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History Forum / General / British History / December 2003Feudalism, Communism, Socialism, Democracy ---- Still Useful Words
Yes, Virginia ---- no matter what bubble and squeak you hear from the flakey, desiccated, frenetic academic/s in these newsgroups, no matter what he/they may be prattling and chattering about today, as his/their latest semantic hobby horse ---- Feudalism, Communism, Socialism, Democracy ---- Are Still Useful Words. Keep in mind that these same people who want to throw the word FEUDALISM down the Orwellian Memory Hole ---- ALSO want to do the same thing to other useful words such as DEMOCRACY, COMMUNISM, and SOCIALISM. They want to expunge them from the English language ---- just like Big Brother in George Orwell's masterpiece. They see themselves as the Politically/Historically-Correct Thought And Language Police. Aren't they silly? Yes, dear, it's perfectly permissible to laugh at them, heartily ---- and even to give them the back of your hand, verbally, when they get prancing and uppity. Serves them right. Indeed, that's probably the only reasonable response to their Academic Absurdities. Even Susan Reynolds, the most foolish and fanatical of them all in these matters, says it's perfectly O.K. to use the word FEUDALISM in a MARXIST context, or as used by Marxist Historians, of whom there are many. Why do we see that risible, glaring exception to The Reynoldsonian Rule? Because the LAST thing Susan Reynolds wanted to do was offend all her MARXIST academic colleagues in British and American Universities. Why, if she did that, Virginia, she would soon face an onslaught of righteous abuse from them. It would be the equivalent of being stung to death by a murderous band of ants. Here is a quite useful, general-purpose definition of FEUDALISM, dear. Use it with confidence, skill and savoir-faire: 1. "The system of political organization prevailing in Europe from the 9th to about the 15th centuries having as its basis the relation of lord to vassal with all land held in fee and as chief characteristics homage, the service of tenants under arms and in court, wardship and forfeiture." ---- MWCD 11th Edition Now, were there different strokes for different folks, exceptions to the rule and marked, regional, national, historical, cultural and situational variations and differences in FEUDALISM? Were some folks so powerful they could often cut their own deals and "operate outside the system" for a long time ---- sort of like Michael Jackson today? Yes, dear, of course there were. There are similar macro-differences and micro-differences in CAPITALISM around the World today as well. French Capitalism and American Capitalism are quite different ---- as are British Capitalism and Japanese Capitalism. 2. "Any of various political and social systems similar to medieval feudalism." ---- Ibid. So, yes, it is quite correct and permissible to say JAPANESE FEUDALISM ---- although that system endured to at least 1868 ---- well beyond the Mediaeval Period in Europe. Verbum Sapienti..... Exitus Acta Probat Veni, Vidi, Calcitravi Asinum D. Spencer Hines Lux et Veritas et Libertas Vires et Honor > Because the LAST thing Susan Reynolds wanted to do was offend all her > MARXIST academic colleagues in British and American Universities. Dear old David, a good five years behind the rest of historical philosophy... Hill is dead, the rest of them long retired now and the Marxists are seriously old fashioned these days. We went through the 'Modernists', 'Post Marxists' and 'Post Modernists' since then, and are now up to Jonathan Clark and a new 'anti-Post Modernist' group. Do try and keep up old chap. Jonathan Clark's new book is out (Our Shadowed Present), and while it's not that accessible if you're not that up to date it's worth a read. But don't worry, you wouldn't understand it. You wouldn't like it much either. It spend a lot of time talking about the creation of national legends. -- William Black ------------------ Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government Ah, but Marxists are alive and well in my neck of the woods (Madison WI, USA) Dick >>Because the LAST thing Susan Reynolds wanted to do was offend all her >>MARXIST academic colleagues in British and American Universities. [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords > is no basis for a system of government "What are "feudal justice", "feudal army", "feudal marriage practices", "feudal economy", "feudal amusements", etc. etc. We could replace the word "feudal" there with "medieval" and have it make a great deal of sense." P. Jonathan Gans ------------------- Guffaw! Gans is doing a classic bait and switch ---- one of his favorite, boyish, NYU debating tactics. I'll bet he often gets away with it in the callow NYU classroom. We are discussing definitions of FEUDALISM ---- the noun. Seeing he was losing there ---- Gans now tries to switch the discussion to a sloppy, clumsy, hypothetical use of the adjective FEUDAL---- in an undisciplined and totally ahistorical manner. No Sale On The Bait And Switch ---- Transparent Gansian Flimflammery.... THEN He Turns To A Childish Joke, Gentle Readers ---- And: Pratfall Rapidly Ensues.... Gans can't even get the oft-quoted line from _Pulp Fiction_ right ---- and totally undermines his feeble point ---- *that we should consistently use _mediaeval_ instead of _feudal_.* "Then there is that great bit where one fellow says to the other "I'm going to get feudal on your a.s!" I suppose that means that the a.s owed three knights when called and had to have his vows renewed when his lord died." P. Jonathan Gans ------------------ In the film, it IS the word MEDIAEVAL that is used ---- NOT feudal. PRATFALL!!! KAWHOMP!!! Hilarious! ----------------------------------- New Point: In fact we are perfectly correct to use _feudal_ as an adjective, if we wish ---- whenever a _feudum_ is involved. Veni, Vidi, Calcitravi Asinum. D. Spencer Hines Lux et Veritas et Libertas Vires et Honor One of the standard cunniculan-pygan arguments we have heard from Gans, my pet marmot, over the years is that the term _Feudalism_ was NOT used by the mediaevals themselves but was invented much later by those allegedly nasty lawyers. Ergo, his anserine argument runs, we should not apply the term _Feudalism_ to the Middle Ages because it is an anachronism ---- i.e., it was not a word actually used by the mediaevals themselves. Yes, Virginia, it is true the word _Feudalism_, according to MWCD 11th Edition, has its first recorded use circa 1818. So What? According to the same source, the word _Renaissance_ has a first recorded use in 1845. Does that then mean we should not use the word Renaissance when we discuss the careers of say, Michelangelo and Piero della Francesca? Of course not, it is quite absurd to think we should be so shackled in our thinking, our writing, or our speaking. Only a fool would fall into that trap. You ask why Gans makes these quite terrible mistakes in History, Virginia? Why the answer is quite simple, dear. Gans has no Sense of History. He has no education or training in History and he does not teach History. Gans has told us that himself, in no uncertain terms. Gans is a chemist, dear. And Farblondjet.... Now, how about an ice-cream cone, Virginia. Which would you like today, dear, guava, coconut or pineapple-kiwi? Veni, Vidi, Calcitravi Asinum. D. Spencer Hines Lux et Veritas et Libertas Vires et Honor Gans Is Lying Again.... He's a congenital, habitual liar ---- and quite incurable. There is just no other way to describe it. >Have I understood you correctly? Are you saying we should >chuck out all these terms: "feudalism, capitalism, >socialism, communism, Marxism, xism" becasue [sic] they are so >ill-defined? Matthew Harley "No. But of all of those, feudalism is not only the least well defined, it is the one that folks *can't* define." P. Jonathan Gans ---- December 2003 That's a bald-faced lie. He DOES say the word DEMOCRACY is "useless." He makes no bones about it. >Many useful words - particularly in the political arena - no not have a >clearly accepted meaning. DSH mentioned 'democracy'. I could add >'capitalism', 'socialism', 'freedom' and a few others. This does not >mean they should not be used. Chris Price "Not quite the same thing. Those words, as bare words, are in fact useless. If I call country X a democracy, what form of government do you assume it has. Democracies vary all the way from Iceland to Indonesia with stops all over Africa, Europe, and South America. What governmental principle do I discern by looking at those." [sic] P. Jonathan Gans ---- 15 August 1999 ---------------------------------- How Sweet It Is! Veni, Vidi, Calcitravi Asinum. D. Spencer Hines Lux et Veritas et Libertas Vires et Honor Dr. Stephen Morillo has no fear of being seen in public using the word FEUDALISM. Why he'll even use it in back-to-back sentences: "Did William introduce feudalism into England? Pretty clearly he did, by either the social or military definition, introduce the Norman-French version of feudalism into his new kingdom. The more interesting questions are why did he, and did he thereby revolutionize England." Stephen Morillo _Warfare Under The Anglo-Norman Kings 1066-1135_ The Boydell Press, [1994], (Reprinted 1997), p. 24 ----------------------------------- Who is Stephen Morillo? Stephen Morillo is a very bright, rising, young Real Medieval Historian. His home page is at: http://www.wabash.edu/depart/history/Morillo/srm-hist.htm Harvard, Magna cum laude. Phi Beta Kappa. Rhodes Scholar. Doctorate in Medieval History [not some other field, such as chemistry or mathematics], Jesus College, Oxford University [1985]. A real Ph.D. in History ---- from Oxford ---- not some mediocre institution. And not just a chemist poaching out of field during his Christmas break between terms. Quod Erat Demonstrandum Veni, Vidi, Calcitravi Asinum. D. Spencer Hines Lux et Veritas et Libertas Vires et Honor Fortem Posce Animum "In my world, neither TV nor the print media has much "liberal" input. Most observers would rank CBS, NBC, and ABC as centerist [sic] right. The others such as FOX are decidedly right wing." P. Jonathan Gans ---------------- Hilarious! This from the pogue, my pet goose, who thinks Franklin Delano Roosevelt was "conservative." Gans is a Parlor Socialist ---- but he's too ashamed to admit it ---- and so far over on the flakey left that he cannot see the forest for the trees. Veni, Vidi, Calcitravi Asinum. D. Spencer Hines Lux et Veritas et Libertas Vires et Honor Exitus Acta Probat Fortem Posce Animum |
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