I really have begun to believe that politicians should employ historians to give advice on certain political events by drawing comparisons to previous situations.
That only really works in a benevolent dictatorship. In a democracy, the masses can vote for reality-rejection candidates.
It’s a pity democracy seems to be better than all the alternatives in practice, cause in principle there should be ways to improve things more. Inevitably though all other forms turn into draconian crap. Well, democracy does sometimes too, but less often.
What’s odd about today’s “democracy” is how increasingly little government itself matters, next to corporations that are stronger than nations.
Government could choose to reign these corporations in, but the money the give officials makes them choose not too
Because corporations are not democratic
Sure, we have democratic political systems, but the economic systems are very much not. Since when can you vote un your workplace? It your boss tells you to do something, you do it, or risk losing your livelihood, the thing that you depend upon for survival
That’s not very democratic
The Neoliberal ideology, with its core principle of making Money the greatest Power, above the State which is the Power controlled by the vote of citizens, was always meant to destroy Democracy.
Whilst the theatre used to distract us has been different, we’ve been going in the same direction as Russia when it comes to the vote: making it a meaningless act whilst we’re told it’s “democratic”.
Unsurprisingly as people felt more and more powerless, pushed around, exploited and unfairly treated all the while being told this is Democracy, they turned more and more to those selling something else than Democracy.
It seems the natural end state of Neoliberal Capitalism is Fascism.
history degrees bell curve :
idiot end : I don’t use my history degree
middle : history degree is useless
genius end : I am the MP for Gloucestershire and the cabinet minister for business
If you think it hasn’t happend before, check again, nothing in history is new
When have we had AI so good the turing test lost it’s whole meaning overnight?
I’ve checked my PC looking for the tiny man managing my local llm, no luck yet but perhaps they’re smaller than I thought…
Same. I haven’t used my history degree at all. It has just enabled the “oh, fuck” overdrive in my brain over the last several years. I hate it.
It does feel a bit 1930s at the moment doesn’t it
the decent thing to do for WW3 is to start it on the 100th anniversary of WW2.
i can only hope that the '39s would serve as a reminder each century to just fucking stop. (but more importantly, i hope to be naturally dead by then)