"it was the first care of the senate to dissolve those confederacies which taught mankind, that, as the roman arms prevailed by division, they might be resisted union." edward gibbon-"the history of the decline and fall of the roman empire" vol.I chapter II___________________________________it is a fact of human nature that, however benignly we look at our fellows, we still think that the group we define ourselves as "belonging" to is better than those outside our own...this exceptionalism can range from mild forbearance to ethnic cleansing, depending on who is pulling the group['s control levers ( and so community is a pharmakon...in reasonable doses it creates a sense of security and belonging...in larger doses the "other" becomes the cause of all problems and their destruction is the only cure...we have seen this...we will see it again )...the n y times "t" magazine "culture" issue came in today's paper...its focus is "56 months that changed the culture"...the culture of n y city...as if that burg had a lock on what passes for culture here...the n y times is an elitist newspaper, acting as the mouthpiece for the hegemonic culture [gramsci] ( elite, the rich, the 1%..the deep state....whatever you call it ) and their intent is to display to me how uncouth, provincial, and culturally illiterate i am......hegemonic culture is in the hands of a distinct minority and it is ion their interest to keep the population at large deflated and subservient...divided and unaware of the fact that they are the majority...a possibility of self-awareness that so troubled hamilton over shay's rebellion and moved madison to decry and "interested and overbearing majority" as faction...an informed and insistent electorate could gum up the works of extraction practiced by the few..the framers of the constitution tried to present the federal government as a neutral umpire of the special interests that make up the polity...( dividing us into interest group...nra/gun control, pro life/pro choice, coke/pepsi, ford/chevy is a first principle for subsuming the individual voter into a bloc where, like it or not, they are forced to compromise their individual positions to the group's which may not accurately reflect how they feel on all issues...and groups are much easier to control than individuals...orwell understood "groupthink" as a weapon of power...behavioral command and control )...the problem is the government is never neutral...influence is bought and sold every day in the capital and no amount of digging will drain swamptown...at some point it will collapse from its own weight into a simpler form ( read tainter )...it has tried to dissolve itself once...it will try again...comparing this decadent empire to rome may be folly...they are not the same entity ( although the sheer amount of greco-roman kitsch in whoretown does reinforce the perception of the founders as being their heirs )...yet the parallels are striking ( and give fodder in the form of uncertain and disillusioned people to manipulators like david meade and the evangelicals who rant about "the end of days"...planet nibiru tomorrow...i will post photos from the apocalypse ) there are more parallels beyond this, and, for an 18th century member of parliament, ed gibbon had some interesting ideas about religion and it purpose in the hegemonic culture which would be the kiss of death to a political career in these uncertain and interesting times...we will get to those...if we survive tomorrow.
