fear of the mob

"i believe that this instinct to perpetuate useless work is, at bottom, simply fear of the mob. the mob ( the thought runs ) are such low animals that they would be dangerous if they had leisure; it is safer to keep them too busy to think." george orwell. down and out in paris and london.

tom cotton, in senatorial terms, is pretty much a third rate jerk...mcconnell out jerks him every day...and mcconnell's sneering dismissal of the results of cotton's authoritarian outburst ( and ass sucking trump toadyism ) in the new york times is indicative of the elitist thought in the halls of congress be it from the crypto side or the liberal " if you'd just do what we tell you" pelosi cadre...there's a lot of head shaking and pontificating going on in the nation's capital and i am inclined to think much of it misses the point that orwell makes...the "covid-19 shut down" and the $600 a week stipend for the unemployed is a root cause here...i know people who work where i do who are holding that position as a second job...and i can imagine it being a third for some...the pay is abominable and people are hustling to make ends meet...too busy to think...that $600 a week may mean that, for some, this is the first time they have had both sufficient money to live on and time to think...and what they are thinking is how utterly skewed social relations are and that it might be time to demand some economic leveling...this is a dilemma for the powers that be...they need people to spend money to keep the greed machine fed...but too much time and cash leads a lot of folks to begin considering a political solution to their needs...the idea of "an interested and overbearing majority" sacred the pants off the framers of the constitution...the virus may have awakened it...still waiting for the reichstag fire and a "postponed" 2020 election...or, at least, an attempt to do so...also expect some fast and loose play around the ballot boxes in novenber...there's been a couple of stolen presidential elections in my time and at least one in yours...my advice is keep thinking people...think hard and read around ( eschew broadcast news...it is all propaganda from fox to msnbc...both sides lie through their teeth )...an informed electorate is the worst thing they can think of.