I have come to this conclusion, thanks to a wide variety of readings and just plain old common-sense observation, not to mention some deep consideration about my own humanity.
The two main sources that I can point to in order to elucidate what I mean are, of course, Zinn's "People's History of the United States" and the sociological philosophies of Vilfredo Pareto (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilfredo_Pareto#External_links) whom I was turned on to by an ex boyfriend that I was talking to earlier. I disagree with him on plenty, and don't really think his "worldview" is complete enough to be a viable philosophical model... but... food for thought, fits right into the thoughts I've been having lately.
Also see the entry for the "Iron Law of Oligarchy"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_law_of_oligarchyNow, what I want to know is - is oligarchy inevitable? And violence? I agree with Pareto that human society never really changes, never has, never will. But must we KILL people? I guess as long as there is a large segment of humanity that IS willing to resort to violence, the answer is yes. I don't want to let the logic of my philosophical investigations to turn me into a hawk, and I certainly do NOT favor violence, and I think a lot about Gandhi... but...
How much should we be willing to fight inevitability? Should we just try to ride out the whims of the elites? What would our deaths really ultimately accomplish? Should we focus on helping people in OUR communities, instead, where we can really make a HUGE difference?
Thoughts?
(Sorry this is so disjointed - it's late!)