Ian:
> I'd guess HRC would simply deride such an ascription.
I didn't know she participated on lbo so that I have to consider what she thinks about such matters.
HRC's medical plan (now defunct) was very technocrat. A bunch of experts got together in a closed room and cobbled together an extremely complicated (though perhaps technically correct) that would likely have fallen apart immediately if not implemented in exactly the right way. Her attitude toward education in IT TAKES A VILLAGE is that it's mostly a matter of investment in children. This seems technocratic, not humanistic.
> Clearly
> articulated legal procedures for democratic legislatures would be a
> must for any form of socialism that uses representative government
> afaict [??], so one could always disparage them as technocratic;
> it doesn't follow that they are.
Right. But clearly articulated legal procedures and democratic legislatures don't seem "technocratic" to me and need not seem that way to others. Allwords.com defines "technocracy" as "The government of a country or management of an industry by technical experts." A technocrat, following the tradition that Veblen helped spawn but would probably hate, was an engineer, scientist, or the like. Usually this list excludes lawyers.
Democracy _uses_ experts rather than being ruled by them. Of course, this is hard to do in practice, but it's good to keep the principle in mind. A key factor is to involve the "grass roots" in decision-making as much as possible rather than relying on top-down decision-making.
> Legalese infuriates many US citizens because
> they can't always tell where/when/if mendacity begins with such jargon
> laden discourse. Such is the price for inegalitarian eduction policies
> and a culture of rampant anti-intellectualism.
right. The legal system also reflects the class system and the aggressive competition ("rent seeking") amongst the powerful. The individualism of the system encourages the seeking legal "solutions" to problems, as going to court can be and is often economic competition by other means. -- Jim Devine "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.