Another reading then sees Man reduced to atom by the 18th century and a reaction in the form of Romantic Conservatism religious enthusiasms and medievalism .All refuse to accept this unit man and refresh the Anglo spheres peculiar resistance to authoritarianism of all stripes .
That’s just one shape in the stars I could draw many more the notion of the latent rational utopia frustrated by the 19th century seems a peculiarly implausible one to me .

Interesting though , thanks for that

I think you would be interested in reading the essay, “Politics, Imprisonment, and Race” at the La Griffe duLion website: lagriffedulion.f2s.com
It’s a striking example of similar unintended consequences.

That’s as well-done an explanation as I’ve seen in a very long time. And, of course, part of the belief is that, with the “proper” economic structure, men will more nearly behave as they ought and that most of mens’ shortcomings will simply cease to exist (or at least to cause many problems).

… and in the last twelve years has made an art form of it.

A puritanical public morality, “philanthropy”, and hysterical level of interventionist busybodyism, temperance and so on. It’s not “social democracy” as such, as experience on the continent, it is somewhat different, since it is primarily driven by elite moral(ist) values rather than by the more economic focus of continental socialisms. So in economic terms, anglo-socialists don’t bring in some particular economic policy to achieve an economic end, it is to demonstrate some virtuous moral quality. You don’t tax the rich for economic reasons (though that may be trotted out as a feeble excuse), you tax them because it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than a camel, eye of the needle, blah de blah.

This is one reason anglo-statism is so inept at achieving any positive results. It’s not being done for practical purposes, but for virtue alone. The vicarish Blair and Brown perfectly examplify “our” socialism with their public espousals of their religiosity and moral compasses etc.

Sadly this anglo-socialist view is now becoming globally hegemonic (largely due to american power), thus the global epidemic of greenism for instance (greenism being the very perfect exemplar of anglo-moralism; puritanical, miserablist, self denialist and self-deprecatory. It’s nutball protestantism without God).

The elite are trying to morally reform us. They aren’t driven by a desire to achieve good practical results, but by a fanatical desire to save our souls. That’s why it’s such a constant pigging disaster.