X-Message-Number: 23233 Date: Wed, 07 Jan 2004 22:09:16 -0500 From: Francois <> Subject: The common flaw in all government systems Well, I have been following with interest and quite a lot of amusement the discussion about libertarian vs capitalism vs socialism vs (insert your favorite form of government here). My opinion in these matters is that all political systems suffer from the same flaw, namely that they are implemented by human beings. Because of this, they will all degenerate into the following structure, which could be thought of as the Great Political Attractor. In any given government, regardless of the political system it is based upon, an elite who has figured out how to profit from that system and who commandeers all effective power existing within that system will quickly appear. The individuals within that elite will compete with each other for as much power as they can get. The remaining majority of people will be left completely outside this process of power brokerage. Depending on the elite's attitude toward it, that powerless majority might find itself living in any any type of society, from a perfect utopia to an absolute hell. All current governments have either reached that stage or are in the process of reaching it, and so have all past governments that I know of. In practical terms, this means that a people's well being and degree of freedom are in no way determined by what kind of government they live in but by the attitude, goals, actions and degree of mental sanity of the few elite individuals who actually wield the power. Francois "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." Mahatma Gandhi Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=23233