In a democratic nation of three hundred million citizens my own personal political views appear to represent a unique anomaly. Left, Right and Center positions are all (to a greater or lesser degree) foreign to me. Nowhere even on the lunatic fringe have I located a single voice which truly speaks to me. From the standpoint of political opinion I may as well be living alone in the farthest reaches of the South Pacific on one of those remote atolls devastated by atomic testing in the fifties. Hence the title of this diary. I cast my aberrant opinions into the blogosphere time and again in the vain hope that someday a random current in cyberspace will connect me with others who may think as I do. On that happy day (if it ever comes) I will no longer be a lone crackpot; instead I will be a proud partisan of a fringe political group with a unique agenda. And then who knows... anything may happen.
So what are these strange and seditious views which I harbor? I list the key points plainly here on the "label" of this bottle so that you may easily decide for yourself. If the contents described below sound ridiculous you can quickly move to the next diary with only a few seconds of your precious time wasted. But if these ideas sound less than totally crazy, you may (at your leisure) remove the cork and follow the link below to a more complete exposition of these views (approximately ten thousand words). If I'm able to persuade you perhaps you'll even join me on my quest. That's the hope anyhow.
What I believe...
1. Democratic Politics is an oxymoron. It is the fundamental nature of political behavior to foster and exacerbate social divisions, not lessen them. Universal suffrage may be preferable to limited suffrage but Democratic equality in the polling place is no assurance of social or economic equality after the election. Voting may easily exist side by side with the most horrific inequality and repression.
2. Political Reform, as it is currently understood, seeks to soften this contradiction by addressing the symptoms but it is an awkward and impossible compromise; like refereeing a battle between a Lion and a herd of Hippos. A Constitutional amendment protecting the ability to regulate campaign finance (the current cause celebre) is just such a compromise. To truly reform politics (to the extent of eliminating social and economic inequalities) we would have to transform politics beyond all recognition. "The patient died but the operation was a success"; this is the level of conflict between the mutually exclusive requirements of politics and social justice.
3. "Reform" worthy of the name requires a much deeper conversation. We must move beyond Enlightenment era concepts and and broaden our thinking to include Darwin as well. Viewed in the broad context of human social evolution, institutions that were appropriate in the 18th Century may well be viewed as hopelessly obsolete today. Seen from this perspective contemporary notions of reform may seem woefully inadequate.
4. Peace, justice and environmental sanity will remain an impossible dream until we reform our Government in a manner appropriate to the staggering scientific and technological changes which have transformed human society in recent centuries. Under the existing institutions Progressives may win a battle here and there, but it is a war which we will ultimately lose unless we can change the nature of the contest. Politics as we know it is an exercise in futility (for progressives). It is a distraction which prevents us from taking more serious action.
Many people share my disdain for politics but few are willing to engage in serious conversation about alternatives. The general attitude seems to be that there are no viable or realistic substitutes for our established institutions. Yes, of course, we are obligated to work within the confines of the existing broken system, but without a serious transformational goal we are nothing more than hostages bargaining for better conditions of enslavement. We need to set our sights higher. Much higher. If you're prepared to question all of our existing institutions and entertain some highly unconventional ideas the following link may interest you. It leads to a forty page essay speculating on the evolutionary relationship between ecology, politics and government. It is my conclusion that politics represents an evolutionary dead end and only by embracing non-political forms of social organization may we realistically hope for substantive change. I don't promote any specific plan of political action but there are some fairly obvious implications I think. The political course which speaks to me most forcefully would be to lobby for the extension of the Pendleton Civil Service Act to cover the selection of all political candidates.
Why not extend the reach of this landmark legislation? A political candidate is an applicant for Government employment; shouldn't they be held to the same standards as any other job seeker? I don't see this as a complete or perfect solution but I think it is a far superior goal to that of simply regulating campaign finance.
The first three sections of the following essay are basically just a condemnation of our existing institutions so if I'm preaching to the choir you may, after reading the preface, reasonably skip ahead to the section labelled "Checks and Balances". If you have an open mind and a long attention span I hope you'll give it a read.
https://docs.google.com/...