> Hi Tomas, > > From: Dr. Ernie Prabhakar <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [RC] [ RC ] Brief look at Iowa results and etc " INEPTOCRACY " > To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > Cc: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > Date: Thursday, January 5, 2012, 10:12 AM > > Hi Tomas, > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Jan 5, 2012, at 8:05, Tomas de Utrera <[email protected]> wrote: > > > As it stands right now there will be no sharing of power if it is left up > > to our present leaders. > >> That is always the case. > No argument here. BTW "our present leaders" is not limited to BHO or the > Republicans. That includes Merkel, Sarkozy, Rajoy, Noda etc. > >> Power, like money, is rarely valued if given freely. We have to fight for it. > Power (or money) is something one has to take. No one person or entity in > history has ever "freely" given up power . At least no one I can think of. > Even in the most recent case of the US, we became powerful by a void that was > created after WWII but we still had to bend down and pick up the heavy mantle > of power. How well we have done will only be told by history. > >> The real benefit of Democracy is that you don't have to kill the existing >> leaders to take power back. > At least not physically. > > >> MLK proved you can take power through sheer moral authority. So could we, if >> we were willing to the price he did. > With regard to the "taking of power" history offers us many examples both > positive and negative. To me one of the finest examples and most civilized > (especially for the era) was the manner in which Queen Sundeok (the first > woman to hold absolute dominion in East Asia) took the power, separated > powers and advanced the technology of the time among other things and all > within a period of less than 2 decades.. > >> If we are waiting for someone else to solve our political problems, then >> maybe we really don't deserve to have them solved. > Good point. This is what we have always done because we had faith in out > government and the system. We consider it the job of government to solve > these problems for the good of the nation. It worked in the past but not so > much today.
Huh? Which history books do you read? The way I see it, the *existing* establishment never willingly gave up power. It was always taken by insurgents like Jackson, Lincoln and Roosevelts -- who themselves rode populist waves created by intellectuals and activists. Maybe the problem is the way we teach history makes it sound like all the interesting innovation happened due to Great Leaders. > So if the people (you and I) don't stand up and shout we are going to be left > out and we WILL wind up with a very unpleasant form of government. The > politicians , if allowed to do so, will carry out things that the people will > wake up to find as law, as happened in Chicago in one night. The laws passed > surprised, unpleasently, just about everyone. Let's see if any of us are > willing to stand up to the new mayor. Politicians always serve the interests that helped them get elected, the way pretty much everyone cares about the people who hire them. It does no good to lambast politicians for being human. We need to create better incentives and new interest groups. -- Ernie P. > T > > E > > -- > Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community > <[email protected]> > Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism > Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org > > > -- > Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community > <[email protected]> > Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism > Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org > -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
