On 31/01/2023 19:52, Bobbie Sellers wrote:
> On 1/31/23 11:32, Charlie Gibbs wrote:
>> On 2023-01-31, The Natural Philosopher <t...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>>
>>> On 30/01/2023 21:52, Bobbie Sellers wrote:
>>>
>>>> That is an argument frequently advanced by Criminal syndicalists
>>>> against the Government. In the War on Some Drug Users we saw very bad
>>>> behavior against private citizens who had no interest in drugs. But
>>>> if you find your government is behaving badly vote for the people
>>>> who will fix it. Support organizations that will support your causes.
>>>> Government by the people is only real if the people take part.
>>>
>>> There is not and never has been 'government by the people' and that is
>>> neither the aim nor the achievement of a democracy.
>
> In your not so humble opinion, NP. We are governed if we make good
> choices of the people we elect to represent us.
>
You do not make the choices. An oligarchy does. You just get to choose
between red and blue.
>>>
>>> Democracies are there purely for one purpose and one purpose alone, to
>>> remove a corrupt authoritarian regime without bloodshed, and replace it
>>> with another.
>>>
>>> Sadly you dont get to choose from a very wide (s)election, and if both
>>> parties have been largely corrupted subverted bribed and blackmailed it
>>> makes very little difference.
>>>
>>> Remember, Marketing is cheaper than good product design, and bribing a
>>> politician to make your product de jure, is even more cost effective.
>
> Again that is your opinion but the difference is clear when you see
> what is done under one Presidency to the Next.
Usually nothing of any real consequence. Every democratic nation is
bewildered by faux issues whilst the real decisions are never even made
public.
In the UK we spent IIRC 6 WEEKS discussing banning fix hunting, but
went to war with Iraq based on fraudulent information in a debate of
under 60 minutes.
How much time has been wasted on the abortion question in the USA?
How nmuch time if any has been spent discussing whether or not renewable
energy actually *is* a solution to a carbon emissions problem, at a
reasonable cost?
>>
>> Agreed. It's a pleasant but naive hope that you can vote for the best;
>> usually you're just trying to vote against the worst. You have to choose
>> not the one who will help you the most, but the one that will hurt you
>> the least. In extreme cases, you just have to hold your nose and vote
>> for someone who you really don't like, but who is most likely to stop
>> the one who could _really_ hurt you.
>
> Too many people in 2016 did not like one candidate and did not vote
> which allowed the least capable person to take the presidency. Always
> vote for the best of the bad choices.
>
That's another way to manipulate the process.
>>
>> I wish it weren't that way, but I also wish I could jump on a unicorn
>> and go riding off over a rainbow. Meanwhile, back here in the real
>> world, I try to live the best life I can despite the bastards.
>> I think of it as an act of defiance.
>>
>> Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
>> -- The Who
>
> The Who lived in the UK and their choices were more limited.
> People think that magic is the answer to their prayers but they would
> hate living in a sorcerous realm.
>
Hmm.
You should read the 'iron law of oligarchy'
"According to Michels, all organizations eventually come to be run by a
"leadership class", who often function as paid administrators,
executives, spokespersons or political strategists for the organization.
Far from being "servants of the masses", Michels argues this "leadership
class", rather than the organization's membership, will inevitably grow
to dominate the organization's power structures. By controlling who has
access to information, those in power can centralize their power
successfully, often with little accountability, due to the apathy,
indifference and non-participation most rank-and-file members have in
relation to their organization's decision-making processes. Michels
argues that democratic attempts to hold leadership positions accountable
are prone to fail, since with power comes the ability to reward loyalty,
the ability to control information about the organization, and the
ability to control what procedures the organization follows when making
decisions. All of these mechanisms can be used to strongly influence the
outcome of any decisions made 'democratically' by members.
Michels stated that the official goal of representative democracy of
eliminating elite rule was impossible, that representative democracy is
a façade legitimizing the rule of a particular elite, and that elite
rule, which he refers to as oligarchy, is inevitable. Later Michels
migrated to Italy and joined Benito Mussolini's Fascist Party, as he
believed this was the next legitimate step of modern societies. The
thesis became popular once more in post-war America with the publication
of Union Democracy: The Internal Politics of the International
Typographical Union (1956) and during the red scare brought about by
McCarthyism. "
By all means maintain your idealistic hopes about American democracy,
but remember we invented it, and it was revolutionary France, who
exported their ideas to the USĄ after having killed their ruling
classes, was not a democracy at all, with Napoleon taking over as the
first of the modern European Fascists.
In the UK democracy was seen as the antidote to violent revolution. We
killed our king a hundred years earlier and had years of bloody civil
wars. The decision by the merchant class to have the king back, but
limit his powers to those granted by a parliament composed of
themselves, effectively reflected the status quo, in that they were the
wealth creators and owners of first land, and subsequently industry.
And that really is the way it is. Today Elon Musk, has more power than
twenty million citizens.
He owes his fortune to playing the game of electric cars and government
subsidies adroitly.
Government policy is dictated by what you call 'pork barrel' politics.
In South Africa they call it 'state capture;' and in the UK we just call
it corruption.
Essentially when a large fraction of the GDP is absorbed by taxation,
who gets to benefit from that massive money pool is a political decision
made by human beings who are very tempted to divvy it up amongst
themselves, without any reference to the public good. The job of
political leaders than becomes to produce and maintain a narrative that
justifies all this in terms of what it can convince a pretty dumb
proletariat is actually in their interest.
Some people believe them.
After years and years, I do not. Not one single word of any of it. Not
when I have met them, shaken hands with them, and heard their private
opinions, when they thought I was 'part of the game'.
Like you, I want what is best for the citizens of my country.
Unlike you, I know that the chief *obstacle* to this is the nature of
democratic politics, centralised bureaucracy, and so called democratic
politicians.
--
"A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight
and understanding".
Marshall McLuhan