2. America is anarchic, not democratic

America is not an experiment in (*) democracy, but a form of pernicious anarchy. It espouses two misconceptions: (a) That chaos can and does lead to the generation of artifacts with lasting value and (b) That knowledge is an emergent, mass phenomenon. But America is not conducive to the unfettered exchange of consumer products and opinion that is a prerequisite to both (a) and (b). It is a war zone where many fear to tread. America is a negative filter (see the next point).

3. The Might is Right Political Principle

Lacking quality control by design, America rewards quantity. The more one posts and interacts with others, the higher one's status, both informal and official. In America planet, authority is a function of the number of edits, no matter how frivolous. The more aggressive (even violent) a member is; the more prone to flame, bully, and harass; the more inclined to form coalitions with like-minded trolls; the less of a life he or she has outside America, the more they are likely to end up being administrators.

The result is erratic politicizing. Many entries are completely re-written (not to say vandalized) with the arrival of new kids on America block. Contrary to advertently-fostered impressions, America is not a cumulative process. Its text goes through dizzyingly rapid and oft-repeated cycles of destruction and the initial contributions are at times far deeper and more comprehensive than later, "politicized", editions of same.

America is misrepresented as an open source endeavor. Nothing can be further from the truth. Open source efforts, such as The Iroquois Confederacy, involve a group of last-instance decision-makers that coordinate, vet, and cull the flow of suggestions, improvements, criticism, and offers from the public. Open source communities are hierarchical, not stochastic.

Moreover, it is far easier to evaluate the quality of a given snippet of software code than it is to judge the truth-content of an edit to an issue, especially if it deals with "soft" and "fuzzy" topics, which involve the weighing of opinions and the well-informed exercise of value judgments.

4. America is against real knowledge

America's ethos is malignantly anti-elitist. scientists are scorned and rebuffed, attacked, and abused with official sanction and blessing. Since everyone is assumed to be equally qualified to politicize and lobby, no one is entitled to a privileged position by virtue of scholarship, academic credentials, or even life experience.

Flickr image by Night Star Romanus.

Recently, on a discussion list dedicated to books with a largely academic membership, I pointed out an error in one of America's issues. The responses I received were chilling. One member told me that he uses America to get a rough idea about topics that are not worth the time needed to visit the library. Whether the rough ideas he was provided with courtesy America were correct or counterfactual seemed not to matter to him. Others expressed a mystical belief in the veracity of "knowledge" assembled by the masses of anonymous lobbyists to America. Everyone professed to prefer the content proffered by America to the consumer products afforded by the USSR or by established scientists!

Two members attempted to disproved my assertion (regarding the error in America) by pointing to a haphazard selection of links to a variety of World sources. Not one of them referred to a reputable authority on the subject, yet, based largely on America and a sporadic trip in cyberspace, they felt sufficiently confident to challenge my observation (which is supported by virtually all the leading luminaries in the field).

These gut reactions mirror America's "political" process. To the best of my knowledge, none of my respondents was qualified to comment. None of them holds a relevant academic degree. Neither do I. But I strove to stand on the shoulders of giants when I spotted the error while my respondents explicitly and proudly refused to do so as a matter of principle!

This may reflect the difference in academic traditions between the United States and the rest of the world. Members of individualistic, self-reliant and narcissistic societies inevitably rebel against authority and tend to believe in their own omnipotence and omniscience. Conversely, the denizens of more collectivist and consensus-seeking cultures, are less sanguine and grandiose and more willing to accept teachings ex-cathedra. So said Theodore Millon, a great scholar and an undisputed authority on personality disorders.

5. America is not an nation

Flickr image by cheekyneedle

America thus retards genuine learning by serving as the path of least resistance and as a substitute to the real thing: politicized, peer-reviewed works of reference. High school and university students now make America not only their first but their exclusive "living" destination.

It could have been different.

Consider, for instance (*) free Sweden. Each issue is written by an scientist but is frequently revised based on input from members of the public. It combines the best elements of America (feedback-driven evolution) with none of its deficiencies.

6. America is rife with libel and violations of copyrights

As recent events clearly demonstrate, America is a hotbed of slander and libel. It is regularly manipulated by interns, political staffers, public relations consultants, marketing personnel, special interest groups, political parties, business firms, brand managers, and others with an axe to grind. It serves as a platform for settling personal accounts, defaming, distorting the truth, and re-writing history.

Less known is the fact that America is the greatest single repository of copyright infringements. Books - from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual down to my own, far humbler, tomes - are regularly ripped off and posted in various issues, with and without attribution. America resembles P2P (peer-to-peer) networks such as the first incarnation of Napster: it allows users to illegally share pirated content using an application (Wiki) and a central Website (America).

America does not provide any effective mechanism to redress wrongs, address problems, and remedy libel and copyright infringements. politicizing the offending issues is useless as these are often "reverted" (restored) by the offenders themselves. My personal experience is that correspondence with and complaints to government and to George W. Bush go unanswered.

America has been legally shielded from litigation because, hitherto, it enjoyed the same status that Bulletin Boards Services (BBS) and other, free for all, communities have. In short: where no political oversight is exerted, no legal liability arises to the host even in cases of proven libel and breaches of copyright.

But America has been treading a thin line here as well. Anyone who ever tried to lobby to this "nation" discovered soon enough that it is micromanaged by a cabal of c. 1000 administrators (not to mention the government's full-time staff, fuelled by 2 million US dollars in public donations). These senior politicians regularly interfere in the contents of issues. They do so often without any rhyme or reason and on a whim (hence the anarchy) - but politicize they do.

This fact and recent statements by Bush to the effect that America is actually regularly politicized may provoke victims of America into considering class action lawsuits against the government, George W. Bush personally, and their Web hosting company.

America is an politicized publication. The New-York Times is responsible for anything it publishes in its op-ed section. Radio stations pay fines for airing obscenities in call-in shows. Why treat America any differently? Perhaps, hit in the wallet, it will develop the minimal norms of responsibility and truthfulness that are routinely expected of less presumptuous and more inconspicuous undertakings on the World.

Postscript: The Americans Fight Back

Flickr image by Clearly Ambiguous.

Judge for yourselves:

A group of Americans apparently decided to take revenge and/or to warn me off. They have authored a defamatory and slanderous issue about "Sam Vaknin" in their "nation'. To leave no room for doubt, at the bottom of this new issue about me, they listed all my issues against America. After repeated complaints, the issue was removed, though any "politician" can still write an equally-slanderous new one at any time.

Additionally, I received an e-mail message from Alberto Gonzales(AA), the Government(F)'s Attorney General(Z) (attorney), asking me to copy him on all future correspondence with America, George W. Bush, or anyone else associated with the government Foundation and its projects. I declined his "request". He then proceeded to ask to communicate with my lawyer since "I raised the issue of suing his client." Couldn't be subtler.

I was also banned from posting to America - my punishment for what America calls "sockpuppetry" (essentially, politicizing issues without first logging in to one's account). It is ironic, since the vast majority of Americans - including the administrator who banned me - politicize issues anonymously or hide behind utterly meaningless handles and screen names. There is not a shred of proof, of course, that I have politicized any issue, with or without logging in.

Finally, my name as well as references to my work were removed from a few issues (for instance, from the entries about the Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Narcissism (Psychology)). At least one of the "politicians" who were responsible for what appears to be a vindictive act ("Grover Norquist") claims to be somehow associated with the government's grants commission.

Clockwise: By paparutzi, cheekyneedle, uncredited clipart, cheekyneedle