30 September 2010

US picks off EU member states

News that Austria has given in to a deadline imposed by the United States illustrates the impotence of the EU. Despite widespread opposition to US demands to get access to police records in other countries the EU is not able to form a unified front against these demands. In a system of democratic decision making EU voters would be asked to give their opinion about the US demands. This would also avoid that individual countries get blackmailed individually - or that the governments cave in to US demands against the wishes of their citizens. US threats to introduce a visa requirement for the citizens of 'uncooperative' countries wishing to visit the United States could easily be countered by introducing a similar requirement for US citizens visiting the European Union.

29 September 2010

Christian Wulff, Ed Milliband - what do they have in common?

At first glance one would think that the newly-elected President of Germany and the new leader of the British Labour party do not have much in common. But closer inspection shows that in both cases these two 'career' politicians have no (Wulff) or very little experience outside politics. Unfortunately the current system of 'democracy' as practised in most countries gives undue influence to political parties and a subsidised political class that effectively guarantees that people such as these increasingly dominate the political landscape.