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Author Archives: Larry Franz
The Masses
From Thinking the Twentieth Century by Tony Judt:
“Mass democracy in an age of mass media means that on the one hand, you can reveal very quickly that Bush stole the 2000 election, but on the other hand, much of the population doesn’t care.”
Or agree. And thinks it was all for the best.
Judt argues that it would have been more difficult for the Republicans to steal the election in an era of limited suffrage, because the people eligible to participate in the election would have cared more about the outcome. He doesn’t think that this is an argument for limited democracy, but rather for democracy in which the rule of law and the separation of powers have key roles.
All of which we had in 2000, of course. Even in a mass democracy, an individual or a small group (like the Congress or Supreme Court) almost always get to decide. The nine people on the Supreme Court cared a lot about the outcome of the 2000 election. Five of them cared too much.
Gore Vidal 1925-2012
On monotheism:
“I regard monotheism as the greatest disaster ever to befall the human race. I see no good in Judaism, Christianity, or Islam — good people, yes, but any religion based on a single… well, frenzied and virulent god, is not as useful to the human race as, say, Confucianism, which is not a religion but an ethical and educational system that has worked pretty well for twenty-five hundred years. So you see I am ecumenical in my dislike for the Book. But like it or not, the Book is there; and because of it people die; and the world is in danger.” (1988)
“The great unmentionable evil at the center of our culture is monotheism. From a barbaric Bronze Age text known as the Old Testament, three anti-human religions have evolved — Judaism, Christianity, Islam. These are sky-god religions. They are, literally, patriarchal — God is the Omnipotent Father — hence the loathing of women for 2,000 years in those countries afflicted by the sky-god and his earthly male delegates. The sky-god is a jealous god, of course. He requires total obedience from everyone on earth, as he is in place not for just one tribe but for all creation. Those who would reject him must be converted or killed for their own good. Ultimately, totalitarianism is the only sort of politics that can truly serve the sky-god’s purpose.” (1992)
On himself:
“I am at heart a propagandist, a tremendous hater, a tiresome nag, complacently positive that there is no human problem which could not be solved if people would simply do as I advise.” (1956)
“Whenever a friend succeeds, a little something in me dies.” (1992)
Romney Tells the Truth. Oops!
Michael Kinsley once said that a political gaffe is when a politician tells the truth — some obvious truth he isn’t supposed to say. There are other kinds of gaffes, of course, but this kind can be especially informative.
Yesterday, Mitt Romney praised the efficiency of the Israeli health care system. It is efficient, since they spend much less than we do per capita while getting better results and providing universal coverage.
Maybe Romney didn’t realize it, but it’s important to note that the Israeli healthcare system is single-payer and government-regulated. It is, in fact, an example of socialism at its best.
Definitely the kind of political gaffe described by Michael Kinsley.
Two Good Ones
Especially this first one, which suggests that the people in the economic middle need to identify more with the people at the bottom than the people at the top. And includes a nice turn of phrase: “money breeds power and power breeds more money”.
This second one makes the reasonable suggestion that fewer kids should be required to pass that major stumbling block called “algebra”. That way more kids would stay in school or even flourish.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/opinion/sunday/is-algebra-necessary.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Whereof One Can Speak 🇺🇦 
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