Steve writes: < They are popular *because* they are loudmouth jerks with no obvious true moral compass (is that what you mean by scumbag?). >
There is a benefit when people that have examined their lives and the world around them lead those that are unable or unwilling to do the same. Without this leadership, some of the latter group are prone to irresponsible behavior that can bring harm to everyone. Unfortunately, there is limited incentive to provide this leadership, only the certainty of trouble otherwise. It is not clear to me how to rebuild these control systems for this century. It seems to be a burden on productive people. So what we have instead are populist scumbags who see that all of this ignorance can be exploited for personal gain. The deeper problem are all the thoughtless prey that need to be herded around and told what to think. The scumbags are just one kind of natural predator. Marcus ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
