Tags
Ethical Politics, feudal absolutism v modern democratic distribution of power, medieval v modern, Modern Political Management
Hmm. No wonder my blood pressure is up! ๐
It’s about 10:30 a.m. EST here, and the reading listed immediately below has been prompted by Right Wing Nuts intent on repeating the latest in medieval conservative gossip circles . . . and I’m not sure they’re even doing that or anything other than inserting off-the-hook agitation and propaganda by way of accusations and false claims.
For the record — and this time — and concerning the Pennyslvania vote, no evidence has been brought to bear to prove that the incumbent and now lame duck President Trump and those who voted for him have been treated in the least measure unfairly.
In my opinion, and I know I am not alone in this, the President and his backers and supporters have chosen to delay the Biden Transition and degrade America’s democracy.
For the aggravation and energy involved (and that pesky measurement of cardiovascular health), I’m going to curtail for myself the idea that a human may compete with computers when it comes to assembling focused lists.
We’ve all been through this Man v Machine a few times in the past two centuries or so.
The morning’s spate of relays (via https://www.facebook.com/BackChannels) so far –>
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-sues-to-stop-pennsylvania-from-certifying-biden-the-winner – 11/9/2020
https://tericarter.wordpress.com/2017/07/10/8-years-of-suffering-under-obama/
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/10/donald-trump-authoritarianism-after-the-election.html – 10/24/2020
https://news.yahoo.com/opinion-trumps-lawsuits-wont-difference-010327911.html 11/8/2020
https://theweek.com/articles/755549/time-abandon-horseshoe-theory – 3/24/2018
https://conflict-backchannels.com/2020/11/02/fascionable-politics/ – 11/2/2020
https://conflict-backchannels.com/2020/07/15/putins-mirror/ – 7/15/2020
On Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez’s suggestion to create a worked-for-Trump blacklist. My conversational partner suggested that such a list would bring us back to Stalin. So, From the Awesome Conversation –>
It would bring us back to McCarthy.
We should live in a meritocracy with fine American judgment on the part of executives and managers throughout, but I’m certain we don’t.
The tension on which I have at times focused has been that between an incumbent or resurgent feudal absolutism — and all that implies — and a revolutionary democratic modernity.
Lists, nods, and whispers better define the former.
https://theblacksea.eu/stories/malta-files/erdogan-family-in-secret-offshore-ship-deal/ 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/12/us/politics/trump-erdogan-family-turkey.html (2019)
In life’s realpolitik, of course, most respond to the needs of family and friends first, and our friends are often people to whom we may relate, i.e., if enabled, we’ll hire the kind of people with whom we would like to work.
It has been said of whacked out paranoid Stalin that at the end, he felt he could not trust even himself.
My blog addresses that psychology: https://conflict-backchannels.com/coins-and-other-terms/anthropolitical-psychology/paranoid-delusional-narcissistic-reflection-of-motivation/ It’s really a part of the contemplation of narcissism in politics at high levels.
Author recommendation: Jerrold M. Post.
FB – 11/10/2020/09015
On the political censoring of others and the question “Why?”
Narcissism.
For the malign and controlling, the process starts with “Narcissistic Mortification”, moves to covering (the damaged self) and splitting (an heroic new self). Along the way, these guys — “malignant narcissists” — bust through normal boundaries and limits and become deeply controlling manipulative (as with “gaslighting”). The Left-Right axis may be accidental or involve an attractive dogma, but the “grandiose and messianic delusion” that compels the peacock (or, sometimes, the fireman who sets the fire so that he may show up and put it out to public acclaim) always ends in the want of “unlimited narcissistic supply”, i.e., public acclimation, adoration, and validation without end. The cause matters less than the psychology.
What becomes more interesting about dictators (whatever the stripes) are the followers who march into line. (Suggested reading: https://www.amazon.com/Leaders-Their-Followers-Dangerous-World/dp/0801441692).
The “Great Leader” has primarily his image to defend (so no free press as the stakes rise) plus always the want of astounding approval. Around them, the system becomes controlling, and around them, the seduced pick up the traits.
The professionals — like Jerrold Post — in the democratic west engaged pursue a dispassionate inquiry into political extremism.
A part of my journey has involved Soviet/post-Soviet issues, so I latch a little bit to the Communist legacy in the support of dictatorships. A look at the famous graduate of the Patrice Lumamba school may be revealing as would a look-see at the World Peace Council. While Moscow diminished the Communist Party in Russia, under Putin, it was to take up a hybrid 19th Century view a post-Imperial Era nationalism anchored popularly in a revived (and unfathomably corrupt) Russian Orthodox Church and Russian Army. The “blood and soil” format is recognizable and the stance persistently illiberal.
If possible, we should all choose the flag in the middle, as it were, but with sides, we (at least in America) Left-Far-Left and Right-Far-Right. I regard Left Fringe (who shout down their opposition) as holdovers from the Soviet Era and “The Party” way of doing business; the Right Fringe reminds of other reactionary movements, i.e., fascism in Europe and, perhaps, the “America First Party” in domestic politics in 1943.
FB – 11/10/2020/0330
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