On Thu, Mar 15, 2007 at 07:55:05PM -0700, Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:
>
> > Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:
> >
> > >What frightens the elite is not crime and
> > delinquency, but organized
> > >disciplined action of ordinary folk. Delinquency
> > disrupts that discipline,
> > >and thus is desirable from the elite's point of
> > view. It is also useful,
> > >because it justifies the buildup of the police
> > state that can be quickly
> > >deployed if the ordinary people get their act
> > together and challenge the
> > >powers that be.
> > >
> > Quite true. I remember reading that the attempt of
> > black slaves to
> > educate themselves was considered far more dangerous
> > than general
> > rowdiness or drunkedness.
>
> [WS:] That reminds of a story from the Soviet times (I
> am not sure how authentic) about some technical guy
> sent to France for training in connection with some
> technology transfer. The guy had too much French
> wine, got into a fight in a bar and was arrested. He
> was evetually bailed out by the Polish consul, but of
> course the news of his arrest traveled back to his
> employer. The guy was pretty sure that he woul dbe
> severely reprimanded or worse, but to his big surprise
> he was promoted. To boss let him know that he knew
> about the incident, but nonetheless "trusted" him and
> hped that he would 'recicprocate' that trust - which
> in the Party lingo meant "we've got some dirt on you,
> so you better not cross us."
>
> In his biography of the emperor Heile Selassie,
> Ryszard Kapuscinski writes about the emperor's habit
> of promoting the most incompetent and delinquent
> low-level bureaurcats to highest positions in his
> court, while bypassing more senior and much better
> qualified officers. The logic of it was that the
> latter were more likely to think that they owe the
> promotion to their own merits and that might give them
> some 'wrong ideas' to challenge His Majesty's wisdom.
> The incompetent underlings had no such delusions, they
> knew darn well that they owe their positions solely to
> His Majesty's grace on the condition that they remain
> unquestionably loyal.
>
> The powers that be love incompetent and delinquent
> people. Not only such people are easy to control and
> manipulate, but their incompetence and delinquency
> justifies "protective measures" taken by the powers
> that be to 'safeguard' public interests.
>
> Wojtek
>
>
>
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-- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu michaelperelman.wordpress.com