by capacity I don't refer to physical capacity although that is also dwindling
rather most men are not cognizant that they could, if they chose, possess and use power
awareness of capacity is necessary though of course not sufficient to be dangerous
I have mostly negative feelings about this
Generally I think people would be better off if they conceived of themselves as possessing agency and sought to develop it where it was lacking, rather than just flowing with the currents of systems and institutions
is it any wonder that (most?) graduates leave more comfortable passively floating through systems rather than seeing a world they want to make real and exerting blood and sweat and cunning and charm to immanentize it
they have no practice with this at all a few outliers excepted
@CpnShortbread generally anyone breaking into your house is prooooobably trying to burgle you rather than kill you and they really don't want to deal with an apeshit psycho blinding them and beating them with a blunt weapon
@CpnShortbread @ctdonath Probably better off with a short shotgun if you want a firearm no?
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in any sociopolitical system, the degree to and the manner in which power is centralized may be characterized by the structure of patronage networks
these structures are often more revealing about the nature of government than its nominal type
for example
the "kingdom" of france continued continuously for about a millennium depending on how you measure it
but its actual government varied widely
most notably, it transitioned from feudalism to absolute monarchy that occurred under richelieu and at versailles
this transition, made possible first by military developments and the rise of the bourgeoisie, represented a rising king (patron of the bourgeois) among other things destroying the patronage networks of feudal lords and reallocating their clients to himself via state organs
i get it now, this is legit. reddit objects are objects recommended to _entry-level enthusiasts_ by topical subreddits because they work well to improve lives over baseline with a relatively low level of effort for a majority of cases
realistically there's no way to stop people from tacitly or explicitly allocating taxes and benefits on the basis of race and large portions of the country have interests in this happening or ideological commitments to doing so
the norms to which new immigrants are assimilating and young natives inculcated are immensely ethnically charged without any public and common ideal of transcending race for an american identity, an identity which frankly doesnt even exist anymore