6610 and all that: Extracts from a future history
Of Neoliberals, Neocons and the Perils of Speculation
...of which almost nothing is known. It is undoubtedly the case that the final phase of the Precatastrophic was dominated by the Neocons, but gaining any clue as to the substance of their beliefs is difficult in the extreme; a difficulty which has only been exacerbated by the penchant for irresponsible speculation amongst various fashionable but historiographically inexperienced schools of Antegnostication.
For example, the wholly unsubstantiated hypothesis of Antegnosticator Vlurge, that "Neocon" was an abbreviated form of "Neoconservative" is based upon nothing more than the habitual opposition of "Neocon" to "Neoliberal" in the so-called Peenack Fragments. Vlurge drew an analogy between this opposition and the ancient ideologies of "libertarianism" and "conservationism" which, while apparently all too neat, is vitiated by lack of evidence in its favour and by its adherents' inability to explain precisely what differences existed between the Neocons as defined by Vlurge and their supposed opponents.
In fact, it is likely that the Neoconservationists gained power during the very last phase of the Precatastrophic, when it was finally borne in upon the populations of the Benighted State and its colonies that their "civilisation" in its present form could no longer be sustained. The Neoliberals, who had ruled the world under various names and guises since the First Proto-industrial three or four centuries prior to the Precatastrophic, abdicated or were removed from power during the widespread disorder and lawlessness which followed from the shortages and hardships which resulted from the changes which the planet's climate was undergoing at the time.
The Neoconservationists presumably held some allegiance to the idea of "conserving" or preserving as much of society as was possible under the circumstances, although Antegnosticator Vling has warned against the over-utilisation of factional names as a guide to their policies. There is, for example, evidence of several political factions across the world at that time which called themselves "Labour" parties, yet not a single one of them diverged in any significant way from the prevalent Neoliberal philosophy of the time; a truth which is very simply substantiated by the fact that most of these "Labour" parties managed to hold office at some time or another.
What is clear is that the policies of the Neoconservationists had little or no mitigating effect upon the destructiveness of the Catastrophic era, and probably failed even to postpone it. Indeed, there is little or no indication in the records that Neocon policies differed substantially from those of the Neoliberals or Neolibertarians whom they replaced. Antegnosticator Vlurge's romantic hypothesis of a "popular movement" opposed to both factions remains simply a hypothesis, unsubstantiated by mention in any of the documents which remain to us...
...of which almost nothing is known. It is undoubtedly the case that the final phase of the Precatastrophic was dominated by the Neocons, but gaining any clue as to the substance of their beliefs is difficult in the extreme; a difficulty which has only been exacerbated by the penchant for irresponsible speculation amongst various fashionable but historiographically inexperienced schools of Antegnostication.
For example, the wholly unsubstantiated hypothesis of Antegnosticator Vlurge, that "Neocon" was an abbreviated form of "Neoconservative" is based upon nothing more than the habitual opposition of "Neocon" to "Neoliberal" in the so-called Peenack Fragments. Vlurge drew an analogy between this opposition and the ancient ideologies of "libertarianism" and "conservationism" which, while apparently all too neat, is vitiated by lack of evidence in its favour and by its adherents' inability to explain precisely what differences existed between the Neocons as defined by Vlurge and their supposed opponents.
In fact, it is likely that the Neoconservationists gained power during the very last phase of the Precatastrophic, when it was finally borne in upon the populations of the Benighted State and its colonies that their "civilisation" in its present form could no longer be sustained. The Neoliberals, who had ruled the world under various names and guises since the First Proto-industrial three or four centuries prior to the Precatastrophic, abdicated or were removed from power during the widespread disorder and lawlessness which followed from the shortages and hardships which resulted from the changes which the planet's climate was undergoing at the time.
The Neoconservationists presumably held some allegiance to the idea of "conserving" or preserving as much of society as was possible under the circumstances, although Antegnosticator Vling has warned against the over-utilisation of factional names as a guide to their policies. There is, for example, evidence of several political factions across the world at that time which called themselves "Labour" parties, yet not a single one of them diverged in any significant way from the prevalent Neoliberal philosophy of the time; a truth which is very simply substantiated by the fact that most of these "Labour" parties managed to hold office at some time or another.
What is clear is that the policies of the Neoconservationists had little or no mitigating effect upon the destructiveness of the Catastrophic era, and probably failed even to postpone it. Indeed, there is little or no indication in the records that Neocon policies differed substantially from those of the Neoliberals or Neolibertarians whom they replaced. Antegnosticator Vlurge's romantic hypothesis of a "popular movement" opposed to both factions remains simply a hypothesis, unsubstantiated by mention in any of the documents which remain to us...
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