[P2P-F] Fwd: Control Freak Societies

[Michel Bauwens]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Bob Reuschlein <bobreuschlein at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Mar 14, 2015 at 8:57 PM
Subject: Control Freak Societies
To:


Link to send to others by:

https://bobreuschlein.wordpress.com/2015/03/14/control-freak-societies/



*Control Freak Societies*

by Dr. Bob Reuschlein


We see it everywhere.  Everyone is trying to control everyone else.
Especially here in the United States of America.  Where does it come from?
Just as achievement is the hallmark of fast growing societies, control is
the hallmark of empire societies.  Empire societies are relatively static,
low growth societies, with many social problems.  Control comes from the
militarism of such a society.  Control is the essence of the military
culture, where following orders is the main thing you do.  Too much
individuality and you lose your place in the system.  Followers are wanted,
not people who might take your place if you give them a chance.  As a
friend of mine said about academics, improve things 2% and you are admired,
improve things 3% or more and you are crazy.  Know your place, know your
rank, and don’t get too uppity.  Judge people by who they are and where
they are at, don’t listen to them if they are beneath your rank.  Lots of
people have risen to their level of incompetence according to the Peter
principle and they are determined to lord it over you and abuse their
authority.



This has shown up in my personal experience living in a fast growing West
Coast state for almost twenty years and returning to a slow growing Midwest
state for over the last twenty years.  Living on the West Coast I could
walk into the offices of important people around the town of Eugene, Oregon
and talk to them easily.  Here in the Midwest I have trouble getting past
the gatekeepers to reach the people I need to talk to.  A friend from the
same doctoral cohort is hard to get hold of, so I drop into his office and
catch him moving around while the secretary in the background fumes.  I see
the community college president in a meeting and one of his aides suggests
I talk to the provost.  Then I try to do so, and I hit a brick wall.  No
wonder mayor Paul Soglin of  Madison says we are the #9 city in snobbery.
San Francisco, by the way, is #1 in snobbery.  In Eugene, I just walked
into the office of the school superintendent and talked to her one day, and
just walked into the office of the vice president for research of the
University of Oregon and talked to him another day.  Here in Madison,
people recommend I talk to certain people about presenting my work and I am
treated rudely.  At national and local conferences of various sorts I often
present, and even when I just drop in at the last moment, I often steal the
show from the sidelines.  But you can see the resentment on certain faces,
even though people are amazed in the restrooms or walking around after my
presentations or questions.  In Eugene they kept asking me back for TV
interviews, in Madison, a radio control freak changed the nature of the
program I was using to air my thoughts to once a month rather than once a
week.  They also limited questions on their call in shows to once a week
just because a very knowledgeable friend of mine called in his excellent
questions frequently.  And this is supposed to be a community radio station.



I saw the death of investigative journalism in the Reagan years in Eugene.
I attended the local forums of labor, democrats, moderate republicans, and
hard line republicans in the early eighties.  One radio station regularly
covered these forums in the early eighties but was not to be seen after a
few years.  I called in regularly on C-SPAN in the eighties.  Wisconsin
public radio took my calls for many years in the nineties, but now, since a
Voice of America guy took over the broadcast, access is more narrowly
limited.  It is harder than ever to get the truth out in empire America as
the decades go by.  Even Jimmy Carter decries the death of real democracy
in America.  Just look at how open Al Jazeera America is compared to FOX,
CNN, and even MSNBC.



More on control, militarism, and the social decay of empires:

https://www.academia.edu/11421799/MILITARISM_CONTROL_EMPIRE_DECAY

Dr. Peace, Dr. Bob Reuschlein, Real Economy Institute
best contact to ask Bob to speak to your group: bobreuschlein at gmail.com
to leave message: 608-230-6640
for more info: www.realeconomy.com
(*Real Economy* and/or *Peace Economics* free pdf on request by members of
the press)
An archive of this yearlong press release campaign can be found at:
http://bobreuschlein.wordpress.com/



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