>> >> Here, Bob, take on a real challenge and see how you many ways you can spin >> this http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100222/lessig > > I tried to peruse it quickly but it was as rambling and > stream-of-consciousness as one of your missives. I'll read it > analytically after dinner and see if I can help you make contact with > reality. You're right: It's a real challenge, all right, given both > the source (The Nation) and the destination (your cranium) in this > case, but I'll do my best. ;)
OK, I read it. Painful, because it is so full of false assumptions and hidden corollaries that I do not agree with, but I made it through. Two major points: 1. I don't want a "democracy" but rather our "republic" back. The character of the latter is far more amenable to peace and prosperity. I grow weary of having to point out the distinction but it is important even if no one understands why anymore. 2. You cannot take money out of politics, any more than you can take money out of economics. The two are flip sides of the same coin. What you *can* do is limit the power of government, which all by itself has a way of encouraging money to flow into far more productive channels. It's actually a conscious denial of self -- a commitment that *we* won't use government in ways that are fundamentally antithetical to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Right now the problem is that politicians -- from both parties, I'll wear my non-partisan hat on this one -- have grabbed so much power to themselves at all levels of government, but in particular the federal level, trampling with reckless abandon on the Constitutional safeguards Obama His Oneness opined about pejoratively in 2003, that the only sane expenditure of those vast sums of money (if you're a corporation seeking to continue to exist) is to buy off politicians and seek political clout. Just like you cannot legislate morality -- it has to come from the heart -- or perfect humanity by some political program of re-education, or even killing off all the supposedly dumb people, you cannot "get the money out of politics." Our Constitution proved for awhile that it is possible to limit government, but as soon as we embark on grand schemes of rescuing humanity from, say, death or financial ruin, you embark on a road of profligate spending that ends in total bankruptcy. It's "the way of all flesh." The sad thing about the money that flows to politicians from all sources -- individuals, policy research organizations and pro-profit corporations alike -- is that they are on-the-take wheelers-and-dealers who care not a whit for Constitutionality let alone the Public Good. Talk about throwing good money after bad! The only real solution to our problem is if magically we all suddenly came into a correct understanding of God and man, and our actual role in the cosmos (as opposed to the missions to save humanity that we assume under the pretense of our own altruism), and proceeded to organize our individual lives around that understanding, rather than necessarily trying to pull the plank out of our brothers' eyes. Our Founders had the right ideas, but we lost them long ago to pursuit of the riches and pleasures of this life. All of us, not just the Democrats or the Republicans or the statists or the free marketeers. You want to take money out of politics? Take the pride and the selfishness and the spirit of judgmentalism and smarter-than-thou out of your own heart, first. (I say this to myself as well. Easy to say, not easy to do.) - Publius -- "It ought never to be forgotten, that a firm union of this country, under an efficient government, will probably be an increasing object of jealousy to more than one nation of Europe; and that enterprises to subvert it will sometimes originate in the intrigues of foreign powers, and will seldom fail to be patronized and abetted by some of them. Its preservation, therefore ought in no case that can be avoided, to be committed to the guardianship of any but those whose situation will uniformly beget an immediate interest in the faithful and vigilant performance of the trust." [Federalist Papers #59] _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[email protected] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
