Tag: politics
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Five Ways to Fight ISIS Without Killing People
Like many Americans with a memory, I’m stunned how easily this country can be convinced to support another undeclared war in the Middle East. All the media has to do is run a week of programming alluding to nice folks getting their heads chopped off, then do a big poll that establishes the “fact” that…
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Why I Didn’t Participate in “Occupy vs. Tea Party”
I was initially very excited to participate in “Occupy vs. Tea Party” because I viewed it as a platform to bring the two political movements together through dialogue. The confrontational framing of the “debate” seemed like an obstacle that could be overcome by focusing on problems upon which both “sides” seem to agree: the central…
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The FLO Consensus: Author’s Cut
Within the Occupy Movement and, from what I understand, in many of the social movements that preceded it, there has always been a conflict between the “revolutionaries” that want to create a crisis to first disrupt, and then destroy, the existing social order; and the “reformers” who want to take control of existing power structures…
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As If We Couldn’t
If you listen to media’s murmuring, you’d think that the American people were ready to give up. The bankers are too crafty, the corporations too powerful and the politicians too pliant. We don’t know which way is up, where to turn or on whom to depend. We’re lost, sad, unhappy, and maybe a little overweight.…
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Political Structure in 3D
Dahl’s definition of polyarchy is good, but it’s not complete. His theory doesn’t account for the most powerful force in politics: information distribution. Those who control access to information have tremendous political power because they can amplify certain elements within society and silence others. By adding openness to Dalh’s polyarchy graph as the third dimension,…