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POLYTICKS, AS USUAL Samuel Noah Kramer once described the problem of government -- the seduction of power and greed -- and its effect on the populace: "Of the events that led to the lawless and oppressive state of affairs ... we may surmise that it was the direct result of the political and economic forces unloosed by the drive for power that characterized the ruling (elite) .... Inflated with grandiose ambitions for themselves and their state, some of these rulers resorted to 'imperialistic' wars and bloody conquests .... "It was during these cruel wars and their tragic aftermath that the citizens ... found themselves deprived of their political and economic freedom. In order to raise armies and supply them with arms and equipment, the rulers found it necessary to infringe on the personal rights of the individual citizen, to tax his wealth and property to the limit and to appropriate property.... Once domestic controls were in the hands of the (government), its members were most unwilling to relinquish them, even in peacetime, for the controls proved highly profitable." Though speaking of the ancient Sumerians, Mr. Kramer's words apply as easily today, some 4,500 years later. There's big money in war. Politicians have always known this. Tax the citizens to the hilt in the name of national pride or exigency and there's no end to the padding of political pockets. Even in peacetime, money flows from the public to the power elite for the wars or threats of little countries far away ... Kosovo, Iraq, Bosnia, Israel, Somalia, Haiti, Panama, Korea, Granada, etc. The people grow thin and the government steals and smiles ... Poverty of life and spirit begins a subtle change to a poverty of propriety ... no limits remain, for few can then afford the luxury of ethics or morals or goodness. Mothers kill their children. The White House is assaulted by disgruntled flier and shooter. Citizens attack each other with greater frequency and ferocity ... and the government steals and smiles ... When the watchdog no longer watches, none regret his replacement If the rooster fails to crow, another will awaken Should the cow refuse her milk, she will give meat In fallow fields it is no surprise to see only weeds The caretaker who takes no care will be taken care of POLY: many TICKS: those who grow fat by sucking the blood of others Reference History Begins at Sumer Samuel Noah Kramer, 1956 University of Pennsylvania Press, 1981, pps. 46-48. |