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#Post#: 5701--------------------------------------------------
Re: Power Structures in Human Society: Pros and Cons Part 1
By: AGelbert Date: September 19, 2016, 12:00 pm
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[center]Landscape, Maternal Space, And Child Exposure In The
Sagas Of Icelanders
[/center]
September 17, 2016 By Medievalists.net
Landscape, Maternal Space, And Child Exposure In The Sagas Of
Icelanders
Paper by Robin Waugh
Given at the 3rd International St. Magnus Conference on April
15, 2016
[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/QpMlACVq91Q[/center]
The mother’s “powerful influence during early infancy” has been
described as “maternal space” by critics such as Patricia Cramer
and Julia Kristeva (Cramer 497; Kristeva, Desire in Language,
247, 281-86). An obvious situation, then, in which to examine
the potential construction of maternal space would be the
episodes when men try to co-opt such space, for example in the
eight or so narratives of child exposure that are extant in the
Sagas of Icelanders (Jochens 85-93; Clover 101-10). On the one
hand in these narratives men typically wrap the child tightly,
place something in the infant’s mouth to replace the mother’s
breast, and otherwise attempt to imitate and ritualize maternal
space by (among other things) trying to secure the child’s
silence while it is exposed. On the other hand these scenes
assert women’s highly individual emotions, co-optation of
language, and marking out of space.
To offer one example, in Vatnsdæla saga, Nereid’s illegitimate
child is exposed with a cloth over its face (Ch. 37). The infant
is eventually recovered, but the cloth must be connected to the
“kerchief” that a witch named Groa has previously used in her
sorcery. Her magic results in the death of an entire household.
Not only is the child’s cloth thus connected to a particularly
female mode of expression, but it is also connected to the
landscape as described in the saga: Groa had been observed
walking around her house backwards just before the household’s
disaster. In Þorsteins þáttur uxafóts, the many details of
clothing and the sense of ritualizing a landscape through
setting up a child’s place of exposure as an externalized
substitute for maternal space evoke, even more than in the
Vatnsdæla saga version, ideas of a female language (Þorsteins
þáttur uxafóts, ch 4). The boy’s mother, Oddny, is dumb, and
communicates with her family through the inscription of runes
(Ch. 3). There follows a pattern of language acquisition in the
þáttr that echoes the treatment of landscape by the major
characters, and a similar pattern occurs in the story of
Selkolla from the Byskupa sögur, which connects
child-abandonment with lust, demonology, and fylgjur (pp.
494-95).
A survey of these episodes, then, suggests that maternal space
in the sagas reasserts itself generally—and particularly
reasserts itself onto the northern landscape—during instances of
child exposure, where this mode of attempted infanticide takes
on a variant meaning in Northern societies than it would from
more Southern ones. Particular treatment of landscape is paired
with unusual depictions of heightened expression by female
characters in these works—both traditional artisanal modes of
expression for women, such as textile usage, and also examples
of highly individual language production. This “new language”
typically maps the Northern landscape in a sex-specific fashion
that is unique to the sagas of Icelanders.
HTML http://www.medievalists.net/2016/09/17/landscape-maternal-space-and-child-exposure-in-the-sagas-of-icelanders/
HTML http://www.medievalists.net/2016/09/17/landscape-maternal-space-and-child-exposure-in-the-sagas-of-icelanders/
#Post#: 5730--------------------------------------------------
Re: Power Structures in Human Society: Pros and Cons Part 1
By: AGelbert Date: September 26, 2016, 6:18 pm
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[move][font=courier]Why People OBEY Orders that they know will
HURT fellow Human Beings[/font][/move]
[center]The Psychology of Authority[/center]
[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/qO3R5JcbffM[/center]
#Post#: 6275--------------------------------------------------
Re: Power Structures in Human Society: Pros and Cons Part 1
By: AGelbert Date: January 17, 2017, 12:19 pm
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[quote]And we end today’s roundup with this from Richard Cohen:
Whether he knows it or not, the specter of Lyndon Baines Johnson
haunts Donald John Trump. There are some jarring similarities —
two big, fleshy men given to vulgarities and gauche behavior,
boastful, thin-skinned, politically amoral, vengeful,
unforgiving and, most important, considered illegitimate
presidents. For Johnson, that took some time to sink in; Trump
is already there. [...]
By the end of the week, Trump will be the president. I wish him
the best; I wish him the worst. The dilemma is how to separate
loathing for him from love of country. I am leaving it to time
to work that out. Meanwhile, Trump will have his moment, that’s
for sure, but when things go wrong he will be chased from office
— just like Johnson once was. The ancient Greeks knew why: A
man’s character is his fate. In that case, Trump’s presidency is
doomed.
[color=blue]AlwaysOptimistic
Jan 17 · 07:46:37 AM
As low as the Lunatic’s numbers are now…they will only continue
to tank as we find out that he is a traitor and completely
corrupted by Russia (as his many in his Regime).
Donald J. “Useful Idiot” Trump would, and probably has, sold
this country down the river for
“30 pieces of silver”. We must stay alert, active and
relentless resist this abomination.
HTML http://www.desismileys.com/smileys/desismileys_0293.gif[/quote]
[I]53 recommended[/I]
HTML http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/1/17/1621413/-Abbreviated-pundit-roundup-Trump-s-pre-inauguration-poll-numbers-are-historically-low
[center][img
width=640]
HTML http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-301216165623.jpeg[/img][/center]
#Post#: 6276--------------------------------------------------
Re: Power Structures in Human Society: Pros and Cons Part 1
By: AGelbert Date: January 17, 2017, 12:29 pm
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[quote][size=12pt]O'Keefe Caught Trying to Bribe Protestors to
Riot at Inauguration
By Subterra
Monday Jan 16, 2017 · 5:18 PM EST
SNIPPET:
They’ve released a YouTube documentary of the sting.
[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/5_BkH12FRzs[/center]
[/quote]
HTML http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/1/16/1621252/-O-Keefe-Caught-Trying-to-Bribe-Protestors-to-Riot-at-Inauguration
#Post#: 6277--------------------------------------------------
Re: Power Structures in Human Society: Pros and Cons Part 1
By: AGelbert Date: January 17, 2017, 12:41 pm
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[quote]Trump's Flaccid Poll Numbers Extremely Sad for Him;
Unlikely to Get them Up Higher.
By TomP
Tuesday Jan 17, 2017 · 10:01 AM EST
[i]They will only go down.[/I]
The new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds that only 40 percent
of Americans view Trump favorably, versus 54 percent who view
him unfavorably. Those numbers are identical (40-54) on the
question of whether Americans approve of how he’s handled the
transition so far. Only 44 percent say Trump is qualified to
serve as president.
Meanwhile, the new CNN poll finds that only 40 percent approve
of how Trump is handling his transition. And 53 percent say
Trump’s statements and actions make them less confident in his
ability to serve as president.
Americans oppose building a wall on the Mexican border by 60-37.
snip
— Americans oppose cutting taxes on higher income people by
61-36.
snip
— Americans oppose withdrawing the United States from the Paris
climate accord by 56-31, and they oppose pulling out of the Iran
nuclear deal by 46-37.
snip
— Americans oppose banning non-citizen Muslims from entering the
U.S. by 63-32.
snip
— As it is, slightly more oppose repealing Obamacare than
support it, by 47-46.
snip
— Meanwhile, the CNN poll finds that Americans say by 52-46 that
Trump’s proposed policies do not reflect their priorities.
WaPo, The Plum Line: Trump starts off in an incredibly weak
position. And this new polling suggests it might get worse.
Now he will get compared to Obama. He will fall far short.
This is a weak president. And he will get weaker. Many Rs in the
Senate are just waiting for him to fall further to undermine
him. And 48 Dems will stand together.
If he finishes his term, he will make George W. Bush’s 30
percent approval ratings look good.
This vile man will be hated by the majority of Americans.
In the end, he will not get the respect and approval from his
father (or substitutes) that he constantly seeks.
This vile man [I]will be hated and disgraced.[/I]
HTML http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/1/17/1621433/-Trump-s-Flaccid-Poll-Numbers-Extremely-Sad-for-Him-Unlikely-to-Get-them-Up-Higher[/quote]
[center]
HTML http://www.desismileys.com/smileys/desismileys_0293.gif[/center]
#Post#: 7497--------------------------------------------------
Power Structures in Human Society
By: AGelbert Date: July 15, 2017, 1:51 pm
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Agelbert Note: I admire C. S. Lewis and I wrote a term paper in
college referencing, among some other books, one of Aldous
Huxley's books, but I was unaware that they both died on the
same day as JFK. We lost three great minds on that day, not just
one. [img
width=30]
HTML http://www.desismileys.com/smileys/desismileys_2953.gif[/img]
[center]Michael Gerson on Trump is a MUST READ today[/center]
[quote]If the system is truly manipulated by political enemies,
then only suckers are bound by its norms and requirements. Those
who denigrate our system of government are providing an excuse
for gaming it. And that is precisely what Trump Jr. was doing —
trying to game American democracy[/quote]
By teacherken
Friday Jul 14, 2017 · 6:39 AM EDT
[move]The president and his men are incapable of feeling shame
about shameful things.[/move]
SNIPPET:
[quote]C.S. Lewis posited three elements that make up human
beings. There is the intellect, residing in the head. There are
the passions, residing in the stomach (and slightly lower). And
then there are trained, habituated emotions — the “stable
sentiments” of character — which Lewis associated with the
chest.
In the realm of political ethics, voters last year did not
prioritize character in sufficient numbers, during the party
primaries or the general election. Now we are seeing the result.
“In a sort of ghastly simplicity,” Lewis said, “we remove the
organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and
expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are
shocked to find traitors in our midst.”[/quote]
HTML https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/7/14/1680575/-Michael-Gerson-on-Trump-is-a-MUST-READ-today
#Post#: 7640--------------------------------------------------
Re: Power Structures in Human Society: Pros and Cons Part 1
By: AGelbert Date: August 5, 2017, 5:03 pm
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[quote author=knarf link=topic=10112.msg136455#msg136455
date=1501968458]
[center]Understanding the Dynamics of Complex Societies -
Intra-Elite Competition[/center]
Intra-elite competition is one of the most important factors
explaining massive waves of social and political instability,
which periodically afflict complex, state-level societies. This
idea was proposed by Jack Goldstone nearly 30 years ago.
Goldstone tested it empirically by analyzing the structural
precursors of the English Civil War, the French Revolution, and
seventeenth century’s crises in Turkey and China. Other
researchers (including Sergey Nefedov, Andrey Korotayev, and
myself) extended Goldstone’s theory and tested it in such
different societies as Ancient Rome, Egypt, and Mesopotamia;
medieval England, France, and China; the European revolutions of
1848 and the Russian Revolutions of 1905 and 1917; and the Arab
Spring uprisings. Closer to home, recent research indicates that
the stability of modern democratic societies is also undermined
by excessive competition among the elites (see Ages of Discord
for a structural-demographic analysis of American history). Why
is intra-elite competition such an important driver of
instability?
Elites are a small proportion of the population (on the order of
1 percent) who concentrate social power in their hands (see my
previous post and especially its discussion in the comments that
reveal the complex dimensions of this concept). In the United
States, for example, they include (but are not limited to)
elected politicians, top civil service bureaucrats, and the
owners and managers of Fortune 500 companies (see Who Rules
America?). As individual elites retire, they are replaced from
the pool of elite aspirants. There are always more elite
aspirants than positions for them to occupy. Intra-elite
competition is the process that sorts aspirants into successful
elites and aspirants whose ambition to enter the elite ranks is
frustrated. Competition among the elites occurs on multiple
levels. Thus, lower-ranked elites (for example, state
representatives) may also be aspirants for the next level (e.g.,
U.S. Congress), and so on, all the way up to POTUS.
Moderate intra-elite competition need not be harmful to an
orderly and efficient functioning of the society; in fact, it’s
usually beneficial because it results in better-qualified
candidates being selected. Additionally, competition can help
weed out incompetent or corrupt office-holders. However, it is
important to keep in mind that the social effects of elite
competition depend critically on the norms and institutions that
regulate it and channel it into such societally productive
forms.
Excessive elite competition, on the other hand, results in
increasing social and political instability. The supply of power
positions in a society is relatively, or even absolutely,
inelastic. For example, there are only 435 U.S. Representatives,
100 Senators, and one President. A great expansion in the
numbers of elite aspirants means that increasingly large numbers
of them are frustrated, and some of those, the more ambitious
and ruthless ones, turn into counter-elites. In other words,
masses of frustrated elite aspirants become breeding grounds for
radical groups and revolutionary movements.
Another consequence of excessive competition among elite
aspirants is its effect on the social norms regulating
politically acceptable conduct. Norms are effective only as long
as the majority follows them, and violators are punished.
Maintaining such norms is the job for the elites themselves.
Intense intra-elite competition, however, leads to the rise of
rival power networks, which increasingly subvert the rules of
political engagement to get ahead of the opposition. Instead of
competing on their own merits, or the merits of their political
platforms, candidates increasingly rely on “dirty tricks” such
as character assassination (and, in historical cases, literal
assassination). As a result, excessive competition results in
the unraveling of prosocial, cooperative norms (this is a
general phenomenon that is not limited to political life).
Intra-elite competition, thus, has a nonlinear effect on social
function: moderate levels are good, excessive levels are bad.
What are the social forces leading to excessive competition?
Because the supply of power positions is relatively inelastic,
most of the action is on the demand side. Simply put, it is the
excessive expansion of elite aspirant numbers (or “elite
overproduction”) that drives up intra-elite competition. Let’s
again use the contemporary America as an example to illustrate
this idea (although, I emphasize, similar social processes have
operated in all complex large-scale human societies since they
arose some 5,000 years ago).
There are two main “pumps” producing aspirants for elite
positions in America: education and wealth. On the education
side, of particular importance are the law degree (for a
political career) and the MBA (to climb the corporate ladder).
Over the past four decades, according to the American Bar
Association, the number of lawyers tripled from 400,000 to 1.2
million. The number of MBAs conferred by business schools over
the same period grew six-fold (details in Ages of Discord).
On the wealth side we see a similar expansion of numbers, driven
by growing inequality of income and wealth over the last 40
years. The proverbial “1 percent” becomes “2 percent”, then “3
percent”… For example, today there are five times as many
households with wealth exceeding $10 million (in 1995 dollars),
compared to 1980. Some of these wealth-holders give money to
candidates, but others choose to run for political office
themselves.
Elite overproduction in the US has already driven up the
intensity of intra-elite competition. A reasonable proxy for
escalating political competition here is the total cost of
election for congressional races, which has grown (in
inflation-adjusted dollars) from $2.4 billion in 1998 to $4.3
billion in 2016 (Center for Responsive Politics). Another clear
sign is the unraveling of social norms regulating political
discourse and process that has become glaringly obvious during
the 2016 presidential election.
Analysis of past societies indicates that, if intra-elite
competition is allowed to escalate, it will increasingly take
more violent forms. A typical outcome of this process is a
massive outbreak of political violence, often ending in a state
collapse, a revolution, or a civil war (or all of the above).
HTML http://peterturchin.com/cliodynamica/intra-elite-competition-a-key-concept-for-understanding-the-dynamics-of-complex-societies/
HTML http://peterturchin.com/cliodynamica/intra-elite-competition-a-key-concept-for-understanding-the-dynamics-of-complex-societies/
[/quote]
[center] Intra-Elite Competition DEFINED in a single Graphic
[/center]
[center][img
width=640]
HTML https://fairbankspost.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/greed.jpg[/img][/center]
[move][font=courier]Anyone with eyes can see what the root cause
of the destruction brought about by Intra-Elite Competition is.
[img
width=100]
HTML https://allthoughtsworkoutdoors.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/p9047017-030close-up.jpg[/img]<br
/>
[/font][/move]
#Post#: 8049--------------------------------------------------
Re: Power Structures in Human Society: Pros and Cons Part 1
By: AGelbert Date: October 2, 2017, 7:09 pm
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[center]Trump’s “Condolences and Sympathies” Won’t Cut It | The
Resistance with Keith Olbermann | GQ[/center]
[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/yBQcpRE4JS8[/center]
GQ Published on Oct 2, 2017
[quote]We must—once and for all—end the lies we tell ourselves
about the Second Amendment.[/quote]
[quote]MrMastercatfish [img width=25
height=30]
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-080515182559.png[/img]
Funny enough, a guitarist for one of the bands that played that
night has had a complete change of heart on the 2nd amendment.
He now wants gun control very badly because for once, it was him
caught in the crossfire. Strange how your perspective can change
when a madman has access to dozens of long rifles, boxes of
ammunition, and an elevated sniper nest.[/quote]
#Post#: 8894--------------------------------------------------
Re: Power Structures in Human Society: Pros and Cons Part 1
By: AGelbert Date: January 24, 2018, 1:46 pm
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[center][quote][font=courier]Every empire has an apex, it also
has a breaking point from which it spirals-down into
insignificance. [/font][/quote][/center]
[center]Book review: ‘The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and
the End of an Empire’[/center]
LAST UPDATED ON JANUARY 24TH, 2018 AT 8:43 PM BY TIBI PUIU
From its founding in 625 BC to its fall in AD 476, the Roman
Empire conquered and integrated dozens of cultures. Much has
been said about what’s perhaps the most influential state in
history. Modern countries owe their language, civil codes, laws,
and heritage to the Romans. But although every empire has an
apex, it also has a breaking point from which it spirals-down
into insignificance.
[center][img
width=640]
HTML https://cdn.zmescience.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Roman_Republic_Empire_map_0.gif[/img][/center]
[center]Animated map showing the rise and decline of the Roman
Empire. Legend: red (Roman Republic), purple (Imperial Rome),
green (Eastern Roman Empire), blue (Western Roman Empire).
Credit: Roke, Wikimedia Commons.[/center]
Much has been written about the downfall of the Roman Empire.
Many have argued that rampant corruption and too much pressure,
due to its phenomenal expanse for an Iron Age state eventually
destroyed Rome.
In an impressive scholarly work, Kyle Harper, a professor of
classics and letters at the University of Oklahoma, offers a new
and refreshing perspective on this topic of major importance. In
The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire,
Harper puts nature at the center of Rome’s undoing. [img
width=40
height=40]
HTML http://www.clker.com/cliparts/c/8/f/8/11949865511933397169thumbs_up_nathan_eady_01.svg.hi.png[/img]<br
/>[img width=40
height=40]
HTML http://www.clker.com/cliparts/c/8/f/8/11949865511933397169thumbs_up_nathan_eady_01.svg.hi.png[/img]<br
/>[img width=40
height=40]
HTML http://www.clker.com/cliparts/c/8/f/8/11949865511933397169thumbs_up_nathan_eady_01.svg.hi.png[/img]<br
/>[img
width=60]
HTML http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-250817121649.png[/img]
The author argues that the empire’s very strengths — travel,
trade, migration — which raised it to such great height also
accelerated its demise. All roads lead to Rome, as the saying
goes, but along with merchants and provincials from all corners
of the empire, they also brought tuberculosis, leprosy,
smallpox, plague, and other diseases. Not just once was the
empire crippled by pandemics like The Antonine Plague (165-180
AD) which decimated legions and up to 15 percent of the
population.
Supported by modern studies which cleverly infer the ancient
climate from proxies like sediment cores or tree rings, Harper
also makes a solid case that a drier climate during the empire’s
later period also contributed significantly to its downfall.
Unlike the anomalously favorable climate during the Roman
Climate Optimum — some 350 years of unusually warm and moist
climate between around 200 BC and AD 150 which helped the empire
rise to power — the following centuries came as a wakeup call.
In the third century AD, Rome was struck by drought in the
southern Mediterranean, especially Rome’s breadbasket, Egypt.
Political upheaval was inevitable, runaway inflation was rampant
as coins were debased, and, yet again, plagues ran amok (perhaps
even from Ebola, the author argues). For instance, the Justinian
plague of AD 541 halved the Eastern Roman Empire’s population.
Pressured by an unkind environment and climate, Rome grew feeble
and vulnerable in the face of invaders like Goths, Persians, and
Franks, who seized the opportunity and overrun Rome’s weakened
borders.
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/pirates5B15D_th.gif
Of course, Harper’s thesis isn’t that the climate and disease
are what brought down Rome. The human 🦍 factor 🦖
played a role that was at the very least as important but this
book offers a context for an incredibly complex system. In some
instances, nature’s force was just enough to tip the scales
either in Rome’s favor or to its disadvantage during its
history.
And if all of this sounds strikingly familiar, it’s because
we’re also living at crossroads. [font=times new roman]In only
150 years, the globe [/font]has warmed [font=times new roman]by
nearly 1 degree Celsius, [/font]an unheard of rate [font=times
new roman]in millions of years.[/font] If there’s anything we
have to learn from Rome, it’s that we should never underestimate
nature. But unlike the Romans who were largely ignorant, at the
mercy of the gods if you will, we have science. It’s time to act
before the downfall of Rome mirrors that of modern civilization.
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/301.gif
It has to be mentioned that Harper spared no expense, presenting
his thesis in exhaustive detail. Some uninitiated readers might
find this daunting but it is my impression that his extremely
compelling writing, which is rather rare for a scholarly work,
makes up for it. This is certainly not a book you can go through
on a rainy afternoon but neither is it boring, to say the least.
HTML https://www.zmescience.com/ecology/climate/book-review-fate-rome-043214231/
[move][font=courier]Tomorrow is Yesterday[/font][/move]
[center][img
width=200]
HTML http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle-pics/Flag_of_the_United_States.png[/img][/center]
[center][img
width=640]
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[center] [img
width=340]
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200415182528.png[/img][/center][/center]
#Post#: 9601--------------------------------------------------
Re: Power Structures in Human Society: Pros and Cons Part 1
By: AGelbert Date: May 3, 2018, 6:14 pm
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[img
width=110]
HTML https://www.afsc.org/sites/afsc.civicactions.net/files/u1752/Truthout%20logo.jpg[/img]
[quote]As a society, we have long turned away from any social
concern that overwhelms us. Whether it's war, climate change or
the prison industrial complex, Americans have been conditioned
to simply look away from profound harms. Years of this practice
have now left us with endless wars, dying oceans and millions of
people in bondage and oppressively policed. It is time for a
thorough, unflinching examination of what our society has
wrought, and what we have become. It is time to envision and
create alternatives to the hellish conditions our society has
brought into being.[/quote]
[center]A Jailbreak of the Imagination: Seeing Prisons for What
They Are and Demanding Transformation[/center]
Thursday, May 03, 2018
By Mariame Kaba and Kelly Hayes, Truthout | Op-Ed
Poignant, truthful and hard hitting article: [img
width=100]
HTML https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/304fa75d7ed32d56ae1ff3a796933cb65eac738511bb960bc4a77bb2f67c0af6.gif[/img]
HTML http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/44350-a-jailbreak-of-the-imagination-seeing-prisons-for-what-they-are-and-demanding-transformation
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