Henry Kissinger Rollins on Statecraft
The punk answer to multi-untalented showman Steve Allen, Henry Rollins, is asked political questions at The Onion's A/V Club. I'm no fan of Rollins' various multifarious efforts (I especially disliked his appearance in the Drug Enforcement Administration's intellectually dishonest and audience-insulting piece of drug war propagana, "Targeting America: Drug Traffickers, Terrorists, and You"). But anybody who invokes Paul Stanley in a discussion of politics can't be all bad.
Q: Did you ever notice how really, every system of government/economics would work in a perfect world containing nothing but skilled, driven, and competent people? People are the flaw in everything from communism and anarchy to democracy and capitalism. So why is it that every single proponent of any given system completely ignores the important fact that incompetent people will always find a way to screw things up? -EMStoveken
HR: I think the power of the individual and the need to separate oneself from the pack has something to do with it. Like Paul Stanley of Kiss once said to a woman who asked him if he was in a band. He said, "Honey, I'm not in a band, I'm in THE band." I think sometimes it's the competent people who do the screwing-up: Those who know better and can do better, those with all the power in any given situation, often go for themselves over the team. It seems as if tyranny is only a matter of time with any society. I would hate to think that's the way people are, but it very well could be.
