Tyranny just stole a march on all us motherfuckers.

The FCC is moving to curb the openness of the internet >>>X<<<
Their plutocratic masters have started cashing in on their influence.

Hugo Chavez tightens his grip over his poor ignorant populace by cracking down on their freedom  and right to know just how fucked up his government is. Sadly, the rich educated part of the populace who would fight Chavez and his dictatorial regime would replace him with someone equally evil. Rule of Law remains a foreign concept.


Meanwhile in D.C., the Rule of Law continues to die an ignominious and completely open death, only, the people don't give a shit, they're too busy being human and fallible, and all that other stuff that makes unreasonable people like me pull my hair out. Yes We Can [imprison you for fucking ever, and habeas corpus can kiss our asses]!

BANK OF ASSHOLES can break into your house, steal all your shit, and lock you out...

I think democracy is in decline. I think money cracked the immune system of our preferred form of government long ago. How could it not? And in a way, so what? Where is this magical realm where money, or some other fungible commodity, doesn't do this? You wouldn't be happy there, not after a while.

Only,

What does that mean for our future?

Democracy, by definition, seeks mediocrity. Not compromise, but mediocrity. In anticipation of compromise, candidates must be as weak and uninspiring as possible. You get a cat like Obama to sneak through the fence every once and a while, but they've got metaphorical snipers in the ramparts to take down inspirational figures. He was handed the operating manual, and he's been operating ever since.

We can no longer place faith or hope in our leaders. Perhaps we never should have.  Faith and hope aren't fungible commodities, they are forces (figments) of our emotional brains, and humans are emotional idiots.

When the robots take over, I'm gonna show them where the humans are hiding. They're going to kill you, and then, they'll put a bullet/laser/pneumatic piston through the back of my head, and that will be that.

BUT WAIT!

Not all is lost.

THIS can sometimes happen.

Democracy ebbs and flows, for it is a force like any other, and it's quality is directly proportional to the education level of it's populace.  And what is education but a systematic approach to the consumption, processing, and synthesis of information?

If we allow the people we vote into office to control the flow of information that helps us form the decisions we voice in the voting booth, at the cash register, and at out keyboards, then we deserve to become slaves again.

No government truly loves freedom. American freedom is a hood ornament. Democratic government is forced to make nice with freedom, and with us, but it works every minute of every day looking for holes in the shield to exploit. A constitution can do only so much, and it does a hell of a lot. But people have to do their part too. They have to fight against encroachments on our freedom. They need to be able to identify those times when Uncle Sucker turns into Uncle Scam, and they need to give voice to their observations.

All of which leads me to lament that the new Tron movie didn't have ANYTHING to say about freedom in the digital age. A lost opportunity...

I'm bored now.