At least athletics is still pretty democratic
Articles on democracy in the independent online media
It is naive to think that the current situation in Greece is not part of a bigger picture of socio-economic difficulties in the so-called old continent. Spain, France, Italy and Portugal are facing increased pressures to carry the burden of tough austerity measures.
I was surprised to see the reaction of people in the UK when they found out that in Greece you get fined and even put in jail if you refuse to vote in the general elections. They thought that it was totalitarian to force someone to vote in a democracy.
Have been following conversations on Streamtime and have to say that the mood is fast changing in the Middle East. Iraq seems more empowered than ever to make a change but how deep or when exactly is yet to be seen. What is more interesting though is that the guys at Streamtime are starting to preach to their fellow Iranians about freedom. An interesting scenario of comradeship but perhaps also a change in the Middle East political map.
The reputable British economy is in tatters and whilst communist economic policies are being forced to a capitalist system, the political system itself is rife with corruption.
We are hearing some really disturbing things in the UK about expense claims from the members of parliament and the problem is large. However few have said that the whole expenses system was invented to boost MPs salaries.
Greece has gone through some difficult times recently. Namely because of the cold blooded murder of an innocent 16 year old boy by a police officer in Athens. The death resulted in 5 days of riots, similar to the street riots in Paris and Los Angeles following similar acts of state violence.
Funny things happen during crisis. Perhaps some of the most significant changes are the monies invested in banks by governments. One could say that making the banks partly public (state-owned) is communist or at least socialist politics.
Ken Livingstone is a classic example of a "left-wing" politician with right-wing policies. Under his guise as a progressive thinker he has evolved TFL (Transport for London) to a massive ticket collection machine.
Labels: consumer democracy
The leader of the Pan Hellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) in Greece has survived failure to win the elections and continues to remain party president and opposition leader in the Greek parliament. His track record as Foreign Affairs minister was good, however since taking the position of party leader he has lost three national elections. His party reforms have been inconsistent and his new way of making politics incomprehensible to most Greeks.
I received an interesting viral email from someone in Greece that claims the forest fires are the people's fault. He is absolutely right. The bi-polar political situation between center PASOK and right-wing New Democracy has done the country no favours over the years.
According to Dr Pervaiz Nazir, senior research fellow at the Centre for International Studies at the University of Cambridge, Islam and democracy go hand in hand. He claimed that muslims should not be secular to adopt democratic ways of government.
The recent 'troubles' in Thailand have made an impression on the global political scene. The military coup has started peacefully without a single human hurt. How long is this going to last for?
Outspoken Khalaf Ahmed Al Habtoor of the Lebanon's Daily Star is discussing Western democracy and America's efforts to impose USA style "democracy" to the Middle East: