Generally, I'd support a system where small communities--less than 50 thousand, maybe?--were able to pass laws that superseded larger jurisdictions. Naturally, we might draw the line at murder, but I'd like to see this kind of shift take place everywhere. It doesn't happen, but give us the option.
And if we want to assist those who move elsewhere, just fine. The system can be voluntarized as much as we like.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Hangover
Yeah, I know. And you can hate me too. I actually voted for the guy. You want a defense? I'd actually try if you're interested, but I don't need to waste time if you'll chalk it up to me being a betrayer of liberty. Fact is that's exactly what I was yesterday. I soothed the state. But there--I've admitted it and now I'd like to move on to my main point, politician-style.
Reach out to the sad. Find out why.
Talk to the ecstatic. Find out why.
This is very simple. But you see, election or no election, our first responsibility is to politically explore our fellows. Actually talk--not on the Internet, or not only--but actually talk to the disgruntled co-worker who rolls her eyes at all the "I Voted" stickers. She has her reasons, unless she actually is an idiot like the voterprop tells us to expect. Apathy can be easy, but principled avoidance is another thing. There's fucking wisdom there, even if you won't or can't share it.
In short, Obama won because a whole bunch of people said so. We can debate the particulars, we can say this is good or this is bad. But the fact is that from Bush to Obama to whoever the citizenry (or a portion of them) selects or ratifies of whatever, the most I want to see from us critics is a shrug, because the people are still the only hope for those who would limit or push back or reinvent or extinguish or kill the state.
Reach out to the sad. Find out why.
Talk to the ecstatic. Find out why.
This is very simple. But you see, election or no election, our first responsibility is to politically explore our fellows. Actually talk--not on the Internet, or not only--but actually talk to the disgruntled co-worker who rolls her eyes at all the "I Voted" stickers. She has her reasons, unless she actually is an idiot like the voterprop tells us to expect. Apathy can be easy, but principled avoidance is another thing. There's fucking wisdom there, even if you won't or can't share it.
In short, Obama won because a whole bunch of people said so. We can debate the particulars, we can say this is good or this is bad. But the fact is that from Bush to Obama to whoever the citizenry (or a portion of them) selects or ratifies of whatever, the most I want to see from us critics is a shrug, because the people are still the only hope for those who would limit or push back or reinvent or extinguish or kill the state.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
History Student Angst
I'll just keep writing until more of you come back. Things are better now in some ways, but I have lapsed into some kind of bourgie intellectual laziness. Was my ambition sharpened by that morass of disappointment and recrimination?
Anyway, I like to read books about really powerful people (I wanted to say "great men") and ask myself if I'd do better. Would I be me, were I some minor noble artillerist from Corsica? Would I be me, were my father a king? Would I be me, were I some horny young man with an attractive classmate conveniently drunk?
In short, I return to this--am I my assumed inclination or am I no more virtuous than my opportunity will allow? I can't point to my restraint in this--abusers do it all the time, highlight their hesitance to offset their indulgence of brutal instincts. I want to show you the times I've been kind to the weak and the useless, the patience I show with my boys, the time I've spent listening to those who are clearly lonely. I was born low and I'm low in rank. Of course this means that I see more utility in kindness, collaboration, and kindred spirit. But what if I really didn't need anyone? What if I stood atop a tower of bodies, others holding me up while many lie stilled by the hands of my servants? What if I were born, as I am born, to a heritage of conquest and possession, only I occupied a rank far above any I can imagine? What if I, an American in the greatest age of diffusion of responsibility, a man who lives under spectacle and remote drones, really stood in a place of total culpability, a place where my decisions mattered not to handfuls but millions?
Who am I to say I'd do better than the butchers? Can the answer be anything other than assertion, opinion, speculation?
Anyway, I like to read books about really powerful people (I wanted to say "great men") and ask myself if I'd do better. Would I be me, were I some minor noble artillerist from Corsica? Would I be me, were my father a king? Would I be me, were I some horny young man with an attractive classmate conveniently drunk?
In short, I return to this--am I my assumed inclination or am I no more virtuous than my opportunity will allow? I can't point to my restraint in this--abusers do it all the time, highlight their hesitance to offset their indulgence of brutal instincts. I want to show you the times I've been kind to the weak and the useless, the patience I show with my boys, the time I've spent listening to those who are clearly lonely. I was born low and I'm low in rank. Of course this means that I see more utility in kindness, collaboration, and kindred spirit. But what if I really didn't need anyone? What if I stood atop a tower of bodies, others holding me up while many lie stilled by the hands of my servants? What if I were born, as I am born, to a heritage of conquest and possession, only I occupied a rank far above any I can imagine? What if I, an American in the greatest age of diffusion of responsibility, a man who lives under spectacle and remote drones, really stood in a place of total culpability, a place where my decisions mattered not to handfuls but millions?
Who am I to say I'd do better than the butchers? Can the answer be anything other than assertion, opinion, speculation?
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Gone Native
What's the difference between a schizophrenic and a normal man?
The schizophrenic tries to make sense of the madness around him.
The schizophrenic tries to make sense of the madness around him.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Monday, September 10, 2012
Learning Precedes Intelligence
I read an article today on how lemon sharks learn from observing each other feed.
And then I remembered that the definition and measure of intelligence in our culture seems to have always been rooted in one key trait: the capacity for training.
And then I remembered that the definition and measure of intelligence in our culture seems to have always been rooted in one key trait: the capacity for training.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Rusty Exercise
There is no substitute for using your power deftly to elevate others, seek their opinion, and treat them fairly (as you see fit, of course, since there really is no "fair"). You can try to apologize for your power, or act like it doesn't exist, or give it away, but these emphasize rather than erase the sin of hierarchy.
That principle, a bit of moral fluff, is going to be true both here and in the Anarchist Utopia, since there will always be some forms of power or--a better term perhaps--advantage that renders others dependent on or observant of you. Natural advantage is a lovely thing, and present in all spontaneous, undirected order, but can it ossify, in time, and become privilege? Of course it can. Humans make habits of everything.
Now it's starting to be my opinion that I have been considering two rather distinct anarchist ideas. One is a process of collaboration and ally-making with others, not as roles or offices but people. The second is the classic political project of assaulting and questioning concentrated power. There is structure and there is also culture. They interplay and each feeds the other; sapping a poison from one pool will only buy time before the other feeds the one.
That principle, a bit of moral fluff, is going to be true both here and in the Anarchist Utopia, since there will always be some forms of power or--a better term perhaps--advantage that renders others dependent on or observant of you. Natural advantage is a lovely thing, and present in all spontaneous, undirected order, but can it ossify, in time, and become privilege? Of course it can. Humans make habits of everything.
Now it's starting to be my opinion that I have been considering two rather distinct anarchist ideas. One is a process of collaboration and ally-making with others, not as roles or offices but people. The second is the classic political project of assaulting and questioning concentrated power. There is structure and there is also culture. They interplay and each feeds the other; sapping a poison from one pool will only buy time before the other feeds the one.
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