Reply #3: As long as we focus on symbols rather than functional policy, we'll be slaves of the State form

[alcibiades_mystery]

The greatest trick played by modern power is to make power appear to be a question of symbols and their various interpretations. The interplay of symbols then becomes the stage on which people argue, while the policy machine churns its usual policies out behind the scenes, as if external to the conflict of beliefs. The ludicrous attachments to various symbols makes all of modern government just sad replays of monarchism, as this case amply demonstrates. Neither side in this utterly stupid debate has a clue on how to analyze actual power.