{"id":1516,"date":"2008-10-01T03:00:56","date_gmt":"2008-10-01T07:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/s265039441.onlinehome.us\/philpaine\/?p=1516"},"modified":"2018-08-11T17:37:35","modified_gmt":"2018-08-11T21:37:35","slug":"seventh-meditation-on-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=1516","title":{"rendered":"SEVENTH<\/span> MEDITATION<\/span> ON<\/span> DEMOCRACY<\/span> (written October 1, 2008)"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few days ago, I was in the sub\u00adway, and I over\u00adheard a con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adtion about our cur\u00adrent nation\u00adal elec\u00adtion. Two boys who, from their appear\u00adance, could have been no fur\u00adther along in school than grade nine or ten, were dis\u00adcussing the tele\u00advised debates between the lead\u00aders of the five major polit\u00adi\u00adcal par\u00adties. What struck me, as I lis\u00adtened in, was that the dis\u00adcus\u00adsion was cogent and intel\u00adli\u00adgent. One of the boys, who seemed the youngest, was par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly artic\u00adu\u00adlate, and his opin\u00adions were not the sim\u00adple par\u00adrot\u00ading of some adult he had heard, or the pur\u00adsuit of a par\u00adty line. In fact, his analy\u00adsis of the debate showed keen\u00ader obser\u00adva\u00adtion and judg\u00adment than that of the pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal com\u00admen\u00adta\u00adtors who dis\u00adsect\u00aded the debate after the broadcast.<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n Now, I\u2019m sure that these were excep\u00adtion\u00adal kids. It\u2019s unlike\u00adly that there are many in their age group who share their inter\u00adests and skills. But it\u2019s a sign that there is some\u00adthing going on, under the sur\u00adface of our soci\u00adety, that you would nev\u00ader guess by watch\u00ading tele\u00advi\u00adsion or read\u00ading a news\u00adpa\u00adper. I grew up in a fam\u00adi\u00adly where nation\u00adal and provin\u00adcial pol\u00adi\u00adtics were argued at the din\u00adner table with gus\u00adto, and I have a clear mem\u00ado\u00adry of the issues in an elec\u00adtion held when I was ten years old. That was prob\u00ada\u00adbly an excep\u00adtion\u00adal envi\u00adron\u00adment. But I did not have access to the wealth of infor\u00adma\u00adtion now avail\u00adable on the inter\u00adnet. No amount of clev\u00ader\u00adness is very use\u00adful if you have poor infor\u00adma\u00adtion, so my capac\u00adi\u00adty to ana\u00adlyze was lim\u00adit\u00aded. I doubt that I could have matched the sophis\u00adti\u00adca\u00adtion demon\u00adstrat\u00aded by the kids in the sub\u00adway. Many peo\u00adple, of any age, are still prey to the tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal tools of obfus\u00adca\u00adtion, but\u00adton-push\u00ading and appeals to prej\u00adu\u00addice that politi\u00adcians have suc\u00adcess\u00adful\u00adly deployed for cen\u00adturies. How\u00adev\u00ader, if some\u00adone is fair\u00adly sharp, and raised with the infor\u00adma\u00adtion tools now avail\u00adable, they have a good chance of see\u00ading through these strat\u00ada\u00adgems. So you can expect there to start appear\u00ading a lay\u00ader of young peo\u00adple who are rel\u00ada\u00adtive\u00adly immune to the kind of sil\u00adly-ass cam\u00adpaign\u00ading that our cur\u00adrent gov\u00adern\u00adment relies upon. It will be very inter\u00adest\u00ading to see what hap\u00adpens when that lay\u00ader of peo\u00adple, who were born with the inter\u00adnet, grows up and walks into the poll-booth. They will be dis\u00adplac\u00ading a gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion that grew up with the much more pas\u00adsive and homo\u00adge\u00adneous medi\u00adum of television.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the results may be that the elec\u00adtorate does some grow\u00ading up in a psy\u00adcho\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal, as well as a phys\u00adi\u00adcal sense. One of the chief points that I\u2019ve tried to put across in my \u201cmed\u00adi\u00adta\u00adtions on democ\u00adra\u00adcy\u201d is that the core con\u00adcept of democ\u00adra\u00adcy is self-respect. Self-respect is man\u00adi\u00adfest\u00aded, in a healthy mind, by a will\u00ading\u00adness to take on the respon\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adties of an adult when one becomes an adult. The prin\u00adci\u00adpal respon\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty that an adult has is to gov\u00adern one\u00adself. A child is born help\u00adless, and must at first be con\u00adtrolled and guid\u00aded by par\u00adents, in order to sur\u00advive at all. But, as the child grows old\u00ader, the car\u00ading par\u00adent relin\u00adquish\u00ades one aspect of con\u00adtrol after anoth\u00ader, until adult\u00adhood is reached, and the child becomes autonomous and self-gov\u00adern\u00ading. That is com\u00admon sense, under\u00adstood by most peo\u00adple on the indi\u00advid\u00adual lev\u00adel. How\u00adev\u00ader, on the lev\u00adel of col\u00adlec\u00adtive action, on the lev\u00adel of soci\u00adety, that com\u00admon sense les\u00adson is rarely understood.<\/span><\/p>\n

When peo\u00adple dis\u00adcussing pol\u00adi\u00adtics talk about \u201clead\u00ader\u00adship\u201d, you know that they are encased in a prim\u00adi\u00adtive, pre-log\u00adi\u00adcal, and infan\u00adtile state of mind. Peo\u00adple who seek lead\u00aders are sim\u00adply not grown up, and peo\u00adple who advance the claim of Lead\u00ader\u00adship are attempt\u00ading to keep adults in a state of per\u00adpet\u00adu\u00adal child\u00adhood. If to be an adult means to gov\u00adern one\u00adself, then no adult should be seek\u00ading a \u201cleader\u201d. The pur\u00adpose of democ\u00adra\u00adcy is not to \u201cselect a leader\u201d. It is to select poli\u00adcies. The mech\u00ada\u00adnism of democ\u00adra\u00adcy is not intend\u00aded to choose some\u00adone to gov\u00adern the peo\u00adple, but for the peo\u00adple to gov\u00adern them\u00adselves. In ratio\u00adnal demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic thought, office hold\u00aders are not \u201clead\u00aders\u201d, they are ser\u00advants. The pur\u00adpose of an elec\u00adtion is to 1) choose a pol\u00adi\u00adcy of admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion and an over\u00adall plan, 2) assign peo\u00adple to the rel\u00ade\u00advant tasks, and 3) make sure they do what they are told to do. \u201cLead\u00ader\u00adship\u201d does not come into it. Vot\u00aders are not sup\u00adposed to be \u201cled\u201d, they are sup\u00adposed to be in charge. The last per\u00adson I want to see hold pub\u00adlic office is some strut\u00adting alpha-ape who claims the right to tell me what to do. If I see some\u00adone run\u00adning for office who is flaunt\u00ading dom\u00adi\u00adnance sig\u00adnals, claim\u00ading to have \u201cvision\u201d and telling me I need \u201clead\u00ader\u00adship\u201d, then my healthy, sane, adult response is to want to see such an ass\u00adhole slapped down, hum\u00adbled, and kicked out of pub\u00adlic life. I want to see them replaced with some com\u00adpe\u00adtent per\u00adson who will faith\u00adful\u00adly car\u00adry out the instruc\u00adtions they are giv\u00aden by the peo\u00adple. I am an adult, and a free man, so any\u00adone who dares to claim to be my \u201cleader\u201d earns noth\u00ading but my con\u00adtempt. My fun\u00adda\u00admen\u00adtal her\u00aditage as a Cana\u00addi\u00adan is that the only legit\u00adi\u00admate leader of me is me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cana\u00addi\u00adans are sup\u00adposed to know this. We are not some back\u00adward tribe of sav\u00adages danc\u00ading around a gold\u00aden calf and wait\u00ading for a crack\u00adpot Mes\u00adsi\u00adah to tell us what to do. We are sup\u00adposed to be grown up enough not to be impressed by a tai\u00adlored suit, a jut\u00adting jaw, or a man\u00adu\u00adfac\u00adtured pub\u00adlic\u00adi\u00adty image. The polit\u00adi\u00adcal sys\u00adtem we have built, slow\u00adly and pru\u00addent\u00adly, out of dis\u00adparate tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal sources \u2014 Eng\u00adland\u2019s slow\u00adly evolved par\u00adlia\u00adment, New Eng\u00adland\u2019s town meet\u00adings, native Cana\u00addi\u00adan coun\u00adcils, the long fight for uni\u00adver\u00adsal fran\u00adchise, notions of auton\u00ado\u00admy, indi\u00advid\u00adual rights, social equal\u00adi\u00adty, and self-rule \u2014 should not be per\u00admit\u00adted to lapse into some kind of mys\u00adti\u00adcal monar\u00adchy, after all our strug\u00adgles. That is pre\u00adcise\u00adly why, in our sys\u00adtem, the prime min\u00adis\u00adter is not the head of state, and his or her gov\u00adern\u00adment can be called to account at any time, or dis\u00adsolved by a vote of no-con\u00adfi\u00addence. In fact, the pres\u00adence of a prime min\u00adis\u00adter is a mere super\u00adsti\u00adtious holdover, an arti\u00adfact of prim\u00adi\u00adtive hier\u00adar\u00adchi\u00adcal thought that is fun\u00adda\u00admen\u00adtal\u00adly incom\u00adpat\u00adi\u00adble with democracy.<\/span><\/p>\n

The only valid func\u00adtion of a prime min\u00adis\u00adter in our sys\u00adtem is to \u201cform a gov\u00adern\u00adment\u201d, i.e. to select a cab\u00adi\u00adnet and over\u00adsee the admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion of what\u00adev\u00ader laws the assem\u00adbled par\u00adlia\u00adment choos\u00ades to pass. Oth\u00ader\u00adwise, he is mere\u00adly a min\u00adis\u00adter like any oth\u00ader, elect\u00aded to rep\u00adre\u00adsent his local rid\u00ading. It is the assem\u00adbled mem\u00adbers of par\u00adlia\u00adment who are sup\u00adposed to be mak\u00ading deci\u00adsions, not the prime min\u00adis\u00adter. A par\u00adlia\u00adment can func\u00adtion bet\u00adter with\u00adout the office, and if we man\u00adage to evolve our sys\u00adtem fur\u00adther, it will even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly be abolished.<\/span><\/p>\n

Peo\u00adple con\u00adsis\u00adtent\u00adly con\u00adfuse (because they have been encour\u00adaged to con\u00adfuse) a polit\u00adi\u00adcal par\u00adty with gov\u00adern\u00adment. But a par\u00adty is mere\u00adly a pri\u00advate asso\u00adci\u00ada\u00adtion of cit\u00adi\u00adzens, some hold\u00ading office and some not, that sup\u00adpos\u00aded\u00adly shares some par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar opin\u00adions about pol\u00adi\u00adcy. Mem\u00adbers of par\u00adlia\u00adment may choose to belong to a polit\u00adi\u00adcal par\u00adty, but their role in par\u00adlia\u00adment is to pro\u00adpose, debate, and vote on leg\u00adis\u00adla\u00adtion for the well-being of the coun\u00adtry, as rep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtives of their con\u00adstituents. They are not sup\u00adposed to be cogs or func\u00adtionar\u00adies of what\u00adev\u00ader par\u00adty they belong to, and they are sup\u00adposed to be answer\u00adable to the elec\u00adtorate, not to their par\u00adty lead\u00ader\u00adship. The fact that Stephen Harp\u00ader, the cur\u00adrent prime min\u00adis\u00adter, is the leader of his par\u00adty (a pri\u00advate orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion) should nev\u00ader be con\u00adfused with the fact that he has been instruct\u00aded by the Head of State, Micha\u00eblle Jean, to select a cab\u00adi\u00adnet and car\u00adry out pub\u00adlic administration.<\/span><\/p>\n

But what, in this sys\u00adtem, actu\u00adal\u00adly neces\u00adsi\u00adtates there being a prime min\u00adis\u00adter? The affairs of gov\u00adern\u00adment are sup\u00adposed to be under\u00adtak\u00aden and man\u00adaged by cab\u00adi\u00adnet min\u00adis\u00adters. The \u201cchief exec\u00adu\u00adtive\u201d of the gov\u00adern\u00adment is Par\u00adlia\u00adment itself. It is the process of vot\u00ading in assem\u00adbly that deter\u00admines pol\u00adi\u00adcy and assigns tasks to the rel\u00ade\u00advant min\u00adis\u00adters. There\u00adfore, there is noth\u00ading neces\u00adsi\u00adtat\u00ading the des\u00adig\u00adna\u00adtion of any sin\u00adgle per\u00adson as the \u201cchief exec\u00adu\u00adtive\u201d. The only thing that brings the office into promi\u00adnence is the chron\u00adic and dys\u00adfunc\u00adtion\u00adal habit that peo\u00adple have of seek\u00ading a \u201cchief\u201d. They embroil them\u00adselves in his or her per\u00adson\u00adal\u00adi\u00adty, rather than con\u00adcen\u00adtrat\u00ading on the actu\u00adal con\u00adcrete deci\u00adsions that have to be made and car\u00adried out. That is not demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic behav\u00adiour \u2015 it is the behav\u00adiour of peo\u00adple who fail to grasp the ele\u00admen\u00adtary prin\u00adci\u00adples of democ\u00adra\u00adcy. Par\u00adlia\u00adment as a whole could elect the cab\u00adi\u00adnet min\u00adis\u00adters from their own num\u00adber, and dis\u00adpense with the prime min\u00adis\u00adter entire\u00adly. In such a reformed sys\u00adtem, the elec\u00adtorate would be forced to think about poli\u00adcies, pro\u00adgrams, and choic\u00ades of action, rather than idi\u00adot\u00adic irrel\u00ade\u00advan\u00adcies such as what cloth\u00ading a can\u00addi\u00addate wears or the tim\u00adbre of their voice, or their sense of humour, or their puta\u00adtive \u201clead\u00ader\u00adship qualities\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stephen Harp\u00ader and the Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive Par\u00adty have done every\u00adthing in their pow\u00ader to import an Amer\u00adi\u00adcan-style \u201ccult of the prime min\u00adis\u00adter\u201d into this coun\u00adtry. He has been large\u00adly unsuc\u00adcess\u00adful in this enter\u00adprise, since it runs against the grain of the country\u2019s habits and tem\u00adpera\u00adment. But he does suc\u00adcess\u00adful\u00adly deploy the \u201clead\u00ader\u00adship\u201d con\u00adcept, because Cana\u00addi\u00adans are just as much accus\u00adtomed to assum\u00ading that \u201clead\u00ader\u00adship\u201d is a pos\u00adi\u00adtive, desir\u00adable thing as Amer\u00adi\u00adcans are. The notion is relent\u00adless\u00adly pound\u00aded into us, from ear\u00adly child\u00adhood, through edu\u00adca\u00adtion and the media. In the cur\u00adrent elec\u00adtion, mil\u00adlions of fool\u00adish peo\u00adple will vote for Harp\u00ader because he looks like a tele\u00advi\u00adsion cast\u00ading choice for a \u201cdis\u00adtin\u00adguished leader\u201d, and spends mil\u00adlions of dol\u00adlars shout\u00ading the word \u201clead\u00ader\u00adship\u201d at the pub\u00adlic. In real\u00adi\u00adty, he is a pathet\u00adic flunky who jumps to the orders of glob\u00adal oil exec\u00adu\u00adtives, believes in a dis\u00adcred\u00adit\u00aded crack\u00adpot ide\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy, and has pissed away most of the country\u2019s sav\u00adings. His lead\u00ading oppo\u00adnent is a com\u00adpe\u00adtent enough admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtor, rea\u00adson\u00adably well-informed, propos\u00ading far more sen\u00adsi\u00adble poli\u00adcies, but he is awk\u00adward in front of a cam\u00adera and has no act\u00ading skills. His par\u00adty\u2019s poli\u00adcies are a more rea\u00adson\u00adable choice in this cir\u00adcum\u00adstance, some\u00adthing evi\u00addent to any\u00adone who has an adult revul\u00adsion for \u201clead\u00ader\u00adship\u201d non\u00adsense. After decades of con\u00adstant incul\u00adca\u00adtion, many have come to believe that the pos\u00adtur\u00ading and man\u00adner\u00adisms of \u201clead\u00ader\u00adship\u201d are the only things worth think\u00ading about. Con\u00adse\u00adquent\u00adly, there\u2019s a great dan\u00adger that the cur\u00adrent government\u2019s bla\u00adtant incom\u00adpe\u00adtence will go unpun\u00adished by the elec\u00adtorate, sim\u00adply because the oppo\u00adsi\u00adtion can\u00adnot make the nec\u00ades\u00adsary dom\u00adi\u00adnant simi\u00adan nois\u00ades. In this elec\u00adtion, it is the Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive Par\u00adty that embod\u00adies the cult of lead\u00ader\u00adship, so the opti\u00admum vot\u00ader strat\u00ade\u00adgy is to vote for whomev\u00ader might defeat the Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtives in their rid\u00ading, a strat\u00ade\u00adgy pop\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly known in Cana\u00adda as \u201cABC<\/span>\u201d (Any\u00adthing But Conservative).<\/span><\/p>\n

When I want my car fixed, I don\u2019t want \u201clead\u00ader\u00adship qual\u00adi\u00adties\u201d, I want knowl\u00adedge of auto mechan\u00adics. When I want my kid\u00adney stones extract\u00aded, I want a com\u00adpe\u00adtent sur\u00adgeon, not some\u00adone who can make peo\u00adple cheer at a ral\u00adly. When I want my rights pro\u00adtect\u00aded, I want an hon\u00adest ser\u00advant who acts moral\u00adly, not a clever pow\u00ader-seek\u00ader. When I want the envi\u00adron\u00adment pro\u00adtect\u00aded, I want some\u00adone who knows the phys\u00adi\u00adcal and bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal sci\u00adences, and is not in the pay of pol\u00adluters, not an expert at manip\u00adu\u00adlat\u00ading peo\u00adple. When I want the econ\u00ado\u00admy pro\u00adtect\u00aded from fraud, I want an hon\u00adest accoun\u00adtant, not a con-artist with \u201ccharis\u00adma\u201d. When I see a pompous ass telling me he is my \u201cleader\u201d, I want to see him defeat\u00aded, laughed at, and dis\u00admissed. That is because I\u2019m grown up. I\u2019m an adult. If I have any doubts about this atti\u00adtude, I need only look south of the bor\u00adder to see what hap\u00adpens to a great nation when it flees into a state of per\u00adma\u00adnent, arti\u00adfi\u00adcial childhood.<\/span><\/p>\n

The pres\u00adi\u00adden\u00adcy, in the Amer\u00adi\u00adcan sys\u00adtem, is an even more archa\u00adic left\u00adover than our office of prime min\u00adis\u00adter \u2015 and it has mutat\u00aded into a dan\u00adger\u00adous roy\u00adal cult, which has brought the Amer\u00adi\u00adcan peo\u00adple near to destruc\u00adtion. In the midst of that destruc\u00adtion, Amer\u00adi\u00adcans are not talk\u00ading about what should be done to fix the prob\u00adlems, but about who will be the charis\u00admat\u00adic Leader who will kiss them and make things bet\u00adter. In oth\u00ader words, it is still an elec\u00adtion about mag\u00adic, when it\u2019s pre\u00adcise\u00adly a belief in mag\u00adic that got them into the dis\u00adas\u00adtrous posi\u00adtion they\u2019re in. Luck\u00adi\u00adly, in Cana\u00adda, we don\u2019t seem to have moved so far into such a world of unre\u00adal\u00adi\u00adty. The typ\u00adi\u00adcal Cana\u00addi\u00adan vot\u00ader does not sit around cal\u00adcu\u00adlat\u00ading whether a can\u00addi\u00addate bears the num\u00adber of the beast, or demand that a politi\u00adcian infuse them with \u201chope\u201d, or that they fix the econ\u00ado\u00admy by being hand\u00adsome, or that they pro\u00adduce effort\u00adless pros\u00adper\u00adi\u00adty out of a hat. Cana\u00addi\u00adans still see politi\u00adcians as human beings hired to do a job for them, though the \u201clead\u00ader\u00adship\u201d con\u00adcept intrudes and con\u00adfus\u00ades their oth\u00ader\u00adwise com\u00admon-sense instincts. But that con\u00adfu\u00adsion is crit\u00adi\u00adcal in this par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar elec\u00adtion, where our future is more at stake than usu\u00adal. The elec\u00adtion will be held in two days, and we will see exact\u00adly what per\u00adcent\u00adage of us are chil\u00addren and what per\u00adcent\u00adage are adults, since pur\u00adport\u00aded \u201clead\u00ader\u00adship\u201d is the only thing the incum\u00adbent gov\u00adern\u00adment is run\u00adning on. It is our Thanks\u00adgiv\u00ading week\u00adend, and polls sug\u00adgests that most unde\u00adcid\u00aded vot\u00aders plan to make their deci\u00adsion after fam\u00adi\u00adly dis\u00adcus\u00adsion over the turkey dinner.<\/span><\/p>\n

Which brings us back to the kids in the sub\u00adway. The kids I over\u00adheard did not say any of the stu\u00adpid things rou\u00adtine\u00adly spout\u00aded by adults in the press and on tele\u00advi\u00adsion. They did not once men\u00adtion \u201clead\u00ader\u00adship\u201d. Will the greater access to infor\u00adma\u00adtion they enjoy, and the habits of research, process mod\u00adel\u00ading, and inter\u00adac\u00adtive par\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adpa\u00adtion, which home com\u00adput\u00aders have exposed them to, even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly allow them to see beyond the \u201cimage\u201d and \u201clead\u00ader\u00adship\u201d fal\u00adlac\u00adi\u00ades? Will they be more inclined to grow up into func\u00adtion\u00ading adults, rather than eter\u00adnal\u00adly depen\u00addent chil\u00addren? Will they learn to fol\u00adlow facts and prin\u00adci\u00adples, rather than Leaders?<\/span><\/p>\n

I have a sus\u00adpi\u00adcion that they will. They will, unlike the cur\u00adrent gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion, grow up. The ques\u00adtion is, will they grow up quick\u00adly enough to save us from the destruc\u00adtive choic\u00ades of a gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion of arti\u00adfi\u00adcial infants?<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few days ago, I was in the sub\u00adway, and I over\u00adheard a con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adtion about our cur\u00adrent nation\u00adal elec\u00adtion. Two boys who, from their appear\u00adance, could have been no fur\u00adther along in school than grade nine or ten, were discussing \u2026<\/p>\n

Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,10,409],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-blog","category-as-blog-2008","category-meditations-series"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1516"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8259,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1516\/revisions\/8259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}