Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Program

The main thing, though, is to stop being constructive. Don't waste a moment thinking about what “policies” might be better than the ones we have. The fact is that the institutions we have absolutely guarantee insane policies, and unless the balance of power between the elites and the rest of us is changed, then those institutions will continue to manufacture insanity day in and day out.

And there is, needless to say, no institutional way to change the balance of power. The institutions exist to maintain the balance of power – or, more accurately, to tip the balance of power ever more toward the elites. Changing the balance of power requires interfering with the institutions, and impairing or impeding their operation.

In short: stop traffic.
Without comment, from SMBIVA. That's the end. Read the rest.

14 comments:

la Rana said...
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la Rana said...

I dunno, the Marxist overtones are a bit much. Say we "stop traffic." Then what? Install a collectivist utopia? I mean, at the end of that vision there must be institutions to support the newly arranged "balance of power." No?

The more I read this sort of thing (which is obviously your sort of thing) the more I think Fukuyama was right. Why do you think man can do any better? Frankly, I am not thrilled about forever trying to hold the wheel steady as we hurdle down the road of progress with a flat tire or three.

Moloch-Agonistes said...

Here's another guy who thought the way to deal with rotten institutions was to "stop traffic." Motorists are such an ungrateful lot!

Yave said...

unless the balance of power between the elites and the rest of us is changed

I don't remember "the rest of us", i.e. the great majority of American citizens, being too concerned about starting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, government-sanctioned torture, secret prisons, or the Patriot Act. I do remember them being very concerned about Puerto Rican terrorist gang members, anthrax in the mail, illegal immigrants stealing social security, and the creeping threat of gay marriage. Maybe my memory is faulty. Or maybe “the rest of us" don't know shit.

mr.fundamental said...

you could just message the fuckers.

Rowan said...

this might be the only blog I know where the commenters are less radical than the writers.

Scruggs said...

Rana, I think what SMBIVA has in mind is wringing out a few concessions and coaxing people into the habit of being less "reasonable". That's pretty radical where the concept of honest graft would be a step up.

Jon said...

The problem with politics in America today is precisely that it is not the elites taking us to war while the poor powerless common folk only want peace. The poor powerless common folk want more war, they want to punch Iran in the mouth, they want to stick it George Soros or Cindy Sheenan or whatever villains Fox News and Drudge are feeding to them.

The reason executive power is expanding, the reason we fight wars without end at the whim of pseudo-private companies whose only customer is the government and can thus spend the same money on both lobbying and marketing, is because voters don't care.

Democracy has been inflated to be called the character of our government - "We Live In A Democracy!" - but I believe it was originally conceived as simply one of a list of constraints on it, to go along with separation of powers, federalism and the Constitution. The latter three are all but dead (thanks Commerce clause!), but the mechanics of democracy still live - we can still throw the bums out.

But the intended effect of democracy, its propensity to limit government action by restricting it to only what people actually want, is on life support, because the influence industry has people's votes under lock and key. And they've got a big chunk of "the natives" holding torches right behind them, chanting "We have always been at war with Eurasia!" Right now, leaving duffel bags full of rags at subway stations will only rile them up further.

But if I may inject a glimmer of naive optimism into my void of bitter cynicism, it is that public opinion is where ground can be gained. Minds can be changed, and their votes change with them. Once upon a time, Andrew Sullivan was talking about fifth columns. He's not exactly correct these days, and perhaps he's simply changing with the political winds, but improvement is improvement. The reason we are hemorrhaging liberty is that less than a tenth of the country wants it. This is what must change. If it changes, our electoral menu will change with it.

Until then, meet the new boss, same as the old boss, with the same propensity and ability to throw any and all traffic-stoppers in the clink. And turn the public against them.

Brian said...

What if yave is right, though? Maybe it's not just "the elites" Especially when those few of us who float to the top in ANY susytem quickly act in the same way? Look at places where the institutions are weak, nonhiearchical, and/or nonexistent. I see the ultimate result of his philosophy not Spain 1937 or even Joe Bageant's Belize, but Road Warrior Beyond Thuder Dome.

Plus, its the "schlubs" and jobbers that have to clean up these messes, that are late to pick up their kids from the babysitter, that are penalized for being late to work because some "protestor" is going too slow. The elites don't care-they just use actions like these as excuses to clamp down even harder.

maximo said...

well, noam got it way before me in calling it "manufactured consent", but i recently wrote, in a different context, (to an average jamoe--possibly below average), "they've handed you a broom handle, and you're fucking yourself in the ass with it." (um, i don't need to apologize for that, do i?)

anyways, the point is, it's not like america consists of (s)lumbering masses aware of their oppression at the hands of cruel masters. no, a good portion (roughly 3/4) actually kinda like it.

IOZ said...

I think a fBuew of you are reading in me an excessive faith in The People. I guess I asked for it, though . . .

la Rana said...

Scruggs,

If you can differentiate "coaxing people into the habit" from "changing human nature" within the scope of power, then I dub you an optimist.

Until we start designing new humans (which may not be far off, incidentally), I'm going to hold off for ideas that have buoyancy beyond an election cycle.

Scruggs said...

Rana,

I don't think I can do that. I'm certain the potential is there -- it crops up in individuals all the time, until they get hammered flat -- but I can't offer anything realistic that would evoke it on a wide enough level to make a difference.

Ashley said...

I'm certain the potential is there -- it crops up in individuals all the time, until they get hammered flat -- but I can't offer anything realistic that would evoke it on a wide enough level to make a difference.

You’re right. I think most people, maybe excluding those between 17 and 25, are silently desperate to see the same in others. What makes them not show it themselves is, as you say, that they’ve had it hammered out of them, but also that they don’t think anyone else wants it. Hence the silence. All it takes to get it to resurge around you is to show it yourself. Takes some guts and a little discipline but it does work and it’s not temporary like mandated pressures in the same vein.