Monday, July 19, 2004

Like tributary streams,
they flow
following a similar course: gravity.
They flow down,
down towards rivers,
towards the oceans--
yet they do not follow the same path.

They etch out their existence
in soil
and rock
and silt deltas.

We etch out our existence
through erosion


Saturday, July 17, 2004

Brief
Politics: Aristocracy/Oligarchy/Totalitarian/Democracy-Human social structure established and "agreed" upon by a social unit, used for resourse distribution. 

Theocracy/Philosophers(Platonic)-The use of metaphysical indoctrination to establish social hierarchy, allowing for smooth governing of resource distribution.

Economy-Manner in which resources are distributed among a society.
 
Democratic economics- Free Market with social benefits
Aristocratic economics- Ideally positive capitalism- sensible intellectuals in control of distribution
Totalitarian economics- Ideally negative capitalism- centralized self-rewarding policy allowing  one group to enforce its dominance over resources as legitimacy or ownership 
 
The progression from Aristocratic to Totalitarian does not occur in one step.  The logical intermediate step would be that of oligarchic.  This would follow a trend of consolidation, which is caused by capitalism's push for absolute efficiency and profit.
 
It could be argued that the state of oligarchy best describes the current situation in the United States.  Numerous instances, both fictionalized and documented, can be provided to support this claim.  In fact, it could be argued that this has been the dominating factor in the development of the United States through the late 19th, the 20th, and entering into the 21st.  One only has to think of the term Manifest Destiny and the [US]American conquest.
 

It is getting to critical points, now; how many other administrations have attempted, some succeeding to an extent, to disrupt the democratic process in the US?  If there were no professional politicians, would they, could they?  Do we really need the executive branch?  How can this be changed? Is it really the end of the "American Century?"  Are we in the post-postmodern, yet?  What does any of this have to do with anything?