So now you are thinking that I am going to droll on about the injustices of our government, right? Well that’s wrong. So I’m going to start on about conspiracy theories about how our government is REALLY run by a magic duck that can magically speak to five people who pass it’s message through the President, right? Not a chance. That’s just silly (which is how they get us all to believe it’s not true! But I digress…).

So what moves me to take time out of studies and family to write about it? The use of the term “democracy” by people who are chosen to have the mantle of leadership of our country bestowed upon them. Why does this bother me? That’s an easy one that any 8th grader should be able to tell you: We do NOT live under a democracy, we live under a REPUBLIC! To be exact, we live under a constitutional republic. It even says so on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States).

Wait. Wikipedia?

That’s right. I used Wikipedia as a reference. I know your professors, parents, or other people told you Wikipedia is wrong because it is publicly edited. But can they provide sources for their information? Oh, wait, that information can actually be gotten from Wikipedia, too. Anyways, this is another whole subject that I will address later. **edit: or now. Right here.*** Just trust my judgment for the moment.

So WHY does this irk me?

I was watching president Obama the other day and heard him reciting some drivel about preserving our democracy. Then I realized, anytime I heard Obama or any other politician speak, they referred to our government as a democracy.

These are the people who are the law-makers, law-enforcers, and law-interpreters (or as they are best known; the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch; in order) and should know our system the BEST. The real troubling thought is that they DO know the system and that they are purposely using this terminology to lull us into submission. After all, if we think we know what’s going on, we will not question it.

So what is the difference?

There is a world of difference. I am NOT just picking over semantics here. Besides the fact that a republic is truly what we should (and still do, but barely. But again, I digress), a republic is a government where representatives speak for the masses while a democracy is where the masses speak directly. Democracy has been called “Mob Rule” in the past, and for good reason. In a Democracy, every person does have the power to put forth his or her interests, but on the other side of the coin, the majority easily crushes the minority. This gives a feeling of power to the people, which is why it would be a preferred term for the politician to make us feel all warm and cozy. The big downturn to democracy is that it QUICKLY shifts into oligarchy! This is called the “Oligarchical Shift” or the “Iron Law of Oligarchy”. While the Iron Law theory says that all types of government will eventually shift into oligarchy, a republic MAY be the exception to the rule.

Those who crave power may genuinely look to force us into a democracy to see the  shift to oligarchy solidify their power. That is just pure conjecture on my part, though.

This is where some MAY say, “But wait! Wasn’t Rome a republic and it turned into an oligarchy eventually, too?”

Well, yes and no. Rome WAS a republic at one point, but before it was an oligarchy, the republic was taken over by a dictatorship. This was NOT a natural shift. And besides that, our fore-fathers weren’t dimwits. They specifically sought a way to keep the majority threat of pure democracy under control. This brought a Constitutional Republic into being (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_republic, yep more wiki). That means our government was thought up by a group of guys who saw how things deteriorated in the past and tried to prevent that.

So here is the point of the history lesson today:

I see the current use of the term “democracy” as a deliberate attempt at weakening our governmental checks and balances to allow politicians on a national level to pull more power into the federal government than there should be. And I don’t appreciate it.

Does that mean I’m conservative? Maybe. But if you see the same trend, the only way to stop it is to speak up. Ironically, democratic behavior is the only way to keep our republic in check. It’s funny, but I have a feeling that this was intended at some level by those clever fore-fathers.

If People Bought Cars Like They Buy Computers.

Read the joke linked above before continuing.

OK. Now that you’ve absorbed that and maybe giggled a bit, the reason this is being mentioned is that it rings so TRUE. Truth makes comedy work.

What I don’t understand, and what I would like SOMEONE to adequately explain to me is this: Why do poeple who are otherwise reasonably intelligent people (anyone from a high school graduate to a doctoral degree holder) feel that it is ok to turn into blithering idiots when presented with anything remotely tech in nature? It is one thing to not understand how C++, Visual Basic, or Java might be structured and written, but it is all to often that a support technician answer a phone and the problem is that the person doesn’t know how to press in the button clearly marked with “Power” or they didn’t plug in the COLORED cable into the SAME COLOR port. I’ve taken these calls. What’s worse is I’ve been face to face with these people. It is culturally acceptable for someone to spout the mantra “I am computer [technology] illiterate” and expect everything to be fine.

Oh, but woe to the person who can’t GRASP the simplified explanations that they give for their “easy” jobs, like say, gastric bypass surgery. God forbid I don’t understand something I don’t intend to come into contact with on a daily basis, but you feel that I shouldn’t mention to anyone in your waiting room how you regularly need to call me to find out why your “magic picture box” doesn’t show you things when the lights flicker because you didn’t use one of those “battery thingies” I keep saying you need to buy.

Honestly folks, I’m not bitter. I swear!

Sometimes you see a quote so profound that you must share. I didn’t find the post itself that profound (you can find it here, The French Method – :: LEAST I COULD DO FORUM ::, and decide for yourself), but the poster, Ryan Sohmer, ended with a quote that came from The Wonder Years:

“When you’re a little kid you’re a bit of everything; Scientist, Philosopher, Artist. Sometimes it seems like growing up is giving these things up one at a time.”

It struck me as a very true idea and it makes me sad that so many poeple find it neccessary to let go of so much to “grow up”. I believe the world would be a much better place if we looked through the eyes of babes every now and then to remember how wonderous the world really is.

PvPonline » Archive » The Dark Hype

Scott Kurtz, the talent behind PVP (as if he needs an introduction), gave us a few words regarding spending money at a movie theater that I can’t help but agree with.

Hollywood, you can blame piracy for all your troubles, but maybe if you stopped showing us the last page of the book first, and just let us READ the damned thing, we’d feel more satisfaction about the money we’re spending at the theaters.

Specifically he was talking about all the promos and hype surrounding the Dark Knight movie. I have a very similar feeling about Hellboy and others. At this point, I feel I should mention that I get to see many movies for free via a perk of knowing certain people. Even with this advantage, I am often let down by an excellent movie that would have be a great experience if it weren’t for the fact that the whole movie felt like deja-vu. These days, if you want to be fully entertained by a big budget movie, you have to shut yourself off from all media so you don’t see the whole movie in disjointed clips before you sit down with your bucket of popcorn.

I have an idea. These big budget hollywood movies could get even more hype wrung out of these, get just as much exposure, and preserve the actual movie experience (possably even enhance it) by making the promos a prequil to the movie itself. Something that is not neccessary to get the movie’s story, but at the same time, adds to it. While you still have all the camera, make-up, sets and such, take two weeks to shoot the promo prequils that would be planned into the overall production. That’s how I would market a movie.

**Warning: If you do not like to read, skip to long story short below!**

It struck me today how odd individual human perception is, in broad terms, of course. What struck me was that someone mentioned to me about a bicentennial. He got mixed up and said that the country’s bicentennial will be next year, which he immediately realized he misspoke. Not a big deal, but it got me to analyzing my own perception of our government. I was born after the bicentennial had passed for our nation. As such, I have never been witness to a major event marking the age of our country. This may our may not contribute to the following perception as realized today.

I realized that I had a general perception of our country as having always been here due to that its state was established for as long as I have been self aware. As such, without specific reference, to my general consciousness, our country is equal to all other established governments that were established prior to my awareness. This is odd because I have academic awareness that our country is young in comparrison to others. I just have to put an effort (albeit a small effort) into this realization in my thought process. This is not limited to national awareness, however. This also is reflected in my awareness of other people and things around me such as parents, houses, et cetera. Without thinking specifically of their age, my parents and grandparents are equal to me. They were here before me. It is as if rudementary thought processes group items into “here before me” and “younger than me.” This also gives a certain perception of agelessness to the concepts in question.

What is the point here, you may ask? What is the application of this idea?

Well, if you consider that this may be a phenomenon shared amongst many if not all peoples, it would explain many a national superiority complex. It also helps explains why many are upset and confused by the loss of older loved ones.

Of course it could just a personal phenomenon due to my own thought processes which are very often different than most others. If you read this, please look into your own perceptions and share your thoughts. For those readers out there, the long story short is a lie. Nobody “did it.”

Long Story Short:

The son’s friend’s second cousin did it.