Kakistocracy

This is our form of government, in the western world. 

Don't be fooled by the pleasant sounding labels such as 'democracy', that allow for peace of mind amongst those with heads still firmly buried.

Don't be fooled by those that rail against 'elites', using the word as if to illustrate that a high-powered class of intelligent and meritorious individuals have organically risen to positions of power and influence over the great unwashed, and perhaps abuse their power over the filthy peasants whom they dominate. 

The true form of government in the western world in the modern age is a Kakistocracy, and I've never been so sure of a word choice in my lifetime. 

Language is a funny thing. Prior to 1829, we didn't even have such a word in our lexicon. Is an idea capable of being formulated, considered, discussed or fleshed out, when one can't even give concrete voice to its root? Does our thinking dictate our language, or is it the reverse? 

"A kakistocracy is a state or country run by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous citizens. "

This word remains largely unknown and unused, though I hope and suspect this is changing, and I hope to play my part in seeing that it does change. This is one of the most important words in the dictionary, it should be shouted from every rooftop, distributed door to door in flyers, screamed atop the most highly trafficked sites. 

Psychopathy, shrewdness, manipulation and deceit have a funny way of succeeding wildly, especially when we collectively, as a society, let our guards down. When we lose our 'center', when we no longer have a ethical compass, a sense of the importance of virtue, it becomes an organic and inevitable state of affairs. Place any two people in virtually any contest you can dream up, and the one most willing to bend or break the rules will be the victor, almost without exception. Place billions of people in a contest, and you'll find that these types of individuals will quickly find one another, recognize one another, work with one another. 

Cancer and corruption are similar to one another, in that they aren't self-regulating in any way. They grow, and grow, and continue to grow indefinitely, if left unchecked. Eventually, they dominate, control, and kill off the host. They are insatiable, seeking non-stop for more efficient and effective means of infecting, spreading, expanding. 

The most nefarious aspect of the corruption in human societies is that, as it reaches its zenith, the corruption becomes so all-encompassing, so all-pervasive and powerful and influential, that its capable of obfuscating its true nature, and instead proceeds to do its parasitic work with a pleasant looking mask on, wearing a cloak of positive-sounding words or slogans, under the guise of 'truth', or 'justice',  even 'anti-corruption'. . . leading many to mistake it for a positive force, as the noose tightens still further.

Are we a nation of inspired leadership, disciplined men that seek to better themselves and their kinsmen and society by every means possible, men that seek knowledge and understanding and strive to better their world at all costs?

Or are we a nation lead by showmen, puppets, men willing to compromise every shred of nobility within them for additional power and influence, whose main aim is to win an election at all costs, by hook or by crook, to continue doing the bidding of their benefactors, in exchange for additional power and influence. . and so the cycle goes?

I believe Democracy was a noble invention with noble precepts and noble aims. At times, in bygone eras and different environments, it's been capable of producing the desired effect: the rule of the people, a collection of independent minded individuals capable of critical thought, free from the fetters of thought-control, capable of organically coming upon their own personal opinions and viewpoints and then airing them, collectively, to make decisions for the greater good. 

The printing press and the television fundamentally changed, and shrunk, our world. It allowed for communication at such a level of speed and efficiency that a single thought or idea could be transplanted to millions of individuals, simultaneously, in a matter of seconds. This has many positive benefits. . and the good-hearted and 'just' and noble amongst us saw great positive potential, as they are wont to do, with a romanticism and idealism that caused them to focus squarely on the beautiful and meaningful uses of this magical new creation. 

For a different subset of people, those shrewd souls seeking personal advantage at every turn regardless of the cost to individuals or societies or peoples, this magical new creation held an entirely different promise. Here was a means for ultimate control, ultimate manipulation and conditioning. True power and dominance could be ushered in with a velvet glove. The power to shape minds is the root power, from which all others are downstream. . control the megaphones in a culture, and you control the voters. 

Parasitic and psychopathic personalities hate nothing more than a just, honest, and noble man. They will shut him out from every position of power and influence, intuitively knowing he is the greatest threat to their existence. Meanwhile, the honest man is nearly incapable of fathoming the existence of this nefarious being. Often times he doesn't even have the requisite reference points. Being honest himself, he begins from the premise that others must be similarly wired, and thus rarely discriminates. . and even when he does, he is often willing to give the benefit of the doubt, as his noble nature compels him. Picture these two types of individuals in positions of power The former promotes their own, the latter has no such preference. What might a society look like after several generations of this?

A kakistocracy destroyed Rome. The life cycle of nations seems to dictate that those who best succeed, become those who are the fattest and happiest. . those who are the fattest and happiest swiftly lose their 'edge', as discipline and energy are replaced with sloth and a tolerance of vice bordering on the suicidal. It seems to be the eternal paradox. . . a nation 'wins'. . but what then? With no foe left to smite, no singular force to rally around or against, they degenerate and dissipate into the ether, to be replaced by the next contender. . and so it goes. . 

A kakistocracy, arising  because nobody was paying serious attention in her final hours, destroyed Rome. A kakistocracy threatens to destroy us. 

How do we turn the tide? How do we right this ship, get back on course, and prevent a dissipation into the ether, to be a brief footnote in future history books, assuming our species lasts long enough to write many more of them? 

I don't know, precisely. . nobody does. I have a few ideas, but the definitive cure for such ills isn't perfectly knowable. 

I do know this, saying the word, knowing the word and understanding the word is a start:

A kakistocracy is a state or country run by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous citizens. 

We live in a KAKISTOCRACY.