Canary’s in the coal mine (in the land of democracy)
[Note: Much of this article was written in the months following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York, September 11, 2001.]
One of the “superpower” traits of America’s government is it’s sheer size as well as the colossal power of it’s potential military punch. However, it does not possess any “superpower” qualities we like to ascribe to comic book super heroes. Rather our government is a collection of garden variety human beings, bundles of emotions teaming with conflicting desires and tangled by primal drives. Hardly the substrate for collective superpower capabilities.
The thing about bringing groups of people together, you only get superior capabilities in rare circumstances. In the case of large groups, like governmental bureaucracies, what typically results is something that functions closer to it’s least common denominator. Expecting such an organization to protect us from other smaller groups of humans with malicious goals is a bit like expecting peace of mind when enrolling your children in a daycare run by unfit parents. (more…)
Posted by GPE @ 10:11 am Comments are off for this post
Tags: Essays • Freedom and Liberty • Law and Order • Politics