Welcome to Gaia! ::

Since we really don't have any actual politically charged debate going on here...I'm going to do something potentially crippling, by Gaian standards: I'm about to draw from an AIM conversation.

AoSCDizzle667 (1:26:15 AM): Oh, it's 1:25 here. I meant yesterday. At the commencement of the cycle of waking that I am now taking part at.
AoSCDizzle667 (1:26:26 AM): ...and I am now wishing I hadn't finished off the fifth last night.
Shimbozy (1:28:16 AM): while its not worth it to judge you with the rediculous set of hypocritical and ultimately worthless set of values and preconceptions about behavior that society has set out for us, sometimes i wonder what we would be without them, what would we have to deviate from, what would we have to shun, become frustrated and tired with...
AoSCDizzle667 (1:28:49 AM): We would have nothing. Or anarchy. They become one and the same.
Shimbozy (1:29:11 AM): sometimes i wonder about that as well
AoSCDizzle667 (1:29:38 AM): We have to have societal construct, or our rebellion would mean nothing.
AoSCDizzle667 (1:29:56 AM): You can never have true utopia, but never can true anarchy exist either.
Shimbozy (1:30:03 AM): what if it was possible to have some kind of utopian society where people were accountable for our own actions and everyone were to act in a harmonious fashion
Shimbozy (1:30:10 AM): well i've thought about it
Shimbozy (1:30:19 AM): the larger a group, a society is, the worse it is
AoSCDizzle667 (1:30:45 AM): Of course. I've done some calculations, and democracy in its purest form can only properly exist in populations of 3000 or less.
Shimbozy (1:30:58 AM): when a community is small, everyone knows everyone, we are all held individually accountable for our actions, our fear of rejection from our group can check our behavior
Shimbozy (1:31:25 AM): the anonymity of a large system is what lets us become the monsters that we are
AoSCDizzle667 (1:31:23 AM): And I honestly believe that a communist/socialist society of less than a hundred could exist, if raised from birth without human notions.
Shimbozy (1:31:48 AM): its all about competition for resources
Shimbozy (1:31:50 AM): its animal
Shimbozy (1:31:59 AM): capitalism is the only real way
Shimbozy (1:32:02 AM): but it has to be small
Shimbozy (1:32:14 AM): its impossible for humans to be good when there is so many of them
AoSCDizzle667 (1:32:42 AM): I find myself backing fascism more and more every day. Only by equalizing everyone but a few can the needs for the majorities and minorities be met properly.
Shimbozy (1:33:14 AM): well
Shimbozy (1:33:21 AM): im not sure what exactly you mean by that
Shimbozy (1:33:42 AM): well on top of that
Shimbozy (1:34:25 AM): i feel pretentious for speaking/writing as if i were some revolutionary with the absolutely correct ideas about society and economics
Shimbozy (1:34:33 AM): or socio-economics
Shimbozy (1:34:35 AM): heh
AoSCDizzle667 (1:34:34 AM): Same thing.
AoSCDizzle667 (1:34:58 AM): And I learned that elitism was part of the price. I know I'm no saint, and so does everyone else. I hope.
Shimbozy (1:35:10 AM): hah
AoSCDizzle667 (1:35:47 AM): I figure as long as I keep my head on the ground to a certain extent, I'll have no problems, in the long run, with supporting a political philosophy that I find attractive and effective.
Shimbozy (1:36:04 AM): yeah
AoSCDizzle667 (1:36:40 AM): At this point, I should mention that I'm actually considering going into politics, and I have a $10 bet with my mother that I will be elected President of the United States in 2024.
Shimbozy (1:36:57 AM): well good luck on that my friend
Shimbozy (1:37:13 AM): however i just want to remind you of a few beautiful things about our system
Shimbozy (1:37:20 AM): 1
Shimbozy (1:37:24 AM): money is everything
Shimbozy (1:37:26 AM): 2
Shimbozy (1:37:30 AM): who you know
Shimbozy (1:37:32 AM): is everything
Shimbozy (1:38:01 AM): if you cant work out some very effective and far reaching combination of the two you can do very little politically
AoSCDizzle667 (1:38:25 AM): Yes, but I have the next seventeen years to build my reputation, using my primary resource, and the source of my rising fame: the Internet.
Shimbozy (1:38:46 AM): if you can do that, more power to you
AoSCDizzle667 (1:38:44 AM): Money can be gained when the time is right, my name shall spread for now.
Shimbozy (1:38:56 AM): it would be nice to see things shaken up
AoSCDizzle667 (1:39:04 AM): I seem to have somewhat of a charisma as of late.
AoSCDizzle667 (1:39:18 AM): I'm easy to remember, and I get talked about.
Shimbozy (1:39:45 AM): because all i see in the government is a juggernaut of greed corruption, money, racism, prejudice, and nepotism
AoSCDizzle667 (1:39:46 AM): Right now, it's solely Gaian in nature, but that's because that's the only place I go other than webcomics.
AoSCDizzle667 (1:39:49 AM): That'll end.
Shimbozy (1:39:58 AM): and i mean every facet of government
Shimbozy (1:40:01 AM): oh it has to
AoSCDizzle667 (1:39:58 AM): If I get elected, that will end.
Shimbozy (1:40:06 AM): haha
Shimbozy (1:40:09 AM): reguardless
Shimbozy (1:40:13 AM): it will all end
AoSCDizzle667 (1:40:17 AM): I have a best-case scenario for my election, and a likely scenario should I get elected.
Shimbozy (1:40:41 AM): well s**t
Shimbozy (1:40:55 AM): if you need a secretary of funny s**t to say i'd love that job
Shimbozy (1:41:00 AM): im majoring in english
AoSCDizzle667 (1:40:57 AM): You got it.
Shimbozy (1:41:08 AM): i at least have some BS credentials
Shimbozy (1:41:53 AM): also i want to point out reguardless of wether or not you actually reach office, if little can actually be done in 4 or 8 years as the system we have currently exists
Shimbozy (1:42:13 AM): look at it now
Shimbozy (1:42:50 AM): the system is designed specifically where if they want it badly enough, absolutely nothing can be accomplished
Shimbozy (1:43:22 AM): "checks and balances" they call it
AoSCDizzle667 (1:43:31 AM): Of course it is. It has to be, in order to keep the country from effectively restarting from scratch every term.
AoSCDizzle667 (1:43:33 AM): Best-case: I get assassinated early into my term, resurrecting after three days, and becoming an undying god, finally crossing the dimensional plane in search of somewhere better, placing either a resurrected Johnny Cash, or some suitable replacement, on the throne before I leave.
Shimbozy (1:44:18 AM): thats comical in its absurdity, but please go on
AoSCDizzle667 (1:44:51 AM): Likely (actually merely hopeful in its realism): I revolutionize political thought, reinstate the death penalty, and actually adhere to campaign promises, thus ensuring my second term, and from there attempt to rebuild the failing United States government.
Shimbozy (1:45:30 AM): i dont know if any of that can be done
Shimbozy (1:45:39 AM): but good luck trying
Shimbozy (1:45:51 AM): its reassuring to know that people still care
AoSCDizzle667 (1:46:05 AM): I'd actually be more inclined to say that it's frightening that it's me.
Shimbozy (1:46:17 AM): about trying to do something to improve the world
AoSCDizzle667 (1:46:15 AM): I actually see assassination likely for me.
Shimbozy (1:46:28 AM): interesting
Shimbozy (1:46:34 AM): i wonder why you feel that way
AoSCDizzle667 (1:47:18 AM): Because every time a political thinker emerges, someone with the thoughts, and the chance to actually do something about it, they get killed.
AoSCDizzle667 (1:47:44 AM): JFK, Gandhi, Malcolm X, King, RFK...especially RFK.
Shimbozy (1:48:10 AM): and i feel horrible because i dont know what that is an acronym for
AoSCDizzle667 (1:48:26 AM): Robert Kennedy.
Shimbozy (1:48:34 AM): hmm
Shimbozy (1:48:36 AM): yeah
Shimbozy (1:48:42 AM): i dont think i know who that is
Shimbozy (1:48:48 AM): which brings me to ask the question
Shimbozy (1:48:56 AM): united states public school systems
Shimbozy (1:49:00 AM): what the ********> (1:48:58 AM): He would have been elected President in 1968, if he hadn't been assassinated.
AoSCDizzle667 (1:49:13 AM): I know. I only know these things because I've taken it upon myself to research politics.
Shimbozy (1:49:36 AM): one of my roomates is a political science major
Shimbozy (1:49:41 AM): he has all these liberal ideas
Shimbozy (1:49:53 AM): they just seem so naive and pointless to me
AoSCDizzle667 (1:50:19 AM): I'm comfortably moderate, I think. I tend to lean a little to the economic left, but modern "liberals" just don't cut it.
Shimbozy (1:50:24 AM): doesnt help that the guy seems to find every possible way to sound as whiney as he can even when not whining
AoSCDizzle667 (1:50:43 AM): These days, "liberal" means anti-Bush.
Shimbozy (1:50:51 AM): seriously, i hate my roomates
Shimbozy (1:50:55 AM): but yeah
AoSCDizzle667 (1:50:52 AM): I may not like the man, but I will support my President.
AoSCDizzle667 (1:50:58 AM): Roommates tend to suck.
Shimbozy (1:51:29 AM): i dont think its really required or that important to support your president, i think its important to the system itself that the president does not have complete support
AoSCDizzle667 (1:51:54 AM): It is, but I honestly think George Bush has owned up to the mistakes he's made, and he's at least trying.
AoSCDizzle667 (1:52:09 AM): I run into people our age who actually think he should be assassinated.
AoSCDizzle667 (1:52:14 AM): And it sickens me.

To those who don't talk to me on AIM, I am AoSCDizzle667. (Feel free to IM me anytime, just identify yourself, and we'll carry on a productive and likely insane conversation.) My friend is Shimbozy. We both graduated from the same high school, in the same year. He chose to go to college and attempt to do what "all high school kids do". He's largely considered himself a failure on that point, and only recently has he realized the truth: the more things change, the more they stay the same. We are both nearing the end of the first year after high school, a year we both thought we'd never see. We're both enjoying infatuation on people not near us, and we're both consoling ourselves regularly with alcohol.

That said, we also seem to have similar opinions on political theory. Which is where you come in. I want to know what people actually believe. Is communism possible in small groups? How about traditional democracy? At that, what about fascism and totalitarianism? Could I actually be elected?

In other words, to our American members, can we save our ******** country? And to our offlanders...any suggestions on how we can improve would be nice, in addition to opinions on the varying political thought.

You could have the job. And, honestly, I used to support communism, until I realized that human nature implies that without leadership, we have naught but anarchy.

I'll have you know that I do plan on running someday, and I'm in favor of a loose totalitarian oligarchy rather than a democracy. That, and I consider myself a bit of a political visionary, in that I want to change what I view to be flawed.

Is it possible to be a selfless dictator? Or is that mutually exclusive?

They're already there. Have been for some time now.

That it would. I already have people that I know, who have the power to check my crazy decisions, but I don't know if that's enough.

I know. That's part of the problem, really.