From: Jeroen van Baardwijk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
At Stardate 20030629.0253, Steve Sloan wrote:
> I think it's rather odd that you have such mistrust of your > government. After all, the people in your government are > there because you *elected* them into those positions. Why > do you vote for people you don't trust?
Because otherwise, we wouldn't have *any* government. You can't trust *anybody* to always be a valuable public servant.
If you don't trust a candidate, why don't you get together with other people who also don't trust that candidate, and bring forth an other candidate from your own ranks, someone you do trust? According to www.census.gov, at this very moment the US has a population of 291,368,325 people; surely you aren't saying that your country is made up of over 291 million untrustworthy people?
It's not that there is a specific leader that we don't trust - it's a general
suspicion of authority of *any* kind. The general feeling is that with any
power comes the *potential* for abuse of that power, so much of our system
is designed in an attempt to prevent that abuse or at least make it harder
and/or reduce the potential to do so. Hence, the Bill of Rights, the 3 branches
of government, the jury system, the distinction betwen the states' and the
federal government's rights, etc.
And bringing us somewhat back on-list-topic:
Have you read Dr. Brin's excellent speech he gave last year at the Libertarian
Party National Convention: http://kithrup.com/brin/libertarianarticle1.html ?
(It's well worth reading the whole thing, even if you don't agree with his
politics, IMHO). (As an aside, I emailed this article to a friend at work, and
when I saw him later he said, "We should start the Cheerful Libertarian party!
David Brin for president!")
Anyway, in it on page 2, he touches on our suspicion of authority:
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PROPAGANDA
Want to question some more assumptions? Pick up your questionnaires again. Let's talk about propaganda.
I sometimes ask audiences to name the most relentless indoctrination campaign the world ever saw. Some mention Stalin or Hitler. Others cite some major religions... or Madison Avenue advertising. Come, raise your hands and tell us which campaign you think most thoroughly brainwashes your fellow citizens, here and now.
Inevitably, quite a few claim that today's mass media push conformity on a hapless, sheeplike population. It's a smug cliché -- since it implies that a select few have risen above to shrug off the conditioning. Is that how you see yourself? Yes?
I'll bet you cannot name, offhand, a single popular American film of the last forty years that actually preached conformity, or homogeneity, submission, or repression of the individual spirit. Go ahead, try.
That's a clue!
In fact, the most persistent and inarguably incessant propaganda campaign -- appearing in countless American movies, novels, myths and TV shows -- preaches quite the opposite message! A singular and unswerving theme so persistent and ubiquitous that most people hardly notice or mention it. And yet, when I say it aloud, you will nod your heads in instant recognition.
That theme is suspicion of authority -- often accompanied by its sidekick/partner: tolerance.
Indeed, try to come up with even one example of a recent film that you enjoyed in which the hero did not bond with the audience in the first ten minutes by resisting or sticking-it-to some authority figure! Rebels are always the heroes. Conformity is portrayed as worse than death. Even in war-flicks, irreverence for some pompous commander is a necessary trait. Often, the main character also presents some quirk, some eccentricity, that draws both ire from an oppressor and sympathy from the audience.
Oh, you do hear some messages of conformity and intolerance -- but these fill the mouths of moustache-twirling villains, clearly inviting us to rebel contrary to everything they say. Submission to gray tribal normality is portrayed as one of the most contemptible things an individual can do -- a message quite opposite to what was pushed in most other cultures.
This theme is so prevalent, and so obvious, that even though you can probably see where I am going with this -- and hate the inevitable conclusion -- you aren't going to dispute the core fact. You have to sit there and accept one of the most galling things that a bunch of dedicated individualists can ever realize -- that you were trained to be individualists by the most relentless campaign of public indoctrination in history, suckling your love of rebellion and eccentricity from a society that -- evidently, at some level -- wants you to be that way!
Oh, the ironies abound.
Consider a normal, decent Republican and a normal, decent Democrat. Both simmer in resentment against groups they consider oppressive authority figures! The Democrat worries about undue accumulations of influence and power by religious fanatics, plutocrats and faceless corporations. The Republican stews over undue accumulations of influence and power by snooty academics, technocrats and faceless government officials. And oh, yes. Libertarians like to pick one authority figure from column A -- religious fanatics -- and bureaucrats from column B.
When you put it this way - the answer is "Duh!" All of those elites merit watching! Put in this context, it seems there is a dram of wisdom in all three parties. We've been guarding each others' backs for generations, while never lifting our heads enough to recognize how similar the basic attitude is, motivating even some of those whom we oppose.
Our main difference lies in which elites we choose to worry about -- a matter of individual fixation and inclination. And that, too, is a clue, ladies and gentlemen.
* * *
Let me ask; what are you feeling right now?
Nothing could more clearly delineate the differing worldviews that underlie all ideologies.
Those of you who are romantics and Platonic essentialists probably feel simmering resentment at this moment. You've just been told that suspicion of authority -- a private, special trait that you thought you shared with just a few friends -- was actually spoon-fed to you and millions of others, including some of your worst foes! How dare this impudent sci fi author come and tell me it's the most normal American trait! Dammit, I invented individualism! Rebellion too. And black leather, for that matter.
Right.
To you pragmatists in this room, who look forward toward the end-goal of a truly free, happy and prosperous civilization -- and don't give a damn about indignation or ideological purity along the way -- this news about pervasive suspicion of authority couldn't feel better! It means you are winning, boys and girls. The whole momentum of society is with you... and me... including the moral of every movie, book and song!
Moreover, you can help steer this unstoppable momentum. If you care to learn how.
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