From: "Vladimir Z. Nuri" <vznuri@netcom.com>
Date: Fri, 2 May 1997 08:56:08 +0800
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Subject: counterTCM post
Message-ID: <199705020037.RAA24475@netcom5.netcom.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



in the continuing series of counterTCMeme posts, I would like to
address a recent TCMeme on the subject of government.

TCM asserts that the president and congress have absolutely nothing
to offer american citizens, that any attempt to deal with them
is a total waste of time.

I generally agree that our democratic system has degenerated over
the decades, to the point of being scary and dangerous in places.

however, we can ask, why did it get to that point? I believe it is
not because of an inherent impracticality of the government or 
congress. rather, it is a failure of the citizens to maintain the
authority over their congressmen and president.

once upon a time, citizens saw congress and the president as their
servants. it led to a particular kind of ideology reflected in the
policies of the country.

over time, people gradually gave away this authority. they saw the
president and congress as having authority over citizens, instead of
vice versa.

TCM's idea of telling congress and the president to f*** off is actually,
in my opinion, an extreme case of people giving away their authority.
it is more of the same problem, not the solution. it is failing to 
address the root of the problem-- that the president and congress
must be put in a subservient relationship to the desires of the citizens.

citizens are failing to exercise their ability to remove and replace
those in power.

TCM quotes De ToqueVille, "the american experiment in democracy will
last until people begin to realize they can pick each other's pockets
at the voting booth". there is a fallacy and a truth in this at the
same time. the truth is that the citizenry is beginning to discover
that the government is the greatest pickpocket of all. if it 
redistributed its wealth, our economy would be better off. 

but instead the government
ties up vast amounts of wealth into (1) social programs that
redistribute only a fraction of the wealth they take in, the rest
caught up in bureacracy (2) weaponry that sits idle, and is so horrific
that it should never be used, and (3) a national debt of borrowed money.

so people are no longer trying to pick each other's pockets at the
voting booth, in my opinion, but realizing that the government itself is
picking everyone's pockets at tax time. 

everyone who pays money via taxes to the government is the employer
of those in government. when was the last time you exercised some
control over this money? or do you just sign it off? there are many
ways that individual citizens can create leverage over their government,
and increase their power over it. it is the opposite of the process
by which they have given their power away. it is reversable. 

but to unplug oneself from the monster one has created is not possible
as TCM is always campaigning. the monster will run around some more.
one must uncreate the monster in the same ways it was created.

I commend CDT and all other online groups for their organizational
motives and drive, and condemn TCM for his pissing on them. what is he doing?
he is just unplugging himself and asserting that the monster will no
longer exist if he refuses to believe in it.

the road to greater power is greater organization and unity while
preserving individuality. the individualism that TCM promotes is
actually ultimately disempowering and dangerous. the individual
has no power. the solution to an oppressive society is to fix the
society, not to try to find increasingly ingenious ways of hiding
from it. the society will always has means of becoming more
orwellian and surmounting whatever obstacles individuals place 
in it.

if something is broken, do you fix it, or abandon it? or shoot it? TCM is
always advocating the latter two. it's not a solution, and he knows it,
and everyone else here knows it too.