NEW YEARS EVE E MAIL

Ambiguity

Hi David
On this date there are two articles-- on the page Right side 'Western Civilization on the Brink of Madness' and on the page Left side ' Kicking Butt in Venezuela' in which I see a conflict in defining the intentions of the 'powers' of the perpetrators in office.

Not that I disagree with either but to suggest that the 'powers' with their Australopithecus minds are dim-witted and cling to a "...us-against-them mentality" (on the right) while defining their intentions as "...know what they want and go after it" (on the left) does seem ambiguous. They are either dumbed out or mean and cleaver.

As I said I do not disagree with either article but feel that the "...know what they want..." can be suitably applied to both articles. The immature minds at work is really a more cleaver way of appealing to a guidable audience which responds to terroristic induced fear at a gut level. It is an appeal to those lower instincts that is reflected in this 'high approval rating' we hear so much about.

Those expressions that appeal to lower instincts are fitting for an administration headed by a person with minimal talents and who has benefited by exceeding 'low expectations'. Although I do not feel he has exceeded those low expectations, he barely meets them.

Happy New Year

Hey,

You've really hit right on a central paradox of our situation, and pretty much resolved it yourself. The contradiction you picked out is really key to the situation, and to the danger of the situation we are in.

You point out that on one hand I say they are thick-skulled primitive men. On the other hand I must respect their mastery of the situation as they define it and play it. The ambiguity is there, but it is in the situation itself, not a product of mine.

It is quite possible to be both. In fact that defines a certain kind of character, the kind of characters who are now running the show. They are as close to "masters of the world" in a certain sense as anyone ever has been. On that level of playing the game, they are supreme. There is no way to doubt it.

But the rules of the game the way they understand it, is a way that is essentially unworkable in the 21st Century world of high technology, where we are all on top of each other. There is no new territory for conquest any more. We have to learn how to exist together on this planet. The kind of gameplan that works well for nomadic tribes on the plains may not work in the global village.

I really tend to think they are insane, in the sense of being very out of touch with certain very dangerous realities of the situation. And in the present situation in which most of the political actors of the world have acquiesced to them, they are a great danger to the world.

So yes, it is possible to be both: both extremely smart, efficient, ruthless tacticians and still lack the fundamental judgment, the vision, the moral foundation to wield the kind of power they now exercise without bringing the country and world to disaster .

Thanks for writing,

David

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