> So, let's not even look before we leap?
Brake failure! Runaway metaphor! Jump!
Whew. That's better. Now that we stand once more on the firm ground of literal language, what would the actual activity of "looking before we leap" consist of?
If you're standing on a precipice, you can look down and see the actually existing bottom, which, along with the height of the precipice, the presence or non-presence of water below, and so on, are present realities, easily discerned by one's physical senses. But 'looking before one leaps' in, say, a Tahrir Square situation, requires looking into the future.
Among people who think and talk about politics much, there is a strangely pandemic assurance that one can know 'what would happen if'. At least it seems strange to me, having as I do no organ of precognition.
Still, maybe there are a few general probabilistic principles that can be inferred from the contemplation of history. One such, perhaps, is that *unless* people get out in the streets and tear up the pea patch, the elites will just keep tightening the screws.
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Michael J. Smith mjs at smithbowen.net
http://stopmebeforeivoteagain.org http://www.cars-suck.org http://fakesprogress.blogspot.com