Political Systems for 400, Alex.

Published on April 28, 2004 By Joel Hynoski In Politics

...on your friendly neighbourhood Jeopardy...

"This is defined in Merriam-Webster as :

1 a : of or relating to centralized control by an autocratic leader or hierarchy : AUTHORITARIAN, DICTATORIAL; especially : DESPOTIC b : of or relating to a political regime based on subordination of the individual to the state and strict control of all aspects of the life and productive capacity of the nation especially by coercive measures (as censorship and terrorism)
2 a : advocating or characteristic of totalitarianism b : completely regulated by the state especially as an aid to national mobilization in an emergency c : exercising autocratic powers : tending toward monopoly"

"What is TOTALITARIAN?"

I've gotten some traction about my last statement in the previous blog entry. I said (and I quote):
"Oh well, such is the nature of the beast under a totalitarian regime. It will be good to get OUR democracy back in November."

Mr Pebbles mentioned that entry, and specifically that sentence in his post. The general theme is that a totalitarian regime would not permit voting. (A subtext is that I'm a woman, which, the last time I checked, is not the case.)

Fact is, you can have totalitarianism with a vestige of democracy. Several African nations can attest to that. Read the definition of 'totalitarian" above, from Merriam-Webster again. There's nothing there that precludes voting.

What is scary is how close this is to the Bush Administration. Let's take them one by one:

* ...centralized control by an autocratic leader or hierarchy. We've certainly got that, especially with Bush, Cheney, Rummy and Condi.
* of or relating to a political regime based on subordination of the individual to the state and strict control of all aspects of the life and productive capacity of the nation especially by coercive measures (as censorship and terrorism) Well, well, well. Can anyone say "Patriot Act"? Let me say something about this in relation to a news story today out of Seattle. It was reported in the Seattle PI today that a 15-year-old boy's drawings and sketches were confiscated by the Secret Service because a couple of those featured George W Bush. Well, specifically one of them had El Presidente's head on a stake, another had him portrayed as a devil firing off rockets. The point isn't that the sketches were drawn or their content. It's a FIFTEEN YEAR OLD BOY IN HIGH SCHOOL. The drawings were done in a personal sketchbook (which was confiscated at school for some reason.) He's a FIFTEEN YEAR OLD BOY!!!! And the Secret Service confiscates his sketchbook and investigates him for domestic terrorism and a threat against the president. What the hell is this country turning into? For goodness sake! Censorship? Of course! First amendment rights, goodbye!
*tending toward monopoly. Can you say: big business? How about Halliburton in Iraq? How about Faith-based initiatives?

We are living under totalitarianism. Face it. It's just lucky enough that we are able to vote freely (because just imagine what would happen if that was taken away) and rise up (yes, you can rise up in protest non-violently) to vote out the oppressor.

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