Big Government At Work: EU’s Proposed Compulsory Gender Quotas In Corporate Boardrooms

A Tragic Irony

Socialism is still alive and kicking in the European Union. The wall fell and more socialism spread to the Western part of Europe. What an irony of history!

Women Of The World Take Note

If I were a woman, I would be ashamed and upset about such nonsense and patronizing. Any woman who thinks she has what it takes can establish her own business.

A 40% Quota?

Some countries in the EU already have such quotas like Spain, France, and Norway. In Spain and France the quota is 40%. Why not 50%? France has also imposed a 35 hour work week by law. What is next?

The Hubris

EU Commissars and members of EU governments want to impose immediately something that will take decades to develop by itself. The imbalance of women and men in leading positions is a historical fact and it will take time to undo. Women, who want to make a career in business will succeed without any government intervention, but it will not happen overnight or in 12 months.

Why Limited Government?

Were Friedrich Hayek still alive, he would find that the United States of America is still on the Road to Serfdom.

It Is Very Simple

Nobody wants to be told what you can and cannot do or how much of your hard earned money you are coerced to give to another person.

Why would we want to have dim witted, half educated, impatient, activist elected representatives and bureaucrats constantly meddle in every aspect of our lives as they see fit? Elected representatives and bureaucrats succumb to the same fads, vanities, and follies as we do except that they are in power and control.

Democracy Is The Worst Of All Forms Of Government

Except for those forms of government that have been tried before. Well, we have now decades or up to two centuries of experience with various forms of democracy. It is not pretty. We are to be content and ccompare the outcomes of democracy to a sausage factory or with a necessary evil. These notions are too defeatist or fatalist.

The Many Failures And Flaws Of Democracy

The current Great Recession is a prime exhibit of how elected politicians and unelected bureaucrats failed again on a massive scale. Of course, the elected representatives have been looking for others as scapegoats.

Too many majority votes are subject to chance or events and are driven by the wisdom of the day (Tyranny of the Majority).

The outcomes of majority decisions are often one size fits all, but satisfy few, or represent the least common denominator.

Influential minorities constantly game the system at the expense of the silent majority and elected representatives pander to these minorities for votes and money (Tyranny of the Minority).

The upward ratchet of government expenditures. They rarely ratchet down again from high levels once reached.

The upward ratchet of government debt. Rarely do governments pay down debt. They usually only add to it.

The upward ratchet of laws and regulations. E.g. tax laws and regulations are infamous for ever expanding and getting more complex. Rarely are laws or regulations, once on the book, allowed to expire or are being completely abolished, instead they get rededicated at best.

Government attracts power hungry people. People, who like to impose their will on others. Like the rest of us, elected representatives rarely admit mistakes nor correct them in a meaningful way.

Solutions

The powers of government must be narrowly defined and enumerated. The classic liberal basic functions of government must be emphasized again with individual freedom, responsibility, and moral values at its core.

Debt financing of government budgets are to be prohibited.

Total expenditures of all levels or forms of government must be limited to a certain percentage of the size of the economy, e.g. 30%.

Governments must be required to maintain a reasonable rainy day fund for unexpected expenses.

The historic monopoly of government over money needs to be critically reviewed. The fact that in recent times many central banks of major economies have for years kept short term interest rates at artificial and recklessly low levels is a wakeup call.

Voting by money or voluntary taxation. No citizen should be compelled to pay taxes, only donations to government. I have written a separate blog about voluntary taxation titled “The Greatest Tax Reform Of All Times In Honor Of Benjamin Franklin”.

Term limits for all elected representatives. Nobody should be in public service for more than, let’s say, 12 years and then return to the private sector again. Similar rules should apply to bureaucrats.

For the sake of brevity, the judiciary will not be covered here.

A German Highest State Court Pilloried A German Business Leader

Recent Trends In German Jurisprudence

In recent times, I observed several times that high courts in Germany (like the Bundesgerichtshof or Federal High Court of Justice) came out with decisions contravening common sense and are totally opposed to a free market economy.

My theory about those judges is that they are representatives of the so called APO (ausserparlamentarisch Opposition or the 1960/70s student revolts) generation who are now in high ranking positions of German society. They appear to belong to what is referred to in German as Gutmenschen (do gooders or starry-eyed idealists).

Ferdinand Piech Was The Latest Target Of German Judges

 In March 2012, the Highest State Court (Oberlandesgericht) of Justice in Baden-Württemberg (a south-western state of Germany famous for its cars like Mercedes) issued a verdict against one of Germany’s best known automobile business managers, i.e. Ferdinand Piech (he is a member of the Porsche family and part owner of Porsche). The judges of that court found he violated his primary duties as the chairman of the supervisory board (Aufsichtsrat) of Volkswagen AG when he made at one occasion some specific remarks to journalists about the failed attempt by Porsche to acquire Volkswagen. Thereby, he allegedly caused financial damage to Porsche.

This court also saw it necessary to deny appeal to their verdict so that the defendant is forced to file a petition with the highest civil court in Germany to appeal.

I admit readily, I do not know all the details of this case, but one cannot escape to notice from what has been reported in the media that this is a case of judges trying to pillorize a business manager. This verdict may well have a very chilling effect on what leading business managers can and cannot say in public and so on. The verdict appears also to have the character of a Monday morning quarterback or judges who try to second guess like judges who never ran a business in their lifetime.

Some Inconvenient Facts

I can only speculate that these judges may have overlooked or ignored a couple of salient facts in this case:

1) Mr. Piech owns about 10% of Porsche. He also reportedly owns stocks in Volkswagen.
I do not know how much other Porsche family members own. Thus, if Mr. Piech indeed caused financial damage to Porsche, he did it to himself.
2) Mr. Piech was at the relevant time the chairman of the supervisory board of the target company and he also was a member of the supervisory board of Porsche.
Thus, the whole acquisition attempt by Porsche put Mr. Piech in a very odd position. This odd situation appeared not to be material for the civil proceedings.
3) Mr. Piech was not the only member of the supervisory board of Porsche. I do not know whether any other member was sued.

Free Markets Vs Courts Of Justice

There are cases that are better left to the free markets to evaluate and judge. This probably was one of those cases.

Given these above mentioned inconvenient facts and, I suspect, there are more facts like this in this case, it would have been best to let the free markets sort out this instead of some high minded judges.

Why Is Korea Still Not Reunited?

Posted: 3/3/2012  Updated: 4/2/2017, 11/1/2015

Update Of 4/2/2017

Just read this quite compelling article by John R. Bolton about the subject of reunification of the Korean peninsula. He argues after over 20 years of thoroughly failed U.S. foreign diplomacy it is about time to put the goal of reunification on the front burner.

Update Of 11/1/2015

Just read in this article Nordkorea verkauft offenbar tausende Bürger ins Ausland Die Vereinten Nationen werfen Nordkorea staatlich organisierten Menschenhandel vor: Um an Devisen zu kommen, habe Nordkorea 50.000 seiner Bürger zur Zwangsarbeit ins Ausland geschickt. that the United Nations reported that North Korea sells about 50,000 slave workers primarily to Russia and China for hard currency revenues.

""It is believed that the government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea earns through that system between $1.2 billion and $2.3 billion per year," he wrote, adding that they worked mainly in mining, logging, textile and construction." (Reuters)

As I have speculated below it is primarily Russia and China that still and persistently prevent the unification of Korea now even more than 25 years after the unification of Germany. This is a disgrace on a global scale!

Prologue

The artificial division of Korea is probably the last remaining major relic of the Cold War.

What Is Wrong With Wikileaks?

Why does Wikileaks not leak any Chinese, Russian, or North Korean documents to shed some light on this on this decades old quagmire? Just making fun of Wikileaks. I am sure one day they will publish those documents. ;-)

What Is The Matter With Western Diplomacy?

How much longer will it take until the surviving members of separated Korean families are united again? How much longer will it take until the enslaved, starving, and impoverished North Koreans can enjoy a better life?

Is the Western diplomacy content with their narrowly focused efforts to isolate or contain North Korea or to subject North Korea to nuclear arms inspections regime? Why is the West afraid of openly asking China and Russia what they want? Let the world find out.

What is so intractable that we see no progress? Is there perhaps a hidden agenda why Western countries plus Japan are not succeeding in the reunification of Korea?

If China is opposed, what is China asking for? If Russia is opposed, what is Russia asking for? Are there other parties opposed to the reunification, perhaps Japan or other Asian countries?

What are the West, Japan, and South Korea willing to offer? What price is South Korea willing to pay for reunification?

What If China Opened The Borders To North Korean Refugees?

There is probably little doubt that China holds the key to the reunification on the Korean peninsula.

Currently, China treats North Korean refugees like criminals and repatriates them to North Korea. Another one of China’s human rights violations. China's repatriation policy is a violation of the International Convention on Refugees, to which it is a signatory. The Convention bars returning of refugees to places where their lives would be endangered.

Finally, in early March 2012, South Korea has dared to raise the issue in the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Is there a minefield built by the North Korean dictator along the Chinese border to prevent large numbers of people to flee the country?

How long could the North Korean regime survive if China were to decline further support of the regime and if China opened the border to North Korean refugees? My guess is not very long. North Korean soldiers (and with them entire navy ships and air force planes) would be among the first to cross the border and go AWOL. I am sure South Korea and the West would pay for any refugees.

What Is The Role Of Russia?

Is Russia really willing to support the North Korean dictator even if China were to give up support of North Korea? Does Russia have any business interests in North Korea? Is Russia just playing games with the West, South Korea, and Japan?

What Are The Obstacles?

Is it solely the reluctance of the North Korean dictator and its military that prevents the unification? Would the North Koreans start a war or launch its missiles if China and Russia were to withdraw their support of the regime?

Is South Korea averse to reunification fearing perhaps the enormous costs of rebuilding North Korea? Does South Korea have any advantages from the current status quo?

Is China afraid of a bigger economic or military competitor if Korea was reunited? Does the Chinese Gerontocracy still believe in a buffer? Is China holding out to vex the West, South Korea, and Japan? Does China insist that Taiwan has to be part of the solution? Is China afraid that the unification of Korea would threaten its own dictatorship?

If China insists on Taiwan being part of the solution, is Taiwan refusing to consider being a part?

Is Japan the problem? Why?

Whatever the obstacles or hidden agendas why does the general world public not learn more about it? [Sarcastic footnote: Well, Wikileaks and Mr. Assange are too preoccupied to attack the US and greedy Western Banks. Wikileaks and Assange are not really interested in human progress.]

A Possible Scenario

Reunification yes, but unified Korea may have to become neutral like Switzerland. Taiwan agrees to hold a referendum whether it will be reunited with China or not and about the transition period perhaps somewhat along the lines of Hong Kong.

The Precautionary Principle

A Modern Form Of Superstition

The precautionary principle is not much more but medieval superstition cloaked in pseudo rational and scientific language. It exploits human fears whether real or imagined. In many cases it is thinly veiled demagoguery and populism, because the rhetoric of caution appeals to many.

An Unnecessary Deceleration Of Human Progress

To use a hyperbole: If our ancestors had already lived by the precautionary principle, we would still live in caves. In too many cases it is being applied to excessively restrain human progress, economic activity, and individual freedom. Human progress without taking risk is not possible.

A Convenient Tool For Power Hungry Politicians

It gives ever so eager politicians all the leverage to impose their biased worldview onto the rest of us. It is being used by politicians to legitimize all kinds of superfluous and arbitrary government interventions and regulations. It is a big government principle.

An European Obsession

In particular, the ever so sophisticated Europeans are obsessed with it as they have enshrined this pseudo principle, e.g., in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty. European community environmental policy “shall be based on the precautionary principle …” (Article 130R(2)).

Snipers In Syria – A Serious Crime Against Humanity

Bring These Snipers And Enablers To Justice

If it is true what has been reported about the Syrian regime’s use of snipers in Syrian streets, then this is a monstrous perversion for which every one of these snipers and the regime must be brought to justice. This is in itself is obviously a serious crime against humanity of the Syrian regime to use snipers to indiscriminately kill unarmed civilians.

Is this one method how the Syrian regime imposes a curfew on the streets?

Who Are These Depraved Snipers

Who are these depraved killers that shoot indiscriminately at everyone (e.g. pregnant women, children etc.)?

How many of these snipers are foreigners (e.g. Iranians, Hezbollah)?

Armed Resistance

I hope that the brave people of Syria are in the meantime receiving weapons through yet undisclosed sources so they can defend themselves since, as happened so often before in history, the laughable International Community is unable to stop the bloodshed.