The press is as indispensible as ever

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«Some analysts say that the Internet age has made the press less relevant. Fewer people today worship at the altar of daily journalism. Yet from the perspective of a public bathed in a “stream of blather and misinformation,” as Maureen Dowd puts it, the press is as indispensible as ever.87 Never before has so much information been available to us, and yet never before have we had a greater need for information grounded in facts rather than spin and speculation. Reliable information on the issues of the day is an increasingly scarce commodity, and citizen journalism can’t provide it on an everyday basis. “Serious reporting on national and international affairs isn’t for amateurs,” says Yale Law School’s Bruce Ackerman.88
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Journalists’ civic contribution will ultimately rest on whether through knowledge they are able to assert greater control over the facts. Journalists will falter, and ultimately fail, if their set of “facts” is seen by the public as little better than those offered up by talk show hosts, bloggers, and spin doctors. Knowledge offers journalists their best chance of delivering an authoritative version of the news, a point on which Dewey fully agreed with Lippmann. “The future of democracy is allied with the spread of the scientific attitude,” wrote Dewey. “It is the sole guarantee against wholesale misleading by propaganda».

 

Informing The News

Μαύρα μαντάτα στο απολογητικό βιβλίο του N. Ferguson

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«Any highly indebted economy confronts a narrow range of options. There are essentially three:

 * raising the rate of growth above the rate of interest thanks to technological innovation and (perhaps) a judicious use of monetary stimulus;
 * defaulting on a large proportion of the public debt and going into bankruptcy to escape the private debt; and
 * wiping out of debts via currency depreciation and inflation.

But nothing in mainstream economic theory can predict which of these three – or which combination – a particular country will select. Why did post-1918 Germany go down the road of hyperinflation? Why did post-1929 America go down the road of private default and bankruptcy? Why not the other way round? At the time of writing, it seems less and less likely that any major developed economy will be able to inflate away its liabilities as happened in many cases in the 1920s and 1950s.9 But why not? Milton Friedman’s famous dictum that inflation is ‘always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon’ leaves unanswered the questions of who creates the excess money and why they do it. In practice, inflation is primarily a political phenomenon. Its likelihood is a function of factors like the content of elite education; competition (or the lack of it) in an economy; the character of the legal system; levels of violence; and the political decision-making process itself. Only by historical methods can we explain why, over the past thirty years, so many countries created forms of debt that, by design, cannot be inflated away; and why, as a result, the next generation will be saddled for life with liabilities incurred by their parents and grandparents».

N. Ferguson: «The Great Degeneration»

The Value of Violence

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«Violence is the driving force of politics. The importance of violence derives from the dominance it usually manifests over other forms of political action, from its destructive and politically transformative power and from the capacity of violence to serve as an instrument of political mobilization. These three factors explain why Chairman Mao was correct in his assertion that political power emanated from the gun barrel.

      In using violence, states generally have a number of advantages vis-à-vis other actors. One advantage is bureaucracy. Anyone can be violent, but serious violence generally requires the support of a bureaucratic organization to overcome the natural, human, and moral limits of violence. Bureaucracy is one of the mechanisms through which states sometimes achieve the monopoly of force to which Max Weber famously referred.

      Most states do not rely upon naked violence as an instrument of governance but seek to refine violence and make it a more effective tool. Domestically, states employ various forms of legitimation as well as the rule of law to refine their use of violence. In the international realm, refined violence is sometimes called soft power. Legitimation, law, and soft power are not substitutes for force but instead are, in military parlance, “force multipliers” that increase the effectiveness of a given quantity of force, allowing the same result to be achieved with less effort.

      Another instrument that reduces the state’s need to rely upon overt violence is public welfare. Welfare is more a substitute for force than a force multiplier. It is the carrot rather than the stick, reward rather than punishment. The U.S., slow to build a welfare state, has chosen to rely more upon punishment than reward internally, which is why America has an enormous prison system. This internal reliance upon force has had consequences for America’s external relations, as well. In fact, the weakness of its welfare state helps to explain why the U.S. is among the most overtly violent states on the face of the earth. This might be seen as the dark side of American exceptionalism.

      Governments, even liberal democracies, use violence against their citizens every day. But when, if ever, is it appropriate for citizens to use violence against the state?

      Violence is terrible, but it is the great engine of political change. The next generation, perceiving itself to have been the beneficiary, is often grateful for the violent acts of the previous generation. Mechanisms designed to discourage popular violence, including political reform and peaceful modes of political participation, are generally tactics designed to delimit change».

«The Value of Violence»

Σας θυμίζει κάτι;

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«Το σύστημα της «πατρονίας» έχει ένα μεγάλο μειονέκτημα: Εμποδίζει την κινητοποίηση του πληθυσμού για την επίτευξη συλλογικών στόχων (εθνικών και ταξικών). Εκφράζει τα συμφέροντα της πολιτικής τάξης πρωτίστως και δευτερευόντως επιμέρους συμφέροντα (μεγάλα, μεσαία ή μικρά). Στη βάση του φαινομένου βρίσκεται ένας αχαλίνωτος ατομικισμός συνυφασμένος με μια βαθιά αδιαφορία για τις τύχες και τις προοπτικές της χώρας, για τη δυνατότητα ύπαρξης ενός κοινού παραγωγικού μέλλοντος. Το ατομικό «βόλεμα», η ατομική σωτηρία «συν γυναιξί και τέκνοις», με την παράκαμψη κάθε έννοιας νομιμότητας και αξιοκρατίας, ανάγεται σε υπέρτατη ρυθμιστική αρχή του δημόσιου βίου».

«Η Νεοελληνική Φαυλοκρατία» του Ευαγγ. Κοροβίνη

Ολα πάνε καλά

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«Έπί μακράν σειράν ετών έπαρηγορούμεθα ότι τά άλλα εθνη θά εθυσίαζον το συμφέρον των εις τήν δικαιοσύνην κατά τήν όριστικήν έπίλυσιν του ’Ανατολικού Ζητήματος. Μετά τήν απώλειαν της τοιαύτης έλπίδος ούδέν άλλο απομένει ήμΐν μέσον παρηγορίας παρά νά άσπασθώμεν τήν πίστιν, καθ’ ήν ή διαίρεσις του ανθρωπίνου γένους εις αντίζηλα έθνη είναι κατάστασις άνώμαλος και παροδική, ούδ’ άπέχει πολλούς αιώνας ή εποχή όπου ούτε σύνορα, ούτε εθνικά συμφέροντα, θέλουσι χωρίζει άπ ’ άλλήλων τούς άδελφωθέντες απογόνους τού Άδάμ. Ό άπό τοιαύτης σκοπιάς έξετάζων τά συμβαίνοντα δικαιούται νά θεωρεί ώς προσωρινόν καί άναξιόλογον δυστύχημα πάσαν έθνικήν ζημίαν».

Εμμ. Ροϊδης

* Από το βιβλίο «Η Νεοελληνική Φαυλοκρατία» του Ευαγγ. Κοροβίνη

“Not so fast, it’s going to look like we’re running away!”

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January 22
A KINGDOM MOVES
On this January day in 1808, the exhausted ships that had left Lisbon two months before arrived on the coast of Brazil without bread or water.
Napoleon was trampling the map of Europe and at the Portuguese border he unleashed the stampede: the Portuguese court, obliged to change address, marched off to the tropics.
Queen Maria led the way. Right behind her came the prince and the dukes, counts, viscounts, marquises and barons, all wearing the wigs and sumptuous attire inherited later on by the carnival of Rio de Janeiro. On their heels, butting up against each other in desperation, came priests and military officers, courtesans, dressmakers, doctors, judges, notaries, barbers, scribes, cobblers, gardeners . . .
Queen Maria was not quite in her right mind, which is a nice way to say she was off her rocker, but she pronounced the only reasonable phrase to be heard amid that bunch of lunatics: “Not so fast, it’s going to look like we’re running away!”

«Children of the Days»

Bilderberg vs Britney

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«An archive search indicates that the Associated Press, or ‘the essential global news network’ as it likes to call itself, has included the word Bilderberg in five articles since 1998. The phrase ‘Trilateral Commission’ appeared 15 times over the same period. The words ‘Bohemian Grove’ are found next to one another a total of ten times. ‘Britney Spears’ appears in 1,835 articles in the AP archive. 24 This is not to say that the world is governed by a shadowy cabal that somehow holds the visible world of politics and business in its thrall. Organizations like the Trilateral Commission and the Bilderberg group are not omnipotent, but they are important. As Bertram Gross has pointed out: ‘for imperial straight talk to mature, communication must be thoroughly protected from public scrutiny. Top elites must not only meet together frequently; they must have opportunities to work, play, and relax together for long periods of time.’ 25 The debates between those who control much of the world’s wealth, and who exercise enormous power as a consequence, remain for the most part unpublicized. Their power allows them to act in secret and the secrecy enhances their power. A network of institutions and more informal gatherings exists in which investors confer with politicians, opinion-formers and experts» .

Return of the Public

Σε αναζήτηση εναλλακτικής λύσης

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«Κάποιο προφανές λάθος υπάρχει στον τρόπο που ζούμε σήμερα. Για τριάντα χρόνια θεωρούσαμε αρετή το ιδιοτελές κυνήγι των υλικών αγαθών: πράγματι, το ίδιο κυνήγι αποτελεί πλέον ότι μας έχει απομείνει από την αίσθηση ενός συλλογικού σκοπού. Γνωρίζουμε πόσο κοστίζουν τα πράγματα, αλλά δεν έχουμε ιδέα πόσο αξίζουν. Δεν αναρωτιόμαστε πλέον για μια δικαστική απόφαση ή μια νομοθετική πράξη: Είναι καλή; Είναι ισορροπημένη; Είναι δίκαιη; Είναι σωστή; Θα συμβάλει στην προσπάθεια για μια καλύτερη κοινωνία και έναν καλύτερο κόσμο; Αυτές ήταν κάποτε οι πολιτικές ερωτήσεις, ακόμα και όταν δεν συνοδεύονταν από εύκολες απαντήσεις. Πρέπει να μάθουμε και πάλι να τις θέτουμε.

Η υλιστική και εγωιστική πλευρά της σύγχρονης ζωής δεν είναι εγγενής στην ανθρώπινη ύπαρξη. Πολλά από αυτά που εμφανίζονται ως «φυσικοί νόμοι» σήμερα χρονολογούνται από τη δεκαετία του ’80: η εμμονή με τον πλουτισμό, η λατρεία των ιδιωτικοποιήσεων και του ιδιωτικού τομέα, οι συνεχώς αυξανόμενες ανισότητες μεταξύ πλουσίων και φτωχών. Και κυρίως, η ρητορική που τις συνοδεύει: ο άκριτος θαυμασμός για τις ανεξέλεγκτες αγορές, η περιφρόνηση για το δημόσιο τομέα, η αυταπάτη της αέναης ανάπτυξης.

Δε μπορούμε να συνεχίσουμε να ζούμε έτσι. Το μίνι κραχ του 2008 ήταν μια υπενθύμιση πως ο άναρχος καπιταλισμός είναι ο χειρότερος εχθρός μας: αργά ή γρήγορα θα καταστεί θύμα των δικών του υπερβολών και για μια ακόμη φορά θα στραφεί προς το δημόσιο για να διασωθεί. Αλλά αν δεν κάνουμε κάτι περισσότερο από τη συγκόλληση των σπασμένων κομματιών ώστε να γίνουν όλα όπως πριν, τότε πρέπει να προσβλέπουμε σε μεγαλύτερες αναταραχές στα επόμενα χρόνια.

Και όμως, φαινόμαστε ανίκανοι να εντοπίσουμε εναλλακτικές λύσεις. Ακόμα και αυτό είναι κάτι καινούργιο. Μέχρι σχετικά πρόσφατα, η δημόσια ζωή στις σύγχρονες κοινωνίες βρίσκονταν στη σκιά μιας συζήτησης ανάμεσα στους υπερασπιστές του «καπιταλισμού» και στους επικριτές του: οι τελευταίοι ταυτίζονται με κάποια μορφή «σοσιαλισμού». Από τη δεκαετία του ’70 η συγκεκριμένη συζήτηση έχει χάσει μεγάλο μέρος της σημασίας της και για τις δύο πλευρές ‘ την ίδια στιγμή, η διάκριση «Αριστερά – Δεξιά» αξιοποιήθηκε για την εξυπηρέτηση συγκεκριμένου σκοπού. Ως στήλη για να κρεμάμε τον κριτικό σχολιασμό για τις σύγχρονες υποθέσεις».

 

Από το βιβλίο «Ill Fares the Land» του Tony Judt, το τελευταίο βιβλίο που κυκλοφόρησε όσο ο Βρετανός ιστορικός ήταν ακόμα εν ζωή

Newspapers

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In 1815 Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from his prison on the island of Elba and set off to regain the French throne.
On he marched, accompanied by a steadily growing army, while his former official organ, Le Moniteur Universel, swore that the people of France were eager to die to protect King Louis XVIII. The paper said Napoleon had “sullied and raped the soil of the fatherland,” called him “foreign outlaw, usurper, traitor, plague, bandit chief, enemy of France who dares befoul the land from which he was expelled,” and announced: “This will be his final act of insanity.”
In the end the king fled, no one died for him, and Napoleon took his seat on the throne without firing a shot.
The same daily went on to report:

The happy news of Napoleon’s arrival in the capital has caused a sudden and unanimous outburst of joy, everyone is hugging, cheers for the Emperor fill the air, in every eye are tears of bliss, all rejoice at the return of France’s hero and swear the deepest obedience to His Majesty the Emperor.

Children of the Time