@aral There are water wars happening in my valley. We formed a mob to close the diversion of a tribe upriver. Politicians intercepted us as said: "disperse. please. give us a week to talk with them."
A journalist was with us and afterwards I wrote to him with the following: ...
"For generations, we have let percolate the idea that we must look to ‘authorities’ to rectify ‘wrongs’ on our behalf. This is a wonderful idea as I'd rather spend my time enjoying my rights, than dealing with wrongs, but that doesn’t mean the institutions we have erected are the end-all-and-be-all of authority.
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"...A politician’s job is not to hold meetings, run for reelection, draft laws, speak on our behalf, … no, those are simply means to achieve their sole purpose: to make sure men don’t fight. And when men are at the point of fighting, that means there is an implicit vote of no confidence in the political institution that serves at the mercy of the lack of our mercilessness.
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