Politics & Power

The Emperor, James Carroll Beckwith (c. 1890)

The first step in political understanding is to see that every society has a ruling class, and that the myth of popular government is an opiate of the masses.  If you need help taking this step, I suggest you consult Main’s Popular Government (1886) or Burnham’s Machiavellians (1943).  - JMSmith

I like what JMSmith writes, I've quoted him a couple of times in this blog (though not all posts tagged with Orthosphere quote JMSmith). This post draws gut level picture of our current power structure, historical power structures and power structures in general. It's good to step back from the day to day bullshit and get a good overview of what's really going on.

To properly represent the struggle for power we need a game that combines chess and Chinese checkers so we can have three opponents instead of just two. But a game like that might never end, and while it might mirror the real world, it wouldn't be much fun.

New words, or new meanings for old words, for me:

• quondam - adjective, that once was; former.
• regnant - adjective, reigning; ruling.
• sacerdotal - adjective, relating to priests or the priesthood; priestly.
• Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Sudras - plural nouns, Indian classes and possibly Hindu castes. OK, Brahmans isn't new to me.
• primate - noun (CHRISTIAN CHURCH), the chief bishop or archbishop of a province.