"The problem is too big, and too complex for mere citizens to have any effect"
IMO, the end is coming relatively soon, due to the permanence and accountability of digital communications. Imagine LBJ's comments leaked to the internet, or another half-dozen Pentagon Papers. We'll see that kind of leakage, perhaps, and if so, people are ready for a change. There's been too much doom and gloom, and people want some hope for the future.
The truth is in the accountability, the essence of representative democracy, and in the information age its even more true about all government-sponsored information, all of which belongs to the people, with very few exceptions for bona-fide military secrets, about 1% of so-called "nat'l security".
As such, the accumulation and sorting out of so much captured content will force public servants to attempt to be more devious at first, then realize it's short-term. Eventually we'll get a better crop of political aspirants. When that happens things will clean up. That's my optimistic view anyway.
As far as foreign policy, I've heard the first stirrings of common sense, from a spectrum of public commentators, ones who have no personal profit from the fights, who are starting to publiclly question. The comments are "we do not have the answers to their problems" Henry Kissinger, "nothing's worked for 50 years, we should get out altogether", Ben Wattenburg, etc.
The people will demand common sense, eventually. Unfortunately, such changes come about most often through scandal, as the only way to break through the careful structure of bribes and business relationships among the parasites that live off of American's good intentions, and ignorance. |
