Foreign policy
There's an article circulating the news aggregation sites right now by Prof. Peter Dale Scott contemplating the state that the US empire currently finds itself in. It tries to make sense of the complex interactions between US foreign policy, financial policy and security policy, and some of the shifts that are taking place in the social strata of the country. It's an interesting read, but there's one observation that he makes that really stuck out at me.
Prof. Scott makes the observation that as a country becomes more democratic and accountable to its members, its relations to foreign countries become driven by persons who are less accountable to its members.
I think it's a fascinating idea, and I wonder how closely the two behaviors really are linked. He gives a number of examples in the article of countries who've demonstrated this plurality, which I won't repeat here (spoiler: Emperor Palpetine is not listed), but I think it makes for some interesting food for thought. What are the driving forces that cause something like this to occur anyways? Is it even possible to prevent something like this from happening?
Sounds like good fodder for a science fiction novel. Or, in retrospect, perhaps it has been for .. ever?
Speaking of fiction, my fingers are itchy to pick up a copy of Atlas Shrugged. I've never read it before, but it sounds like it should be a fun read, if a bit on the preachy side. Hopefully .. I mean, well ... it's gotta be more readable than Anthem, right?
Prof. Scott makes the observation that as a country becomes more democratic and accountable to its members, its relations to foreign countries become driven by persons who are less accountable to its members.
I think it's a fascinating idea, and I wonder how closely the two behaviors really are linked. He gives a number of examples in the article of countries who've demonstrated this plurality, which I won't repeat here (spoiler: Emperor Palpetine is not listed), but I think it makes for some interesting food for thought. What are the driving forces that cause something like this to occur anyways? Is it even possible to prevent something like this from happening?
Sounds like good fodder for a science fiction novel. Or, in retrospect, perhaps it has been for .. ever?
Speaking of fiction, my fingers are itchy to pick up a copy of Atlas Shrugged. I've never read it before, but it sounds like it should be a fun read, if a bit on the preachy side. Hopefully .. I mean, well ... it's gotta be more readable than Anthem, right?