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prominent researchers have produced compelling evidence that “economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence.”
Mystery prominent researchers
one of the leading scholars of
must be right then. Mention leading scholar!
Walter Dean Burnham.
Who?
system: the total absence of a socialist or laborite mass party as an organized competitor in the electoral market,”
Speculation. What about complacency, a lack of want, legacy, cultural norms and influences.
Class war, typically one-sided, has a long and bitter history. At the dawn of the modern state capitalist era, Adam Smith condemned the “masters of mankind” of his day, the “merchants and manufacturers” of England, who were “by far the principal architects” of policy, and who made sure their own interests were “most peculiarly attended to” no matter how “grievous” the effect on others (primarily the victims of their “savage injustice” abroad, but much of the population of England as well).
Adam Smith deist and friend of David Hume. Class of people is an enlightenment construct. The lord, yeoman or peasant were not of differing class but status. This is measured by degrees of responsibility which accompanied land owning and title. With status came responsibility. Those of greater responsibility were to provide for those of lower status: work, education, justice, magistrate, alms for times of deprivation
of increasingly monopolized economies, the gargantuan and often predatory financial institutions, the multinationals protected by state power, and the political figures who largely represent their interests.
Can't live with them but can we live without them?
scarcely a day passes without new reports of ominous
Here we go!
technical studies.
University of Bristol. A bastion of leftist interpretation.
a near miracle.
Encouraging
“a foe under attack might assume the worst and overreact, initiating nuclear war.”
Trust when dealing with bullies and dictators balance of power works
Armageddon.
Guardian and New York times. These folks employ their own kind
Thorstein Veblen’s
Who?
There is not much time.
Classic apocryphal writing.
“anarchists of the lecture-platform.”
Like that turn of phrase.
mean the pretension of raising writers, scientists, professors and philologists to the rank of supermen” who dare to “treat our generals as idiots, our social institutions as absurd and our traditions as unhealthy.”
Prescient
one of the world’s most enlightened states
Profoundly disagree. The French enlightenment project was anything but.
were, in fact,
"In fact", really"
John Dewey
The pattern of praise and punishment is a familiar one throughout history: those who line up in the service of the state are typically praised by the general intellectual community, and those who refuse to line up in service of the state are punished.
Probably more accurately say that in regard clan, tribe or nation. How can opponents help the clan flourish?/ Dissent and engagement is healthy, whereas rebellion unhealthy.
Though in later years that is the case. Robespierre would broker no opposition.
prominent scholars.
Which ones?
aristocratic cliques, fascist movements,
Subtle correlation.
“after the utmost deliberation by the more thoughtful members of the community” had reached its “moral verdict.”
I just dont recognize this path to the first war. Moreover, contexts are so different for each conflict.
“Truman had been able to govern the country with the cooperation of a relatively small number of Wall Street lawyers and bankers,” and democracy therefore flourished.
It set the conditions.
“those who were not rich, well born, or prominent from exercising political power,”
Equally you could say, "not prepared, trained, cultured, educated, gifted, insightful etc"
Roman world.
That didn't turn out well.
“whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country, and whose patriotism and love of justice will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations.”
It is what we're looking for in a Messsiah like Jeremy Corbyn
Adam Smith had the sharper eye.
He had a better anthropology.
who was only removed from the official State Department terrorist list in 2008,
Because he at no stage sought forgiveness from he terrorised with bomb or Winnies' neckless wielding blood thirsty thugs that patrolled Sowetto.
South Africa’s depredations in neighboring countries, which led, according to a UN study, to 1.5 million deaths.
That is simply fake news and a travesty in light of the SA Army's defeat of the Soviet Union's proxy forces in Angola.
We may add hundreds of thousands of corpses in Central America and tens of thousands more in the Middle East, among other achievements.
US intervention policies have been disastrous since 1914. I agree. But not using sanctions on SA was restraining U.S. meddling. The death toll since 1989 has simply exponentially increased. It's the elephant in the room
vastly exceeded
More than 60 million so it was equally henious.
We have no difficulty demanding that our enemies follow such principles.
Agree
Andrei Sakharov or Shirin Ebadi
distinguished
Hardly. His church, Rome, has rescinded his licence. Which is something else these days.
Hans Küng, restoring the teachings of the gospels that had been
Uh?
The heresy of Vatican II was taken up by Latin American bishops, who adopted the “preferential option for the poor.”
I think we're levering in Liberation Theology here which is ideological not theological and an aberration in gospel terms. Christ died for all regardless of riches or poverty
Vatican II
Vatican II was not liberation theology. I've studied it. V2 was an endeavour to reconcile churches around the one gospel.
liberation theology.
Again, it was not theology but left wing ideology. Not condoning murder but dont claim this has anything to do with Christianity as defined by Christ Jesus.
spending a little time with the survivors, who are among the kindest
It's often the way but history shows folks can turn nasty without a change of heart or rule of law
and that we could at the very least have easily ameliorated.
Easy to say after the fact.
spoken such words at the Duma
Conceivable turn of events given a different history. The Duma, a bastion of atheism would welcome a fellow ideologue.
simply murdered
I agree. Unjust, and quite wrong.
crimes: Apache, Blackhawk,
I think you'll find it's a mark of respect for the Indian warrior caste
Would we accept the word
This is all rather revisionist. Shall we speak of the despicable crimes of native Indians. Their slaughter of neighbours?
Arguably,
He's got a point
while the value-oriented are punished in one way or another.
Another one of those dichotomies, heroes and villains. Is it more simply success, envy, greed, jostling for power and influence?
hemlock,
That's Socrates and besides nobody was more surprised than the authorities who simply expected him to leave.
dissident intellectuals,
Maybe- , speaking out against corruption and rebellion against God's law.
pattern is understandable.
Fair enough. He's almost there.
