New to me anyway. It has to do with understanding.
I will not deny my understanding of the world of politics as a social construct was anchored in the shallowest of insights and dreariest of thoughts. Simply stated, as a rule, politicians are criminally stupid.
I mean, most of them have minds that function best in the here and now. With their moral compass attached to the political plum swaying just out of their reach past the nose of the donkey they ride on, they’ve learned to limit their focus to the easily gained and grandly wrapped prizes that line their downward path. It’s not difficult to figure out who holds their compass nor even what rock the oligarchs put the lodestone under; what I’ve been missing is the part of the American puzzle I’ve never looked closely enough at; its refined intricacies.
Then I came across the Pi Sigma Alpha Undergraduate Journal of Politics Spring 2017 https://www.psajournal.org/past-issues/ via Union College, NY and Gianmarco Capati‘s paper that has refined my idea of how the sophisticated smoke and mirrors side show operates. Salva, Mr. Capati.
(Union College NY must have purged their shelves of useful information at some time in the past thus providing me the opportunity to get a copy of Christopher Simpson’s “Science of Coercion”, a great starting point for anyone interested in understanding the who, what, where and when of how we got here.)
The subject paper’s title is “Egypt’s Failed Revolution: Democracy, Liberty, and the Power of Ideas” written by Gianmarco Capati at John Cabot University. Now applicable here in the U.S.
As I was reading it the other day I wondered, if that information is loose in the general population why is it such a secret? The answer became apparent after doing a search on Robert A. Dahl’s (1971) Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition referred to by Capati. While it’s UNlikely it was a featured discussion on any Sunday morning news show, it’s not a secret.
Perhaps it’s no coincidence either that Mr. Capati’s paper was published shortly after a banner announcement, ‘Democracy Dies in Darkness’ was placed on the front page of a D.C. newspaper. A message positioned for the first time in the paper’s history on its masthead.
A Divine response to a gloating, arrogant boastful phrase masquerading as a funereal lament for ‘the people’?. That wouldn’t surprise me.
If you click on the past-issues link above and scroll down to the Spring 2017 issue what I am going on about picks up on page 7 where, as Capati pointed out, democracy, for all the excitement it generates, means neither liberty nor freedom. It means the power of the people forms the government. That’s all.
Until the democrats convinced US we were a democracy we recognized ourselves as citizens of a Republic. And it was the citizens who voted.
Democracies, as we have recently learned, means people from all over the world are eligible to cast a manipulative ballot.
In our elections.
Mr. Capati pointed out Robert A. Dahl’s contribution to the refinement of democracy was his belief democracy was more than the process of forming a government; citizens must be provided the means to express their preference. Aside from the right to vote, there must be free and fair elections and eligibility required candidates campaign and run for office.
Most of which was already explained in our U.S. Constitution.
Mr. Dahl’s contributions appear to have clouded our defined ways with his clarifications.
Capati further compares democratic government and liberal government as apples to oranges; democrat governance is the result of a method of election (and we know how that works now) while liberal government in the classic sense protects individual freedom and equal rights with what is described as a thick rule of law.
You are encouraged to read it yourself and see how the democrat party is short changing everyone especially its many party members and supporters who cannot know not what they support. Read it. It’s not going to make you any happier but it could start to clarify things for many people.
Bonus for your children
Bonus for you
One more thing… January 6… Washington D.C….??? https://vimeo.com/509352437 Alleged of course… just pretend it’s a Cannes short…