Power & Politics
62 entries Β· alphabetical
β A β
β B β
β C β
- Capitalism Freedom through markets or organized extraction β still being decided.
- Checks and Balances The constitutional design that presumes power will be abused β and purports to reveal, test, and deter it.
- Citizens United The law that allows corporations to outvoice, outfund, and outvote citizens without accountability or retribution. The most ironically named Supreme Court decision.
- Communism Collective control of the production and distribution of resources, without class and without the state β an idea that has outlived every attempt to do so. So far, in theory, not in practice.
- Constitution The rulebook that grants authority, defines power, and protects rights β in theory.
- Coup The sudden seizure or replacement of government. Often scripted by others, far in advance.
β D β
- Debt Investment, trap, or moral failing β depending on who owes.
- Deep State The powers that inform the politicians that run the government. Often entrenched through generations. Purgeable but permanent.
- Democracy Majority rule, representative republic β an experiment with varying results.
- Due Process Freedom from government except by fair procedure. The line between the law and the color of law.
β E β
β F β
β G β
- Gerrymandering Drawing electoral district lines to favor one party β legal, pervasive, and defeating the purpose of fair representation.
- Government Servant to the people or threat to liberty β usually the same institution.
- Growth Physical development, economic expansion, or population increase β not always good.
β H β
β I β
- Immunity Protection from consequence β in medicine, from disease; in law, from prosecution. More often a veil for accountability and a shield for power.
- Inflation When prices go up β which means when money's worth less. Natural or engineered. Intentional or not.
- Investment Building something or extracting value β both use the same word.
β J β
β L β
- Labor The individual or collective workforce that produces goods and services β including better technology that reduces the need for labor. (see also Work)
- Law Written norms and/or rules. And those authorized to decide whether and how to enforce them. (see also Norms)
- Liberty Freedom to learn and freedom to act without harm. (see also Freedom)
- Lobby People, groups, and money that influence politicians. Legislative telemarketing β named for where it originally took place.
β M β
- Meritocracy The extent to which a system's outcomes are determined by talent and effort, and not just opportunity. (see also Opportunity)
- Military Industrial Complex The self-sustaining relationship between defense, government, and industry β and its revolving door. Also, a five-star-general-prior-Presidentβs predictive warning. (see also The Revolving Door)
β O β
β P β
- Patriot Lover of country, or our version of it. Hating the others β optional.
- Petrodollar The so-far dominant, self-sustaining system of selling oil in US dollars through extraction enforcement. Replaced the gold standard with military might and more money.
- Police "Public" safety built from private security. State authority or occupying force. Sometimes all in the same shift.
- Populism The people's voice against the powers that be β may be mob rule, even when created by the powers that be.
- Poverty Living below some standard. The individual, the group, and the system each blame another.
- Power Energy, force, and authority. (Often corrupting those with it. Seducing the rest.)
- Precedent A prior decision that guides future ones, whether honored, adapted, or abandoned. The mechanism of consistency and change, in law and in life.
- Property What you own, what owns you, and what was taken to become either.
β R β
- Reform Promised improvement. Often celebrated prematurely.
- Regime A system of government, or a faction that runs it. Theirs or ours. Neutral in origin, weaponized in media.
- Representation Those who speak for us β in government, in court, and in culture. Whether we ask, agree, or even know.
- Rights Inherent, God-given, government-granted, or agreed to by a group. Subject to change.
β S β
- Sanction A penalty, punishment, or embargo. Same root as sanctity β something sacred and protected. (see also Embargo or Tariff)
- Security Safety and defense. Also surveillance, monitoring, and control. (see also Surveillance)
- Shadow Government The parallel power structures operating beneath the visible one β real in some forms, imagined in others. (see also Deep State)
- Socialism Collective care and shared resources. Radical politics or human default.
- Sovereignty A nation's right to self-rule. Inherent by history, geography, and culture. In practice, what wealthy nations say.
- Surveillance Watching, recording, and tracking β for safety or control. Used to be used for security. (see also Security)
β T β
- Tariff A tax on imported goods. Trade policy, revenue tool, and weapon of diplomacy and war. (see also Embargo or Sanction)
- Tax Civic contribution or government theft. You pay either way. Unless you're very poor or rich enough.
- The Market The collective mechanism of exchanging goods, finance, ideas, and culture. Natural, or made to look natural.
- The Revolving Door The legal pipeline between regulating an industry and being employed by it. (see also Military Industrial Complex)
- Transparency Openness in operation. Operational due to concealment.
- Treason The betrayal of one's country β the most serious political crime, and the most serious false allegation.
β V β
β W β