The institutional practice of allocating power within a society, which generally includes the assignment and exercise of authority [legitimate power] by various means, including violence.
I cringe every time I hear some talking head refer to the gang of thieves engaged in an autocratic attempt to overthrow a democracy, however flawed, as “the administration.” Why? Because my first thought is, what exactly are they administering? An administration administrates; it does not plunder. Well, occasionally some do in relatively minor ways. … More When is an Administration a Regime?
image credit: AARP My father was an insurance claims adjuster. He was also an extremely ethical man. When a claimant tried to overstate the damage from a fire, or lie about that diamond necklace, which actually may not have been stolen, it angered him greatly. I came to hate insurance because of what his role … More Insurance: Public Capital for Public Benefit
Photo Credit: Wikipedia For whatever reason, the phrase “friendly persuasion” popped into my head a couple of days ago. “Wasn’t that the title of an old movie?” I thought. Yep! 1956. Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire, and Anthony Perkins starred in the “story of a Quaker family in southern Indiana during the American Civil War and … More (Un)Friendly Persuasion
[Image Credit R. Christie. A google search yielded no graphic image that reflected more or less inequality in a society, so I drew one. Notice where the widest parts are. More inequality exists where the bottom of the figure is wide (the very poor) and the top (mega-billionaires) is narrow. Less inequality is shown by … More Inequality is a Verb: It is a Process, Not Just a Condition
[Photo credit: Al Jazeera] I’m sorry, but billionaires have no excuse for promoting ignorance as knowledge. They cover their tracks well, but have all the access in the world to find the truth of anything. But that is not what their pontifications and prognostications are all about. As always, they are about their obsessive compulsive … More Billionaires Who Carefully Know Nothing and Care Less
ALCATRAZ ~ It is not that we have no choice. But to choose requires conscious awareness of the situation as well as the alternatives and some ideas about how to achieve them. Some folks have difficulty making decisions and would rather have someone in authority make decisions for us. I think it was Theodore Adorno, … More Due Process vs Dictatorship
Political power disintegrates when the people withdraw their obedience and support. ~ Gene Sharp The Musk’s hyper-tech-bro ruffians storm-trooping through the federal government has moved as fast as phantom fairy dust from the Wicked Witch of the West. The initial response of widespread protest has moved fast too, but not nearly fast enough to have … More It’s Only the Beginning: Tyranny and Resistance
Of course, in the United States and in other industrialized nations many people wish they were billionaires. That is what the culture of consumerism has taught them. Even the billionaires who turn out to be scoundrels at best, are idolized for their wealth however ill-gotten. The “greed is good” value system of ‘Gordon Gecko’ (played … More Energy Equity Requires No Billionaires
I guess the saying, “There is no accounting for taste” may be true after all. Nevertheless, some things can be said of choice when it involves contagion and fear. Sometimes taste may be only part of the explanation of political self-destructive behavior. There are, for example, too many reasons why people who really do not … More A Gang of Sycophants and the Dominator Culture
“Yes, sometimes we need to take a moment, shed a tear, and then double down on our commitment to building a cleaner, fairer world for all. The recent #USElection results may have left many of us rattled, though perhaps not surprised.“ ~ Mamta Borgoyary, Executive Director, She Changes Climate I have tried to maintain a … More Does Realism Trump Hope?
Robert MacNeil Christie, Author 