Amphibolocracy
Here's a pretty old post from the blog archives of Geekery Today; it was written about 14 years ago, in 2010, on the World Wide Web.
Here’s an e-mail I received in my inbox yesterday, thanks to the actions of one of my market Anarchist friends on Facebook:
From: Facebook
To: Charles Johnson
Date: 05/04/2010 12:57 PM
Subject: Dominik Hennig suggested you become a fan of Omnipotent Government, by Ludwig von Mises…Dominik became a fan of Omnipotent Government, by Ludwig von Mises on Facebook and suggested you become a fan too.
To see more details and confirm this invitation, follow the link below: . . .
Thanks,
The Facebook Team
Awkward!
I like Ludwig von Mises alright, but, man, I’m not going to sign on as a fan of omnipotent government, no matter who’s in charge.
If you’re not getting the amphiboly, this may help.
Follow
The word ‘amphibolocracy’ also brings to mind the “Reptilienfonds” that greased the wheels of government in Bismark Germany. See more here: http://bkmarcus.com/blog/2007/08/reptile-fund
Thanks for the link. It actually answered a question I had earlier this week — in Kropotkin’s awful letter supporting the French government in World War I, he makes a passing reference to what is saying about the war. The quote-marks suggested a fixed phrase, but I was wondering what exactly he was referring to — in light of the link, I presume it originally referred to latter-day reporters or editors who took bribes from the Reptilienfonds, and thus, by extension, reporters and editors who uncritically toed the line for the Reich.
Cool term. Worth using. The war-mongering letter still sucks, of course.