Tea at Trianon: Ways to Challenge Our Materialism

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Ways to Challenge Our Materialism

From Return to Order:

Interestingly, many prominent eighteenth century philosophers warned that this new paradigm would lead to a decadence of society, and ultimately herd the masses into servitude. They warned that replacing clearly defined, unchanging biblical standards of morality and civility with a code based on consumption and self-centeredness would leave the people feeling frustrated, brutalized, disappointed and empty.

Another consequence of materialism is a consuming desire to establish a material and earthly paradise. Big business used mass advertising to capitalize on this artificial desire by proposing a mythical reality that could rival Eden. Suffering, which is a tool God uses to bring His people closer to Him, was to be avoided as all cost. Advertisers promised a virtual paradise on Earth and an end to all suffering. Feeling pain? Take a pill. Feeling unhappy? Buy a toy.

Eventually, the masses began to rely on the media to tell them what their desires should be. People were trained to feel guilt if they weren’t buying the latest and greatest gizmos, or if they allowed their neighbors and friends to have something “better” than they themselves had. They also came to rely upon government and entitlements to supply them with these new needs.

As a result, people today generally desire to remain infantile, in a child-like state, where everything is taken care of. They want to be told what to do instead of learning to be responsible for themselves or stewards of what God has placed on this Earth. We have come to embrace what is fake – whether it be virtual game worlds, Hollywood models, or the accumulation of toys and material distractions. The reality of suffering is ignored, avoided, denied and distained. We have come to believe in a false reality that paradise on Earth can be achieved. (Read more.)