Young Master Smeet
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Obviously, special mention needs to go out to Karl kautsky's book on Christianity:https://www.marxists.org/archive/kautsky/1908/christ/index.htm(he is very skeptical regarding Josephus)
Anyway, according to the historical texts we can chase up around the time of Mohammed, we believe there were preachers in the wilderness saying similar things to him So a socio/political account is much more important than any biographical (also, and this is my personal take, it is significant that his generals became the first two Caiphs, and their roles in the formation of the Umma seem to me to be critical, and can be subjected to materialist analysis).Finding out who the early christianms were, and the bext quality evidence we can for them, seems better than a sterile debate about the man Jesus (excepting to the extent that such a debate is necessary to clear the way, a little for getting past the myths).We are on firm ground to simply dismiss the miracles, the biographical info as given is patchy (was there a planned uprising, was there an armed struggle, etc.?).
Dave,the point is at the time of Jesus, everyone was just an oral rumour: information sources were thin on the ground. People would just have believed a story that there was a bloke far away who was killed. What we can say with certainty is that there was a group of people at the time, telling the stories to each other that now enter into the sundry Gospels (and I don't actually think the evangelists count as four independent sources, but that is by-the-by).This is the point of interest, how the particular christian group fitted in with similar religious formations and their stories: the proselytic Jews, the Hellenic mystery cults, etc.Likewise, we have very little evidence for the life of Calligula, as a matter of historical perspective, we don't care if he was having an incestuous relationship with his sister, what matters is that the historians that came after felt they should include such stories, and there is no evidence of any attempt at rebuttal at that time.I'd add it is possible for Jesus to be both a man and a myth: we only have the myth (and I would include crucifixion in the myth column).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus_on_JesusThe "reconstructed" kernal of what Josephus probably did write is instructive:
reconstruction wrote:Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man. For he was a doer of startling deeds, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. And he gained a following both among many Jews and many of Greek origin. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.Also, note, Josephus was writing about 60 years after Jesus' death, so we have time for the legend to grow.This would apply even for the version we have
Josephus wrote:About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who performed surprising deeds and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Christ. And when, upon the accusation of the principal men among us, Pilate had condemned him to a cross, those who had first come to love him did not cease. He appeared to them spending a third day restored to life, for the prophets of God had foretold these things and a thousand other marvels about him. And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared.Flavius Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews, Book 18, Chapter 3, 3Just running across an interesting book, that tries to estimate the size of the pool of witnesses to Jesus' life (they estimate is about 60,000 possible ey witnesses to the ministry, given the estimated popultion of ancient Judeah). Around half of these would have been alive thirty years later when the Gospels started to be written.(MEMORY, JESUS, AND THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS, McIver, Robert K. (Robert Kerry),c2011.) As McIver notes, the various gospls contain aphorisms which are pretty consistent with a single teacher being behind them (IIRC the Gospel of Thomas is pretty much all aphorisms). Clearly, there was a Jesus group, but whether he did much more than teach them isn't clear.
Eye witness accounts are unreliable, but aphorisms are likely to be studiously learned, so their consistency is telling.But the point is that the historical biological entity called may well have existed, but he is utterly irrelevent behind the mythical construct, much like Pythagoras – or, indeed, Spartacus: we know his name, and reputation (though I believe there is some archaeological evidence for the slave revolt as well — e.g. http://www.um.es/cepoat/pantarei/?p=6751).Jesus wasn't a king, left little by way of material monuments (only his cult remained, and there is a lot of evidence for that, but we know its doctorines and narratives were highly adaptive).We can look at mohammed also, the written account of his life came, IIRC, about 60 years after his death, except his community engaged in strict authority control over the text, and also there is archaeological evidence of Arab conquest and war.The most we can reliably say is that there was a teacher in Judeah, who was probably executed by crucifixion. We can say for certain that there was a school of thoughht around that teacher, and with a high probability, we know some of the things he was teaching.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41078187
Quote:Why has North Korea chosen to do this now? Firstly to demonstrate resolve. It shows the regime in Pyongyang is not intimidated by American threats and has not "backed down", as President Trump suggested two weeks ago.Secondly, Pyongyang needs to test its new missile on a more realistic trajectory. Thirdly, such a test puts a strain on the US-Japan relationship. It makes Japan feel extremely vulnerable and tests US resolve.A commentator was on the radio this morning calling for sanctions that cut off all money to North Korea: aka a full seige.This is upping the ante, and it's clearly rattled China, who don't want war, and it will rattle a lot of Japanese people. The only question is, can the US find a face saving route away from war?
As Uncle Charlie noted: "Even a cursory examination of competition shows, furthermore, that under certain circumstances, when the greater capitalist wishes to make room for himself on the market, and to crowd out the smaller ones, as happens in times of crises, he makes practical use of this, i.e., he deliberately lowers his rate of profit in order to drive the smaller ones to the wall. "https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1894-c3/ch13.htm
Quote:What the plan lacks in concrete details, it makes up for in vision and ambition. It depicts a future China overcoming the challenges of an aging population and resource constraints through integrating AI into everything from agriculture and manufacturing to governing and public security. Still, the plan also reveals that China’s opening salvo in the global race to dominate AI will rely on old-school centrally guided economic development. The question is, will it work?Quote:Even in our own party (though to a much lesser degree) there is a tendency against letting the mind roam free. In this I can't help feeling the continual assertion of Marxism with Socialism is in part to blame. Like many middle class people I came to Socialism through Marxism (to be more specific through Deutscher's biography of Trotsky). The trouble with Marxism is that it is fine if you make it your political servant but terrible if it becomes your political master.I actually did trouble to read Marx first hand. I found it illuminating in so many ways; in particular, my perception of the relationship between people and the society in which they live, was irreversibly altered. But ultimately it was stifling because it sought to embrace in its philosophy every facet of existence. That of course is its attraction to many. It gives them a total perspective on life. But that can simply become an excuse to stop searching for the truth.and this beauty:
Quote:T Benn is in one sense quite right in saying that the right wing of the Party is politically bankrupt. Socialism ultimately must appeal to the better minds of the people. You cannot do that if you are tainted overmuch with a pragmatic period in power.Useful post from Paul Rogers:https://www.opendemocracy.net/paul-rogers/trump-vs-northkorea-45echo
Quote:The second and less obvious reason is to do with the nature of the administration now assembled in Washington. Its internal civil-military balance is the key factor. The state department is presently much weakened, with many key diplomatic and executive appointments still unfilled after nine months. This contrasts with the remarkable penetrationof the administration by senior military personnel.This is also a useful article:https://www.opendemocracy.net/gabrielle-rifkind/what-does-north-korea-want
Quote:Last week the United Nations Security Council agreed fresh sanctions against North Korea. A resolution was passed banning North Korean exports and limiting investments in the country. The export of coal, ore and other raw materials to China is one of North Korea's few sources of cash. And it is estimated to be worth $3bn worth of goods each year. Earlier this year, China suspended imports of coal to increase pressure on Pyongyang.In spite of this, President Trump tweeted last week that he was very disappointed with the Chinese and that, “our foolish past leaders have allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade, yet … they do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk.” Provoking the Chinese will not be an effective way to proceed, since any identifiable successful outcome will only be achieved with the support of China. For their part, the Chinese are concerned that if North Korea collapses, it would leave China’s 1400-kilometre-long Yalu River border with North Korea exposed. It fears the potential chaos of state collapse and the crossing into China of up to 5 million refugees. From the Chinese perspective, as well, the North Korean regime acting as a buffer zone is preferable to a potentially reunified Korean peninsula with the threat of US troops on their border.Somethign of a code:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-9d41ef6c-97c9-4953-ba43-284cc62ffdd0Mosul has been largely destroyed, half a million people are still displaced.
Quote:More than half of Mosul's 54 western residential districts have been significantly affected.The UN describes 15 as “heavily damaged,” meaning most buildings are uninhabitable.A further 23 districts are “moderately damaged,” meaning up to half of the buildings have been destroyed or are structurally unsound, and 16 districts are “lightly damaged”.and
Quote:While UN satellite analysis suggests about 10,000 buildings have been severely damaged or completely destroyed, the real level of destruction is believed to be higher. Taking into account damage to multiple floors of buildings, not seen via satellites, the UN now estimates the real number of damaged buildings to be more than three times greater – about 32,000.Mostly civilian homes: the old city has been all but destroyed.Last Friday, 5 people were killed by a suicide bomber in Mosul. Mass graves ae being found.
Another useful wikipedia article:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PythagorasThe point isn't so much that there was never anyone called Jesus (although that itself may be debatable), but just how much was the product of a cultural milieu and legends.For instance, it's argued we have very weak evidence for the existence of the Roman Emporers, and much we talk about comes from a handful of later histories.
http://socialisteconomicbulletin.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/stagnant-economy-falling-investment-and.html
Quote:It should be noted that throughout the entire period from the 1st quarter of 2006 to the 1st quarter of 2008 Consumption continued to rise strongly. In fact it did not begin to turn lower until the 3rd quarter of 2008, six months after the recession began. The recession was driven by the fall in Investment. The fall in Investment was itself driven by the fall in profitability. It is the weakness of Investment which continues to act as a brake on the economy, leading to stagnation or worse. Therefore the trend in profitability takes on decisive quality if there is to be a private sector-led recovery.Quote:All countries suffered a severe slump in profitability during the Great Recession, as you might expect. Then profitability recovered somewhat after 2009. But, with the exception of Japan, all economies have lower rates of profit in 2016 than in 2007, and by some considerable margins. And in the last two years, profitability has fallen in nearly all economies, including Japan… the AMECO data show that profitability is still historically low and is now falling. No wonder business investment in productive capital has remained weak since the end of the neo-liberal period (graph below for the US) and now is even falling in some economies.
