Some Good Books On Politics
Revolution has been the story of the rich wresting power from them even richer. For a long time, this was at the expense of the King. The revolutions that swept Europe in the late 19th century attempted to limit the powers of the King by some kind of constitution. These revolutions failed until the disaster of the first World War.
The story of America is no different. The declaration of Independence listed the grievances of the Colony's wealthiest landowners against the King of England. The "self-evident truths" so famously mentioned were that the King was obviously no better than a wealthy male white colonist.
In the Federalist Papers, we clearly see that the constitution was not about "democracy," which we would call "populism." It was based on the faint hope that rich white guys could deliberate together and solve whatever problems came up. "Democracy" was engineered out of that document, when slaves were counted as 2/3 of a person for congressional representation but of course not allowed to vote. The compromise blew up into the mass slaughter of the Civil War.
When despairing of the American "democracy," it is well to keep this in mind. The constitution of the United States never did and never will afford equal rights to every citizen. At the very least, they (all the Republicans of course) claim that one man one vote is not a matter for the Supreme Court to rule on.
American liberal democracy is being torn apart by the Republican party which now controls the Presidency, the Senate, the Supreme Court, and the Justice Department. It now controls the playing field for future elections at least for 10 years. The Press is next.
At the time of writing, Bernie Sanders is (again) offering "Socialism" as an alternative to the existing social order. Socialism is a slippery concept. Perhaps it is the perception that the current situation is horrible and something must be done about it. The question arises: what kind of Socialist Bernie is. Bernie seems to be of the "democratic socialist" shade - pretty much the brand of socialism that is viable in Europe.
But America is not the world, and it certainly isn't Canada.
Some good books ...
These Truths - A history of the US without the bullshit.
On Liberty - John Stuart Mill reminds us that the issue is not "democracy" but personal liberty.
A Thousand Small Sanities - a spirited defense of "liberal" democracy along with who hates it and wants to overthrow it.
Socialist Manifesto. A detailed history of socialism in all its shades. It's worth reading to sort out precisely what kind of "socialism" has any chance of being implemented. The author's own version (radical overthrow of capitalism) has never worked, never should work and always creates vast bloodshed on the road to failure.
Federalist Papers - original thinking behind the US Constitution, kept secret for 50 years.
Democracy May Not Exist, but We'll Miss It When It's Gone - Depressing but necessary to get you to stop yapping about "democracy."
The story of America is no different. The declaration of Independence listed the grievances of the Colony's wealthiest landowners against the King of England. The "self-evident truths" so famously mentioned were that the King was obviously no better than a wealthy male white colonist.
In the Federalist Papers, we clearly see that the constitution was not about "democracy," which we would call "populism." It was based on the faint hope that rich white guys could deliberate together and solve whatever problems came up. "Democracy" was engineered out of that document, when slaves were counted as 2/3 of a person for congressional representation but of course not allowed to vote. The compromise blew up into the mass slaughter of the Civil War.
When despairing of the American "democracy," it is well to keep this in mind. The constitution of the United States never did and never will afford equal rights to every citizen. At the very least, they (all the Republicans of course) claim that one man one vote is not a matter for the Supreme Court to rule on.
American liberal democracy is being torn apart by the Republican party which now controls the Presidency, the Senate, the Supreme Court, and the Justice Department. It now controls the playing field for future elections at least for 10 years. The Press is next.
At the time of writing, Bernie Sanders is (again) offering "Socialism" as an alternative to the existing social order. Socialism is a slippery concept. Perhaps it is the perception that the current situation is horrible and something must be done about it. The question arises: what kind of Socialist Bernie is. Bernie seems to be of the "democratic socialist" shade - pretty much the brand of socialism that is viable in Europe.
But America is not the world, and it certainly isn't Canada.
Some good books ...
These Truths - A history of the US without the bullshit.
On Liberty - John Stuart Mill reminds us that the issue is not "democracy" but personal liberty.
A Thousand Small Sanities - a spirited defense of "liberal" democracy along with who hates it and wants to overthrow it.
Socialist Manifesto. A detailed history of socialism in all its shades. It's worth reading to sort out precisely what kind of "socialism" has any chance of being implemented. The author's own version (radical overthrow of capitalism) has never worked, never should work and always creates vast bloodshed on the road to failure.
Federalist Papers - original thinking behind the US Constitution, kept secret for 50 years.
Democracy May Not Exist, but We'll Miss It When It's Gone - Depressing but necessary to get you to stop yapping about "democracy."
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