constant enforcement

“the lesson should be constantly enforced that, though the people support the government, the government should not support the people.”-- grover Cleveland in 1887 in response to request for drought relief from texas. “for that matter, it never occurs to apian that his class as such needs defending, rome is imperiled by plebian violence. likewise when the dictator sulla give fortuitous birth to himself, saving rome from herself, by means of easy bloodshed, his tools demand ‘that the voting should be controlled by the well-to-do and sober-minded rather than by the pauper and reckless classes; there would no longer be left any starting point for civil; discord.’ sulla and apian do not conceive of mass revolution, only of mass disorder.”__william t. vollmann from rising up, rising down. "the convention...have directed the president to be chosen by select bodies of electors to be deputed by the people for that express purpose; and they have committed the appointment of senators to the state legislatures. this mode has, in such cases, vastly the advantage of elections by the people in their collective capacity where the activity of party zeal, taking advantage of the supineness, the ignorance, and the hopes and fears of the unwary and uninterested, often places men in office by the votes of a small proportion of the electors." the federalist LXVI ( john jay)_____________ most politicians have distanced themselves from “the demos”…”the mob”…never fully trusted it not to turn on them like a pack of jackals half-starved by b f skinner for one of his twisted experiments in “operant conditioning” ( a form of behavioral amendment and control that lures elites like moths to flame…skinner is still a very popular man in some circles…and starvation is a useful tool when it comes to behavior…from the potato famine to the great depression [ with some truly gruesome refinements by stalin] it had its uses )…oh they are more than happy to divide “the people” and turn a well indoctrinated and controlled “mob” loose on real or perceived threats to their hegemony…but a populist mob with a reform from below agenda scares the crap out of them...so from apian and sulla through john jay and grover Cleveland the elites have cloaked their interests in the guise of national interests”…make resistance to those interests tantamount to treason and allowing them to bring down the full weight of the legal system and a group of raging “patriots” down on anyone who might have thoughts about a “different way” or some sort of alternate distribution of wealth and power…violence isn’t always necessary and, usually, isn’t really productive…indoctrination ( we are back to skinner again ) can be more effective and less costly and if violence is deemed a necessity it will ensure a nob of properly aimed and controlled goons who won’t question their handlers too closely…at least at first…those three guys in the photo…they are hegemons…don’t let the bubbaness of two of them ( one an ivy leaguer and the other a rhodes scholar ) or the hopeful ethnicity of the other ivy leaguer fool you into thinking they were any less bent on a class oriented agenda than the current denizen of the white house ( who has displayed some skill at energizing a mob of dilatant thugs but seems oblivious to the mood of a seeming majority of the nation…he is also, i might add, a profound devotee of the ideas expressed by Cleveland…”the government” and the elite he surely comes from are on in the same...in his mind [ oddly much like the attitude of richard Nixon] we owe him unstinting loyalty and the recognition that he is above the law and can do what he pleases)…the history of the interests of wealth as the national interest have a long and fabled history…all that neo-classical kitch in the nation’s capitol is an indication that the early republic and its later celebrants saw themselves as the true heirs to rome..in many ways they still do…a close reading of gibbon or tainter might be illuminating for them…one presumes they are not interested in anything emanating from “neo-mathusian nay sayers”…well…denial will bite you on the ass every time…i have to wonder what hunter would have made of all this.

reading the n y times ( sort of )

today's n y times weighs in at a hefty three pounds twelve and three-quarter ounces...who knew there was so much news? i mean i knew there were climate related issues ( i talked to my brother in florida yesterday and will try to do so again today ) and the assorted tererorists and diplomats and batshit crazy north koreans ( well complimented by the current swamptown crop of loons cast in ideological concrete...where is the lake of fire? ) but an almost four pound newspapaer? then i opened it and things began to gain perspective...lots of inserts..the usual sunday magazine and the quarterly "style" magazine ( more on those soon enough...patience )..additionally there is a "special offer from the economist to n y times readers ( i can, if i act quickly, save $321.87 off the twelve week regular subscription rate of $333.87 by claiming the unheard of low price of a buck a week...that's right...twelve weeks for twelve bucks because i am a n y times reader...astonishing...you can see my response in, i believe, the sixth photo...the only people who believe economists anymore are other economists and "free market" geeks with their heads up their asses )...there is an entire brochure for wonderful cruises and another for "eight exceptional days" of $9590 sofas and $7180 dining room sets...a pattern was becoming discernible...so...armed with the latest times advertising rates for color and black and white advertising i began to look at the magazines..the "style" magazine (http://nytmediakit.com/uploads/rates/CRS-9040_2016_Rate_Cards_TMag_EC3.pdf there's the price list url ) had advertising worth $7,200,322 and, as a side note, turned an article about the travel writer and novelist bruce chatwin into a vehicle for selling outdoor clothing...everything is for sale at the times...while the sunday magazine "education issue" ( educating whom to what i wonder ) had a measly $1,927,350 (http://nytmediakit.com/uploads/rates/CRS-9040_2016_Rate_Cards_Magazine_EC2.pdf )...interestingly enough milton hershey, fordham, uc davis, ucla, nyu, harvard medical school seton hall, adelphi, pace, and loyola marymount universities accounted or $1,177, 825 of that total...you have to spend money to make money...every university bean counter knows that...my news is distorted and my desires are engineered ( at least that is the hope )...we all live in the memory hole now and everything is spun to the point of unrecognizability...i never looked for "truth"...it is too subjective...sifting through all this blather and self-serving crap for fact is a tedious business...i keep trying though...everyone has an agenda and the world is replete with liars, grifters, and swindlers...america in the 21st century has tapped into the main nerve of that...the "hog butcher to the world" is turning into a nation of gated communities and flea markets...we passed the crossroads a ways back and i wonder if the street us wide enough for a u-turn.