The infantilization of America

Back in 2014 when I wrote Can Superheroes Save USA from Jihad I was being a bit tongue in cheek.  I joked about the way young Americans were dealing with stress by reverting to a childhood Good Vs Bad paradigm in entertainment.

I am now in danger of slipping into conspiracy theorist territory.  When I look at the state of the US Presidential Election in 2020 it appears to me that the democratic foundations of the state are under assault.

From Europe we view the election at a distance which gives us some objectivity.  We are aware that we are viewing election issues through the lens of American Media.  Even European media struggles to draw any clear analysis from the storm of soundbites that float to the surface from a sea of lies.

There is an agenda at play in America and that agenda is aimed at communicating to ordinary citizens that their votes don’t matter, or that they won’t count.  If you don’t think it matters then you won’t bother to vote.

Washington does not represent the median earning American citizen.  Washington is a parliament where millionaires pass laws for billionaires.  They want no interference from consumers.  As a median earner your job is to consume and enrich the billionaires.  Your opinion is not required.

This is not simply about Donald Trump, it goes much deeper than one rogue Chimp in Chief.  If anything Trump is a danger to the real influencers of the deep state, because he is gauche and obvious.  The genuine puppet masters are far more subtle.

They encourage movements like Black Lives Matter to engage in protest marches and demonstrations.  They want you out on the streets as long as it keeps you out of the polling booths.  As the alt-right and the liberal left tear each other apart on the streets the real influencers are editing the electoral rolls.

The real influencers are happy to promote a culture of influencers who serve the old broken Capitalist narrative that USA is the land of opportunity where anyone can make good and live the American dream.  Young Americans are turning to role models like the Kardashians, Jefree Star, Ru Paul and Logan Paul to live a vicarious existence.  Instead of experiencing life you are encouraged to consume it through the perfectly edited realities of youtubers and vloggers.  Reality TV is as far from reality as you can actually be.

The impoverishment of university graduates is a part of this strategy.  If you need to spend the majority of your working life double jobbing to pay off your student debt you have little time or energy for social change.  It also makes you an enemy of education reform.  You come to believe that everyone should pay for education because you had to carry that burden.  Why should Gen Z get off scott free?

If you are in your 30’s, struggling with College debt and living in your parents house they have already won.  You can’t become an adult in your own right. Children should be seen and not heard.

So does it matter whether Donald Trump or Joe Biden wins?  Does it make any real difference to you or your life?  Republican, Democrat, what’s the difference?

Maybe its time to grow up.

-=o0o=-

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Power and Influence

The USA trumpets itself around the globe as a cradle of Democracy, Human Rights and Personal Freedom.  Viewed from outside it can be seen as a dubious democracy where millionaires compete with each other for seats in what looks very much like a two party system.

This got me thinking about Power and Influence and how they can be balanced in some political systems and imbalanced in others, and a balanced power/influence dynamic is a symptom of a healthy government.

In short, if a small number of people have too much power and influence, and make decisions to benefit themselves this is a failure of Government.

In the USA it takes deep pockets to compete for election.  Political Candidates need funding and in the home of Capitalism there is no such thing as a free lunch.  To get power you need money, what you sell is your influence; your votes on topics sensitive to your funders.  As a result decisions in US Government are skewed in favour of the interests of big business.

The ordinary man in the street is left out in the cold.  Not exactly the American Dream, Mom and Apple Pie.  The USA is classified as a Flawed Democracy scoring only 7.96 on the Democracy Index.

But the ordinary man in the street does have a vote and can wield that vote as a weapon.  It is possible, if highly unlikely, to change the system for the better.

In a pure autocracy the man in the street does not even have a dream of changing things for the better.  Decisions are made by an inner elite. China is classified as Authoritarian, scoring only 2.26 on the democracy index, but over twice the 1.08 scored by North Korea. In 18th Century France the Kings taxed the poor to pay for a libertine lifestyle.  They eventually paid for this excess with their heads at the guillotine.  If you remove the potential for evolution you risk revolution.

This is why we have anocracy.  Anocracy is a form of government where you operate as an autocracy with the trappings of democracy.  You hold elections but they change little.  The people you elect into power are paper tigers with no ability to influence the really key decisions on issues like what happens the money, who you invade or who goes to prison.  Some of these are monarchies where the rulers retain powers, as in Morocco (5.10 democracy index) or they may be led by religious or military Juntas or partial dictatorships.  Called “hybrid regimes”

People who come from autocracies, anocracies and majority governments do not understand the attraction of multi-party democracies.  What they see in the likes of Italy, Ireland, Israel, Greece etc are floundering confusions of coalition run governments.  What the voter sees is different.

In Ireland I can join a political party and attain a considerable level of influence within that party for a fairly modest investment of my time; assuming I have the social, political and economic tools to hold my own in open debate.  The larger the party is the more difficult it is to gain influence within the party.

I can opt to be a small cog in a larger party, which has a greater chance of getting into power in government.  I would have little influence in a party with much power.  Or I could have greater influence in a smaller party which is more likely to be sidelined in government.  Lots of influence, but little power.

When I see this natural balancing act between power and influence I see healthy government.  As Abraham Lincoln pointed out: “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”

We score 9.24 in fully democratic Ireland, currently the 6th most democratic country in the world.

 

 

 

The Cabbage Farmer

Emperor Diocletian began his reign as ruler of Rome on November 20th 284 AD.  In 305 AD he did the unthinkable for a Roman Emperor; he retired.  He expressed a desire to live in his estate and grow cabbages.  He was very proud of his cabbages.  The modern Croatian town of Split is centred on the villa of Diocletian.

Diocletian rose to power in the “Crisis of the 3rd Century” when Rome was falling apart as one general after another competed for the top job.  Diocletian established a system called the Tetrarchy, four rulers, as a means to stabilise the empire.

Both Eastern and Western Empire had a senior Augustus and a junior Caesar.  His new system worked successfully until the rise of Constantine the Great, who became another Augustus, founding New Rome in Byzantium, renamed Constantinople, and now Istanbul.

Diocletian was the only Emperor I know of to retire.  Emperors died in office, were assasinated or forced to abdicate.  The only other Roman I can think of who retired, without being forced to leave, was Sulla.  In 78 BC Lucius Cornelius Sulla astoundingly retired from his Lifetime Dictatorship to write his memoirs and live a life of luxury on his country estate.  His departure from power is celebrated as his moment of ultimate glory in the verse from Byron below.

That Diocletian retired was a mark of his commitment to peaceful succession.  The ultimate failure of his system, within mere decades, underlines how difficult it is to have power hungry leaders give up the reins of power.  Democratic systems succeed only if they prevent a return to family dynasties.

Donald Trump likes to float the notion, from time to time, of a presidency for life.  Vladimir Putin has gone further and established one using some smoke and mirrors.  In North Korea the cult of the leader has entirely undermined socialist principles of meritocracy by establishing a 3 generation dynastic rule.

Great leaders are great until they go bad, and then they become really terrible.  Limit your leaders.  Give them a maximum time limit.  They may suggest a candidate to follow them, but don’t let them choose one.

From the “Ode to Napoleon Buonoparte”; by George Gordan, Lord Byron

VII

The Roman, when his burning heart
was slaked with blood of Rome,
threw down the dagger — dared depart,
in savage grandeur, home —
he dared depart in utter scorn
of men that such a yoke had borne,
yet left him such a doom!
His only glory was that hour
of self-upheld abandon’d power.

-=o0o=-

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Happy Birthday Julius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar was born in 100 BC, making him 2118 today.  We know this because of the calendar he gave us.

A populist politician in the mould of the brothers Gracchus and his own Great Uncle Gaius Marius.  Caesar wanted to move power from the Senatorial class and absentee landlords and spread the wealth to the working classes of Rome, the Plebs and the Legionnaires.

In the process he set in motion the events that led to the collapse of the Republic and the creation of an Empire.  Caesar has given a lasting lesson to the democracies and republics of the world.  Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.

Cassius speaks to Brutus

Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus, and we petty men
Walk under his huge legs and peep about
To find ourselves dishonorable graves.
Men at some time are masters of their fates.
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.
“Brutus” and “Caesar”—what should be in that “Caesar”?
Why should that name be sounded more than yours?
Write them together, yours is as fair a name;
Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well;
Weigh them, it is as heavy; conjure with ’em,
“Brutus” will start a spirit as soon as “Caesar.”
Now, in the names of all the gods at once,
Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed
That he is grown so great? Age, thou art shamed!
Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods!
When could they say, till now, that talked of Rome,
That her wide walks encompassed but one man?
Now is it Rome indeed, and room enough
When there is in it but only one man.
O, you and I have heard our fathers say
There was a Brutus once that would have brooked
Th’ eternal devil to keep his state in Rome
As easily as a king.

Happy Birthday Pablo Neruda

Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto was born this day in 1904.  He ‘borrowed’ his pen name from a Czech poet, Jan Neruda.  A brilliant poet, a nobel laureate, nationalist and politician.  He was murdered under orders of Augusto Pinochet by a doctor treating him for cancer.  Pinochet staged a Coup D’état against the legally elected government of President Allende.

Pinochet was able to do this because he was supported by the US Government and received direct support from the CIA.  That’s American democracy for you!  Democracy for Americans who live in the United States, just not for all Americans, unless it is the right kind of democracy.

Enough with the politics, July is the month of tomatoes.  I planted Marmandes this year.  See the photo!

 

Ode to Tomatoes: by Pablo Neruda

The street
filled with tomatoes
midday,
summer,
light is
halved
like
a
tomato,
its juice
runs
through the streets.
In December,
unabated,
the tomato
invades
the kitchen,
it enters at lunchtime,
takes
its ease
on countertops,
among glasses,
butter dishes,
blue saltcellars.
It sheds
its own light,
benign majesty.
Unfortunately, we must
murder it:
the knife
sinks
into living flesh,
red
viscera,
a cool
sun,
profound,
inexhaustible,
populates the salads
of Chile,
happily, it is wed
to the clear onion,
and to celebrate the union
we
pour
oil,
essential
child of the olive,
onto its halved hemispheres,
pepper
adds
its fragrance,
salt, its magnetism;
it is the wedding
of the day,
parsley
hoists
its flag,
potatoes
bubble vigorously,
the aroma
of the roast
knocks
at the door,
it’s time!
come on!
and, on
the table, at the midpoint
of summer,
the tomato,
star of earth,
recurrent
and fertile
star,
displays
its convolutions,
its canals,
its remarkable amplitude
and abundance,
no pit,
no husk,
no leaves or thorns,
the tomato offers
its gift
of fiery color
and cool completeness.

 

Never forget

Reichstag building wrapped by the artist Christo

On this day in 1933 Adolf Hitler managed to push “The Enabling Act” through the Reichstag in Germany.

This gave him the position of Dictator, and gave the minority Nazi party effective control of Germany.  Democracy was sacrificed to expedience.  The confusion of coalition government was replaced by the clarity, direction and strength of single minded purpose.  See where that ended up?

Democracy is hard.  Government is a messy process.  It is dirty, political, flawed, frustrating, time-consuming and downright annoying.  The Germans swept all that away in favour of simple solutions.

Beware politicians who seem to offer simple solutions to complex problems.  Remember the Enabling Act.  If you don’t know what it is, inform yourself.  This stuff is important to know!

Epic: by Patrick Kavanagh

I have lived in important places, times
When great events were decided, who owned
That half a rood of rock, a no-man’s land
Surrounded by our pitchfork-armed claims.

I heard the Duffys shouting “Damn your soul!”
And old McCabe stripped to the waist, seen
Step the plot defying blue cast-steel –
“Here is the march along these iron stones.”

That was the year of the Munich bother. Which
Was more important? I inclined
To lose my faith in Ballyrush and Gortin
Till Homer’s ghost came whispering to my mind.

He said: I made the Iliad from such
A local row. Gods make their own importance.

-=o0o=-

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Why vote?

 

Ever wonder why you bother to vote?  The same muppets always seem to get in and frankly you don’t think much of any of them.

On this day in 1922 King Victor Emmanuel III handed power to Mussolini and the Fascists after the “March On Rome”.  30,000 men took democratic power from the Italian population.  In the years that followed a similar drama played out in Germany and Spain as Fascists used physical intimidation to wrest power from the people.

Democracy is not a right, it is a duty, an obligation.  As a citizen you exercise your vote even if only to let the politicians know that the people care, and they are being watched.

 

First they came…; by Pastor Martin Niemöller

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Bastille Day

Today is the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille in 1798, the seminal action of the French Revolution.  The impact of that revolution continues to be felt today.  The French Revolution was an event that marked a watershed in world politics.  Prior to the revolution the affairs of the world were dictated by three broad conditions.

1.      God ruled, and understanding of affairs came from an understanding of the will of God.  

2.      In the Catholic nations the will of God was interpreted by the Pope.  A strong papal representation was present in all the Catholic courts of Europe.

3.      Monarchs took their authority from God, and ruled with divine right.

Now I know that the British out there are saying “wait a minute, we lobbed off Charlies head and did away with divine right way back in 1649.  Agreed, but you also restored the monarchy albeit in a far more controlled manner.  The rest of Europe was still lagging a long way behind.

After the French revolution the affairs of the world were dictated by a different set of conditions.

1.      The scientific method became fundamental to human endeavour.  Rational proof replaced fervent belief as the basis for understanding.

2.      Since religion is founded on belief and not on rational proof, the power of the church waned considerably in the affairs of men.

3.      The monarchy as a method for rule lost credibility with the passing years.  People realised that it was better to be ruled by logic and merit than by divinity and birth.

To avoid traffic jams of pilgrims entering and leaving Rome, Popes advised that pilgrims walk on the left side of the road.  The French in the revolution rejected the pope by instructing their troops to march on the right.  This is why some countries now drive on the right and others drive on the left.

The evolution of the European Union today owes its origin to the visions of Napoleon Bonaparte.  It was he who had the vision of a continental system with a single set of weights and measures and a single currency.

It took centuries for the changes wrought by the French Revolution to work their way through society.  The vision of a European Union was eventually realised only after the devastation of two world wars.

Bastille day 1916 was around the mid-point of the Somme Offensive.  In 1944 Bastille day was in the middle of the Battle of the Hedgerows, or the Battle for St Lo in Normandy, part of the Normandy invasion.

In 1998 on Bastille day my daughter was born and the Tour de France made its first and only visit to Ireland.

We as a society need to protect the values of the French Revolution.  We need to defend reason and logic over misinformation, propaganda and blind faith.  Too many good people died to give us rational democracy for us to give it away.  Protect your rights, protect your democracy, inform yourself, and for the sake of logic and reason, please exercise your vote!

Arms and the Boy:  Wilfred Owen

1 Let the boy try along this bayonet-blade
2 How cold steel is, and keen with hunger of blood;
3 Blue with all malice, like a madman’s flash;
4 And thinly drawn with famishing for flesh.

5 Lend him to stroke these blind, blunt bullet-heads
6 Which long to muzzle in the hearts of lads.
7 Or give him cartridges of fine zinc teeth,
8 Sharp with the sharpness of grief and death.

9 For his teeth seem for laughing round an apple.
10 There lurk no claws behind his fingers supple;
11 And God will grow no talons at his heels,
12 Nor antlers through the thickness of his curls.

-=o0o=-

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