The Donald, The Ozzie and The Zeitgeist of 2016
4 hours ago Bruno Strozek
The Donald, The Ozzie and The Zeitgeist of 2016
“There’s something happen*ing here. What it is ain’t exactly clear…” – Stephen Stills
Something is happen*ing indeed. Over the last several months, and partic*u*larly the last few days, a growing number of pundit’s, prognosticator’s and previ*ously public phonies have all been coming to the same previ*ously unthink*able conclu*sion: Donald Trump could really end up becom*ing Presi*dent of the United States and his election may end up being a landslide of bibli*cal propor*tion.
The amazingly accurate Scott Adams, cartoon*ist and trained hypno*tist, Gasland’s own KingsJester and El Rush-bore himself are all finding themselves on the same page: The Donald is gonna win, and he’s gonna win big.
It’s no secret in these here parts that “Yours Truly” is a Donald*ista. Given that factoid, I agree whole*heart*edly with the afore*men*tioned mentioned pundi*toc*racy. What is differ*ent however, is what has led “This Cowpoke” to arrive at the same above stated conclu*sion. To get from here to there, it’ll be neces*sary to climb into the trusty old Wayback Machine and set the dial for post-WWI Germany, circa 1918 –1922.
Buckled in? OK Then, Off We Go!
Some of you Gaslan*ders, but proba*bly not all, may at least have a passing acquain*tance*ship with one Oswald Spengler. A mathe*mati*cian, scien*tist and artist, Spengler is best known for his sweep*ing critique of civiliza*tional zeitgeist “The Decline of the West.”
Spengler believed that all of history was an “organ*ism” in which societies and cultures live out predictable, repeat*ing patterns of birth, growth, decline and finally, death. As luck would have it, Ozzie came to the conclu*sion that Western Civiliza*tions best days were rapidly reced*ing in the rear-view mirror. He believed that the West, partic*u*larly Europe, but also the culture of The New World, were headed down the irreversible road of final decline.
When the scheisse hit the fan in the 1920’s, 30’s and 40’s Spengler looked like a modern day Nostradamus. In the 1950’s, Ozzie’s writing s became inspi*ra*tional to “The Beat Gener*a*tion” who used his agrar*ian metaphor as a basis for much of their own work.
Flash forward to the early 1990’s and the ascen*dance of Samuel Huntington’s seminal work “The Clash of Civiliza*tions” and viola: Speng*lerism is again reborn.
So what does all this have to do with The Donald, you may be think*ing? After all, Hot Gas exists for dissec*tion of current events, not moldy old histor*i*cal treatises.
Fair point. Which brings us to present day, 2016.
If we circle back to my origi*nal thought (which may or may not be origi*nal, you make the call…), and that thought is the “organic predictabil*ity” of history as defined by The Oz Man. Through*out history, in every civiliza*tion the main source of polit*i*cal power has been: Money!
“I just waded through this tripe for that? Get me outta here!”
No Wait!
See, in Ozland, the decline is tempo*rally abated by the sudden appear*ance of “New Money,” unbeholden to the artifi*cial restric*tions that Old Money has placed on the polit*i*cal system for gener*a*tions. A system of which they are the primary benefi*cia*ries. Anyone come to mind?
Enter The Donald.
In Ozzie’s theorem, Trump hits the ground with all that it takes to be an “Agent of Struc*tural Change”: rich as all get out, ornery as a hungry ‘coon in a cage and willing to Burn This Bitch Down come what may. Inter*est*ingly, this is also the genesis of the Left’s fear of Trump – that he will be a Splenglar*ian Caesar, usher*ing in a New Total*i*tar*i*an*ism which will compete with their Polit*i*cally Correct version.
Fortu*nately, this is a misread*ing of Spengler’s work. In Spengler’s view, only through the ascen*dancy of a “New Caesar”, someone unbeholden to the corrupt money and polit*i*cal systems of the past, can the cycle of cultural decline and death be regen*er*ated anew.
Trump is the quintes*sen*tial Right Man in the Right Place at the Right Time. It’s almost as if someone like him didn’t exist, the histor*i*cal karmic universe would have to invent him.
Freaky, huh?
If you are as convinced as I am, that there is an unstop*pable, almost predes*tined, tidal wave of change coming, then the prospect of Presi*dent Trump looks more like a Civiliza*tional and Histor*i*cal certainty rather than a cosmic fart.
Scott Adams, KingsJester, and “ElRush-bore” all came to the same conclu*sion. My road may have been more convo*luted, but hey, if it gets us there, I’m good to go.
Finally, a neces*sary and caution*ary post-script: every Caesar has had his Brutus.
https://www.hotgas.net/2016/05/donal...eitgeist-2016/
