Thursday, November 17, 2005
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SEVEN SYMPTOMS OF FASCISM
1.
When leaders operate on the assumption that they know better than the people, and use their superior brand of knowledge to enhance their power and prestige as opposed to exercising it in the interest of the people. To put it more bluntly, they believe their privileged knowledge authorizes them to behave like masters rather than servants.
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2.
When they explain the nation’s problems by putting the blame on others rather than on the corruption, incompetence, and blunders of their predecessors. Hitler blamed Germany’s problems on Jews, and we blame ours on Turks, the degenerate West, and our own traitors and collaborators with the enemy.
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3.
When the men at the top assume their personal integrity is such that accountability becomes an irrelevant concept.
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4.
When they prefer the company of yes-men and brown-nosers to that of critics and dissidents.
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5.
When they speak in the name of an ideology, which they confuse with theology.
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6.
When they control the press by setting editorial policy and they confuse dissent with hostility or disloyalty.
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7.
When a leader and his gang of elitist cronies view their subjects as lesser men.
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Friday, November 18, 2005
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PROBLEMS AND THEIR SOLUTIONS
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Whenever I speak of our problems, I am told in no uncertain terms, “We know all about them. What we need is solutions,” the implication being, unless I make our problems disappear by verbal magic, I might as well shut up and mind my own business.
Common sense, common knowledge, and common decency (rare commodities among us) tell us, the first and most important step in solving a problem is to state it as clearly, objectively, and accurately as possible. But as long as our men at the top reject all charges of incompetence, we will consistently fail to do that.
If one is to believe our leaders, their conduct and the conduct of their predecessors has been beyond reproach. If you dare to question that absurd assertion, you will be labeled an enemy of the people and silenced (I speak from experience).
In such an environment, where denial has become second nature in our leadership, only divine intervention will solve our problems, and so far there is no evidence to suggest that somebody up there is remotely interested in getting involved in our affairs.
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Saturday, November 19, 2005
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LITERATURE AND POLITICS
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The function of literature is to understand and explain reality. The aim of political parties is to understand and explain only a fraction of reality, and more specifically, the fraction that will enhance their power and popularity. As a result, the medium of politics is not the truth but only a fraction of the truth, which is how propaganda is defined: a fraction of the truth.
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Like most people I have committed my share of blunders and I spend a fraction of every day regretting them. Which is why I find the conduct of our wheeler-dealers, charlatans, and propagandists incomprehensible. They go about their business of sermonizing, speechifying, and editorializing as if they were role models leading exemplary lives.
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If I am not a self-righteous and a self-satisfied jackass it may because I can’t afford to surround myself with yes-men and brown-nosers who will remind me every day that I am as infallible as the Pope of Rome and as magnificent as Suleiman.
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And speaking of the Pope: I read the following press release in our local paper today: “The Vatican’s chief astronomer said yesterday that ‘intelligent design isn’t science and doesn’t belong in science classrooms.'”
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If Genghis Khan was to the left of the Vatican, Bush and Co. must be to the right of Genghis Khan.
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