Please compare this and this. Are we talking about the same person?!
Post Script - A "Hotness Total" of two?! What the hell is that?!
Monday, December 20, 2004
Sunday, December 19, 2004
Problems with Democracy
I came across an interesting article whilst searching for things on the recent Ukranian debacle. I intended to do a little internet research to write an article for the upcoming Irvine Regressive, (a tentative name, perhaps) a paper John and company are starting. The article that I came across might actually impact what I write for the Regressive, but, since I have not blogged in ages, I thought I should post it here first.
The article is from the BBC website, and it concerns Turkmenistan's recent election. Apparently, the Turkmen government conducted a poll and found that 80% of the population took part in a parliamentary election where there was no opposing party. The article reads, "... all 131 candidates offered support to President Niyazov, known as Turkmenbashi or Leader of Turkmens." This "Turkmenbashi" certainly has bashed all opposition in Turkmenistan, a country used to the ways of dictatorship.
But, if there was no opposing party to vote for, what's the point of voting? Indeed, the article admits that the election was a "hollow process," and the poll was a "sham," and was quick to say that Turkmenistan was becoming an "ever-more authoritarian state." However, it gave the ultimate reason why 80% of the population cast their ballots for the only party running: "To most, going to vote is an expression of conformity. To stay away could mean reprisals, our correspondent says."
Interesting...
"Democracy" has blended, at least in Turkmenistan, with the authoritarian or totalitarian state. The president controls minor details in his constituent's lives, like the smoking habits of airline pilots, or the exportation of sheep (which leads to banishment, according to the article). And, while it is easy for the BBC, and nearly any person, to view Turkmenistan as authoritarian, exactly how different is Turkmenistan's government from the United States'? I admit that the differences between the Republican and Democratic parties are few and minor, and that the state has an ever-increasing role in the minor details of everyone's lives. And, with television stations such as MTV encouraging voting, it seems there is a desperate attempt to make voting a norm; to have people conform individual values into either one of the major parties. So what makes Turkmenistan an authoritarian state and the United States a democracy?
I will not (and cannot) answer that question, at least for now. I might toy around with the idea and see what comes up for the first issue of the Regressive.
The article is from the BBC website, and it concerns Turkmenistan's recent election. Apparently, the Turkmen government conducted a poll and found that 80% of the population took part in a parliamentary election where there was no opposing party. The article reads, "... all 131 candidates offered support to President Niyazov, known as Turkmenbashi or Leader of Turkmens." This "Turkmenbashi" certainly has bashed all opposition in Turkmenistan, a country used to the ways of dictatorship.
But, if there was no opposing party to vote for, what's the point of voting? Indeed, the article admits that the election was a "hollow process," and the poll was a "sham," and was quick to say that Turkmenistan was becoming an "ever-more authoritarian state." However, it gave the ultimate reason why 80% of the population cast their ballots for the only party running: "To most, going to vote is an expression of conformity. To stay away could mean reprisals, our correspondent says."
Interesting...
"Democracy" has blended, at least in Turkmenistan, with the authoritarian or totalitarian state. The president controls minor details in his constituent's lives, like the smoking habits of airline pilots, or the exportation of sheep (which leads to banishment, according to the article). And, while it is easy for the BBC, and nearly any person, to view Turkmenistan as authoritarian, exactly how different is Turkmenistan's government from the United States'? I admit that the differences between the Republican and Democratic parties are few and minor, and that the state has an ever-increasing role in the minor details of everyone's lives. And, with television stations such as MTV encouraging voting, it seems there is a desperate attempt to make voting a norm; to have people conform individual values into either one of the major parties. So what makes Turkmenistan an authoritarian state and the United States a democracy?
I will not (and cannot) answer that question, at least for now. I might toy around with the idea and see what comes up for the first issue of the Regressive.
Friday, December 03, 2004
Burgess' Burgeoning Genial Genius
" 'Life,' so went Quedgeley on, 'is in a sense all lies. We watch ourselves act every day. Philip drunk and Philip sober. One is inside the other watching the other. And so I am John Quedgeley and Jack Quedgeley and Jockey Quedgeley and Master Quedgeley, Justice of Peace, and all. It is all acting.' And WS saw that this was true, revolving it in the murk of the bottom of his cider-tankard. Had he not himself watched WS and WS watched Will? Where was truth, where did a man's true nature lie? There was, as it were, an essence and there was also an existence. It was, this essence, at the bottom of a well, of a Will."
~Anthony Burgess. Nothing Like the Sun. p.51
~Anthony Burgess. Nothing Like the Sun. p.51
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