Re: A Parable of Two Carpenters

From: Beth (BethStone21_at_hotmail.NOSPICEDHAM.com)
Date: 12/08/03 

Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2003 09:51:14 -0000

Alan Connor wrote:
> Sinewave wrote:
> > Beth wrote:
> >> it's tempting to wonder sometimes if the world would actually
> >> be in a better or worse state were all the world leaders
> >> simply removed tomorrow.
> >
> > wouldn't a true democracy allow everyone to vote on every issue?
>
> Democracy sucks: Unless you are in the 51% majority that gets to
tell the
> other 49% how to live, of course.

Well, more colloquially put, but that's the essence of Churchill's
comments that democracy is crap...but, unfortunately, everything else
is even worse...so, well, it'll have to do for now, I suppose...

Other commentators have pointed out that democracy is actually just
"civilised mob rule"...that is, if you like, the lunch mob waving
their torches, flooding the streets, crying for murder...well, they
first sit down and discuss it - granting everyone free speech to make
their case - and then take a vote on it, in a "civilised"
manner..._then_, if the vote goes their way, they go rushing into the
streets waving their torches, setting fire to everything...in other
words, there's nothing particular about democracy that guarantees that
the "mob" will choose the right option necessarily...it's just that
they'll be "civilised" and "fair" about the debate and the vote prior
to whatever it is that they'll do...

Another way to look at it is that it's just a "popularity contest",
really...the presumption that what's "right" is also what's
"popular"...well, there's a flawed premise, if there's ever been
one...hey, I'm sure all those Romans _Loved_ watching Christians being
ripped apart by lions and gladiators stick swords into each
other...that stuff was incredibly popular (and, as condemning of human
nature as it is, if revived then it would also probably outsell even
P.T.Barnum as the "Greatest Show on Earth"...I mean, all that "Big
Brother", "Robot Wars" (called "Robotica" in the US, right?), "Pop
Idol" (US: "American Idol"...presumably as "rock" tends to win out
over "pop" in the US that the show probably did, for once, deserve a
name change when it crossed the Atlantic)...heck, "Gladiators" is
actually _called_ "Gladiators" and isn't hiding its influence...oh,
you just know it...if there wasn't those pesky "murder" laws then
those TV execs would happily turn "Gladiators" into the real
deal...that, actually, is, of course, the premise behind "the Running
Man" movie with Arnie...that they decide to permit those on death row
to have one more chance at freedom, in return for providing everyone
with _real_ Gladiator-type entertainment :)...and all those poor old
fools - and they really do exist as I've heard them - who say things
like "oh, yes, we could do with a good war"...basically, because they
are _bored_, they'd like a war in order to give them something to do
(!!!)...I shudder to imagine people like that winning the "popularity
contest"...although, at times, I wonder if they haven't already done
so...

"As we know, there are known knowns. There are things we know we know.
We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say, we know there
are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns,
the ones we don't know we don't know."
[ Donald Rumsfeld - Feb. 12, 2002 - DoD news briefing ]

> Without the right of non-participation, the right to refuse to be
involved in
> anything you don't want to be involved in, there is NO freedom, only
the
> illusion thereof.

Correct; "There is no freedom, only the illusion thereof"...but what
has to realised is that this is a generalised statement and is not in
any way particular to democracy at all (which actually at least
_attempts_ to provide some mechanisms towards some limited form of
"freedom"...the others don't do so whatsoever...they don't even bother
with "illusions" either, in many cases...there's not even a chance for
you to even "influence" the decision at all...Churchill had it in the
bag when he pointed out that, yes, democracy has its flaws...but it's
actually the least flawed in a whole bunch of terrible
possibilities)...

Now, anarchists might try to suggest that anarchy would be "true
freedom"...but that's actually complete bullcrap...all anarchy does is
remove the system so there's no formalised structure at all...but,
well, look at anarchy in action...does all the looting, burning,
revenge killings and so forth in Iraq (and also, there's still some of
this going on in Afghanistan here and there) look like some "ideal" of
freedom? Nope...anarchy would be "might is right" rule, that's
all...it's also an unmaintainable position...anarchy always fails
because some sort of system always comes to replace it...even if that
"system" is just a case of one person with some "private army"
bullying people to do things, it's still a "system"...formalised
paperwork just makes things "officially" so but "systems" exist with
or without consent, with or without "official" status...anarchy
_always_ fails (which is about the only good thing that can be said
about it)...anarchy is NOT freedom...not really...because if there's
gunfire everywhere and "militias" just barging on into any home they
like, taking whatever they like and probably setting it on fire
afterward...some guy with a gun decides he wants to rape your wife and
even your children then there's not much you can do about it...unless
you want to try taking on those guns, which could end up with a worse
situation that your family is raped and murdered, anyway, but you're
dead on top of it as well...well, you _wouldn't_ feel very "free" in
such a situation whatsoever...on the ground, hiding away somewhere
Hoping you're not some random victim caught in cross-fire, praying
that no-one's particularly interested in breaking into your home...in
that situation, that's probably where a person feels _least_ "free" of
any "system" that could be in place...heck, even a dictatorship - as
long as it's peacefully so - is often longed for by people in this
situation (I was against the war in Iraq but even I recognise that
when some Iraqis say "things were better under Saddam", you have to
interpret that _in context_)...

> In other words: Take that vote of yours, stick it where the sun
don't shine,
> and learn to mind your own business.

Well, that's your democratic right...it may have problems but only
democracy respects that opinion and lets you do whatever you feel like
doing with your vote...on my part, I _always_ vote whenever I
can...the world _is_ crap in many places but moaning about it doesn't
so a great deal, in the end...a single vote might not amount to a
great deal in the wider picture (though, if we're on that 50% / 50%
dividing line, a single vote _can_ make all the difference in the
world)...but it's likely the best deal you'll ever be granted...well,
you said it, didn't you? "There is no freedom, only the illusion
thereof"...hence, this is the best deal the "dictators" will ever be
granting you...if you're sitting around waiting for some ideal
"freedom" to pop up somewhere, you've got an awful long wait...when
the world is all crap, you have to simply get by as best you can with
whatever cards - however crap - that have been dealt to you...if you
see a chance to improve on that then, sure, take it...but you can't
have everything...that's fact...so take those opportunities - however
small or slight - when they present themselves...or, otherwise, you
will get nothing whatsoever...the world - as far as it's concern -
owes you absolutely nothing...so, if it's offering anything to you
that seems even marginally "nice", then it's dumb to let it just pass
by...

But, most importantly, people died and sacrificed to get that
vote...don't take it for granted because it was NOT "owed" to
anyone...it was fought hard and brutually for centuries to get where
we are...you might not think that it's particularly special but this
is like a game of "snakes and ladders"...if enough people just let
things go and don't hold onto what was fought so hard for, it _can_ be
lost...we _can_ all end up sliding straight down one of those snakes
and be right back on square one...and if you think the square you're
currently on isn't particularly great, then you really have no idea
what _hell_ "square one" is...trust me, you don't want for things to
go back anywhere near there...being born _after_ these things have
been fought for, it's easy to get the impression that this is
"normal"...that it's all stuff you can take for granted as always
being there...sorry, not true at all...there was a very long, hard and
bloody slog up to this square on the board...and - like what actually
tends to be the case with a real gameboard (as it keeps the game going
on for longer :) - there's _more_ snakes than there are ladders...and
though it's effortless to slide down a snake, climbing a ladder has to
be done rung by rung...to get here took millions - if not billions,
added up together - of deaths and hard, hard struggles and
sacrifice...much of it done knowing that they won't themselves
particularly benefit but their children and children's children -
namely, _us_ - were worth the sacrifice so that we could have a better
life to live...

There's no way I'm going to disrespect that for a split-second...even
if I'm not feeling particularly interested in the choice on offer
(which, you might be able to tell, tends to happen too often for my
liking), I'm going to that voting booth...and, I mean, even if
obstacles are thrown in my way, I'm _still_ going there...principles
_do_ count...it's principles that mean that there is a voting booth at
all...that I live a relatively safe and easy life to allow me to get
there...all these things - even the bits that, sure, could really do
with severe improvements - come from principles and people willing to
do what's necessary to make those principles real...it's not
particularly "fashionable" in modern times to have principles or a
respect for them because TV adverts have worked in this "me, me, me"
attitude as being "standard"...but if anyone's asking me to make a
choice between those people who fought for these principles and some
shampoo TV advert (which, I guarantee you, is simply _LYING_ to you,
anyway...that supermodel _won't_ suddenly want to marry you, just
because you've gone and washed your hair...after all, millions of
other men have bought the same shampoo...how on Earth could that work?
A "time-sharing" agreement? ;), then there really is NO contest
whatsoever...like making a size comparison between a single atom and
the whole of the known universe...nope, it's that shampoo commercial
and its entire plastic non-world, that can stick that shampoo bottle
where the Sun don't shine...

Beth :)