The League of Extraordinary Assholes
thewalrus.ca
thewalrus.ca
I think many times the inferiority complex makes for many of the players in this league. Same as some people reassure themselves by getting big cars, or expensive watches for the sake of showing off, even if they're poor, some individuals would act like jerks as a way to hide their own insecurities when they have the chance. I would even say that this is the problem behind many rich jerks: rather than just feeling superior to regular folks, they feel constantly inferior, worthless among their circles.
Freedom requires constant vigilance.
When you collectively fall asleep for three generations and allow the asshole class to subvert the rule of law, you deserve whatever you get.
And let's be straightforward about the form of that sleep: political apathy which led the non-asshole class to stop voting. Apathy allowed the assholes to walk in and take the place in broad daylight. And when apathy didn't work, they worked to weaken the very process of voting. The Voting Rights Act was the last visible sign of this, but the last two presidential elections were rife with voter suppression.
Would it have produced an outcome that didn't involve Obama or Romney?
In 2016, will it produce an outcome that doesn't involve Clinton, Sanders, or Trump?
And in any case, we are worse off.
Democracy is a tool, not a solution.
The solution lies in philosophy, in morality.
An immoral society elects immoral leaders because it cannot collectively discriminate between right and wrong.
There's no easy way out of this, but if there's any way, it doesn't involve passing more laws.