Latin Catholic by birth, Byzantine Catholic by the grace of God.
Pro: Restoration of the Holy and Universal Christian Roman Empire.
Caveat: The author makes no claim to being an exemplar of Catholicism or Monarchism (or blogging).
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Location: Upstate, New York, United States

Friday, January 30, 2004

Aesthetically retarded

The Catholic school at which my wife teaches is thinking of abandoning plaid on the school uniforms. Plaid is to parochial schools as peanut butter is to jelly. And plaid has deep roots in our culture, spanning back hundreds of years to our northern European ancestors.

What? You don't have any northern European ancestors? Well, first, my condolences. Past that, plaid has been passed into your legitimate American cultural heritage, the same as Auld Lang Syne, Christmas trees, Halloween, and bagpipes at police and firemen's funerals.

Plaid is more than a design, its particularities express our group loyalties, espcially in a non-plaid culture, as we now find ourselves. It runs in the same herd as crests, which show to which family we belong, which school, trade, etc.

Abandoning plaid is sorrowful. The school in question could even be called orthodox theologically, but aesthetically, it is runs by cavewomen. Or cavenuns? Hmm.

Aesthetics get a bum rap from the modern crowd, even the orthodox and conservative. They fail to understand that aesthetics is the first defense to fall between civilization and chaos. Now, while it may not be philosophically or morally binding, a lapse in aesthetics can show deep spiritual or rational problems.

Consider altar girls. While this practice does not break canon law, it certainly defies 2,000 years of church history. Acolytes (now altar boys) used to be men on the road to priesthood; they then advances through various levels including deacon, unto priest. So, while, acolettes do not break the letter of the law, a la ordainment of females, the spirit is infracted. The system we use has been bastardized, where now the previous "ground floor" of ordination has been sacrificed to modernism. Mark my words: eventually, modernists will use acolettes as a stepping stone to push female priests and deacons.

Thankfully, the Chair of Peter will never take such a step, blessed as it is with doctrinal infallibility. But the battle will come, and it will be painful; it is presaged by the death of plaid.

Saturday, January 17, 2004

What's more egalitarian than voting?

Lottery election! Voting puts into office the person who is the best at getting elected. It really enforces a hierarchy of people who want political power.

A better way would be to choose politicians randomly. The House of Representatives is especially suited for this. What would be more representative than to just take someone off the street?

Here are the nuts-and-bolts: In every congressional district, one registered voter (preferably limited to males and Catholics, but that's another article) is randomly selected to represent his neighbors. The man can refuse the position, but if he accepts it, he is a congressman for the next two years. Every other November, instead of voting for candidates, we have a referendum on the man in office. If the population votes against him, he is removed and a new congressman is selected at random, the previous one being ineligible (in the unlikely chance his name is drawn twice in a row) until the next term.

Notice that the lottery is not between people who applied, or got signatures, or who were nominated. The genius of this system is to completely remove ambition from politics. It would also:

1: put congressmen into office who owe nothing to anyone.
2: truly represent the district. Statistically, over the long term, all views held in the district would be voiced in direct proportion to how many people think that way.
3: break down the two-party power structure. A lottery would encourage many third parties.
4: force citizens to pay attention. After all, they could be whisked off to Washington at any time.
5: most importantly, it would reduce the number of people who will say or do anything to wield power and oppress others from ruling in Washington.