But even Christians have their idols (dogmas, creedos, liturgies, customs, rituals) that blind them to the one and only one truth.

"My people perish for lack of knowledge ..."

Instead many Christians believe they have chosen the right narrow path, which is just one lane in the broad road superhighway to hell.

Real democracy for electing rulers is done by lottery, not by party ballot. Every citizen puts a name in the ballot box and then a random name is selected, and the candidate is examined. If the candidate passes muster, then he is the one put in the office. No campaigns, no campaign finance, no speeches, none of that garbage has any place in actual democracy.

The Bible has multiple instances in the law of God for casting lots (lottery) to choose a leader or successor for an office. That is real democracy. The Greeks called ballots for party or public candidate by a Greek word: Oligarchy.

Everyone who calls elections by the name of democracy doesn't know what democracy is. Democracy is not the 'choice of the people' but rather the 'random choice of God' from among the people. This is how the Greeks and Israelites originally practiced democratic elections. The idea of 'running for office' was anciently seen as a form of insurrection or oligarchy, not democracy.

#Democracy #Elections #Oligarchy #Vote #Government

Facial recognition data is a key to your identity – if stolen, you can’t just change the locks

#News #AI #Oligarchy #Techocracy #Privacy #Security #Religion #Philosophy

https://theconversation.com/facial-recognition-data-is-a-key-to-your-identity-if-stolen-you-cant-just-change-the-locks-278289

dark and stormy times
and that's just our politics
where's time for climate?

#haiku #senryu #poem #ShortPoem #SmallPoem #SmallPoems #climate #ClimateChange #politics #oligarchy #fascism #LateStageCapitalism #collapse #extinction

I saw a meme post on Facebook suggesting that no one earns a billion dollars except by wage theft, that no one works a billion times harder than other hardworking people who make ordinary wages. That seems a fair claim. I wrote this next paragraph in response, kind of as a spur of the moment thought, but it's something I want to spend more time thinking about:

I used to think that one solution to this was the practice of asking CEOs to not make more than some fixed multiple of their lowest-paid employee. But now I see the goal is to not employ anyone either. A lot of the benefits for corporations are justified on the idea that they employ people, so helping them helps people. Now that this assumption is on a path to being increasingly violated, we need to reconsider our special treatment of corporations as well.

#ai #corporations #billionaires #NoBilliionaires #LateStageCapitalism #ShareholderCapitalism #RegulatoryCapture #society #ethics #unemployment #automation #law #CapitalGains #CapitalGainsTax #WealthTax #inequality #fascism #feudalism #oligarchy

Interview: "Muskism”: How Apartheid South Africa Inspired Elon Musk’s Worldview & More

Musk runs rocket company SpaceX, AI startup xAI, electric car maker Tesla & the social media platform X.

His political influence extends from his use of X to advance controversial ideas, to his political donations, to the role he played leading DOGE.

~Quinn Slobodian

https://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/24/muskism_quinn_slobodian_book_elon_musk

#USPol #EUPol #Musk #X #oligarchy #fascism .

These are the guys that own Trump. They also own Vance, so they've got choice. And if a Dem gets in next time, well, their money will just flow that way instead.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jun/03/billionaires-for-trump-presidential-election

Everyone that matters is happy. Business as usual:

When this all started, 1971, with the Powell memo, David Rockefeller & the Trilateral Commission:

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/an-excess-of-democracy-how-corporations-killed-the-campus,15165

#USPol #EUPol #trump #vance #thiel #USImperialism #oligarchy #PowellMemo #trilateralCommission #Rockefeller .

@nixCraft ZRAM the gouging #Oligarchy #TechBros!

@GhostOnTheHalfShell

#USpol: #Aristocracy vs. #Oligarchy? #Politics

#Rockbridge vs. The #HeritageFoundation?

(5/5)

...👉 for corrupt or selfish purposes.👈

👉 #Oligarchies in which members of the ruling group are wealthy or exercise their power through their wealth are known as #plutocracies..."👈

https://www.britannica.com/topic/oligarchy

//

#USpol: #Aristocracy vs. #Oligarchy? #Politics

#Rockbridge vs. The #HeritageFoundation?

(4/n)

...that Aristotle called #polity). Rule by one or the few in the...

rulers’ own interest is tyranny or oligarchy (or timocracy), respectively, and anarchic mob rule is democracy, as #Aristotle used that term..."

https://www.britannica.com/topic/aristocracy

"#oligarchy, government by the few, especially despotic power exercised by a small and privileged group...

@GhostOnTheHalfShell

#USpol: #Aristocracy vs. #Oligarchy? #Politics

#Rockbridge vs. The #HeritageFoundation?

(3/n)

...to be best qualified to rule.

As conceived by the #Greek philosopher #Aristotle (384–322 bce), aristocracy means the rule of the few—the morally and intellectually superior—governing in the interest of all.
Such a form of government differs from the rule of one in the interest of all (#monarchy) and the rule of the many in the interest of all (a form of government...

@GhostOnTheHalfShell

#USpol: #Aristocracy vs. #Oligarchy? #Politics

#Rockbridge vs. The #HeritageFoundation?

(2/n)

THIS would be "the best" championing the cause of "the people".
They ALL do it in their own self-interest.

No, it is "new money (#PeterThiel et al) vs. "old money, thus still a #Plutocracy:

Via #Britannica.com:

"aristocracy, government by a relatively small privileged class or by a minority consisting of those presumed...

@GhostOnTheHalfShell @violetmadder @benfell @paninid @gilduran

@GhostOnTheHalfShell

#USpol: #Aristocracy vs. #Oligarchy? #Politics

#Rockbridge vs. The #HeritageFoundation?

(1/n)

Calling the noveau-rich #Rockbridge group of #oligarchs "#aristocrats" is just euphemism, but does not change much for the american people.

I have not heard any of the #Rockbridge members calling for #UniversalHealthcare for all citizens, as #AOC and #BernieSanders have been doing for a long time...

https://www.thenerdreich.com/jd-vance-tech-donor-group-rockbridge-seeks-aristocracy/?ref=the-nerd-reich-newsletter

@violetmadder @benfell @paninid @gilduran

The pair — along with admin officials & friends — recently launched #ExecutiveBranch, a $500,000-a-head membership club for #Trump-supporting business leaders to hobnob in DC.

These organizations have a collective ambition, according to #ChrisBuskirk, which is to give the businesspeople he sees as vital to the country’s future a role shaping #government & lasting #political #power.

#law #Constitution #democracy #technocracy #plutocracy #aristocracy #oligarchy #USpol

With significant funding from #tech leaders, #RockbridgeNetwork aims to equip #MAGA to outlive #Trump. The group has no website or public-facing entity, but it has assembled pollsters, data crunchers, online advertisers & even a documentary film arm. It is gearing up to deploy its arsenal in the 2026 #midterms & in the 2028 presidential contest, when many Rockbridge members hope #JDVance will be the nominee.

#law #Constitution #democracy #technocracy #plutocracy #aristocracy #oligarchy #USpol

Today, #ChrisBuskirk helms the #RockbridgeNetwork, a secretive organization birthed out of the weekend gathering that has established itself as one of the most influential forces in #GOP #politics. Political strategists credit the close-knit network of businessmen-cum-donors with helping fuel #Trump’s reelection last year & propelling one of its own — #JDVance — into the vice presidency.

#law #Constitution #democracy #technocracy #plutocracy #aristocracy #oligarchy #USpol

As the stalemate nears the record for the longest #shutdown in US history — one set during Trump’s first term — he has continued to seem unbothered by the fallout, casting the log jam as one easily resolved.

“It’s their fault,” #Trump said of #Democrats [despite the fact that #Republicans control the #House, the #Senate, the presidency & #SCOTUS] as he traveled to Mar-a-Lago, his Florida club & estate, on Friday. “Everything is their fault. It’s so easily solved.”

#POS #plutocracy #oligarchy

The stark contrast crystallized how #Trump has appeared largely disconnected [out-of-touch] from the fiscal impasse that has gripped Washington & paralyzed much of the federal government.

In the weeks before the #shutdown, Trump expressed confidence about the looming fight with #Democrats. He said that he was certain #Republicans could fund the government solely with their own votes & that they should not “even bother” #negotiating with the other party.

#POS #plutocracy #oligarchy

Just hours after returning from a trip across Asia, #Trump left Washington Friday for a Halloween party & a fund-raiser at his Florida residence. When he weighed in briefly on the #shutdown, it was to cast the potential loss of #benefits that millions of Americans rely on for #groceries as mostly a problem for Democratic voters.

#POS #plutocracy #oligarchy #FoodStamps #SNAP #FederalWorkers

Rather than offer steps he might take to bring the crisis to a close, #Trump called attention to the new details of his renovation of a White House #bathroom.

“Highly polished, Statuary marble!” Trump declared on social media as he posted images of his new Lincoln bathroom, even as some households planned on handing out canned soup in lieu of candy.

#POS #plutocracy #oligarchy #shutdown #FoodStamps #SNAP #FederalWorkers

#POS

American families are worried about losing #FoodStamp benefits. Hundreds of thousands of #FederalWorkers have no idea when they will next be paid. Several #airports have been experiencing delays because of staffing shortages.

The pain of the government #shutdown is growing more acute as it grinds toward the 5-week mark, with #Congress showing little movement toward a resolution. But #Trump has been attending to other matters.

#plutocracy #oligarchy
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/31/us/politics/trump-shutdown.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare