Israel, Settlements, Gaza Strip, Palestinian homeland
- Architecture of Oppression / Resettlement
find article / review, written about in NYT, group of architects in Gaza
"don't listen to what they say, look at what they build"
Hitler, German occupation of Rhineland, Austria
- "German people need more room to live"
Democracy / Tyranny / Capitalism / Socialism / Bureaucracy (?) / Public Works (?)
Democracy is by definition INEFFICIENT
Capitalism wants EFFICIENCY
ergo, why do we link Democracy & Capitalism? Is Tyranny better suited to Capitalism? Or, put another way, does absolute Capitalism inevitably lead to Tyrannical acts (in the name of efficiency)?
RM v. FDR -- FDR also tyrannical, and also BAD tyrannical (packing the courts = more efficient, less gov't getting in way of his plans for USA)
Can developing countries actually go straight from a tyrannical / dicatorial form of government straight into 21st c USA style democracy??? Or is an intermediate step of "benevolent dictator" necessary to make the transition?
"Dictatorship of the Proletariat"
For that matter, there are times (i.e. war, massive economic depression, etc) when even USA democracy needs to revert to a "benevolent dictator" -- to improve EFFICIENCY in government.
Look up actual hard definitions of:
Capitalism
Socialism
Communism
Direct Democracy (Pure)
Parliamentary System
Social Democracy
Republic
Representative Democracy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Form_of_government
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism
Which of these is the USA now? (Republic? Representative Democracy?) Examples of others?
That idea from West Wing that we aren't a democracy, we're a republic (?), idea is we cede our right of decision to "best and brightest" who understand better than the public the nuances of governing / trade / etc.
How modern mass media (instantaneous, international, live video, polling, etc) corrupts this idea, has led us to give "the opinion of the people" more weight than it should.
How this was a non issue (b/c of limited technology) when Constitution was written, representatives had more independence from constituents, more time to "spin", etc.
Conspiracy Theory:
Illuminati / Masons / Great Seal of the United States (on the 1$ bill, capitalism, etc)