Hello Folks,
Woke up to about 2” of snow yesterday AM – it just won’t quit. The snow was melting by noon though as the temperature climbed and the sun broke through. Drove up the La Sal Mountains to see if any light was happening but was scuppered by the low cloud.
Drove into Arches and took the short Park Avenue hike and then the anarchist in me took the rode back instead of backtracking as suggested at the trail head. The hike has you strolling through skyscraper like towers of sandstone. What made it even more interesting was the fact that the melted snow has collected in pools in the sandstone floor. I took several photos of the towers reflected in the pools.
So, speaking of anarchy and Park Avenue, that has me segueing to Wall Street bonuses and from there to philosophy.
Bertrand Russell once said that liberalism is basically a compromise between despotism and anarchy. The fear of both of these extremes, led to the doctrine of division of powers (between federal government and state/provincial government) and of checks and balances (developed by the Greeks, perfected by the Romans; the state is divided into branches– each with independent powers and areas of responsibility). These principles are the very foundation that the US Constitution is built upon.
Bertrand Russell also once said, ‘The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people are full of doubts’.
Never in the history of North America have we been blessed with as many ‘fools and fanatics’ as we have in our present time. And these fanatic fools, through their zealous, wide eyed certainty, have co-opted the religious and political agenda such that we are very close to having some of these fanatic fools in charge of various branches of government.
If that were to happen, what checks and balances would we have against their now combined powers?
If you are a student of Roman and Greek history, you will already know that the political governing system known as democracy will stall from time to time. When it does stall, it can re-energize itself or go to one of the extremes – anarchy or despotism. Rome and Greece experienced both extremes.
Toynbee and Kennedy have written about the subject of the rise and fall of great civilizations/powers – but I will take a little from Toynbee’s thesis here.
The stalling of democracy starts with a central government that is focused on what they themselves and special interests want and not the people. It gets kicked up a notch when an underclass cannot attain their aspirations to enter into the middle class (during times of economic downturn and unemployment, while rich get richer), it starts going over the top when the people have had it and we have protests, civil disobedience and small pockets of anarchy (people getting killed).
Right here is when it can go either way – anarchy (revolution), despotism (military dictatorship), or re-energization/rebirth.
In spite of the fanatic fools dreaming with their eyes wide open – I believe we are on a path that will result in a re-energization of our democratic principles. That said, the longer it takes to get there, the rougher and rockier the road will be.
We can kick start this process by holding to account our current elected representatives; we can accelerate the process by making sure we, in the future, have the candidates running for office that can actually do something and aren’t part of the current cadre; we can complete the process by becoming more informed, active and vocal in the political process.
As always the choice is ours – it’s time to get off the fence and it’s time to take a larger role in the democratic process – the fanatic fools are currently doing it with no opposition ... they need a dose of common sense, improved hearing and eyesight ... we can help them acquire these virtues by challenging 'them' with intelligent dialog and debate ... it just might do them, and us, some good ....
To quote from verses 483 and 503 of the Krome Koan,
‘Politicians and diapers need to be changed for the same reason’.
‘Stop repeat offenders – don’t re-elect them’.
Speaking of intelligent dialog ... take a look at this picture ...
... looks like a meeting has been convened – probably on health care – possibly mine .... the geese have left town ... but check out the next picture ...
... looks like the heavy weights have been brought in ... who knows what the winged piece of coal has up his wing ...
More later,
Phil
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