How many time do we have to be swindled until we realize that this oligarchy is not even a two party system? Politics as theater has sunk to a new low and yet we are having to cope with more denial. There never were two parties when it comes to the ruling oligarchy. They control them both. All that noise about the Koch brothers is a nice diversion. You could remove them from the scene and very little would change.
That's why systems are the essence of reality. Complex adaptive systems are organized with very special hierarchical levels with lots of loops and feedback between the levels. Human arrogance teaches that humans can control such systems. Reality proves the opposite.
Read on below if you are getting the picture.
The Tea Party are a bunch of renegades who tried to take over one party and that little insurrection was instructive. I am waiting for the reality of what happened to them to sink in if it ever will., Meanwhile the progressives are licking their wounds tonight and I wonder how much they really understand about this system.
I read all the disappointment and wonder what was expected. Do you really believe you can change this system through electoral politics?
History is a good teacher. The New Deal saved the system and set it up to become what it is becoming more and more. Once it stabilized after a depression and war the sops thrown to the riff raff were no longer necessary. Piketty's book spells this out quite well while using less pointed language to keep its scholarly facade.
Power is a very real thing and it does not have a conscience or a morality. What we are seeing is the very natural systematic exercise of power by those who have it as a group, not as individuals. The Koch brothers, the banks, the military, Monsanto, the insurance companies, the fossil fuel industry, the Universities, the political system, technology, and more are all part of one big powerful system. The players we identify obscure our vision and make it impossible for us to understand the system that we are in.
The political system also plays its role along with the media. To a population whose brains have been rewired by TV, the theatrics are entertaining even when they are frustrating and oppressive.
Think of the time, effort, and money wasted on the last election. That is a good measure of how very strong this system is. It also demonstrates the lack of vision of the people who play the game.
Meanwhile the number of books talking about the coming collapse of the system is growing. I have two new ones here on my desk. Our own book is two years old. They now talk about our brains being wired to ignore things like climate change, but it goes much further than that.
I have been accused of being arrogant because of my certainty that I am right about this. Believe me I'd give anything to be wrong.
It is time for those who have been so sure people like me are wrong to come up with an explanation for what is happening. I think you are running out of excuses. It may even be too late. All I can say is we tried.