others and is abused by
others. Life is then no more than competion for survival with no room for
ecological management - which requires self-management.
1860 -
The Ochrana (Secret Police System) was used during Alexander II's reign over Russia.
Vast sums of money were spent to employ as many as 100,000 people for the purpose of gathering information in great detail (close surveillance) on many people suspected of opposing Alexander's reign. During the 1917-18
Revolution when the Bolsheviks would seize power, most chief agents would
be executed on the spot. Perhaps 80,000 others would be ruthlessly murdered
or executed.
1860 -
Guild Abolishment was instituted in Austria and would largely be successful in providing the public with the unrestricted freedom to practice any trade. The success of this measure had much to do with
the great broadening of the market for the products and services of the
tradepeople who had been protected by the guild organizations. In addition,
local police forces were beginning to form in cities to take the place
of military troop law enforcement. The latter were most concerned with
and most suited to quashing rebellions, uprisings, and riots.
The new policing forces were adept in answering civil disorder complaints.
With safe streets, increasing government spending, ballooning trade and industry,
and a rise in wage employment, personal capital savings, investment banking
and credit - there was an increasing demand for tradespersons and artisans
which no guild restriction on participation could remain publicly tolerable.
No longer were the populations of cities continuing to be dominated by
tradespersons. Consumers (industrial wage earners, administrative bureaucrats,
the capital and asset rich elite, and the dispossessed poor) would continue
to grow and continue to outnumber the tradespersons.
1860 - Between May and September,
Papal Troops met Resistance from Mazzini and Garibaldi in southern Italy.
To prevent anarchy, and an attack on Rome, Sardinia intervened and defeated the papal troops at Castelfidardo. Further conflicts and plebecites led to an all-Italy parliament at Turin which
proclaimed Rome the capital and confirmed Victor Emanuel II as the King
of Italy, beginning March, 1861.
Lack of capital, debts from administrative and military expenses, differences
in cultures between northern and southern Italian provinces, 75% illiteracy
in the south, chronic banditry in the south, resistance to a centralized
government and the political dominance of some groups - prevented an orderly
progression to a unified state from a federation of provinces. Unrest was
tempered by the threat of interference from France and the political leadership
of the Piedmontesimo.
1860 -
A shower of Meteorites in New Concord, Ohio, results in one of the stones striking a horse and killing it.
1861-1865 -
The American Civil War results from the separation of the Union into the "Confederate States of America"
led by President Jefferson Davis, from Richmond, Virginia, and, the "United States of America", led by President Abraham Lincoln, from Washington, D.C. Lincoln was initially focused on keeping the Union together, as he
wrote in August, 1862:
"My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not
either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the union without freeing
any slaves, I would do it: and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves,
I would do it."
Lincoln sought to lead the industrialized northern urbanized states
which he believed would be the capital base for the Union. Many of the
people here had no need of slaves, had usually arrived in America poor
and ill educated, and had made their living through determination and hard
work in factories, services, or retail-wholesale commerce.
The Irish immigrants had fled from famine and feudal tenancy farmer status to what they hoped
would be a land of individual freedoms and respect. German immigrants had
themselves been sold as slaves, or, more commonly, had immigrated from
a feudal livelihood of tenant farming. They developed a degree of empathy
for the imported African slave and the labour intensive environment in
which most slaves in the southern states worked.
Since 1820, speakers and writers, such as W. Garrison, had appealed for greater human rights standards and the abolition of slavery. Press
campaigns revealed the abuses of the plantation slavery system which had
allowed the southern states to build a worldwide monopoly on cotton production.
Increasingly, enmity developed between the proud and pious idealistic northerners
and the proud, aristocratic, realist and pragmatic decisionmakers of the
south.
The American Anti-Slavery Society helped slaves to escape their masters.
At the same time, plantation owners had the authorization to place
a bounty on those slaves who had escaped such that numerous instances of
abuse of rights occurred when an African American freeman was mistaken
for an escaped slave.
As is usual in human societies, whenever anti-social acts took place in a community, suspicion and gossip often convicted any member of a racial minority in the vicinity, unless witnesses were willing
to identify the true culprit. In 1850, the Clay Compromise had left the
question of abolition to individual states.
In 1852, the publication of Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" led to worldwide success and shamed the USA before the world. Particularly susceptible to the power of social image and reputation, Americans from the northern states, in particular, began to demand for an end to slavery.
Initially, the struggle was carried on in a haphazard fashion by volunteers equipped with modern arms (cannon mounted on rail wagons), repeating rifles and armoured naval vessels. A naval blockade limited shipments of armaments to the Confederacy. Russia tended to support the efforts of the North,
while Britain and France tended to recognize the Confederacy as an independent
government.
The majority of those who had immigrated to the southern states were British, French, or Spanish in heritage and followed from a background of capitalist social segregation either as nobility with a desire for personal
empire, or, as poor social rejects who were desperate to redeem themselves
by profitable management practices.
The Confederate forces were led by superior military strategists, such as General Robert E. Lee.
The North were able to extend their influence by utilizing their factories to produce
superior numbers of armaments and their profits to supply their armies
and pay bounties to mercenary recruits.
General Joseph Hooker, a Union officer, demanded from Washington, that wagonloads of prostitutes be sent for the enjoyment of his troops. As a
General, Hooker was aware of the difficulties of maintaining discipline
when an all-male gathering were kept away from their families and female
companionship. The frustrations, traumas, danger, paranoia, desperation
and deprivation of active military duty continually encouraged anxieties
which would be expressed in aggressiveness.
In the military ideal, this aggressiveness would be redirected against the opponent on the battlefield - a form of mental illness in which humans are manipulated into acting out, in mob spirit, against others the anger and terror they have volunteered
and been paid to accept. This "stability of authority" and "unison of activity"
are diffused when the military environment increasingly calls for, or permits,
an individuality of action in the wider battlefield. With a great number
of poorly trained and often poorly equipped troops fighting a few pitched
battles and many guerilla-like squirmishes, and with the adversity extending
over months and into years - troops would have an opportunity for individual
action.
Individual action, during a period of war between two nations, usually leads not to heroic acts of bravery and selflessness; such action is frequently
egotistical in nature and takes the form of wanton destruction of property,
abuse of the civilians, indescriminate murder and rape, theft, and, avoidance
of the enemy. There was a much larger proportion of such activities in
this American-based war than in the previous colonial war.
Attempts to avoid these developments depended upon the ability of the Generals being
capable of devising an ongoing active strategy for the troops within the
command such that they were always preparing to fight, attacking or defending
or conducting daily "housekeeping" chores. To enable this to occur, arranging
for the provisioning of the troops was of utmost importance equally matched
by the discrete use of spies to discern the positions and weaknesses of
the enemy.
The battle strategies of the Generals were useless without the reconnaisance provided by scouts and spies. All intellectualized planning is useless if the rationals used are irrelevant. Relevancy always is an
extension of the realities of the moment and the patterns of the past.
A small but important part of Hooker's preparations was the provisioning of prostitutes to the troops.
It kept the troops from straying away from
camp and committing acts which would turn the civilians against the army.
It provided the men with a dream subject which would lessen their preoccupation
with the danger they were in and the horrors of the war. When the war was
over a statue of General Joseph Hooker would attest to the perceived value
of his command. In the common language used since, prostitutes would also
be refered to as "hookers".
1863 - On January 1,
Lincoln announced freedom for all slaves under rebel control.
The war had not been going well for the North and Lincoln reasoned that with the slaves freed, they would add to the forces of the North:
they did.
A considerable amount of profiteering was carried out in the North such
that some soldiers were to remark that they believed that "this war is
a whole humbug and a money making was everybody tries to make the most
money and that is the only thing that keeps this war a going and now we
see how this war goes if I only was at home again I would knock the first
man down if he asked me to enlist again we are kept here like dogs many
a dog is kept better than we are and I tell you if only I had my money
for these 4 months I would try and run away we are kept worser every day."
[Corporal William Morey, January 25, 1863, letter to his wife] Corporal
Morey was paid a bounty to serve in the war; he used it to set up a bakery
thereafter. Some forms of profiteering were fatal. Massive quantities of
bullets were delivered to the Union troops: the majority of some lots misfired,
leaving the soldier defenceless except for hand-to-hand combat.
Losses on the side of the Confederacy were sometimes almost 30% in one battle.
General D.H. Hill, who lost 2,000 of his 6,500 men wrote, "It was not war, it was murder."
Conditions for conscription in both the North
and the South were such that those with money could get an exemption or
buy their way out of military service. Invariably, this resulted in the
war being fought by the financially unfortunate or ambitious, the proud,
the landowners, escaped slaves, and committed idealists.
Those who ended up in prison camps, such as Andersonville, Georgia,
probably later wished they had fought to the death. A sluggish stream ran
through (Andersonville). The disease and death rates were enormously high.
Sewage facilities were near to the drinking water. Lack of sufficient shelter
led to crowding and lack of blankets and clothing led to exposure. Inadequate
diet resulted in malnutrition, disease and starvation. Gangs of petty criminals
within the compound, called Raiders, promoted an orgy of violence and theft
as they stole life-saving clothing and food from other prisoners. At least
12,920 prisoners died in agony at Andersonville.
Over 620,000 men would die - many through epidemics in crude hospitals and infested prison camps.
The war cost more than $8,000 million; the South
was financially ruined; the Union was left with a budget deficit - a national
debt. The Confederacy lost its economic advantage of low cost labour: several
billion dollars' worth of slave property. When the war ended, the question
of slavery and colour segregation was still not resolved.
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