Brilliant. That Varis and Tyrion scene had always stuck with me, and I’ve thought about it a lot throughout my MA over the last two years as I learned about thinkers like Foucault. I would love to see this channel do more of this kind of thing, applying theory to specific bits of media or pop culture.
Finally something not-stupid on GoT here on YT! Thank you very much! ... Also, here's a quote by Trotsky you might appreciate: "Naive minds think that the office of kingship lodges in the king himself, in his ermine cloak and his crown, in his flesh and bones. As a matter of fact, the office of kingship is an interrelation between people. The king is king only because the interests and prejudices of millions of people are refracted through his person. When the flood of development sweeps away these interrelations, then the king appears to be only a washed-out man with a flabby lower lip." (Beginning of 'What Is National Socialism?', 1933)
Interesting analysis-it’s a much more Machiavellian tale than your typical “Hero’s Journey,” and that’s what made it different. As soon as they kill off Ned Stark at the end of season 1, you know they’ve flipped the script.
Post-modern Constructivist theory is not complete without elite theory. The Game is nothing without players. Social Constructions are made by players of the game. And the mechanisms and levers may be systemic structures, but systems do not make decisions; individuals do. The Game is about individuals within structures; structures without individuals are dead. Things to consider: Instrumental Causality. Endogeneity vs Exogeneity. Iron Calculus. Fog of War. Bounded Rationality. Clausewitz's Unholy Trinity (both versions). Up your game, Then&Now. ;) Jon Snow killed Dany and broke the wheel by denying his rightful claim; a choice not unlike George Washington or Cincinnaticus. Or maybe Jamie Lannister. Dany was a symbolic representation of the Soviet Dekulakization.
I don't think any analysis of society is complete without elite theory, as it is fundamentally accurate in how human societies govern themselves. And it cannot be escaped. Every revolution, or civil war, are just one set of elites clashing with or supplanting another. The best we can achieve is having a society which is honest about that.
I assume you slam cutting to black was intentional. But great video, man. Let’s hope when and if George does finish the series we get the meaning ending it deserves.
Of course we are in a matrix of culture ; But that doesn’t mean I have no agency ; It just circumscribes it , to what degree it’s hard to tell, but there is self evidently enough room in a deterministic universe to allow for free will within its walls .
If that were self evident, philosophers and scientists wouldn't still be arguing about it. For my part, I don't see how we can have true free will, given that our brains are subject to the same deterministic laws as everything else in the universe. But that doesn't mean I don't think we can sensibly talk about freedom and agency as phenomenological experiences.
Perhaps free will exists within the gap opened up by the apprehension of our circumstance and of the relations of power that move us. Mabe it is the ability to respond in multifarious ways to existing structures.
The very fact that we are unable to break free from the the cycle of conflict and dominance that we live by as a species, being ignorant and seemingly unaware of our commonality and core sameness as one living human organism on our planetary home, will be our ultimate undoing and death as a species, unless we are able to learn, feel and think our way out of our dilemma. Literally feeding upon our own kind…sustaining ourselves by devouring ourselves is the way of death. Learning to see self in all others and to work towards uplift and progress is the of way of life. Life is not a game, but a problem to be solved.
The show used to mean something and have themes when D&D were following the books, after they veered off, the show lost its initial consistency. D& D themselves said themes are for 10yr olds. Thanks for the video .
That “breaking the wheel” speech of Daenerys held some truth when she said “.. that one is on top then that one is on top and on and on it goes..” but the moment she said “I’m gonna break the wheel” I laughed. There’s no breaking the wheel. The wheel never ends. In real life we can look all these Presidents, Prime Ministers, Dictators, Kings and Queens from past monarchies who claim they’ll change things once and for all and such promises came to dust. The world is forever changing by nature but power doesn’t.
So many people don’t get game of thrones. Look at it like this Kings Landing is Rome Winterfell is Germania The Iron Islands is Britain Dorne is Carthage The Targaryens are from Sweden (the Goths) The Unsullied are from Persia And the The Dothraki are based on Attila and the Huns. What do they all have in common? They all challenged Rome at one time or another. All Martin did was mesh all the time lines in to one. Oh and guess what? The VisiGoths sacked Rome much like Dany in GOT
Im not much of a weberian, but do anyone have an accurate primary source for his tripartite approach concerning political leadership, claims to legitimacy and structure?
I only have a german version of his writing: Weber, Max. 1992. Der Beruf zur Politik. In: Soziologie - Universalgeschichtliche Analysen - Politik. It is a very interesting read, framing and describing the most fundamental terms and concepts of political science like "State" and "Politics (Politik)" or what it means to be a "Politician", some of which are still used without alteration from his formal definitions. Most notably he defined what the "Modern State" consists of: The bureaucracy, successfully monopolizing the use of force, legitimizing their power through legal means etc.
Good video. I think GRRM got most of his stuff through real history. Yes, war of the roses but also the Unsullied were basically copied from Turks forcing young christian males to become muslim warriors. I'd say GRRM's biggest contribution or trait, is his characters are all gray. Tolkien is very black or white. Boromir being the one of the only ones who is gray (and you could say Saruman SP?)
I agree. Tolkien is really more about divine providence (i.e. even though the characters sacrifice hugely and try to maximize their god-given talents to achieve their goal, ultimately the goal to destroy evil relies on God's intervention) and GOT is much more realistic, gray and nuanced. The former is definitely Modern and the latter Post-Modern.
And today? When I hear the American leftists call for censorship, and for reeducating of Trump supporters, I think of Dany when she tells John.... "But the don't get to choose"
It is lost confidence, identity, meaning. The withered spirit. Spectacle, chaos, fragments of heroes clung onto in the end for merchandising more than meaning. Besides, historians will never catch up with Spengler if they stick to the socratic material view of mankind.
Jeez, if only contemporary society would "catch up" with Spengler and other early 20th Century German nationalist race mystics. We'd be zooming into the future.😒
