Thomas Lunde wrote,
>Contrast to our society in which a number of
>writers have postulated we are governed by an elite and the electorate on
>the whole is considered the great unwashed and only consulted infrequently
>via elections. (Which is manipulated by the most creative and best financed
>people in our society acting in the capacity of spin doctors.)
- snip -
>Would a Basic Income provide the self esteem and the stress reduction (that
>the poor constantly live under to deal with the basics of survival), that
>would allow the poor to begin to invest in the body politic as equals rather
>than second class citizens.
Michel Crozier, Samuel P. Huntington and Joji Watanuki wrote a book
published in 1975, _The Crisis of Democracy_, that can be viewed today as
the blueprint for an elite strategy of thwarting democratic participation.
Crudely stated, the hypothesis was that "democracy" was only tenable as long
as the populace conceded authority to a tiny elite. Too much democracy
threatened this "democracy" and had to be discouraged. Here's a quote,
"Al Smith once remarked that 'the only cure for the evils of democracy is
more democracy'. Our analysis suggests that applying that cure at the
present time could well be adding fuel to the flames. Instead, some of the
problems of governance today stem from the excess of democracy . . . Needed
instead, is a greater degree of moderation in democracy. . ."
Huntington's prescription for encouraging democratic "self-restraint" was
for governments to _deliberately fail_ to deal with economic problems. The
point of doing this was to create a generalized alienation, which in turn
could, "reinforce tendencies towards political passivity engendered by the
already observable decline in the sense of political efficacy."
Note that Huntington didn't reckon economic distress as the result of the
government's inability to deal with economic problems, but as a strategy to
assist the governing elite deal with it's political problems. In retrospect,
Huntington's prescription is plausible as an explanation of policies that
western governments have actually pursued over the past two decades. It's
also credible as a prediction of what would be the political result of a
purposeful anti-prosperity regime -- the entrenchment of the elites whose
policies were designed to spread poverty and insecurity.
Regards,
Tom Walker
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Vancouver, B.C.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(604) 669-3286
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The TimeWork Web: http://www.vcn.bc.ca/timework/
