John's struggle toward light requires that I continue the tedium. Yes, John. I consider the present gang to be as bad as communists. Because they have the exact same agenda. A very deeply human agenda, far older than such superficial rationalizations as "communism" or "Islam".
The agenda to use a position of power that they presently occuply as a launching point from which to seize more power and destroy the Enlightenment. Nu? This should be surprising? Human nature is derived from the caves, and later from bullies who used every cheating menas to accumulate harems. Every single place that had metallurgy and agriculture thereupon got feudalism and artistocracy. If ever men find themselves in a position TO cheat and grab power, some of them WILL cheat and grab power. And suppress those who might threaten that power. And avoid accountability. And do everything possible to ensure that they can pass their harems (or wealth/power) to their sons without interference. The communist party rapidly became an inherited-aristocratic "nomenklatura" exactly following this prorgammed pattern.. The Enlightenment's great power has been to create systems that resist this awful tendency in humans. To FORCE accountability upon the mighty. To see to it that wealth is generated by the delivery of competitive goods and services, not cheating. A principal tool of the Enlightenment is our mythic ssyetm. Our mythic system is based upon three central propaganda messages that are unlike those preached by any other. Where others preached obedience and homogeneity, ours preaches Tolerance, Individual Eccentricity and above all Suspicion of authority. It also preaches competition and cooperation as synergistic goals, something I write about extensively. But the interplay of these two as resonant seems to be too subtle for most citizens to understand. Libertarians zoom in on the former and democrats fret over the latter, oversimplifying dismally. And yes, as Dan M points out, this results in my having to use a metaphor I hate -- the Left-Right political axis forced on us by the French and clung to avidly by small minds who never once rise to the challenge of explaining it. Using it in just ONE careful way, I see "balance" as encouraging a lively interaction between cooperation and competition as driving principles. You could call this a "the left hand" (taking on grand projects using coordinated social resources) and a "right hand" (empowering individuals to engage in lively-creative competition resulting in greater common good.) It is absolutely absurd to wear blinkers and villify a whole range of endeavors that have valid track records. Marx would ask us to amputate the right hand that has created all our fecundity of creative wealth and Ayn Rand would have us amputate the left hand that gave us Civil Rights and Universities and all those "accomplishments." (By the way, while I credit the GOP with NONE of the great accomplishments of this century, I credit the "right hand" with plenty! This only illustrates that the right hand does not have a political party representing its interests. That is why I am also a Libertarian. I have hopes. ) (But it is profoundly deluded to believe the GOP stands for fiscal responsibility, or free enterprise. While the top1% prospers, small businesses have a record failure rate (vs record STARTUP rates under Clinton) and working people suffer.) Now if you have ever heard a political manifest more "balanced" than the one that I just gave, I would sure like to hear it. Moreover, my balance extends to Suspicion of Authority. (SOA). All americans like to think they einvented SOA, when in fact it's been drilled into them from an early age. We tend to PICK an elite to be afraid of... calling them "Big Brother". Hence lefties perceive power-grabbing corporations and aristos and righties perceive commies all over. I see enemies to freedom EVERYWHERE because the will to cheat is fundamental. Some with power can overcome this drive, but we need to be suspicious toward ALL elites. I would struggle relentlessly to explain this and to get lefties and righties to see that the other guy has a point. To get em to see that we are guarding each others' backs. Only now there is no significant threat from communism. The most horrible pinko inititiative anywhere on any horizon was Hillary's Health Care proposal... which would have taken us 30% of the way toward what Canada already has. Shriek! Horrors! Get over it John. On the level of policy, John Kerry AT WORST would tweak a few things you don't like. Same with (past tense) Clinton. (In fact, we'd fix horrible damage.) No, you CAN'T ALLOW THE ARGUMENT TO BE BASED ON POLICY! It has to be War and Character. Well you lose there too. In fact, the elite that is closest to being poised to harm the Enlightenment is an aristocratic coalition of frat boys. (Your inability to see that your favorite elite can engender monsters is your own blinkered handicap.) So yes, though I am politically balanced, I will rise up like a Minuteman to face those horrible cheaters who will always arise out of humanity. Right now, other than Al Qaeda, there is one huge enemy of the Enlightenment. THESE are the monsters of the moment, John. When commies come back, I will fight them too. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
