¶ 1 Leave a comment on paragraph 1 0 Why do Americans tolerate
a severely flawed electoral process and democracy?

¶ 2 Leave a comment on paragraph 2 0 This must be a query, not a question,
as there are no short and concise answers.

¶ 3 Leave a comment on paragraph 3 0 Most persons only grok the inadequacy and
usually accept a simplistic faux reason or
unproven (or proven invalid) solutions.

¶ 4 Leave a comment on paragraph 4 0 Even I, only now,
sit down to collect all the dots and
begin discovering different ways of connecting them
(discovering how differ issues impact each other).

The DOTS:

¶ 5 Leave a comment on paragraph 5 0 No Constitutional Means to Correct the Following:

¶ 6 Leave a comment on paragraph 6 0     Electoral College Flawed
    Other Structural Dysfunctions
    Gerrymandering
    States Ability to Hack Federal Elections
    Hacking Final Vote Counts
    Money Buys Influence
    Corporate Influence
    Corruption
    Criminal Exploitation
    Agency Influence
    Conspiratorial Gangs

        Informal groups in an agency, pentagon, or other org “conspire” to act outside rules and standards. Through various means these “gangs” can significantly influence the actions of the formal org for which they are parts.

Example: subgroups in the FBI force release of information and claim independence of POTUS.
Example: subgroup of legislators block selection of SCOTUS member.

¶ 9 Leave a comment on paragraph 9 0     Limiting Franchise & Suppressed Voting
    Deceptive Media
    Deceptive & Greedy Politicians
    Inadequate and Deceptive Civics Education
    Competitive Dominance in Decision-Making
    Gridlock Permitted
    Propaganda Supported False Exceptionalism
    Flawed and Inadequate Constitution for Today
    Grossly Inadequate Knowledge & Wisdom Distribution in Population
    Educational/Media System Structured to Keep Population Ignorant

¶ 10 Leave a comment on paragraph 10 0  

Living Organism or Deterministic Machine

¶ 11 Leave a comment on paragraph 11 0  

¶ 12 Leave a comment on paragraph 12 0 Those persons with naive, “spiritual” perspectives, favor imagining societal systems as living organisms. Their visions may be good, but their assessment of humans, human nature, and humankind-as-a-whole-sysnet-holarchy is grossly inadequate. This is not a fault of these good persons, but due to our general false assumption that humans persons with tribal brains can function independently in societal systems of great Magnitude/Scope/Complexity (MSC).

¶ 13 Leave a comment on paragraph 13 0 I once contributed to this perspective when supporting James Greer Miller’s LIVING SYSTEMS model of a (nested) holarchy of holons (systems). The model starts with the cell, progressing upward through tissues, organs, functional subsystems, autonomous organisms. Then on to higher holons as societal organizations, such as governments and corporations. Earlier, Lewis Mumford posited the city as the first machine.

¶ 14 Leave a comment on paragraph 14 0 Today, with digital intelligent technology, some debate the coming Singularity when our AI Machines dominate.  Might we view our societal structures as machines where humans are programmed to perform mechanistic roles. We are often not competent in performing our roles, and the “organic” (living systems) nature of social (as distinct from societal) often interferes with the “smooth functioning” or our societal machines.

Much of the time, we  humans perform as complex Stimulus/Response Mechanisms. We react as to “who we are” at the moment. “Who we are” can be influenced by our creativity; but our “story” of always “freely” deciding between alternative behaviors is mostly myth.

¶ 16 Leave a comment on paragraph 16 0 Human “creativity” in artistic and sci/tech domains is both “real” and “contingent”; and not automatically transferred to moment-by-moment willfulness in everyday living.

¶ 17 Leave a comment on paragraph 17 0 All our categories are imposed by humankind struggling for adequate comprehension of their inner, created/emerged “wrlds”, hypothetically embedded in objective worlds of great MSC. Living and Mechanical are useful conceptual tools. Out there, in an objective reality (which need not totally follow our so-called, discovered rules or scientific laws), of which we never have direct contact/knowledge, there need not “BE” living things and non-living things.

¶ 18 Leave a comment on paragraph 18 0 Students of humankind have highlighted the strong influence of our technological competencies, going back to our tribal times. We have created material structures of great complexity and have become highly dependent on them. Some would say humankind is a cyborg = Human/Machine. I am attempting to call attention to our visual language, our semfields, as a unique innovation in the overall structure/process of Gaia.  WE are an emergent triad: Human/Machine/Text.

¶ 19 Leave a comment on paragraph 19 0 It is important that we examine the Trump Phenomenon from this expanded context. Even the very best analyses of 2016 fail dramatically in connecting the dots or acknowledging unspoken contexts.

What Next? Is Highly Uncertain!

¶ 20 Leave a comment on paragraph 20 0 Almost all of our institutions and cultural processes appear (to me, as) grossly inadequate to our needs in these times, of Crisis-of-Crises.

¶ 21 Leave a comment on paragraph 21 0 Yet, I continue to be shocked by how I can easily be captured by the dynamics of the moment. Although highly critical of the electoral process, and not liking Hillary, I never explored what a Trump POTUS might imply. Unconsciously I assumed Hillary’s election. I was swayed by the media to consider ALL Trump supporters as “deplorable” (because they were able to “accept” the dysfunctional Trump).

¶ 22 Leave a comment on paragraph 22 0 Contrary to my colleagues, I found many of Trump’s critiques of contemporary American valid, although wrapped in an abhorrent context. I welcomed his willingness to challenge USA establishment assumptions about the intentions of Russia and China.

¶ 23 Leave a comment on paragraph 23 0 I came to comprehend Donald Trump as a psychologically dysfunctional human, literally incapable of functioning as POTUS. This evaluation is totally independent of his ideologies acquired during his life with father and business. I sense his being overwhelmed  by his new status, and highly vulnerable to manipulation. Donald’s intention to really help all Americans may be very real. He has many times acknowledged that his use of loopholes gave him the ability to close them. Donald Trump is not a demon. The systems converging around him are demonic.

¶ 24 Leave a comment on paragraph 24 0 If Basic Fundamentals of THE USA are not radically changed in the next four years, Donald Trump may be replaced as POTUS by a Democrat in 2020. Can the Democrats and some American persons block negative fundamental change during a Trump Administration? Time will tell.