Re: <nettime> will someone explain

[John Hopkins <jhopkins@neoscenes.net>]

On 03/Feb/17 20:47, Scot Mcphee wrote:

> Tacitus seems to understand it pretty well:
>
> *ita varios motus animorum non modo in urbe apud patres aut populum
> aut urbanum militem, sed omnis legiones ducesque conciverat, evulgato
> imperii arcano posse principem alibi quam Romae fieri. *(Tac. Hist.
> 1.4)

Hi Scott -- I've invoked Tacitus' Annals on nettime a number of times going back 
twenty years. Highly recommended as a substitute for the NYTimes. There is much 
wisdom in his observations of and charting the shifting of central power 
structures within the wider Roman system -- the fraught transition from Republic 
to Imperium being the most notable.

Stressors on a (techno-social) system precipitate shifts in the power nexus' 
within that system. For example, the relationship between Nile River valley 
grain harvests and Roman stability -- that grain production was directly related 
to the extent of spring flooding Nile River. Climate had a direct effect on the 
balance of power in that grain was used as proxy pay to veterans of the Roman 
legions and to distribute to the civilian population as a way to quell dissent. 
(The very limited) arable land in the Italian peninsula was also distributed to 
veterans. Whenever that distribution process came under stress, it caused 
various shifts in the governing power structure. The hungry/angry man thing...

And to comment to David -- probably the first thing to remind you of is that the 
US is nothing more than another imperial nation-state / social structure, and 
said document is 'just another' human production in a long historical line of 
'states', 'empires', and, ultimately, 'failed states'.

Invoking parts of the protocol discussion -- the 'balance' function of the US 
Constitution relies deeply on civil interactions -- when those civil 
communication protocols break down, there is a loss of interaction that is 
crucial to the 'balancing' act. You can't collectively govern if you can't have 
a civil discussion with 'the opposition'. Edicts (Executive Orders) are not 
conversations. Unfortunately Pres. Obama was forced to strengthen-through-use 
the EO process because of the lack of conversations with the Congressional 
branch. <<<Bannon>>> is taking full advantage of this legacy.

That said, the power, as any other 'shared' power is constantly shifting between 
the three branches of gov't (with the military mixed in there as a fourth power 
nexus -- see, for example, the do-not-cross-the-Rubicon "Posse Comitatus" Act). 
The wobble between the inscribed Constitutional power centers has been, so far, 
limited by the stability of the overall social structure. (That stability last 
tested significantly in the Civil War. And the reasons for that stability, well, 
perhaps a simple way to say it -- overall lack of want -- or abundance of 
resources.) But in the intervening times, there have always been tensions 
between those centers and other power centers (for example private sector, 
gov't-sanctioned resource-driven/supported oligarchs and such -- Eisenhower's 
recognition of the dangers of the rise of the MIC is related to this, for example).

As amply demonstrated today, a document will have little effect on shifts of 
power initiated by certain personalities. While obviously abstract social 
constructs do drive people to (senselessly) sacrifice their lives for 'a higher 
cause', social norms are malleable. <<<Bannon>>> and others understand the 
extent of malleability which allows a re-engineering of the social system.

As for the sheep-like following these despots have on a wider swath of the 
population: the example of the Sturmabteilung (SA, Brown Shirts) was Hitler's 
way of 'empowering' (for his own ends) the dispossessed unemployed of 20s & 
early 30s. He eventually turned his back on them (they had come to the end of 
their utility, except as minimally-trained cannon fodder for the WWII 
Wehrmacht). I wouldn't be surprised if some sort of selective quasi-military 
system pops up (one actually initiated/sanctioned by the Presidency). 
Strengthening the ICE and other non-Dept-of-Defense systems is one means for this.

Make Rome Great Again!

Cheers,
JOhn

--
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dr. John Hopkins, BSc, MFA, PhD
hanging on to the Laramide Orogeny
twitter: @neoscenes
http://tech-no-mad.net/blog/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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