Dear Lord,

I am very sorry, it is many years since my last confession.I have been less than generous to people. You know the saying, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, well lord some people annoy me. They are so inconsistent that what they say in one sentence is contervailed in the next. They have an ability to express the most shallow thought in the most profound manner and then proudly and obliviously say the exact opposite. In short, lord I am not patient with paradox.

Please lord help Col or smite him.

I love revolutions: French, Russian, English or American – well reading about them anyway.

They always require certain pre-conditions: widespread poverty and corruption, desperation, revolutionary leaders, and a score of others. We are a long way off having the necessary pre-requisites. What would be required is the total collapse of the global corporate capitalist system - not entirely out of the question. Something like global warming could trigger a series of catastrophes, which conceivably could prepare the ground for revolution - but it is some way off.

There is a point, where a democracy loses its legitimacy because the incumbent government acts outside the limitations of its own constitution. I think the Howard Government has not quite crossed this line; thou many of its actions are borderline. For now, they remain the government and have legitimacy.

But once the Howard Government is defeated, many possibilities present themselves; David Hicks or a score of other refugees and citizens may charge Phillip Ruddock or even Howard in the International Criminal Court or the Human Rights Commission; Iraqi's may charge senior figures in the Bush administration for willfully obfuscating evidence to conduct an illegal war. Prisoners subjected to US interrogation/torture/rendition may lay charges for crimes against humanity.

This folly has many ramifications. Having charged into Iraq in the most reckless manner and created this mess, there really is no exit - not for the USA - not now and not in 5 years from now. Leaving Iraq is for the USA not just embarrassing but impossible. It would embolden the Muslim extremists. Global US influence would suffer to an unacceptable degree. The American Century seems to be over before it begins.

The US population does not appreciate this yet. It will have to and when it does, there will be much self-flagellation and finger pointing.

The sensible option in Iraq is a 3 state solution. We have seen examples of this in the Balkans - messy but it works. We are a long way from even considering real solutions. In the mean time, the death toll grows.

Steel wrote:
"WayneSmith, enjoy seven years behind bars."

If sedition means speaking freely then I guess I'm guilty. Our Government is useless. Federal Politics is about defence and trade. The Iraq war and AWB scandal clearly demonstrates that the bumbling fools in office can neither be trusted or relied on. I have asked at what point a revolution would be justified. If you are saying that a revolution is never justified and the Government can do no wrong then clearly you know nothing of history.

Col wrote:
"I think that sounds like paranoia. It is certainly delusional."

That sounds antagonistic. It certainly sounds insulting. The media no longer cares about the truth. I have first hand experience of how corrupt and despicable the media is. Governments have been made and broken by the likes of Murdoch and Packer. You too need to read up on a little history.

"Who pays the airforce, you know the ones who shoot the civilians?"

It would be my preference to cull the politicians. In fact I'd simply create an open season and sell licenses. One license per kill. Say about $5. Some people will want to bag half of Parliament but we don't want them getting greedy like that and leaving nothing left for anybody else. Abbot's head mounted over the fireplace would be a great conversation piece. If there ever was a revolution and small local governments replaced the insane monstrous octopus of fat pollies and public servants now operating then the military would likely consist of local militias paid for by the towns they are recruited from. Chiefly to guard their home area but ready to defend the nation too. It might be worthwhile combining police with the military.

"David_BOAZ is correct, you are planning a feudalistic social order with a very strong likelyhood that a Bonoparte will evolve."

This is all straight off the top of my heasd. I have no cache of weapons or maps of Canberra. Its merely a topic of conversation. Do grow up.

Wayne you need to read Animal Farm to gain some vague insight into how revolutions evolve into monsters that eat up the most vulnerable and the most gullible. It is a delusion to think that leaders of even small groups are immune from acting dishonestly or out of self interest.
The technology that allows you to communicate via this medium would never have evolved in the sort of world you seem to crave.
Might I suggest you contribute in a meaningfull manner to promoting honest and responsible government. Try joining a political party of any persuasion and pressing for what you think is right. Do not always expect to get your own way, only dictators can achieve that.
Democracy is imperfect because human beings have some rather base instincts but do not expect these to disappear from smaller aggregations of individuals.
Evolution is far superior to revolution.

YEBIGA “Please lord help Col or smite him.”

That is a first.

The first time someone has invoked the Almighty in absence of debating prowess.

YEBIGA, “I love revolutions: French, Russian, English or American – well reading about them anyway. “

I have lived through a technological and socials revolution. You are doing the same too.

However, you might like to use your imagination and try to consider how you would feel if what you read about “revolution” happened to you in reality. How do you feel about having half your family killed off because of their political view or the corruption of some local warlord?

The irony with the term “Civil War” (Britain did not have a revolution like France or Russia and the USA revolution was the “war of independence” and then their own “civil war”) – there is nothing “Civil” about it, quite the opposite.

What transpired after both the French and Russian revolutions was as bad if not worse than what preceded them. The terrors invoked against ordinary people by Robespierre and Stalin was horror of the first order.

The interesting thing is after the English Civil War, Cromwell appointed himself the "Great Protector", he disbanded parliament and ruled as a dictator. After his death he was posthumously beheaded by the Charles II, who was invited to return by parliament (when Cromwell’s son was seen to lack the (Machiavellian) ability of his father).

But there is hope, you read. Try spreading your topics. Go to biography and start with few of the wealthy people who used their wealth to improve the lot of their fellow man. Lots of examples exist of English personal philanthropy in Victorian England. It should help you gain a better perspective and read some of the tales of victims of other revolutions. China and Cambodia spring to mind. They should be a warning to everyone who reads to work to strengthen and sustain the rule of law, rather than indulge in fantasies of “heroic anarchy” (oxymoron).

WayneSmith “It would be my preference to cull the politicians. In fact I'd simply create an open season and sell licenses. One license per kill. Say about $5.”

You should go into politics Wayne, I will even vote for you and support your elevation on that manifesto.

Oh, I will make sure I am first in line for one of those licences too. Open season on WayneSmith would be too good to miss!

Unlike your contributions here which, really, would not be missed.

As for “This is all straight off the top of my head. I have no cache of weapons or maps of Canberra. Its merely a topic of conversation. Do grow up.”

It reads more like you are talking through your backside.

And if you think what I wrote previously was “antagonistic”, there is lots more where that comes from.

Make stupid comments and introduce stupid ideas and “antagonism” and “insult” is a predictable response.

Logical or 1984, George Orwell based the character of the national leader on the post WWII ascending Stalin.

Did you see the SBS program on Mao Tse Tong? The cult of the personality and China’s cultural revolution, worth watching and a few good lessons in how communist conformity oppressed and crippled people. Working in the worst Chinese charnel house would be better than having to recite the teachings from the3 little red book of “the great helmsman” every day.

Oh and “Evolution is far superior to revolution.” I agree with that and “Democracy” is the only “Evolutionary” based political system that I know of.