On 11/6/2013 11:08 PM, LizR wrote:
On 7 November 2013 19:52, meekerdb <meeke...@verizon.net <mailto:meeke...@verizon.net>>
wrote:
There is no "out of the system".
A Medieval Prince, and a Medieval peasant, would have agreed, yet we seem to have jumped
out of that system, at least in some parts of the world.
But not out of the system of leaders and followers, governments and citizens, which is
what Chris keeps complaining about as leading to inevitable corruption and despotism.
I'm suggesting we look at the UP. How did systems get UP before they fell.
I agree
that all systems to keep power diffuse ultimately get gamed. But some work
better
and last longer than others. So we need to keep creating new UP systems
and keep
them UP longer. There are no final victories. But neither are there final
defeats. Think of Camus' "Myth of Sisyphus".
Sisyphus is a rather depressing role model! (if you'll pardon the pun :)
Amor fati!
But I agree we need to look at how to keep going onwards and upwards. Which means we
need to avoid the things that have dragged us down in the past (some of which Chris has
already mentioned...)
I don't even think that's necessary. Suppose we found a really competent good hearted
guy, threw a revolution and made him king. Maybe we could hire an experienced one from
Sweden. Just like the old days. It would probably work fine for a while, until there got
to be a big court and fights over succession and the king had to resort to brutal
suppression of opposition like Iraq or got a big head as in North Korea. There's not
going to be any perfect system and Chris may be right that they are all corrupted in the
end. But that just means you have to start over with new systems and try to make them
last longer.
Marx (and Marvin Harris) thought that political systems must be adapted to economic
systems. Economic systems are changed by technology and demographics. The current
mis-match in the U.S. is because the economy has shifted from manufacturing to finance.
Finance doesn't take many people. Hence there's a displacement and stress on the system.
But that's also an opportunity to change it.
Brent
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