> > > > The only thing that makes me content with the poor > political systems > > currently implemented is that I can not think of a different system > > that would have consistently better results. > > Spend some time reading Murray Rothbard's works on economics > and politics. Almost all of it is available online at the > Mises institute, www.mises.org > Very true from my perspective. But the one system I can imagine that MIGHT be better is one where the common people questions their leadership a bit more. My motivation for starting this thread (and I apologies to all who have been bothered by it) is the research of Stanley Milgram, his possible influence on the Unabomber, "the Laramie Project" and the "Rise and Fall of the 3rd Reich" which all contain examples of people being completely unable to stand up to figures of authority even just to voice a question or concern. Some of the anger and frustration that have been generated (and there really hasn't been much, I'm happy to say) show that any questioning of the official line is still difficult. I have trained myself to be willing and able to stand up and ask an embarrassing or difficult question or even speak out against an authority that I disagree with. The first times I did that, I was shaking so bad I could hardly speak. Once I actual had to go and throw up afterwards, and it really wasn't that big a deal. A professor castigated our entire class for not having understood her explanation and I stood up and said "May I respectfully submit that perhaps your explanation was not well suited for this class? I would like to suggest that you develop a new lecture that we can understand." I still get chills remembering how hard that was. And yes, I was asked to leave the class, which I did... And 3/4 of the class followed me within a few days. The professor was let go some months later. May I respectfully submit that we as humans have a necessary and genetically programmed need to "fall in line" behind our leaders and that in modern times, actively recognizing and working to control that response may be our best hope for peace. http://techref.massmind.org/techref/other/anarchist.htm --- James. -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist