RE: Relativist Absolutism: America's Epistemological Decline
How did relativism spread? Part of it is Cultural Marxism, but they have to have fertile soil to sow their weeds. I think the soil is this: relativism is an ersatz substitute for decentralization.
The old United States was highly decentralized. Communities were mostly independent of each other. With that framework, you, your friends and neighbors could be as "absolutist" as you pleased. If Joe's in another community with different norms, it didn't matter how "absolutist" you and yours were: it didn't affect Joe and his community. And vice versa.
The trouble came with centralization. Joe, Dick and Harry, all from different communities with different norms, were squeezed together into one super-community and they had to get along. In war time, the glue is called "Sergeant" ;) In peace time, the adhesive is relativism.
As you pointed out, that adhesive is also a dissolvant. Relativism is not only facilitating centralization but is also dissolving the norms that keep the super-community functioning!
I don't know how this crisis will be resolved, but I do know from history that the only stable multicultural nations are either very decentralized (Switzerland), monarchical (Austria-Hungary), or authoritarian.
Interesting point of view Buddy, and one I hadn't considered! I'm planning a post on decentralization in regards to how Jesus, the king of decentralization was trying to keep his ministry that way. The turning point was the Council of Nicea in 325 when the Church became an institution and began to centralize.
So it was. As for my viewpoint, it came from asking: "Why is that the relativists and Cultural Marxists have been so successful?" They have to have some lever (if you will) or else they would have been confined to Looniversity ranks.
Well, I share your opinion, although Austria-Hungary was not very stable, lived imploding, and that ended up destroying it, Switzerland for its part, despite being multicultural, the cultures that live under those borders are not so different, nowadays it could be said, in fact, that it is one of the most homogeneous countries in Western Europe.