This from reader M Hagan, who responds to Better Living Through Algebra and the attempt there to deduce the Bush administration's elusive “equation”:
While the representatives of the administration have been quite clear that the equation has changed, there is no evidence that there has been any modification to the overall goal. The purpose of their actions has always been to benefit their constituents. However, they do not restrict themselves to the high school civics lesson definition of constituents. They are unconcerned with the plight of the average citizen, rather they intend to represent those interests who have filled their coffers in the past, and those who are most likely to become benefactors upon completion of their terms in public office. Specifically, the usual suspects of the defense and oil industries such as The Carlyle Group, Halliburton, and Saudi Oil interests.
In pursuit of this goal, the new equation involves using the specter of the events of 9/11 to paralyze the American populace with the constant fear due to terror alerts (providing added benefits to duct tape and plastic sheeting manufacturers), a preemptive war doctrine that advocates for us to overthrow other countries as we deem necessary based upon imagined terrorist ties, and a blatant disregard of troublesome documents such as the Geneva Convention or the Kyoto Protocol.
Therefore, I present the Hagan hypothesis for this equation:
u9/11 = Σ Fear * Military Aggression ^ Terrorismi - International Law = $
The Hagan hypothesis raises an interesting question for this kind of inquiry. Namely, is the administration maximizing something reasonable, but not in the public interest (e.g., serving a class of wealthy elites out of the expectation that such activity will be rewarded in return)? Or have they chosen something unreasonable against which to measure their progress (as I suggested in the original article)? Meanwhile, what is the secret agenda of the duct tape/plastic sheeting cabal?
Send along thoughts or (even better) your best guess at the changed equation.
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