Good Morning, Juho
re: "If there is a common understanding that this (or some other
plan) should be implemented then you can do it."
That's wishful thinking. Every perversion extant, political or
otherwise, runs counter to the 'common understanding'. Optimism is a
wonderful trait; an unrealistic expectation is not. Glenn Miller's
beautiful rendition to the contrary notwithstanding, wishing will NOT
make it so.
re: "There have been also idealistic revolutions that have not
led to positive results in the long run."
I'm not sure what that assertion is intended to mean (it may contain a
typographical error). In any case, idealistic revolutions can lead to
widely different changes in society.
We've mentioned the disastrous results of fascistic and communistic
revolts, while, on the positive side, my country prides itself on the
major advance in democratic governance that flowed from its revolution.
The results of revolutions tend to be dictated by their leaders. As I
said in a recent message, "The American Revolution was unusual because
its nominal leader had no aspirations beyond the stated aim of the
revolution." Unfortunately for all of us, that is the exception rather
than the rule.
re: "Parties have the potential to be destructive. But I don't
see that they would necessarily become destructive at some
point."
Of course they don't 'necessarily' become destructive. They need a
catalyst ... a demagogue ... to send them careening down the path of
extremism and destruction. Building on such a foundation is building on
quicksand. It guarantees failure, if not because of your party, because
of someone else's.
It is my opinion that giving any subset of our society greater influence
in our government than any other subset is inherently wrong. Unless one
is committed to advancing some point of view over other points of view,
the purpose of considering political systems must always be to ensure
that everyone has an opportunity to participate in the decision-making
process. Whether any or all of them are Liberal, Conservative,
Catholic, Protestant, Communist, Capitalist, or of any other ideological
bent is not important. The important thing is that they, all of them,
have an equal opportunity to participate ... whatever their biases.
Juho, you and I examined the elements of partisanship in detail several
months ago. If you can not see the deleterious effect partisanship has
on our world, if you didn't recognize the cause of my homeland's
invasion of a sovereign nation, if you are unaware of the politically
sanctioned excesses that led to the economic collapse engulfing us, if
you haven't noticed the poison flowing out of the middle east for more
than 50 years, I don't believe there's anything I can say that will
change your mind about a fundamentally flawed approach to democratic
government.
Fred Gohlke
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