fuel that system, it came to me that mere plutocracy might be a better
term. They put a blindfold on Justice but the system is still run by
people and interests. Perhaps the greatest danger to corruption in our
governments is for the citizens to become very knowledgeable of what
duties to expect from our rulers/states and well enlightened about our
own motives, what is in our own interests to pursue.
Crises in the moral and values spheres can be highly motivating,
though as it stands in America I think it is entirely overused for
manipulation when clear discussion and debate between multiple
viewpoints would better represent the issues we face. I am aware of
the ignorance factor, and I agree with some application of the
scientific method in defining the variables. It very effectively
utilizes our energy toward clarifying the nature of challenges, how to
defend against becoming emotionally compromised and confused as to
what the situation really represents and what standards to set. For
example we know tyranny of the majority and ignorance of populations
could greatly damage a country without checks and balances and
diversified practical approaches to investigating which routes to take
and when to change, we bolster the system with conservative and
progressive principles. I worry that we've only been optimizing
homogeneity of resource exploitation, this will not make us immune to
Malthusian collapse as many civilizations found out the hard way when
things dry up. Malthusian collapse on a global scale is a very
terrifying scenario to consider.
On Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 10:38 AM, archytas <nwterry@gmail.com> wrote:
> The idea of replacing democracy with something else is interesting Vam
> - but what would get to the heart of the ineducable demos problem
> without a vile and elitist aristocracy (as I suspect we have now)?
> You keep some junk rigsy! I play bridge on my PC. An autocrat,
> methinks you ain't. They lack humour and irony. At some point Gabby
> you have to be reflexive on whatever stings you to sting. Pretty much
> anything is up for attack as tyranny, from chronic political
> correctness to tolerance that tolerates everything.
>
> I suspect out current situation is defined by a moment in 1906 (ish)
> when British, US, French, Russian and Japanese (built in UK) warships
> were queuing up at China's door to put down the Boxer revolt (done
> with extreme prejudice) and the Blue Book at the UK treasury listed
> heroin profits with no shame. Imperialism has merely shifted to a
> more US base, largely because the planned British, French and Russian
> "invasion" to support the Confederacy in 1861 didn't get financed
> (there were meetings in Berlin to divide the world).
>
> My own view takes the main issue as providing systems in which no one
> lives in want. This is no simple matter and inevitably raises control
> issues, including population control and wealth distribution control.
> We have to do some conceptually with what we allow as bureaucracy and
> how we think of freedom and power. Those granted control have to be
> granted it in a manner that can be controlled by the rest of us. I
> suspect that to get to the rub of any of this requires we understand
> that this is a world of plenty ruined by much of what we currently
> do. A key component would be for leaders to be more randomly selected
> (from a qualified list) for temporary service and living ordinary
> lives for most of their span - thus being of the society they help
> create (Max Weber's 'iron cage of bureaucracy' helps a bit here as
> something to avoid).
>
> A key behavioural component in need of debunking is 'identity
> conflated with world-view' - broadly people being so dumb they don't
> realise they have merely copied Idols rather than found
> individuality. We mimic thinking we have actually found something
> individual. This probably prevents us having a decently rational
> fellowship. Religion is a bete noir here and yet a possible
> solution.
>
>
> On Feb 13, 2:38 pm, rigsy03 <rigs...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> No- to your last question- but it's tough sledding to be an autocrat.
>> I guess I am an independent conservative with senses of humor and
>> despair. By the way, you were right about attempts to modernize
>> Afghanistan in the 30's- which failed- so thank you. There was a good
>> article in my 1958 Enclyclopaedia Britannica which led to my moving
>> the furniture around in the den so I could get to the volumes along
>> with Ridpath's history volumes and then- sit down- I lugged up the old
>> Commodore 64 so I could play a bridge program, etc. having lost the
>> art of finesse along the way.
>>
>> On Feb 12, 11:04 am, archytas <nwte...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> > I don't believe in democracy as standardly dreamed up. The problem is
>> > an idiot demos. But my contention is that I believe in the rights of
>> > this demos more than most who claim to be democrats. Most situations
>> > in everyday life contain no true democracy - work being the classic.
>> > We rarely believe social groups can work without a chain of command.
>>
>> > There are alternatives to "strong leadership" (which gives us goons
>> > like Blair, Bush, Putin, hitler - etc. the list is almost endless) and
>> > the farce of the current GOP list. The Dutch polder system is an
>> > example. But we generally shy away from collective decision making as
>> > too slow.
>>
>> > Anti-democracy is built in to our systems. Think about our likely
>> > collective reluctance to pay me 90% of our resources if we had a
>> > business - yet we might not understand how those few doing such taking
>> > in the general economy take in the same way from us through ideology
>> > of the deserving rich. We would easily be able to vote against 'my
>> > 90%' - but how do we vote against Apple's sweatshops and cash held
>> > offshore?
>>
>> > Are you a democrat?
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