{"id":4845,"date":"2013-01-06T23:53:23","date_gmt":"2013-01-07T04:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=4845"},"modified":"2018-08-03T16:49:25","modified_gmt":"2018-08-03T20:49:25","slug":"sunday-january-6-2013-thoughts-generated-by-icelandic-shnapps-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=4845","title":{"rendered":"Sunday, January 6, 2013 \u2014 Thoughts Generated by Icelandic Shnapps"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fol\u00adlow\u00ading is inspired by my vis\u00adit to Ice\u00adland, but will draw on oth\u00ader expe\u00adri\u00adences as well. I still have a bot\u00adtle of Ice\u00adlandic Schnapps (\u201cwith the good\u00adness of lichen\u201d), which nobody else I know here in Toron\u00adto is will\u00ading to drink. I will take a small nip of it every time I fin\u00adish a paragraph.<\/span><\/p>\n

I vis\u00adit\u00aded Ice\u00adland because I had long been fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00aded by its pecu\u00adliar his\u00adto\u00adry. Its medieval sta\u00adtus as a non-aris\u00adto\u00adcrat\u00adic repub\u00adlic, with unique elec\u00adtoral and judi\u00adcial fea\u00adtures, far dif\u00adfer\u00adent from the urban republics of Italy, com\u00admends it to any his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adan of democ\u00adra\u00adcy. Var\u00adi\u00adous fea\u00adtures of mod\u00adern Ice\u00adland are equal\u00adly inter\u00adest\u00ading. Con\u00adse\u00adquent\u00adly, I had been read\u00ading about Ice\u00adlandic his\u00adto\u00adry and cul\u00adture for decades before I set foot in the place. One of the rea\u00adsons I was attract\u00aded to study\u00ading the his\u00adto\u00adry and soci\u00adety of Ice\u00adland was its les\u00adson that a coun\u00adtry with a pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion as small as 300,000, blessed with few nat\u00adur\u00adal resources or strate\u00adgic advan\u00adtages, can pro\u00advide its cit\u00adi\u00adzens with pret\u00adty much any\u00adthing they would need in the mod\u00adern world. While it can\u00adnot offer its cit\u00adi\u00adzens air\u00adcraft car\u00adri\u00aders or lin\u00adear accel\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtors, it can eas\u00adi\u00adly pro\u00advide most of the things that peo\u00adple in this cen\u00adtu\u00adry con\u00adsid\u00ader nec\u00ades\u00adsary for a good life. Most of these bless\u00adings are patent\u00adly trace\u00adable to its com\u00admit\u00adment to, and expe\u00adri\u00adence with, effec\u00adtive demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic insti\u00adtu\u00adtions. This les\u00adson is a very impor\u00adtant one for peo\u00adple in small nations, espe\u00adcial\u00adly post-colo\u00adnial ones, who yearn for both eco\u00adnom\u00adic devel\u00adop\u00adment and the estab\u00adlish\u00adment of sol\u00adid demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic insti\u00adtu\u00adtions. Ice\u00adland spent many cen\u00adturies as a colony, and many cen\u00adturies in pover\u00adty. It\u2019s com\u00adplete inde\u00adpen\u00addence arrived only in the mid-twen\u00adti\u00adeth cen\u00adtu\u00adry. It\u2019s achieve\u00adments since then have, on the whole, been very impressive. <\/span><\/p>\n

But not all has been a smooth ascent. In recent times, local Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive ide\u00ado\u00adlogues gained con\u00adtrol of the coun\u00adtry, and imple\u00adment\u00aded the crack\u00adpot agen\u00adda of Mil\u00adton Fried\u00adman and Alan Greenspan, with\u00adout any sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant coun\u00adter\u00advail\u00ading forces to oppose them, to force com\u00adpro\u00admis\u00ades, or to tem\u00adper their fanati\u00adcism. (For\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly, they were not accom\u00adpa\u00adnied by the reli\u00adgious, racist, and mil\u00adi\u00adtarist nut\u00adbar fac\u00adtions that par\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adpate in the same move\u00adment in its Amer\u00adi\u00adcan ver\u00adsion.) The result was more or less the same as what you would expect when a coun\u00adtry is tak\u00aden over by Marx\u00adists. After an ini\u00adtial peri\u00adod of arti\u00adfi\u00adcial\u00adly gen\u00ader\u00adat\u00aded boom-times, waste and fraud ran ram\u00adpant. The rich, with access to an unmon\u00adi\u00adtored and unreg\u00adu\u00adlat\u00aded bank\u00ading and finan\u00adcial sys\u00adtem quick\u00adly con\u00adcoct\u00aded a host of scams that defraud\u00aded not only Ice\u00adlanders, but mil\u00adlions of small investors in Britain, the Nether\u00adlands, and oth\u00ader coun\u00adtries. The Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive ide\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgists made a pig\u2019s break\u00adfast of the country\u2019s bank\u00ading and finance insti\u00adtu\u00adtions, and pre\u00adcip\u00adi\u00adtat\u00aded a dev\u00adas\u00adtat\u00ading finan\u00adcial cri\u00adsis. But once the whack-a-doo\u00addle Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtives were dri\u00adven out of office, the coun\u00adtry was able to recov\u00ader and cor\u00adrect itself with remark\u00adable speed. Only four years after the cri\u00adsis, Ice\u00adland has among the high\u00adest employ\u00adment lev\u00adels in Europe, its finances are in tol\u00ader\u00ada\u00adble order, and it\u2019s pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion has not under\u00adgone any severe hard\u00adships. Seri\u00adous prob\u00adlems remain, espe\u00adcial\u00adly with its cur\u00adren\u00adcy, which is still worth\u00adless on the glob\u00adal mar\u00adket. Some long-term prob\u00adlems will emerge, as there are no mag\u00adic solu\u00adtions to the dam\u00adage that has been done, and the cur\u00adrent admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion is nei\u00adther omni\u00adscient nor nec\u00ades\u00adsar\u00adi\u00adly cor\u00adrect in its poli\u00adcies. Much of the imag\u00adi\u00adnary wealth that the coun\u00adtry briefly thought it had has evap\u00ado\u00adrat\u00aded, and many who lived off pix\u00adie dust have had to make an abrupt adjust\u00adment to real\u00adi\u00adty. But nobody was dri\u00adven from their homes, as so many were in the Unit\u00aded States. When I arrived in the fall of 2012, I found a coun\u00adtry that was still pleas\u00adant and essen\u00adtial\u00adly opti\u00admistic, though per\u00adhaps a lit\u00adtle more cynical.<\/span><\/p>\n

While in Ice\u00adland, I was able to speak to an extra\u00ador\u00addi\u00adnary vari\u00adety of peo\u00adple, from farm\u00aders and fish\u00ader\u00admen, to his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans and gov\u00adern\u00adment peo\u00adple. All these con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adtions were fruit\u00adful. I also found that my imag\u00adined, dis\u00adtance-inspired affec\u00adtion for the place was sup\u00adplant\u00aded by a real-expe\u00adri\u00adence affec\u00adtion. The tex\u00adture changed, but the essence did not: I will always remain very fond of Iceland. <\/span><\/p>\n

But, to begin with, I\u2019ll call up the mem\u00ado\u00adry of my ear\u00adli\u00adest expe\u00adri\u00adence of democracy.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I was a small child, in North\u00adern Ontario, there was a game played by the local chil\u00addren. It was a com\u00adpli\u00adcat\u00aded ver\u00adsion of \u201chide-and-go-seek\u201d. Two teams of chil\u00addren would form up, one of which would leave a cen\u00adtral gath\u00ader\u00ading point on a com\u00adpli\u00adcat\u00aded trail, and select a hid\u00ading place, leav\u00ading team mem\u00adbers at strate\u00adgic points, also hid\u00adden. One of their num\u00adber would then return to the cen\u00adtral point, meet\u00ading up with the oth\u00ader team. He or she (while the game most\u00adly appealed to boys, girls were not exclud\u00aded) would then draw a map on the ground, hon\u00adest\u00adly rep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00ading the hiders\u2019 route to their points of con\u00adceal\u00adment, but omit\u00adting the cru\u00adcial infor\u00adma\u00adtion of com\u00adpass direc\u00adtion. With this par\u00adtial infor\u00adma\u00adtion, the oth\u00ader team would set out in search, under the direc\u00adtion of a leader. The leader of the hid\u00ading team would accom\u00adpa\u00adny the search\u00ading team. He or she would shout out cod\u00aded words and phras\u00ades, which had been agreed upon by his or her team mates. These would con\u00advey infor\u00adma\u00adtion such as \u201cthe searchers are near but head\u00aded away from you\u201d or \u201cthey are search\u00ading too far to the south of you\u201d, etc. Some of the sig\u00adnals were mean\u00ading\u00adless, meant to mis\u00adlead or con\u00adfuse the searchers. The search\u00ading team also made use of cod\u00aded sig\u00adnals to co-ordi\u00adnate their search. One sig\u00adnal, how\u00adev\u00ader, was cru\u00adcial, as it would trig\u00adger a mad scram\u00adble to reach the map and erase it. This was com\u00adpli\u00adcat\u00aded by the abil\u00adi\u00adty of any scout to tag anoth\u00ader, mak\u00ading him \u201cfreeze\u201d on the spot, and the abil\u00adi\u00adty of any oth\u00ader scout to \u201cunfreeze\u201d the frozen ones. Nei\u00adther team knew, at first, who would become leader of the oth\u00ader team, since each had been select\u00aded after they had sep\u00ada\u00adrat\u00aded. Each team made use of var\u00adi\u00adous rus\u00ades, with scouts and lead\u00aders act\u00ading in var\u00adi\u00adous ways to con\u00adfuse their oppo\u00adsite numbers.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

It was an amaz\u00ading\u00adly com\u00adplex game for small chil\u00addren to play. I don\u2019t know if it is still played. Lat\u00ader, as an adult, inves\u00adti\u00adga\u00adtion led me to con\u00adclude that the game was of Native Cana\u00addi\u00adan ori\u00adgin. This came as no sur\u00adprise to me, as its ele\u00adments are par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly suit\u00aded to the Cana\u00addi\u00adan phys\u00adi\u00adcal envi\u00adron\u00adment and to its Native cul\u00adtur\u00adal envi\u00adron\u00adment. The hunt\u00ading and track\u00ading ele\u00adment, and the reliance on grasp\u00ading the \u201chigh view\u201d of a land\u00adscape are both significant.<\/span><\/p>\n

But what is rel\u00ade\u00advant here is that the game was as much a train\u00ading for democ\u00adra\u00adcy as it was for hunt\u00ading and track\u00ading. Each stage of the game was char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adized by a for\u00admal elec\u00adtoral process. Each team leader was elect\u00aded by major\u00adi\u00adty vote in each cycle of the game, and no leader could serve more than one con\u00adsec\u00adu\u00adtive \u201cterm\u201d. Nom\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion and vot\u00ading were car\u00adried out by spe\u00adcif\u00adic pro\u00adce\u00addures which, in lat\u00ader life, as a his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adan, I found doc\u00adu\u00adment\u00aded among Native and M\u00e9tis peo\u00adples in the Cana\u00addi\u00adan north. It was to no team\u2019s advan\u00adtage to keep choos\u00ading the same peo\u00adple for the same tasks \u2014 the pat\u00adtern would soon be use\u00adful to the oppo\u00adsi\u00adtion. But at the same time, a com\u00adpe\u00adtent or expe\u00adri\u00adenced per\u00adson was the opti\u00admal choice. Wild\u00adly com\u00adpet\u00adi\u00adtive as the game was, it was also char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adized by a con\u00adsis\u00adtent demand for fair\u00adness and equi\u00adty. It is sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant that nobody doubt\u00aded that the map drawn in the ground would be an hon\u00adest representation. <\/span><\/p>\n

I grew up with this game as part of my men\u00adtal fur\u00adni\u00adture, and it came as a sur\u00adprise to me when I found whole pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtions of peo\u00adple who had no child\u00adhood expe\u00adri\u00adence with any kind of demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic com\u00adpo\u00adnent. Their child\u00adhoods, I came to real\u00adize, were dom\u00adi\u00adnat\u00aded by the expe\u00adri\u00adence of tyran\u00adny: par\u00adents lay\u00ading down the law at home; teach\u00aders lay\u00ading down the law in school; bul\u00adlies lay\u00ading down the law every\u00adwhere else. It is no won\u00adder that many peo\u00adple have great dif\u00adfi\u00adcul\u00adty deal\u00ading with the con\u00adcept of democ\u00adra\u00adcy. It is no won\u00adder that many peo\u00adple today can\u00adnot imag\u00adine democ\u00adra\u00adcy as any\u00adthing more than some incom\u00adpre\u00adhen\u00adsi\u00adble riga\u00adma\u00adrole pre\u00adced\u00ading the appoint\u00adment of a tyrant, who will then tell them what to do.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is this child\u00adhood expe\u00adri\u00adence, I believe, that is the root of my life-long inter\u00adest in the phi\u00adlos\u00ado\u00adphy and his\u00adto\u00adry of democ\u00adra\u00adcy, and which even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly brought me to Ice\u00adland. It also pre\u00adpared me for the one sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant insight that has dri\u00adven my work since the mid 1980s: that democ\u00adra\u00adcy can best be under\u00adstood as a cul\u00adtur\u00adal\u00adly diverse phe\u00adnom\u00ade\u00adnon, with roots in small-scale behav\u00adiour. It\u2019s eti\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy tran\u00adscends the stan\u00addard con\u00adnect-the-dots his\u00adto\u00adry from Athens to mod\u00adern Par\u00adlia\u00adments and Con\u00adgress\u00ades. Since that time, I\u2019ve found sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant exam\u00adples of demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic prac\u00adtices on every con\u00adti\u00adnent and in almost every his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal peri\u00adod. Oth\u00aders arrived at the same con\u00adclu\u00adsions inde\u00adpen\u00addent\u00adly \u2014 pre\u00adcise\u00adly what you would expect with an idea whose time has come. The work on the sub\u00adject that Steve Muhlberg\u00ader and I did in the ear\u00adly 1990s pre\u00adsaged what is now a pow\u00ader\u00adful trend among his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans of democ\u00adra\u00adcy. This has giv\u00aden a good deal of hope to those strug\u00adgling against aris\u00adto\u00adcrat\u00adic rule in many places on our globe. <\/span><\/p>\n

Much has been writ\u00adten about the Ice\u00adlandic Com\u00admon\u00adwealth of the Mid\u00addle Ages. Most\u00adly, his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans have expressed their doubts that the arrange\u00adment which began in 930 A.D., and sur\u00advived until 1262 A.D. was \u201ctru\u00adly\u201d demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic. This is, I believe, a bit of a red her\u00adring. When we research the his\u00adto\u00adry of democ\u00adra\u00adcy, we are not study\u00ading per\u00adfect\u00aded sys\u00adtems or utopias, we are study\u00ading the efforts of peo\u00adple to make deci\u00adsions with\u00adout aris\u00adto\u00adcrat\u00adic rule. For more than three cen\u00adturies, the tiny pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion of Ice\u00adland man\u00adaged its own affairs using elec\u00adtoral and rep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtive meth\u00adods, while the bulk of Euro\u00adpeans obeyed hered\u00adi\u00adtary aris\u00adtoc\u00adra\u00adcies. This is not a fleet\u00ading instance in time. The Unit\u00aded States of Amer\u00adi\u00adca has only exist\u00aded for 237 years, and Cana\u00adda for only 146. Iceland\u2019s medieval demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic cul\u00adture even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly end\u00aded, as the inde\u00adpen\u00addence of its farm\u00aders slow\u00adly erod\u00aded, and pow\u00ader drift\u00aded into the hands of a few fam\u00adi\u00adlies. These fam\u00adi\u00adlies tore apart the Com\u00admon\u00adwealth with the vio\u00adlence of their feuds, until the Ice\u00adlandic Al\u00fein\u00adgi <\/i>(it\u2019s par\u00adlia\u00adment) signed a Covenant (Gam\u00adli s\u00e1ttm\u00e1li<\/i>) of union with the Nor\u00adwe\u00adgian kings. Yet Ice\u00adlandic soci\u00adety func\u00adtioned well enough for more than two cen\u00adturies before this came to pass, and archae\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal evi\u00addence con\u00adfirms that this was a peri\u00adod of rel\u00ada\u00adtive pros\u00adper\u00adi\u00adty for the Ice\u00adlanders. One need only com\u00adpare George Wash\u00ading\u00adton and Thomas Jef\u00adfer\u00adson to George W. Bush, Jr. to see that promis\u00ading democ\u00adra\u00adcies can be sub\u00adject to dra\u00admat\u00adic decay, espe\u00adcial\u00adly if the cen\u00adter of pow\u00ader drifts from the many to the few. Vio\u00adla\u00adtions of the most fun\u00adda\u00admen\u00adtal prin\u00adci\u00adples of democ\u00adra\u00adcy are now accept\u00aded by Amer\u00adi\u00adcans and Cana\u00addi\u00adans with an emp\u00adty-head\u00aded shrug: for exam\u00adple, our Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive Prime Min\u00adis\u00adter in Cana\u00adda not only vio\u00adlat\u00aded the most sacred prin\u00adci\u00adple of our democ\u00adra\u00adcy by arro\u00adgant\u00adly refus\u00ading to obey Par\u00adlia\u00adment, but he has cav\u00ada\u00adlier\u00adly hand\u00aded con\u00adtrol of our key nat\u00adur\u00adal resources to the Com\u00admu\u00adnist Par\u00adty in Bei\u00adjing. Sim\u00adi\u00adlar aris\u00adto\u00adcrat\u00adic abom\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtions in the Unit\u00aded States are too numer\u00adous to catalog.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was pre\u00adcise\u00adly this sort of thing that I was con\u00adtem\u00adplat\u00ading dur\u00ading the pleas\u00adant after\u00adnoon I spent at \u00deingvel\u00adlir<\/i>, the site of the medieval Ice\u00adlandic par\u00adlia\u00adment. In keep\u00ading with the folk\u00adloric nature of the insti\u00adtu\u00adtion, this is a site in the open air, not a build\u00ading. The elect\u00aded l\u00f6gs\u00f6gu\u00adma\u00f0ur<\/i> [lawspeak\u00aders] and Go\u00f0or\u00f0s\u00admenn [rep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtive chief\u00adtains] car\u00adried out their delib\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions in a val\u00adley cre\u00adat\u00aded by the sep\u00ada\u00adrat\u00ading North Amer\u00adi\u00adcan and Eurasian tec\u00adton\u00adic plates. The ear\u00adly set\u00adtlers of Ice\u00adland were not the lot that you would expect to set\u00adtle dis\u00adputes peace\u00adful\u00adly, but that is exact\u00adly what they even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly did. Over the next cen\u00adtu\u00adry, vio\u00adlence steadi\u00adly declined in Ice\u00adland, as pres\u00adtige shift\u00aded from one\u2019s abil\u00adi\u00adty to wield an axe in bat\u00adtle to the abil\u00adi\u00adty to wield words in a law\u00adsuit. Slav\u00adery dis\u00adap\u00adpeared from Ice\u00adland, in fact, if not strict\u00adly de jure<\/em>. In con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adrary Eng\u00adland, at the time of the Dooms\u00adday Book, ten per\u00adcent of the pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion remained slaves. Vio\u00adlent ways returned at the time of the Sturlungs, in the 13th<\/sup> cen\u00adtu\u00adry, but there were at least two cen\u00adturies in which Ice\u00adland was clear\u00adly more peace\u00adful than the norm in Europe. What gen\u00ader\u00adat\u00aded this strange con\u00adfig\u00adu\u00adra\u00adtion of events? <\/span><\/p>\n

The cen\u00adtral con\u00adcept in Con\u00adser\u00advatism, and in all Aris\u00adto\u00adcrat\u00adic think\u00ading, is that only a minor\u00adi\u00adty of human beings are valu\u00adable. The major\u00adi\u00adty of peo\u00adple are assumed to be sec\u00adondary in impor\u00adtance, designed to be used as tools or com\u00admodi\u00adties by the minor\u00adi\u00adty, and ulti\u00admate\u00adly dis\u00adpos\u00adable. This con\u00adcept unites all Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive think\u00ading in every time and place, from the con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adrary Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive Ide\u00ado\u00adlogues in Cana\u00adda or the Unit\u00aded States, to their equiv\u00ada\u00adlents in the Com\u00admu\u00adnist Par\u00adty, the estates of the hered\u00adi\u00adtary nobil\u00adi\u00adty of Europe, the palaces of Sau\u00addi oil sheiks, the yachts of glob\u00adal bil\u00adlion\u00adaires, or the huts of auto\u00adcrat\u00adic trib\u00adal chief\u00adtains in remote jun\u00adgles. In today\u2019s North Korea, you have the ulti\u00admate man\u00adi\u00adfes\u00adta\u00adtion of Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive Ide\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy. Only the rul\u00ading Kim fam\u00adi\u00adly, and its imme\u00addi\u00adate entourage, mat\u00adters. The remain\u00ading 24,554,000 human beings in North Korea exist only to serve them. Each of these mil\u00adlions of peo\u00adple is ascribed a sta\u00adtus (Song\u00adbun<\/i>) based on their hered\u00adi\u00adty back\u00adground for three gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions and on the \u201creli\u00ada\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty\u201d of their liv\u00ading rel\u00ada\u00adtives. This deter\u00admines every aspect of their lives, includ\u00ading how much food they receive. North Korea embod\u00adies the Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive idea in its purest form, but every Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive in his\u00adto\u00adry has pro\u00admot\u00aded some vari\u00adant, dilu\u00adtion, or approx\u00adi\u00adma\u00adtion of this \u201cide\u00adal\u201d. It is the ulti\u00admate tem\u00adplate that dri\u00adves things as diverse-seem\u00ading, but inter\u00adre\u00adlat\u00aded, as the U.S. Repub\u00adli\u00adcan Party\u2019s hys\u00adter\u00adics over tax\u00ading the rich; the Chi\u00adnese Com\u00admu\u00adnist Party\u2019s per\u00adse\u00adcu\u00adtion of Tibetan cul\u00adture, reli\u00adgious minori\u00adties, and artists; or Vladimir Putin\u2019s skil\u00adful manip\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion of a cas\u00adtrat\u00aded Duma<\/i>. When Canada\u2019s Prime Min\u00adis\u00adter, Stephen Harp\u00ader, dis\u00adobeyed a direct order of Par\u00adlia\u00adment (and got away with it), he was pro\u00adclaim\u00ading the cen\u00adtral Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive doc\u00adtrine clear\u00adly: \u201cI am the one who counts; the rest of you, all thir\u00adty-four and half mil\u00adlion Cana\u00addi\u00adans, do not <\/i>count. You exist only to serve me, and the inter\u00adests of my pals and favourites, and to car\u00adry out my orders.\u201d A man like Stephen Harp\u00ader does not have the unlim\u00adit\u00aded pow\u00ader of Kim Yong-nam, but craves it, and will use every trick in his reper\u00adtoire to enhance the pow\u00ader that he has. The tragedy in Cana\u00adda is not so much that Harp\u00ader grabbed the pow\u00ader he craved, but that his polit\u00adi\u00adcal oppo\u00adsi\u00adtion fold\u00aded their hands and let him have it. The Cana\u00addi\u00adan pub\u00adlic did not under\u00adstand the issues, and did not care, so the oppo\u00adsi\u00adtion par\u00adties did not feel com\u00adpelled to do their job. But if Cana\u00addi\u00adans had been raised and edu\u00adcat\u00aded in a strong\u00adly demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic<\/i> ethos, they would have been furi\u00adous, and Harper\u2019s pow\u00ader grab would have been stopped. Unfor\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly, today\u2019s Cana\u00addi\u00adans do not grow up play\u00ading children\u2019s games that teach democ\u00adra\u00adcy. They grow up with a thou\u00adsand voic\u00ades teach\u00ading the les\u00adson that brute force and fraud win the day, and that arro\u00adgant bul\u00adlies are to be envied and honoured.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

But in some times and places the pre\u00adcar\u00adi\u00adous\u00adness of the envi\u00adron\u00adment makes peo\u00adple inher\u00adent\u00adly valu\u00adable, and the prac\u00adtice of using peo\u00adple like kleenex risks the lives of even the elite. It is not sur\u00adpris\u00ading that some of the most egal\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan social arrange\u00adments exist in very extreme, per\u00adilous envi\u00adron\u00adments. Anthro\u00adpol\u00ado\u00adgists have long doc\u00adu\u00adment\u00aded the egal\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan ethos of the Innu\u00adit, the Khoi-San peo\u00adples of the Kala\u00adhari, and oth\u00ader soci\u00adeties placed in envi\u00adron\u00adments in which sur\u00advival depends on the co-oper\u00ada\u00adtion of every hand avail\u00adable. Such soci\u00adeties can\u00adnot afford to casu\u00adal\u00adly dis\u00adpose of any of their num\u00adber, and can\u00adnot even afford to alien\u00adate them. Pro\u00adclaim your\u00adself innate\u00adly supe\u00adri\u00ador, sneer at oth\u00aders, and try to boss them around, then see what hap\u00adpens when you need their help fight\u00ading off a polar bear. The con\u00adven\u00adtion\u00adal analy\u00adsis of such soci\u00adeties empha\u00adsizes their small\u00adness, and it is still wide\u00adly believed by philoso\u00adphers of democ\u00adra\u00adcy that \u201cprim\u00adi\u00adtive\u201d demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic insti\u00adtu\u00adtions are a func\u00adtion of the size<\/i> of these soci\u00adeties. There is some truth to this, but I would argue that the val\u00adue placed on peo\u00adple as peo\u00adple<\/i> is the sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant fea\u00adture here, and the size of the group is a col\u00adlat\u00ader\u00adal, if not a sec\u00adondary factor. <\/span><\/p>\n

Iceland\u2019s orig\u00adi\u00adnal set\u00adtlers, prob\u00ada\u00adbly no more than a few thou\u00adsand, spread thin\u00adly across a land iso\u00adlat\u00aded from the rest of Europe. It was capa\u00adble of sup\u00adport\u00ading peo\u00adple through a very lim\u00adit\u00aded form of agri\u00adcul\u00adture, but this required every iso\u00adlat\u00aded farm\u00adstead to be very labour inten\u00adsive. While the orig\u00adi\u00adnal set\u00adtlers were war\u00adlike raiders accom\u00adpa\u00adnied by their ret\u00adinues, accus\u00adtomed to both war\u00adfare and inter\u00adnal vio\u00adlence, these activ\u00adi\u00adties were not very prac\u00adti\u00adcal in the new envi\u00adron\u00adment. Under the new cir\u00adcum\u00adstances, Human beings, as just human beings, acquired a val\u00adue that would not have been evi\u00addent to most Euro\u00adpeans of the time. Kin and clients attached to the house\u00adholds tend\u00aded to even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly get farms of their own. The set\u00adtlers brought slaves with them, but with\u00adin a cou\u00adple of gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions there is no evi\u00addence of slav\u00adery per\u00adsist\u00ading. They, too, found them\u00adselves inex\u00adorably pro\u00admot\u00aded. King\u00adship and hered\u00adi\u00adtary aris\u00adtoc\u00adra\u00adcy, such as were con\u00adsol\u00adi\u00addat\u00ading pow\u00ader in the rest of Scan\u00addi\u00adnavia, gained no foothold. Instead, the Ice\u00adlanders devel\u00adoped sophis\u00adti\u00adcat\u00aded insti\u00adtu\u00adtions to resolve dis\u00adputes by debate, lit\u00adi\u00adga\u00adtion and leg\u00adis\u00adla\u00adtion. All these devel\u00adop\u00adments are well-record\u00aded in a large writ\u00adten lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture, which Ice\u00adlanders pro\u00adduced on a per-capi\u00adta basis far out\u00adstrip\u00adping that of any Euro\u00adpean soci\u00adety. In most pre-indus\u00adtri\u00adal lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture, we read almost noth\u00ading about peas\u00adants, ser\u00advants or any\u00adone oth\u00ader than aris\u00adto\u00adcrats and cler\u00adics. In the Ice\u00adlandic sagas, the actions and per\u00adson\u00adal\u00adi\u00adties of even the hum\u00adblest are described in detail. To this day, Ice\u00adland remains a very infor\u00admal, rel\u00ada\u00adtive\u00adly class\u00adless, and gen\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly egal\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan-indi\u00advid\u00adu\u00adal\u00adis\u00adtic society.<\/span><\/p>\n

I would argue that any group of any size has the simul\u00adta\u00adne\u00adous poten\u00adtial for democ\u00adra\u00adcy or tyran\u00adny. What deter\u00admines the out\u00adcome is not the size of the group, but the val\u00adue the group places on indi\u00advid\u00adual humans, and this is in turn deter\u00admined by mul\u00adti\u00adple fac\u00adtors: a her\u00aditage of abstract ideas, envi\u00adron\u00admen\u00adtal chal\u00adlenges, eco\u00adnom\u00adic real\u00adi\u00adties, legal struc\u00adtures, and social norms. Jim Jones\u2019 \u201cutopi\u00adan\u201d com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty in Guyana com\u00adprised few\u00ader than a thou\u00adsand peo\u00adple. It dupli\u00adcat\u00aded in every detail the total\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan insti\u00adtu\u00adtions of huge empires like Mao\u2019s Peo\u00adples Repub\u00adlic of Chi\u00adna and Hitler\u2019s Third Reich. In Jon\u00adestown, only Jim Jones and his close hench\u00admen mat\u00adtered. The small\u00adness of the soci\u00adety did not gen\u00ader\u00adate either social equal\u00adi\u00adty or polit\u00adi\u00adcal democ\u00adra\u00adcy. Ulti\u00admate\u00adly, Jones was able to mur\u00adder near\u00adly the entire pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion of his lit\u00adtle soci\u00adety, poi\u00adson\u00ading them after train\u00ading them to meek\u00adly go to their deaths. They had long been sub\u00adject\u00aded to brain\u00adwash\u00ading that had reduced them to noth\u00ading\u00adness in the glare of his self-pro\u00adclaimed majesty. <\/span><\/p>\n

Size is a crit\u00adi\u00adcal fac\u00adtor in any democ\u00adra\u00adcy, because some demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic process\u00ades and struc\u00adtures have built-in scale lim\u00adits. Direct democ\u00adra\u00adcy works well up to cer\u00adtain size, but new prob\u00adlems arise when that size is exceed\u00aded. Rep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtion has eth\u00adi\u00adcal and pro\u00adce\u00addur\u00adal prob\u00adlems at any scale, but they mul\u00adti\u00adply with increas\u00ading pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion. Cre\u00adat\u00ading tiers of gov\u00adern\u00adments solves some prob\u00adlems, only to cre\u00adate new and dif\u00adfer\u00adent ones. Con\u00adse\u00adquent\u00adly, much debate about the nature of democ\u00adra\u00adcy, and its effec\u00adtive\u00adness, turns on assump\u00adtions about what con\u00adsti\u00adtutes \u201clocal\u201d and \u201csmall scale\u201d on the one hand, and \u201clarge scale\u201d on the oth\u00ader. Last year, a book was pub\u00adlished called The Secret His\u00adto\u00adry of Democ\u00adra\u00adcy<\/i>, which con\u00adtained chap\u00adters by myself and my col\u00adleague and col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtor Steven Muhlberg\u00ader, among oth\u00aders. Most reviews were pos\u00adi\u00adtive, but a few were neg\u00ada\u00adtive. The neg\u00ada\u00adtive reviews focused on the size<\/i> of the com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adties from which exam\u00adples of demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic prac\u00adtice were drawn. Because many of the cross-cul\u00adtur\u00adal exam\u00adples involved small com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adties, such as the Cana\u00addi\u00adan M\u00e9tis in my con\u00adtri\u00adbu\u00adtion, these review\u00aders dis\u00admissed them as irrel\u00ade\u00advant to the devel\u00adop\u00adment of large-scale democ\u00adra\u00adcy. The large-scale poli\u00adties they con\u00adsid\u00ader sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant have long been acknowl\u00adedged to have evolved their insti\u00adtu\u00adtions from sim\u00adi\u00adlar\u00adly small-scale prac\u00adtices, but this has escaped their atten\u00adtion. The exam\u00adples were \u201cmere\u00adly\u201d local democ\u00adra\u00adcy, and any shmoe can do local democ\u00adra\u00adcy, we are told. Only the big stuff counts. <\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t share this view. Rather, I believe that local democ\u00adra\u00adcy is more than the prim\u00adi\u00adtive ances\u00adtor of mod\u00adern nation\u00adal democ\u00adra\u00adcy. It should be right\u00adly per\u00adceived as the pri\u00adma\u00adry and essen\u00adtial man\u00adi\u00adfes\u00adta\u00adtion of democ\u00adra\u00adcy, with larg\u00ader-scale lev\u00adels of activ\u00adi\u00adty prop\u00ader\u00adly under\u00adstood as deriv\u00ada\u00adtive<\/i>, rather than \u201chigh\u00ader\u201d levels.<\/span><\/p>\n

Notions of what con\u00adsti\u00adtutes a \u201clocal\u201d scale obvi\u00adous\u00adly depend on the expe\u00adri\u00adence of the per\u00adson doing the analy\u00adsis. To an Amer\u00adi\u00adcan, the admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtive con\u00adcerns of the 2.7 mil\u00adlion peo\u00adple in Chica\u00adgo con\u00adsti\u00adtute \u201clocal gov\u00adern\u00adment,\u201d and that is the sort of thing Amer\u00adi\u00adcan the\u00ado\u00adrists think of as a mere ter\u00adtiary stage in rep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtive gov\u00adern\u00adment, over\u00adruled by two larg\u00ader lev\u00adels. But the world con\u00adtains many coun\u00adtries that are small\u00ader than Chica\u00adgo. Since much the\u00ado\u00adret\u00adi\u00adcal dis\u00adcus\u00adsion of the nature of local gov\u00adern\u00adment emanates from the uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adties of large coun\u00adtries (often with a glob\u00adal scale impe\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal past), there is a poten\u00adtial for a dis\u00adtort\u00aded inter\u00adpre\u00adta\u00adtion of norms.<\/span><\/p>\n

Coun\u00adtries that com\u00adbine the high\u00adest lev\u00adels of democ\u00adra\u00adcy with high stan\u00addards of liv\u00ading and low lev\u00adels of cor\u00adrup\u00adtion tend to be in the less than 10 mil\u00adlion pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion range. Den\u00admark (pop. less than 4.5 mil\u00adlion) has one of the world\u2019s high\u00adest per capi\u00adta incomes as well as the world\u2019s high\u00adest lev\u00adel of income equal\u00adi\u00adty. It also pro\u00advides high qual\u00adi\u00adty pub\u00adlic ser\u00advices, and a com\u00adpre\u00adhen\u00adsive social safe\u00adty and wel\u00adfare net. It\u2019s pri\u00advate busi\u00adness\u00ades are known for their high degree of com\u00adpet\u00adi\u00adtive\u00adness and tech\u00adni\u00adcal inno\u00adva\u00adtion. It has fre\u00adquent\u00adly ranked as the hap\u00adpi\u00adest and least cor\u00adrupt coun\u00adtry in the world [these facts are all doc\u00adu\u00adment\u00aded in Forbes<\/i> 14 July 2010]. Trans\u00adparen\u00adcy Inter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal [Transparency.org. 15 Decem\u00adber 2010] cites Den\u00admark as hav\u00ading the great\u00adest lev\u00adel of pub\u00adlic sat\u00adis\u00adfac\u00adtion in the per\u00adfor\u00admance of its polit\u00adi\u00adcal insti\u00adtu\u00adtions of any nation on earth. Denmark\u2019s democ\u00adra\u00adcy con\u00adsists of a mul\u00adti-par\u00adty par\u00adlia\u00admen\u00adtary sys\u00adtem with exten\u00adsive devo\u00adlu\u00adtion of pow\u00aders to the local lev\u00adel. Like the Unit\u00aded States or Cana\u00adda, it pos\u00adsess\u00ades three basic lev\u00adels of admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion (fed\u00ader\u00adal, region\u00adal, and local), but the \u201clocal\u201d lev\u00adel encom\u00adpass\u00ades 98 munic\u00adi\u00adpal\u00adi\u00adties with an aver\u00adage of 25,000 peo\u00adple. Denmark\u2019s nation\u00adal pol\u00adi\u00adtics would be con\u00adsid\u00adered \u201clocal\u201d in the Unit\u00aded States, the Unit\u00aded King\u00addom, or France, while its local pol\u00adi\u00adtics would be on too micro\u00adscop\u00adic a scale for any Amer\u00adi\u00adcan or French intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal to even contemplate. <\/span><\/p>\n

Switzer\u00adland (pop. 8 mil\u00adlion), anoth\u00ader coun\u00adtry with a long and remark\u00adable demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic his\u00adto\u00adry, also employs a three-lev\u00adel struc\u00adture of com\u00admune, can\u00adton and fed\u00ader\u00adal lev\u00adels. Switzerland\u2019s fed\u00ader\u00adal sys\u00adtem, estab\u00adlished in 1848, was inspired by the Amer\u00adi\u00adcan con\u00adsti\u00adtu\u00adtion, but Switzer\u00adland went on to devel\u00adop com\u00adplex insti\u00adtu\u00adtions of direct and semi-direct democ\u00adra\u00adcy, includ\u00ading a pletho\u00adra of ref\u00ader\u00aden\u00adda. The ful\u00adcrum of pow\u00ader rests on the can\u00adton lev\u00adel. The can\u00adtons retain all pow\u00aders and com\u00adpe\u00adten\u00adcies not del\u00ade\u00adgat\u00aded to the Con\u00adfed\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion by the Con\u00adsti\u00adtu\u00adtion, and are respon\u00adsi\u00adble for health\u00adcare, wel\u00adfare, law enforce\u00adment and pub\u00adlic edu\u00adca\u00adtion. Most sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant\u00adly, they also wield the pow\u00ader of tax\u00ada\u00adtion. The com\u00admunes (= munic\u00adi\u00adpal\u00adi\u00adties) vary great\u00adly in size, between 15,000 and 1,390,000. Switzer\u00adland is an extreme\u00adly wealthy coun\u00adtry. Its GDP<\/span> per capi\u00adta is near\u00adly dou\u00adble that of the Unit\u00aded States, and it has the high\u00adest lev\u00adel of wealth per adult (finan\u00adcial and non-finan\u00adcial assets) of any coun\u00adtry in the world. While Amer\u00adi\u00adcan and Cana\u00addi\u00adan polit\u00adi\u00adcal the\u00ado\u00adrists are quick to assume that the suc\u00adcess of the Scan\u00addi\u00adna\u00advian coun\u00adtries is only pos\u00adsi\u00adble because of their \u201chomo\u00adgene\u00adity\u201d, this claim can hard\u00adly be made for Switzer\u00adland, which has four nation\u00adal lan\u00adguages and three major eth\u00adnic groups that do not actu\u00adal\u00adly like each oth\u00ader very much. Far more sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant is its com\u00admit\u00adment to a vig\u00ador\u00adous, local\u00adly focused <\/i>demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic sys\u00adtem. The 1999 con\u00adsti\u00adtu\u00adtion has strength\u00adened the pow\u00aders of the fed\u00ader\u00adal lev\u00adel, but it remains to be seen if this is advan\u00adta\u00adgeous in any way. <\/span><\/p>\n

The aver\u00adage pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion of coun\u00adtries in the world is 34,000,000. This aver\u00adage fig\u00adure is, of course, large\u00adly deter\u00admined by the pres\u00adence of a hand\u00adful of hyper\u00adtro\u00adphied giants (such as Chi\u00adna and India). It should be not\u00aded that one of these has made a cred\u00aditable, though some\u00adtimes rocky attempt at func\u00adtion\u00ading demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly, while the oth\u00ader remains a crude Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive-Com\u00admu\u00adnist dic\u00adta\u00adtor\u00adship. While Cana\u00addi\u00adans, because they sit next to the mas\u00adsive\u00adly pop\u00adu\u00adlat\u00aded Unit\u00aded States, are accus\u00adtomed to think of them\u00adselves as a \u201csmall\u201d coun\u00adtry, they are in fact, almost exact\u00adly the aver\u00adage in pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion. Ice\u00adland, how\u00adev\u00ader, is small by anybody\u2019s stan\u00addards. It\u2019s total pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion is less than one of Toronto\u2019s sub\u00adurbs. This bears direct\u00adly on both some of its suc\u00adcess\u00ades and some of its fail\u00adures. Because Ice\u00adland is so small, its \u201celite\u201d is very small indeed. In fact, almost every\u00adone with a sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant influ\u00adence on Ice\u00adlandic soci\u00adety went to the same uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty and even to the same high school. The wave of Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive Ide\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy that arrived in Ice\u00adland was gen\u00ader\u00adat\u00aded by a small group of peo\u00adple, all of whom knew each oth\u00ader inti\u00admate\u00adly. They took up roles of lead\u00ader\u00adship in gov\u00adern\u00adment and busi\u00adness with\u00adout any sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant imped\u00adi\u00adments from the old\u00ader elite. They were pro\u00adfound\u00adly influ\u00adenced by a vis\u00adit to Ice\u00adland made by Mil\u00adton Fried\u00adman in 1984. Fried\u00adman was invit\u00aded to debate some young Ice\u00adlandic econ\u00ado\u00admists on nation\u00adal tele\u00advi\u00adsion. I have, by good luck, come across a tape of this debate, and I could see how such a small thing could have a pro\u00adfound impact on a small soci\u00adety about to change its gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion of lead\u00ader\u00adship. Fried\u00adman could eas\u00adi\u00adly antic\u00adi\u00adpate the posi\u00adtions of his debat\u00ading oppo\u00adnents, and had no dif\u00adfi\u00adcul\u00adty out\u00adma\u00adneu\u00adver\u00ading them. This was a small pond, and the Ice\u00adlanders were min\u00adnows encoun\u00adter\u00ading a shark. Friedman\u2019s ver\u00adsion of \u201cfree\u00addom\u201d had much in it to appeal to a gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion who had lived in Iceland\u2019s com\u00adfort\u00adable, but stuffy and need\u00adless\u00adly puri\u00adtan\u00adi\u00adcal soci\u00adety. There was lit\u00adtle rea\u00adson for most Ice\u00adlanders to grasp that the improved night life, greater fun and appar\u00adent pros\u00adper\u00adi\u00adty came with bank fraud and finan\u00adcial ruin embed\u00added in its DNA<\/span>. Because Ice\u00adland was a small, rather na\u00efve soci\u00adety, it was eas\u00adi\u00adly vic\u00adtim\u00adized by a ruth\u00adless ide\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy. There were no coun\u00adter\u00advail\u00ading forces. Once in pow\u00ader, it had free reign. Because Ice\u00adlanders had a soci\u00adety in which hon\u00adesty was the norm, they were ill-equipped to deal with pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal con-men and expe\u00adri\u00adenced liars. <\/span><\/p>\n

But, once the dam\u00adage was done, Iceland\u2019s small size became an advan\u00adtage again. Sen\u00adsi\u00adble pal\u00adlia\u00adtive and cor\u00adrec\u00adtive mea\u00adsures could be applied, because the soci\u00adety was accus\u00adtomed to think\u00ading of itself as a fam\u00adi\u00adly. The fraud-enriched bil\u00adlion\u00adaires, of course, ran off to their Man\u00adhat\u00adtan pent\u00adhous\u00ades and Riv\u00adiera digs, leav\u00ading the Ice\u00adlanders alone to patch things up. The results, as I stat\u00aded ear\u00adli\u00ader, do not seem to have been bad.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is evi\u00addent that giv\u00aden the cur\u00adrent state of devel\u00adop\u00adment in demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic prac\u00adtice<\/i>, even with the best inten\u00adtions, and a mirac\u00adu\u00adlous nation\u00adal con\u00adsen\u00adsus on reform, a coun\u00adtry as large as the Unit\u00aded States can\u00adnot achieve the lev\u00adels of social equal\u00adi\u00adty, pros\u00adper\u00adi\u00adty, admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtive trans\u00adparen\u00adcy, and gen\u00ader\u00adal effi\u00adcien\u00adcy that Danes or Nor\u00adwe\u00adgians take for grant\u00aded, nor can it solve any of its major social and fis\u00adcal prob\u00adlems. It is not mere\u00adly a mat\u00adter of vot\u00ading in some bet\u00adter peo\u00adple, as it is in Iceland.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The trick in the suc\u00adcess\u00adful func\u00adtion\u00ading of any com\u00adplex orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion is to find the appro\u00adpri\u00adate lev\u00adel on which any giv\u00aden action should be tak\u00aden, and on which any deci\u00adsion should be made. The Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive-Author\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan-Sta\u00adtist men\u00adtal\u00adi\u00adty assumes that the \u201cdefault\u201d posi\u00adtion should be as high up the orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion\u00adal tree as pos\u00adsi\u00adble, while the Free\u00addom-Indi\u00advid\u00adu\u00adal\u00adist-Demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic men\u00adtal\u00adi\u00adty assumes that it should rest as low as pos\u00adsi\u00adble on the tree. I do not take seri\u00adous\u00adly any claims made by Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtives to be advo\u00adcates of \u201csmall gov\u00adern\u00adment\u201d, of being moti\u00advat\u00aded by a desire for \u201cfree\u00addom\u201d or to be \u201canti-sta\u00adtist\u201d. Con\u00adser\u00advatism is an Ide\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy as devot\u00aded to sys\u00adtem\u00adat\u00adic lying as Marx\u00adism, and such claims are as absurd and men\u00adda\u00adcious as Marx\u00adist claims to be cham\u00adpi\u00adons of the com\u00admon peo\u00adple or to pro\u00admote \u201cequal\u00adi\u00adty\u201d. But the wor\u00adship of the large scale, and large-scale pow\u00ader is not con\u00adfined to such ide\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal zealots. While occa\u00adsion\u00adal lip-ser\u00advice is payed to \u201cdecen\u00adtral\u00adiza\u00adtion,\u201d \u201cdevo\u00adlu\u00adtion,\u201d and oth\u00ader vague notions of demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic reform, the mind-set of most intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adals and pub\u00adlic offi\u00adcials in Cana\u00adda and the Unit\u00aded States, what\u00adev\u00ader their par\u00adty label, is still firm\u00adly in the Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive-Author\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan-Sta\u00adtist men\u00adtal uni\u00adverse. Imag\u00adi\u00adnary \u201ceconomies of scale\u201d and the lust to wield large units of pow\u00ader still moti\u00advate most polit\u00adi\u00adcal ideas and decision-making.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, you might notice that my eval\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion of the Unit\u00aded States began with \u201cgiv\u00aden the cur\u00adrent state of devel\u00adop\u00adment in demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic prac\u00adtice.\u201d That state is not fixed. Demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic insti\u00adtu\u00adtions have been less suc\u00adcess\u00adful in deal\u00ading with large num\u00adbers of human beings because there has been lit\u00adtle effort to mod\u00adi\u00adfy or improve them. For the most part, they have sim\u00adply been inflat\u00aded, with\u00adout sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant inno\u00adva\u00adtion. It\u2019s as if we gave up on the idea of com\u00admerce because you can\u2019t man\u00adage a mul\u00adti-nation\u00adal chain with the same tech\u00adniques as a cor\u00adner store. The unspo\u00adken assump\u00adtion among politi\u00adcians is that we keep our inher\u00adit\u00aded demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic prac\u00adtices only to main\u00adtain con\u00adti\u00adnu\u00adity with the past, for the same rea\u00adson the Catholic Church pub\u00adlish\u00ades encycli\u00adcals in Latin. It is only recent\u00adly, after mil\u00adlions of ordi\u00adnary peo\u00adple in oppres\u00adsive coun\u00adtries have risked their lives to obtain it, that any notice\u00adable num\u00adber of intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adals have tak\u00aden democ\u00adra\u00adcy seri\u00adous\u00adly as an idea. When Steve Muhlberg\u00ader and I began our work, the word \u201cdemoc\u00adra\u00adcy\u201d evoked noth\u00ading but sneers and snig\u00adgers from the over\u00adwhelm\u00ading major\u00adi\u00adty of intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adals (as it has through\u00adout much of his\u00adto\u00adry). Now, many have jumped on the band wag\u00adon, some sin\u00adcere\u00adly, though prob\u00ada\u00adbly just as many as a duplic\u00adi\u00adtous strat\u00ade\u00adgy. The demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic move\u00adment of today, how\u00adev\u00ader, is more than an intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal fad. It is a gen\u00aduine move\u00adment of the peo\u00adple, and in such a move\u00adment, real inno\u00adva\u00adtions might ges\u00adtate and find enough sup\u00adport to be imple\u00adment\u00aded. The prob\u00adlem of cre\u00adat\u00ading fair and egal\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan gov\u00ader\u00adnance for large groups of peo\u00adple may find solu\u00adtions \u2014 per\u00adhaps a great vari\u00adety and choice of solu\u00adtions \u2014 if seri\u00adous effort is made to find them.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The fol\u00adlow\u00ading is inspired by my vis\u00adit to Ice\u00adland, but will draw on oth\u00ader expe\u00adri\u00adences as well. I still have a bot\u00adtle of Ice\u00adlandic Schnapps (\u201cwith the good\u00adness of lichen\u201d), which nobody else I know here in Toron\u00adto is will\u00ading to \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":[1,936],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-blog","category-an-blog-2013"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4845","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=4845"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7266,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4845\/revisions\/7266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}