~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SANDY SANDFORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C'punks, Alan Olsen still thinks totalitarians can succeed in industrial countries. He wrote: ... But it is also the case that industrial countries, when they fall on hard times tend to fall back on an authoritarian "bread and circuses" approach to governing. Examples, please. Fascism in 1930's Germany was certainly NOT one such government. National Socialism, of course, had its "bread" aspect, but their were no "circuses" in the Roman sense. While Bread and Circuses is one technique to keep a population in line, it is quite separate from the military/police state method chosen by the NAZIs. In any event, NAZI Germany supports the proposition that modern totalitarianism, by its nature, must be short lived. How long did the "Thousand Year Reich" last? ... We have the control freaks just wating to gain the power and more waiting in the wings. They have the money and they have the technology.... "They," again? I thought it might be "them." The Illuminati, right? Or is it the Trilateral Commission, the Jesuits, or the CIA? Who are these control freaks who "have the money and ... the technology"? Jeez, and some call me paranoid for being a privacy advocate. When I wrote, "There will be some temporary, local setbacks in the coming years, and have some mopping up to do, but we've already won." Alan responded: Don't be too smug yet... There are people in power who have not figured out that totalitarian states cannot survive.... Logic and reason have nothing to do with the "thought patterns" of these people. Roadrunner logic. Wiley Coyote runs over the edge of a cliff. Miraculously, he is suspended in the air until he makes the mistake of looking down. Only when he becomes aware of his predicament does he fall. My point still is, the totalitarians don't have to figure out anything; their "thought patterns" are irrelevant; reality still rules. They will not survive. Besides, it is not their money they are spending on this. It is yours. Are you sure they're spending *my* money? With each advance in privacy technology, they have less access to *anyone's* money. As far as I have been able to determine, the only thing that you can do with a control freak is to kill him before he obtains any position of power. (Or wrap him in duct tape and feed him lots of Thorazine(tm).) Or, with a little ingenuity, you could structure your life so you could just ignore him. Living well is the best revenge. S a n d y "Who finds he needs to spend far less time fighting the Great Enemy, than educating the nattering nabobs of negativism." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~