The First OPENLY Communitarian President of the United States of America could be elected by the American people in 2008.
Why isn't this headline news? Isn't this history in the making? What's the big secret?
I can't believe I still have to ask this, but why isn't communitarianism an issue in the 2008 campaign? Why aren't American voters discussing what a communitarian political agenda is? Is it true most of them have still never heard the word spoken out loud, not even once?
Yes, it's true. Our voters don't know what it is and they certainly don't have the first clue what it means when the two leading Democrats are committed communitarians.
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are BOTH communitarian candidates. This is a fact that is being reported in mainstream press now. (Not hugely covered, but enough to validate my research anyway.) We really should listen to Etzioni. He would know. If he says we're gonna have a communitarian president, we're gonna have one. Besides, it should be a no-brainer by now. It WILL be one of them chosen as the Democratic candidate. And if it's Hillary, she will win, won't she? How many women will vote for her simply because she's the first woman to run for high office? I wanted to vote for Mondale because he picked Ferraro, and I was a registered Libertarian. What if Hillary chose Barack as her V.P.? (Can she do that?) Or maybe they'll pick Oprah... she's a big fan of communitarian guru Marianne Williamson, and she's been teaching (very weird) communitarian classes at Northwestern University (home to ABCD) for years.
Can you imagine if our history books explained Hitler's rise to power like this: Hitler was elected as a "Democrat." Only the elites in Germany knew there was a politcal ideology called National Socialism. The German voters were told what it was AFTER the NAZI candidate was elected.
Who do you think will be attending Etzioni's bash in the Oval Office?
".. communitarians should not uncork the champagne quite yet, but they cansafely put a bottle or two into the fridge." Amitai Etzioni on Jan 17, 2008Why isn't this headline news? Isn't this history in the making? What's the big secret?
I can't believe I still have to ask this, but why isn't communitarianism an issue in the 2008 campaign? Why aren't American voters discussing what a communitarian political agenda is? Is it true most of them have still never heard the word spoken out loud, not even once?
Yes, it's true. Our voters don't know what it is and they certainly don't have the first clue what it means when the two leading Democrats are committed communitarians.
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are BOTH communitarian candidates. This is a fact that is being reported in mainstream press now. (Not hugely covered, but enough to validate my research anyway.) We really should listen to Etzioni. He would know. If he says we're gonna have a communitarian president, we're gonna have one. Besides, it should be a no-brainer by now. It WILL be one of them chosen as the Democratic candidate. And if it's Hillary, she will win, won't she? How many women will vote for her simply because she's the first woman to run for high office? I wanted to vote for Mondale because he picked Ferraro, and I was a registered Libertarian. What if Hillary chose Barack as her V.P.? (Can she do that?) Or maybe they'll pick Oprah... she's a big fan of communitarian guru Marianne Williamson, and she's been teaching (very weird) communitarian classes at Northwestern University (home to ABCD) for years.
Can you imagine if our history books explained Hitler's rise to power like this: Hitler was elected as a "Democrat." Only the elites in Germany knew there was a politcal ideology called National Socialism. The German voters were told what it was AFTER the NAZI candidate was elected.
Who do you think will be attending Etzioni's bash in the Oval Office?
The American people are going down in history as the first nation to elect a communitarian president, and 99% of the citizens don't know what it is. Amitai Etzioni hopes more of us will learn what it is after we unknowingly elect a communitarian. I wonder if he hopes Americans will also quit calling me a conspiracy theorist because I write about communitarianism... or maybe the only viewpoint the American people will ever get to "learn more about" is Etzioni's.
"At least many more people will learn a lot more about communitarian ideas—what more can we ask for…?" ~ Amitai Etzioni, Notes, Jan 17, 2008~
I can think of more to ask for. I can ask for our "free press" and our free public educators to start writing about the difference between communitarian principles and the communitarian legal and political system and the ORIGINAL American constitutional system. If we are to live under an entirely NEW system of government WHY CAN'T OUR CITIZENS BE TOLD THAT FACT????
Working on 2020 took me right back to all the frustration and hope I used to have. I really used to believe that once people knew what communitarianism was, the millions of good and decent people who live in our country would do everything in their power to stop it. That first mass email I sent out after I found Etzioni was totally flipped out. I sent it to everybody I could think of, including Bill Maher and Ophra. The subject was something like: "THEY HAVE A NAME!!!"
What a letdown it was when nobody answered. That was eight years ago. Today I can laugh at the style of those earliest writings, but I still can't laugh at the emotions behind them. It's painful witnessing our people endorse and support communitarians and repeat communitarian propaganda without knowing it. I just spent 10 days in Anchorage, and my life could be a living nighmare if I allowed myself to care what happens every time somebody asks me who I'm gonna vote for. After all I got back were insults and arrogant accusations that my "weird" conspiracy theory has nothing to do with "real" national politics, I've started saying, "oh I don't follow politics." Because I don't, not really. I don't read up on all the "issues." I don't watch their debates on TV. I did see Obama's victory speech in South Carolina though... and I heard Caroline Kennedy is endorsing him now.
For the most part I try to avoid dialectical issues and concentrate on their synthesis. This makes me too weird for most people I meet, and I suppose it's good that I live so far away from the city. If I defect in November I hope it's to a country with lots of wilderness areas open to immigrants; I'm looking for the same kind of deal the Russian immigrants get when they come to Alaska. I wonder if the former USSR will finance my move?
Here's a fairy typical American grasp of communitarianism, from http://onecity.wordpress.com/2008/01/08/vote-early-vote-often-vote-dharma-just-vote/
"I also think between Obama and all other candidates, there is one factor you won’t hear the American media discussing at all: HOW MUCH THE REST OF THE WORLD HATES US, AND HOW MUCH PRESIDENT OBAMA WOULD HELP OUR WORLD IMAGE. Electing a cool and likeable leader who speaks in (vague but inspiring) communitarian language of unity, AND WHO LOOKS MORE LIKE THE REST OF THE WORLD, immediately restores a lot of faith in the USA."
Niki,
ReplyDeleteI just finished watching the Truman Show. Strange movie. I’ve never seen it until now. If you haven’t seen it, it is the story of a man whose whole life was a reality TV show, and in the end, he finally figures it out and walks away.
I was just imagining this analogy: Think of the Truman show, only inverted. The whole world is in a reality TV show, and only a select few realize it is not real. Instead of a comedy, let’s think of it as horror/tragedy. In the Truman movie, Ed Harris is the producer, and he is calling all the shots. In our inverse version, people like Etzioni play Harris’s part, and they have a lot of behind the scenes help.
The people who know it is a false reality are trying various different tactics to get the facts out there. They are screaming from the roof tops, casually bringing it up with family, friends and strangers, or maybe they are building a weapons cache and waiting for “the revolution”. But no one listens to the screamers. Friends, family and even strangers might lend an ear, but they can’t break the brainwashing. Everything can’t be a LIE; they would have realized it by now for sure. The weapons caches grow, the paranoia and prejudices grow, but the revolution never comes, and the false sense of being the lone patriot makes the eyes go jade.
People who think they’ve found the truth are stunned; no one listens or seems to care. The ones who are closer to reality are surprised to find that even their “new” understanding of the world, despite being inspired, is still metastasized with a fake worldview.
The ones who are awake, and those waking up, watch in horror as divine rights and individuality are stripped from the population. The economy and financial system are totally sacked, with the help of all three branches of government. The “dog and pony show” media ensure that everyone’s thoughts and eyes remain fixed on their carnival cruise scenarios. The truly enlightened realize that the entire experiment is taking shape. False capitalism and Talmudic communism meld into a benevolent Frankenstein.
Obama and Hilary join forces to “win”. Etzioni agrees to advise them and begins to pour the champagne. The republicans raise their glasses in fraternal toast. The enlightened population moans, while the rest of the world mulls over the small details in a random symphony of praise and mumbled disagreements.
Unlike the Truman show, the credits don’t roll. The producers tighten their grip and advise the underlings of future strategies. The honest folks just keep on living, but those who have greater awareness wait for a true paradigm shift: A supernatural adjustment that has nothing to do with Hegel. When the real dialectic resolves, there is no synthesis. Good overcomes Evil and situation ethics are baptized with cosmic fire. Then the credits roll. The opening credits.
-ENOUGH!-
Okay I might have waxed a bit philosophical at the end there, but at least I got the picture out of my head!
I know Johnny e-mailed you recently, and he has been intending to call you, but our patent attorney made some really stupid mistakes in the most recent application and that has really put Johnny in a foul mood. It is depressing to spend all of your time and money on a kick ass project and watch some screwball lawyer nearly flush it down the drain! We wrote him a letter and we are back on track. We were feeling like we had great momentum towards marketing Johnny’s idea until this little bump in the road came along. I think within the next 3 months we will be completely prepared to move forward and compile a precise marketing plan.
I think about you ladies every time I fill the wood box and start a fire. A Chinook is melting the foot and a half of snow we had as I type this. If you’s need anything you let us know. Looking forward to the book!
PEACE!
-s
It's pretty weird how easily we fit into a horror/tragedy movie scenario. My brain just can't be that creative but your image is so much more powerful than my dry analysis (and my angry tirades). Maybe someday somebody will write that screenplay with you... put it on HDVD and let the audience vote for their prefered ending. Did you know the authors of the Matrix disclosed they used the Hegelian dialectic to set it up? The Matrix 101 website refers to our Hegel page as a tutorial..heh. So yes, this is the stuff right out of science fiction, for sure.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear about the lawyer glitch. Let us know when you're ready. We're learning a bunch of new programs and, great news, 2020 is in a pdf file now so I can send it to you in an email which is what we can do for everyone who ordered it now, and for anyone we know who hasn't seen it yet. The hardcopys, well, Nord keeps laughing at me every time I say they're ready, but they are ready as far as the printer goes and I expect to mail them out by Monday. But you can have a copy of the pdf now if you'd like, and print one out for Johnny.
Anyone else I know who'd like a pdf file of 2020 just send me an email. We're going to set up a way to order access to the pdf from the ACL after a payment to paypal, probably be about $7. But right now I feel excited and generous, and I'd like to see this in the hands of as many people as possible. It's kinda cool that now I can actually give it to people without it costing us a dime... not that my time isn't worth anything-- Nord constantly reminds me this book took almost eight years to write.