Status Updates From The Prospects of Industrial...

"Therefore, when we are considering the prospects of industrial civilization, a universal class war must be regarded as a dead end, not as the fiery gateway to a new world." p. 100

"Socialists, as a rule, have been far too impatient. It is impatience that has inspired the doctrine of the class war, of the dictatorship of the communist party, and generally of force as opposed to reason." p. 107

"It is strange that, with the example of the late war before their eyes, there should still be people who imagine that a long and desperate war may sometimes bring what some of the belligerents desired. [..] A war has a momentum of its own, [..]. To start a war for an idealistic end is as absurd as it would be to put a match to a ton of dynamite in hopes of making toast at the resulting blaze." p.99

Twee krachten die aan toenemende invloed winnen: industrialisme en nationalisme - beiden ontspringen aan een derde (a-politieke) kracht: wetenschap.

Elke kracht kent (op basis van machtsbasis) twee vormen:
1. Industrialisme: (a) kapitalisme en (b) socialisme
2. Nationalisme: (c) imperialisme en (d) zelfbeschikking

Titanisch conflict: kapitalisme-imperialisme vs. socialisme-zelfbeschikking.

(Geschreven in 1923)

"Our own civilization appears to be growing decrepit and ready to fall. In all this we see only the cyclic movement of history: birth, growth, decay and death, in empires and civilizations as with the beasts of the field." (P.4)