IGOTS again:
My old corresponding friend Ned Brooks recently sent a copy of his book reviews It Goes On The Shelf. I had recently sent him a letter and posted it. During an exchange of letters we came up with what I think is a pleasant idea for a puzzle. I’ll not tell you because I hope he’ll pursue it himself.
Brooks is not instinctively a political animal. I can assure you of that from having watched his work for many, many years. But in this issue he comes down hard on a political issue.
I have heard it suggested that American citizens have become ungovernable. The political divides are so intense that it is becoming impossible to get a consensus. Maybe we should split into three countries, each coast and the middle. All the federal government seems to be good for is starting ill advised wars.
But the scarier issue is whether the government has become “uncitizenable.” Have we lost control of the monster? If they can spy on us and we cannot know what they are doing then we cannot possibly be in control. They do not serve us. There are negotiations afoot called the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Here’s a link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Pacific_Partnership
Read it if you like, but the allegation is that some countries are working to establish a “free trade” region. The terms of that agreement are to supersede the laws of the sovereign powers concerned. Business interests are invited to the talks but not the American congress. If that is the case, then yes you have lost control of your government.
Brooks lays out the extent to which the US government has good in its attempts to limit our knowledge of things it has been up to, things we have every right to know. I shall not quote him here. If anybody is interested get in touch with me at info@nobabies.net and I’ll see if I can get permission to send it to you.
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