Kepler
Cornell Big Red
My advice is not to Democrats; it's to those with functioning brains regardless of their policy positions. The fight is not left vs right. Use the left and the right to split derp electoral power, thereby canceling it.
The Voting Rights Act was the highest point of American democracy (fittingly paired with the moon landing, the highest point of American civilization). Thereafter came the reactive erosion of democracy towards mob rule and collapse.
There is no escape from history, but we do know a little bit of political science we didn't used to, and maybe there are ways to engineer around the edges by exploiting that recent self-awareness. Principles are for observers. Participation requires pragmatism: the art of the possible.
So, is there a pragmatically optimal point on the graph above? Yes. As far from the descent into ochlocracy as possible: aristocracy. Its own descent towards oligarchy tends to be slower, allowing more flexibility for resetting actions. Even if the worst occurs, a safety net is spread beneath it in the birth of new democratic impulses, which have healthy and liberating effects on the human spirit.
For a while.
But historically aristocracies have sucked because the ordering principle sucked. Aristocracy of noble birth is a literal genetic dead end in idiocy. Aristocracy of wealth results in the same, culturally -- the Hapsburg jaw traded for the vacuity of fortunate sons and risibly entitled grandsons.
The aristocracy to aim for is intellect. Not merit. There are plenty of morally and ethically superior hardworking morons on Earth, and while they are a precious resource their leadership will naturally favor their own and lead us back to mob rule. Aristocracy of intellect is not morally defensible deontologically. It is strictly utilitarian. (1) It may be the one aristocracy who can still laugh at itself, generation after generation. Nobody is more aware of the clay foot of intellect more than intellect. And (2) it is as close as we can get to an aristocracy that will not abuse their privilege of rule, as we have no interest in power other than self-preservation. Power is inherently... stupid, degrading everyone associated with it. Intellectuals don't care about power except as a means to prevent zealots from using it to set humanity back on the course towards chaos again. What others appear to crave we regard as a sadly necessary annoyance like dental hygiene. Why? Because we're f-cking smarter. We have better things to do than stare at a mirror or buy sh-t. There's stuff to learn and beauty to create. Let the animals have the trappings; just detoxify them by removing them from any influence over us.
No doubt the same problem of erosion towards oligarchy will occur. My selfish argument not to worry about that as much as the decline of other forms is this is my tribe, so exaggeration of our influence hurts me the least. Insofar as I have a selfless pitch, it's that we would see we have as much to lose as everyone else if we let that slide go unabated. In every other case above, the start of the concentration of power will just compound itself. (Note: I believe that's true even in a tyranny of intellect, which distinguishes me from Plato.)
So if that's the goal, how to achieve it? Work with what the local situation gives you. Permeate and co-opt centers of power. Again, the motivating question from walrus: if we're so smart, why aren't we smart enough to use the landscape rather than whine about it? The American landscape is the institutional kabuki of representative democracy pockmarked by the rather more forceful influence of corporate power. Colonize those power centers. Infiltrate them. Take whatever cudgel happens to be at hand and use it to establish a de facto aristocracy of intellect.
Note: do this everywhere. If you're a Russian, cultivate Putin's circle. If you're a Third World warlord, grab a machete and hack your way to the top.
It's worth a try. It gives us something to do other than be morosely distanced and ironic and b-tch while we suffer through this interminable interlude between tall ships and spaceships.
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