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Just be thankful the Big O hasn't been competent enough to do everything he tried to do. Then we'd really be hosed.
I sometimes wonder if we should put a lot of effort into developing such a 'truth detector' (our lie detector systems are very primitive and data from the early 20th century). Then I wonder if such systems exist but have been suppressed...
Jan
Political power should be viewed as something nasty and radioactive -- something you don't ever want to give anybody except in emergencies, and even then you have to expect it will do more harm than good. (And of course, those who want more power are constantly making up phony emergencies, so always make them prove their case.)
The assumption that government is always corrupt and all politicians are evil, because then good men hesitate to become the government that belongs to all of us.
Run for office.
:)
And FWIW, am I the only one here who has read Niven's Laws?
As for #44, are you saying that 'skepticism' precludes 'manipulation'?
It is, of course, your right and freedom to disagree with anything and everything I might say or write or publish. If you've got a gripe about two out of 57, maybe I'm not doing too badly, either....
Cheers! :)
But if it is true that our "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth," then it is mostly due to the people who choose to become our government rather than surrender their power to others. Whether that's voting, being part of a campaign, or running yourself (thousands of offices go unfilled every year around the state, let alone the country) you're exercising your power and making all of us more powerful.
How do you think my party (Democratic) slid so socialist? People kept saying, "It's not my party, they left me, I didn't leave them." and they left. No matter what the excuse, they left the people who wanted a socialist agenda in power and stopped challenging them.
We've seen the result.
John Galt is for a culture of courage, not cowardice. It's for those who faced down the slide of civilization - who TRIED to turn the tide - but have reached that point where they and their peers KNOW it's time to Galt.
Have we reached that point? Not yet. As much as I long for a place like Ayn Rand suggested, my place is on the front line for now.
Where is yours?