Happy Hour: A Depressing Comment On The

If Individuals Do Not Occupy Their Legitimate Position, Then It Will Be Occupied By A God Or A King Or A Coalition Of Interest Groups. If Citizens Do Not Exercise The Powers Confered By Their Legitimacy, Others Will Do So. (i - The Great Leap Backwards)

If Allowed To Run Free Of The Social System, Capitalism Will Attempt To Corrupt And Undermine Democracy, Which Is After All Not A Natural State.

The Neo-conservatives, Who Are Closely Linked To The Neo-corporatists, Are Rather Different. They Claim To Be Conservatives, When Everything They Stand For Is A Rejection Of Conservatism. They Claim To Present An Alternate Social Model, When They Are Little More Than The Courtiers Of The Corporatist Movement. Their Agitation Is Filled With The Bitterness And Cynicism Typical Of Courtiers Who Scramble For Crumbs At The Banquet Tables Of Real Power, But Are Always Denied A Proper Chair.

In General, Democracy And Individualism Have Advanced In Spite Of And Often Against Specific Economic Interest. Both Democracy And Individualism Have Been Based Upon Financial Sacrifice, Not Gain. Even In Athens, A Large Part Of The 7,000 Citizens Who Participated Regularly In Assemblies Were Farmers Who Had To Give Up Several Days' Work To Go Into Town To Talk And Listen.

We All Need A Bit Of Self-delusion. It Gets Us Over The Difficult Spots.