tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post8416687745553476332..comments2024-02-01T04:37:41.878-05:00Comments on Cap'n Transit Rides Again: The defeat of the power brokerCap'n Transithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17057887736728828646noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-67051010379600487912014-09-19T13:25:53.082-04:002014-09-19T13:25:53.082-04:00I have yet to read the Power Broker, but I absolut...I have yet to read the Power Broker, but I absolutely adore the Tolkien references here.<br /><br />Also, tyrants are only problems if they don't do what you like. If Moses used his power to build the 2AS instead of highways, we'd all love him.Garyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16949758783679323671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-21230751181092711202014-08-27T09:14:45.157-04:002014-08-27T09:14:45.157-04:00I thought people didn't complain about Augustu...I thought people didn't complain about Augustus because he and Mark Antony had killed off all the complainers.Alonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17267294744186811858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-85571722873802822602014-08-27T04:59:11.199-04:002014-08-27T04:59:11.199-04:00Honestly, the most important thing is for the tyra...Honestly, the most important thing is for the tyrants to be (a) not crazy and (b) not stupid.<br /><br />Really, people didn't complain much about Emperor Augustus; he was smart, sane, and competent. On the other hand, his successors... weren't.<br /><br />The main problem with Moses wasn't that he was a tyrant -- it was that his plans were so terrible! In the end his plans were so bad that they were damaging the value of the Rockefellers' real estate, as this explains!neroden@gmailhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07475686367097445497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-74910863346245962692014-08-25T09:10:04.817-04:002014-08-25T09:10:04.817-04:00Ideally, the tyrant should die without a clear hei...Ideally, the tyrant should die without a clear heir and with disunity among the various factions of advisors. I suspect American democracy owes a lot to George Washington's lack of children.<br /><br />Alternatively, the tyrant could be incapable of either running anything or blocking others from running things. For examples, Britain's George I, the Japanese Emperor after the Meiji Restoration, various monarchs controlling faraway territories in name only, and Rob Ford today.Alonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17267294744186811858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-15492472510940240742014-08-25T03:39:32.737-04:002014-08-25T03:39:32.737-04:00So, is it better to have a tyrant who got stuff do...So, is it better to have a tyrant who got stuff done, or tyrants who left things to stagnate?Asherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05657199166514518178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-46062545658621153062014-08-24T16:44:58.679-04:002014-08-24T16:44:58.679-04:00For what it's worth, to me three of most inter...For what it's worth, to me three of most interesting parts of the book were:<br />1. Moses got his popularity in the first place by demagoguing against rich people in the course of his blatantly illegal seizure of that estate on LI.<br />2. While Caro does not dwell on this, Moses seems to have gotten much of his power because he was the conduit for large sums of federal money, overwhelming politics on the local level.<br />3. The Brooklyn-Battery Bridge was only stopped on the specious grounds that it would interfere with the operation of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. I think my reaction to that part was probably similar to your reaction to the Rockefeller episode. (I also suspect, but do not know enough to resolve the issue, that Caro is exaggerating the role of the Rockefellers; it doesn't seem like Moses had gotten much of what he wanted for years by that time.)<br />You may have guessed that I am politically somewhat to the right of you.DFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18102866704163668579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-60272524441942894332014-08-24T13:06:13.199-04:002014-08-24T13:06:13.199-04:00My impression from the book is that it was ultimat...My impression from the book is that it was ultimately missteps by Moses himself that weakened him. Matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02027332620204904993noreply@blogger.com