patrick.net

Excellent video. Right on the mark about everything.

The ultimate solution, of course, is to get rid of hierarchical power structures. Many to many graph relations are better precisely because it decentralizes power at all levels. Every resource is a key. Every key must be a resource.

As long as we arrange our power structures like government and corporations into hierarchies, we will be doomed to repeat all the mistakes of history.

Made it easier for your key supporters to vote: Hence why you don't need Picture ID in most places to vote; but need one to do most anything else government related (such as obtaining licenses, checking your tax records or SS benefits at the office, etc.)

See Also: The Iron Law of Oligarchy.

I also dispute that many Dictators don't enjoy substantial popular support. "Paternal Autocrats" are often popular, as are Enlightened Despots.

Let's not forget that the Liberal Egyptians fired up by a Google Executive in the Arab Spring demanding elections, were the same ones begging the Military to stage a coup a little while later, after the Muslim Brotherhood won the elections.

"Democracy, except when we lose!"

This got me thinking a lot about the personality profile of people seeking the presidency. There are a few articles online if you search things like "why run for president".

Thunderlips Russian Agent 0069 says

Let's not forget that the Liberal Egyptians fired up by a Google Executive in the Arab Spring demanding elections, were the same ones begging the Military to stage a coup a little while later, after the Muslim Brotherhood won the elections.

"Democracy, except when we lose!"

Trump says things like the election is rigged, voter fraud, etc. but if you really want to see the wild west of elections, look to 2005 Egypt. Election violence killed 8 people on the day and one candidate won 96% of the votes. That's not "democracy except if we lose", that's "oh shit, enforce law, we are out of control." It's little wonder why the Military was encouraged to take over. Maybe more interesting is the 2014 election, which also suffered from not living up to democratic standards. One would think the OP video rings a little true in this case, as the person in power appears to have forcibly stayed in power.

Thunderlips Russian Agent 0069 says

I also dispute that many Dictators don't enjoy substantial popular support.

Of course they do. There are plenty of people who support them because they benefit from their rule and there are others who at least put on the appearance of support because it is far safer.

Conclusion: The US is sliding from the heights of democracy into the valley of revolution, where everyone, including the "key" oligarchs, get less. Why? Because the oligarchs (keys) became so powerful that they no longer needed to please the populus.

By the way, the whole video has gigantic flaws. It is wastly oversimplified and 1-dimensional, one could say perhaps along an axis of redistribution.

justme says

Conclusion: The US is sliding from the heights of democracy into the valley of revolution, where everyone, including the "key" oligarchs, get less. Why? Because the oligarchs (keys) became so powerful that they no longer needed to please the populus

I got the same conclusion from the video, but for a different reason. It's because one of the things providing stability was that labor was necessary. When there was an abundance of raw material wealth (oil, gas, etc.) there was no need for people to be productive. We have gotten to the point where we can use productivity of people in other nations (until we can't) and robots to create wealth for a smaller number of haves. There is no need for 70-80% of our population to be doing much of anything, and that makes it less stable according to the video.

Rew says

Trump says things like the election is rigged, voter fraud, etc. but if you really want to see the wild west of elections, look to 2005 Egypt. Election violence killed 8 people on the day and one candidate won 96% of the votes. That's not "democracy except if we lose", that's "oh shit, enforce law, we are out of control."

Just to be clear I'm talking about the Arab Spring in 2011 Egypt, where they had the first reasonably fair elections just to see the Muslim Brotherhood win, then the same Liberals who wanted the fair elections cried Foul because they lost (handily).

I'm 90% Whig History, but it's just a damned uncomfortable truth that the alternative to Oligarchy or Theocracy is often a secular Dictator.

See also 1996 Russia, when a strategic US and IMF loan allowed Yeltsin to pay months of back wages and pensions in arrears - just prior to the Election.

YesYNot All Polls are Rigged says

There is no need for 70-80% of our population to be doing much of anything, and that makes it less stable according to the video.

And yet you believe this is the right way to run the country, and are schilling for Clinton who will give us more of the same.
People need work to be psychologically healthy. Sitting around and collecting a meager subsistence is good for nobody. If the old jobs aren't requiring people to do them, new jobs should be created/invented to supply things or ideas we could use as a society. And we should never send our jobs overseas for any reason other than we have everyone already employed.

Quigley is deplorable says

People need work to be psychologically healthy. Sitting around and collecting a meager subsistence is good for nobody.

This is true. One obvious conclusion is that we should have a massive infrastructure project, because these jobs cannot be shipped overseas, and it is an investment in the future. I've been wishing for this since 2008. The interstates around big cities on the east coast are terrible. This is the biggest gripe I have against Obama, not the bullshit that he's been attacked for over the last 8 yrs. But the bigger problem is what to do about these facts (1) technology allows more to be made with less labor (2) as other country's get wealthier, resources become scarcer and goods get more expensive (3) free trade creates many jobs as well as destroys them.
The Trump argument goes like this. Free trade correlates with less jobs. Incorrectly assume that correlation is causation, ignoring (1) and (2) above. Assume that you can get rid of free trade and get back all of the jobs that were lost (very visible) while pretending that you will not lose a bunch of other jobs that were created by trade (less visible). Pretend that it makes more sense to bring back coal and continue to give other countries all of the clean energy jobs even though we invented a lot of the technology in the US. I have sympathy for unskilled workers, but don't like the prescriptions Trump offers.

At least on NOV.8 one of the two groups will elect the next Big Club talking head ruler.
Dim bulb dumbass voters must maintain the status quo.

Continuing to support the same old two parties that have saved the world is
ABSOLUTE BRILLIANCE! Military conflicts over my whole life is the only way to peace.
At least it hasn't cost any tax dollars.

Gee! I wish I was this smart.

anonymous says

what is to prevent more Chinese and other countries companies from bidding on and winning (by whatever means necessary to whoever pays the biggest kickbacks) from coming in and doing these such as the new Bay Bridge in San Francisco and other projects in New York to "save" money ?

Thanks to D & R Voters!
I don't know what's wrong with me?
Everyone knows that voters have no say.
Certainly the total number of voters don't have to agree so they would never say that they can agree on a few points like:
SOME OF THIS SHIT STOPS TODAY!
How dare I even mention anything that would change the status quo or question political theologies.

That's a really excellent video. I suspected a lot of that mechanism, but never heard it put so clearly before.

rando says

That's a really excellent video. I suspected a lot of that mechanism, but never heard it put so clearly before.

Agreed. The video was specific, concise, clear, and full of examples. The creators of the video have a book they wrote, which you could buy on Amazon or download via torrent.

The Dictator's Handbook - Why Bad Behavior Is Almost Always Good Politics (Epub,Mobi) Gooner

Since PatNet isn't an Amazon ad partner anymore -- too much porn, bigotry, and illegal activity on this site -- feel free to torrent it. :)

The problem with this video is it assumes in a democracy the interests of the leader correlate with the interests of the people: i.e. more education, infrastructures, and things that make you productive. As if all you want from life is being productive.
The leaders now are adept at keeping you on a treadmill for life, put you in debt from the start, put you in competition with many others for resources. Yes you will be productive: working your tail off in the process for no special benefit. All while managing your choices. You have to vote for their anointed Clinton, else you get the pussy grabber.

YesYNot All Polls are Rigged says

One obvious conclusion is that we should have a massive infrastructure project

Can't do it at this point because high growth would: (1) entail high debt, very unpopular (2) higher inflation and interest rates which would destroy a lot of assets and infuriate the rent seekers that support you.

YesYNot All Polls are Rigged says

Free trade correlates with less jobs. Incorrectly assume that correlation is causation

It doesn't correlate with less jobs. It correlates with downward pressure on wages, and the mechanism of causation is obvious: more supply = lower prices.

This is turns allows you them to provide great wealth for their rent seekers supporters

It seemed to me that they were saying that in dictatorship AND democracy the interests of the rulers only sometimes coincide with the interests of the people. The rulers are self serving parasites who occasionally find symbiotic behavior useful to keep the host fat and sassy, just more so in democracy.

Clinton supporting blocks to stay in power: feminists, blacks & immigrants, public unions, banksters, globalists CEOs and other rent seekers.
If you're not in, well too bad. You can still pay your taxes and your mortgage.

The more I think about it, the more it seems to me the US is more in the dictator situation: Though this video is trying to justify why a level of corruption is tolerable even in democracy, this is no longer what is happening. The system turns full speed routing a disproportionate part of profits to key players, and self-justifying its own existence. This extends beyond the government, to private corporations, through regulations. This is actually more similar to the dictator situation described. The elite have become adept at controlling elections, so this is no longer a problem, or to a much lesser extent. The goals of the leaders have diverged from the human level goals of the population.
This is what oligarchy is: rich people caring only about wealth and never about their country.

Plato described this 2400 years ago, as a path to tyranny: :
“The ruling class do not want remedies; they care only for money, and are as careless of virtue as the poorest of the citizens. … Families have often been reduced to beggary … some of them owe money, some have forfeited their citizenship. … Thus men of family often lose their property or rights of citizenship; but they remain in the city, full of hatred against the new owners of their estates and ripe for revolution. … They hate and conspire against those who have got their property, and against everybody else, and are eager for revolution.”

Sounds familiar?

Thanks for this link Rew. I bought and read the book and found it to be an absolute primer on political power. Many things make much more sense now. I was especially shocked at the real reasons America gives financial aid to other nations. But it makes total sense now. Anyway, thanks for the reference!