In a message dated 01/27/2005 9:25:14 AM Eastern Standard Time, asr at ufl.edu writes: ==> On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 10:06:07 -0600, Mia McDavid <mia_mcdavid at comcast.net> said: > Schools, roads, hospitals, libraries, sometimes sports arenas, police, > firefighters, social programs, our armed services--these are not the toys of > assorted officials. Sure they are. Or rather the power to control folks that comes with the administration of these features of our society. If you constituted any of these operations as a business or a charity, you'd immediately fire everyone above the rank of office manager for gross incompetence, fiscal mismanagement, and rampant conflict of interest. Sports arenas, indeed. - Allen S. Rout - Has been resisting this conversation with decreasing success. Our modern political, economic and social systems are based on Hobbsian principles. Self interest (or as you put it 'conflict of interest' ) is essential to these systems working. You are correct Allen, within the political system there is corruption and self interest, the question- Do these stop our system >from working??? 200 years of financial, social and political success, making us the most powerful economic, military and social force on the planet is pretty credible proof that our system is pretty good, even with it's faults. Remember that social, economic and political systems have the same problem as the people who set them up---no one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes. At least our system allows us an avenue for reletively peaceful change. Dragaera has a system set up whereby the Feudal system is run by a benevolent Monarch who only has the best interests of the State in mind. The orb sees to that as well as Verra and the gods. We do not have such a system of checks in place so we rely upon our beauracracy, the media and the two party political system to help. Not to mention the three branches of government. John D. Barbato, OD