[Peace-discuss] Power intoxicates

[n.dahlheim at mchsi.com]

Also, I am not sure Bush so much sold anything to the American people.  Most people in this country 
are woefully ignorant of the most basic facts of politics.  The state of the Republic is indeed woeful.  
Polls of my demographic age group taken by National Geographic have revealed pretty consistently that 
less than 1/4 of the people can even point to the location of Iraq on a globe!  How can people get 
organized and get disciplined to counteract an Administration looting the public treasury, eviscerating 
the Constitution, and mocking international law when the public ignorance and apathy is massive!  
Some may point out that we have hope because Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert receive greater 
audiences than the nightly network news or that the Internet blogging on the war, the environment, 
health care, civil liberties, or 911 truth represents a groundswell opposition to the Bush gang.  I would 
counter with the argument that the Internet represents an masked social space where only virtual 
resistance can occurr; it slyly convinces people that they are resisting the corrupt power structure 
through their discussion but it provides little in the way of the physical face-to-face contact with like-
minded folks necessary for a real grassroots political movement.  Even still, the prevalence of political 
satire does indicate awareness; but, serves to reduce participation by convincing people that politics is 
just comedy.  The catastrophic damage this government has inflicted upon the Republic is just a part of 
the show.  Just another distraction in the lives of the Cheerful Robots (In the C. Wright Mills sense).  The 
transferrence of awareness into grassroots, community action is what is lacking in the world of satire 
and blogging.  So, expect social isolation and mass media distraction to continue to proliferate as social 
forces eroding the civic fabric overall.  A population that is largely ignorant and concerned with Gucci 
shoes, American Idol, and other trivial banalities will merrily (or, robotically/digitally) hopscotch along 
the path to totalitarianism.  

Sure, tell the truth; but, you better make people laugh otherwise they might kill you---George Bernard 
Shaw (I paraphrase here)

Nick


----------------------  Original Message:  ---------------------
From:    Jenifer Cartwright <jencart7 at yahoo.com>
To:      kmedina at uiuc.edu, peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Power intoxicates
Date:    Mon, 9 Jul 2007 23:47:53 +0000

> I appreciate yr positive attitude, Karen. Whoever said, "Change is always 
> preceded by hope" had it right. Always easier to tear things down, but stopping 
> there is what gets ME down. 
>    
>   Here's another person who seconds yr tho'ts --
>    
>   "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change 
> the world; indeed it's the only thing that ever has."       Margaret Mead
>    
>   Jenifer
>    
>   
> 
> Karen Medina <kmedina at uiuc.edu> wrote:
>   n.dahlheim wrote:
> * won't change anything. 
> * Human nature is weak and fallible.
> * little can be done
> 
> Why do people keep saying that no one person can make a difference? 
> 
> Look what Bush has done. It is amazing the number of things he has reversed or 
> moved along at lightning speed. 
> 
> Yes, Bush had Cheney (did I get the order wrong?), and they had a Condoleezza 
> Rice and a Scooter Libby and a host of loyal brawn at Bush's side, but not one 
> of them could have sold any of it to Congress or the American people without 
> Bush.
> 
> Surely, one candidate for President or Senator could find good people to work 
> for/with them and then they wouldn't be one person trying to change things.
> 
> Individuals alone may not make a difference, but no difference can be made 
> without individuals.
> 
> -karen medina
> 
> 
> 
> ---- Original message ----
> >Date: Mon, 09 Jul 2007 18:26:22 +0000
> >From: n.dahlheim at mchsi.com 
> >Subject: [Peace-discuss] Power intoxicates 
> >To: Jan & Durl Kruse 
> >Cc: peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> >
> >As always, I am going to continue to assume the role of skeptic here... Sheehan 
> running for Congress 
> >won't change anything. Lord Acton's pithy dictum that absolute power tends to 
> corrupt absolutely most 
> >certainly fits here. Power will corrupt Sheehan even if she were to win. Human 
> nature is weak and fallible. 
> >Sheehan and Bush are not that different on an existential level---yes there is 
> a social power 
> >differential---but, I am gravitating more and more towards believing that 
> little can be done about the 
> >endemic Washington corruption from within Washington. 
> _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss
> 
> 
>        
> ---------------------------------
> Get the free Yahoo! toolbar and rest assured with the added security of spyware 
protection. > _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss