I was reading Ecce America section. There is a good blurb about McDonalds and Burger King, But I liked the one by De Tocqeville.
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I think, then, that the species of oppression by which democratic nations are menaced is unlike anything that ever before existed in the world; our contemporaries will find no prototype of it in their memories. I seek in vain for an expression that will accurately convey the whole of the idea I have formed of it; the old words despotism and tyranny are inappropriate: the thing itself is new, and since I cannot name, I must attempt to define it.
I seek to trace the novel features under which despotism may appear in the world. The first thing that strikes the observation is an innumerable multitude of men, all equal and alike, incessantly endeavoring to procure the petty and paltry pleasures with which they glut their lives. Each of them, living apart, is as a stranger to the fate of all the rest; his children and his private friends constitute to him the whole of mankind. As for the rest of his fellow citizens, he is close to them, but he does not see them; he touches them, but he does not feel them; he exists only in himself and for himself alone; and if his kindred still remain to him, he may be said at any rate to have lost his country.
Above this race of men stands an immense and tutelary power, which takes upon itself alone to secure their gratifications and to watch over their fate. That power is absolute, minute, regular, provident, and mild. It would be like the authority of a parent if, like that authority, its object was to prepare men for manhood; but it seeks the contrary, to keep them in perpetual childhood: it is well content that the people should rejoice, provided they think of nothing but rejoicing. For their happiness such a government willingly labors, but it chooses to be the sole agent and the only arbiter of that happiness; it provides for their security, foresees and supplies their necessities, facilitates their pleasures, manages their principal concerns, directs their industry, regulates the descent of property, and subdivides their inheritances: what remains but to spare them all the care of thinking and all the trouble of living? Source. Democracy in America. Vol. II. p.318.
This quote goes along with what I've been talking about, and fits in well with the problems of greedy little power mongers who manage to grab control and manipulate the wheels of society, driving the cart towards the edge of the abyss, regardless of the restraints and brakes that were put in place to deal with such instances. The name of the cart-"Fuck the people" means 'Try and stop us now" but oh yes, it's too late when even a known criminal can't be impeached let alone questioned about his crimes.
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For the Founding Fathers -- or at least, for the better part of them -- the entire point of constitutional government was to provide means for the people to restrain the officeholders. These officeholders were not coterminous with the existing human society but delegates who needed to be kept from overreaching the authority the people had given them. Politicians were, unfortunately, a necessary evil. Like all the rest of us sons and daughters of Adam, they were vessels of vanity, greed, and lust with a perpetual temptation to take advantage of their position. A constitution set limits to help ensure that rulers enhanced society rather than preyed on it.
The conspiracy unfolds to reveal the principle participants- the enforcer. Cower before this petty Leviathan; we have been betrayed. For the Leviathan is made of US, and we made him to suit our needs.
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Unfortunately, we seem more intent on constructing a police state manned by bully-boy federáles who regard criticism of "our President" as treason and who are far more adept at murdering dissident citizens than at protecting us from foreign enemies. Nevertheless, there are signs, as in Graham's work, that some of us are beginning to emulate the Founding Fathers and to think about the legitimacy of forms of government. Source. Chronicles, April 2003. p.32. (Emphasis added.)
Get up and stand against the machine as it bears down on us. We must continue to fight, and help those less informed as to the severity of the situation.
There is some sections of this article that are somewhat white supremicist, but it does cover a variety of issues that most won't touch, like the neocon agenda of promoting Israel as part of the excuse for invasion in the middle east, but this is a problem that needs to be seriously addressed.
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The unexamined tusker is the neocon notion that we had to go to war to make the Middle East safe for Israel, our 51st state. It is odd that Moore should have chosen to ignore the beast since his 2003 book, Dude, Where's My Country? confronts it with the subtlety of a jackhammer:
It might be good to find out why hundreds of millions of people on three continents, stretching from Morocco on the Atlantic to the Philippines in the Pacific, are so pissed off about Israel ... [and] the perceived notion that we Americans are supporting Israel in its oppression of the Palestinian
people. Now, where did those Arabs come up with an idea like that? Maybe
it was when that Palestinian child looked up in the air and saw an American
Apache helicopter firing a missile into his baby sister's bedroom just before she was blown into a hundred bits. Touchy, touchy! ... Is that any reason to dance in the streets when the World Trade Center falls to the ground?
I don't agree with the logic about gays as the argument seems moot when the idea of chemistry is included in the mind. Androgen is present in true gay men and not in heterosexuals. The concept of preferred sex and sexual appetite is a personal thing. Not all heteros are muff divers, so defining sexual pereference is a personal thing. Name with his approach to the "N" word when discussing hate. You cannot know what kind of pain that may bring up in a Black persons mind and it is as deep rooted as the word "redskin" to a Native, which may imply what a Native American looks like with his skin removed. Hope that helps you understand why the Washington Redskins should change their name. Deep rooted pain based on bigotry is a problem that whites can't acknowledge from their position of privilege without feeling that they are discriminated against. It has been said that you can't reverse discriminate and when you dig into the past and see where terms derived from, one can see why. There is some bigotry in this Ecce site, but generally it sticks to some important issues. These are thrown in and should be ignored as the real discussion continues after his petty prejudices have been aired. In a free society, everyone should have rights to be who they are, to be free to develop it without prejudice, and it should be protected. This is what keeps a relevant society honest.
Quote:
When asked what form of government had been agreed upon and adopted by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin is reported to have replied, "a republic ... if you can keep it." In determining what he might have meant by the second part of that phrase, it is helpful to examine the words of John Adams when commenting upon the utility of the same document. Adams said, "This Constitution was intended for a moral and religious people, it is wholly inadequate for the governance of any other."
If the institutions of government do not seem to be working properly; if the "Blessings of liberty" are not being preserved by this generation for the benefit of posterity; if the "union" is becoming less rather than more "perfect"; if "justice" seems less "established"; if our "domestic affairs are less "tranquil"; if our defense is less "provided for"; then perhaps we need to examine our situation in light of Adams' prescription that we need to be a "moral and religious people." What did he mean and how does his comment relate to the role of the judiciary? Do the courts need to reflect moral and religious values in carrying out their mission?
See what happens when a chosen few pretend to adhere to these codes of "moral and christian people. This is the very reason the constitution must be changed, to protect itself from this type of tyranny and oppression. There is nothing 'moral and religious' about this present government, but they have people of religious leanings who can interpret and pretend real good. Take Pat Robertson and "Thou shalt not kill"- President Chavez. Nice christian, nice - back, back in your cage now -worry about supreme justices you don't like and wish dead.
Any way , I'm packing it in and heading off to funnier places. You finish it off and let me know how it ends up. TTFN.
