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What We Have Here is a Kakistocracy
World Wide Words ^

Posted on 07/21/2009 12:55:52 PM PDT by Type Righter

What is a kakistocracy? How about the perfect description of Obambi's regime?

kakistocracy (plural kakistocracies)

1. Government under the control of a nation's worst or least-qualified citizens.

And from World Wide Words:

KAKISTOCRACY/kækɪˈstɒkrəsɪ/Help with IPA

The government of a state by its most unprincipled citizens.

Writers down the years have found this to be an appropriate word with which to belabour either their political system or other people’s. The American poet James Russell Lowell wrote in a letter in 1876:

What fills me with doubt and dismay is the degradation of the moral tone. Is it or is it not a result of democracy? Is ours a “government of the people, by the people, for the people,” or a Kakistocracy, rather for the benefit of knaves at the cost of fools? The first example we know of is dated 1829, in a book called The Misfortunes of Elphin, written by the English satirical writer Thomas Love Peacock. His sarcasm is ponderous and his language obscure:

They were utterly destitute of the blessings of those “schools for all,” the house of correction, and the treadmill, wherein the autochthonal justice of our agrestic kakistocracy now castigates the heinous sins which were then committed with impunity, of treading on old foot-paths, picking up dead wood, and moving on the face of the earth within sound of the whirr of a partridge.

Autochthonal refers to the indigenous people of a country (from Greek words that mean “sprung from the earth”); Agrestic has the sense of “relating to the country” (Latin ager, a field). Peacock meant by agrestic kakistocracy the English landed squirarchy who kept their tenants in line by severe punishments for offences such as poaching.

The word is Greek, from kakistos, the worst.


TOPICS: History; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: badgovernment; bho44; congress; democrats; kakistocracy; obama; politics; weird
Just wanted to share, as it sure seems highly appropriate. But it's just an FYI, not sure where I should post it. Apologizing in advance if I've put it in the wrong section. Sorry about that!
1 posted on 07/21/2009 12:55:52 PM PDT by Type Righter
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To: Type Righter
the dems elected the “worst” in American history and the consequences are worst than could possible be imagined. A lunatic communist in the white house backed by dims in congress
2 posted on 07/21/2009 1:01:51 PM PDT by bareford101
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To: Type Righter

You say ‘kakistocracy’, I say ‘cacastocracy’*

*to be sung to the tune of Tomato tomahto....


3 posted on 07/21/2009 1:02:48 PM PDT by green pastures
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To: Type Righter
Marx Bros
4 posted on 07/21/2009 1:04:24 PM PDT by greyfoxx39 (There is no justice at the Dept. of Justice when Black Panthers are cleared for terrorizing voters.)
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To: green pastures

the song is “Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off”


5 posted on 07/21/2009 1:06:18 PM PDT by NewJerseyJoe (Rat mantra: "Facts are meaningless! You can use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!")
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To: Type Righter

Kakistocracy? Rule by a bunch of KAKS (say it with yr. best Boston accent)


6 posted on 07/21/2009 1:07:20 PM PDT by PGR88
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To: Type Righter

It’d be twice as bad under a Du-kakis-ocracy.


7 posted on 07/21/2009 1:10:46 PM PDT by pogo101
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To: Type Righter

“Just wanted to share...”

I believe Krytocracy is rule by judges, which is also appropriate.


8 posted on 07/21/2009 1:10:57 PM PDT by Owl558 ("Those who remember George Satayana are doomed to repeat him")
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To: Type Righter
We could have a Khaki-stocracy:

Which is the last step before we become a Banana Republic.

9 posted on 07/21/2009 1:11:23 PM PDT by who_would_fardels_bear (These fragments I have shored against my ruins)
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To: Type Righter
Kakistocracy, anyone?

Photobucket

10 posted on 07/21/2009 1:15:42 PM PDT by rfp1234
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To: Type Righter

As H.L. Mencken pointed out, politicians aren’t people who are good at running things, they are people who are good at winning elections.


11 posted on 07/21/2009 1:16:11 PM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (AGWT is very robust with respect to data. All observations confirm it at the 100% confidence level.)
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To: NewJerseyJoe

Indeed it is.

But I was posting in a hurry and thought ‘tomato tomahto’ would get the point across.

I guess that’s a “fail” for me.


12 posted on 07/21/2009 1:30:34 PM PDT by green pastures
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To: All

Thanks everybody for responding!! You’re all right on the “Marx” with your comments!! Keep fighting!! But don’t let them see the whites of your eyes... Make sure they’re crinkled up with laughter as we dump ‘em all in the Potomac.

Oh, the humanity...
:D


13 posted on 07/21/2009 1:34:46 PM PDT by Type Righter (“It will be a cold day in hell before he socializes my country!”)
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To: Type Righter

Hat tip to TR.

Great word. Goes with ‘let them eat cake.’


14 posted on 07/21/2009 1:41:07 PM PDT by combat_boots (The Lion of Judah cometh. Hallelujah. Gloria Patri, Fili et Spiritus Sancti.)
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To: Type Righter

Very possible. And it’s the result of underwriting the breeding of inferior stock...millions who would not be born were real economic/social factors brought to bear. Few 13 child, single parent families if actual work had to be done to feed them.


15 posted on 07/21/2009 1:56:08 PM PDT by Oldpuppymax (AGENDA OF THE LEFT EXPOSED)
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To: who_would_fardels_bear

What we have here... is a KAKISTOCRACY.

16 posted on 07/21/2009 2:51:06 PM PDT by Fido969 ("The hardest thing in the world to understand is income tax." - Albert Einstein)
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To: AdmSmith; Berosus; bigheadfred; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Fred Nerks; ...
The government of a state by its most unprincipled citizens.

17 posted on 07/23/2009 2:26:01 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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