A perversion of Western democracy: Lifelong career politicians

Now that we are entering the age of gerontocracy, it is time again to question some of its shortcomings.

Western democracy was not meant to be dominated by lifelong career politicians! They have formed a class or a caste in our society. Power corrupts!

Voters also deserve a lot of blame for this perversion when they vote for the same (often incompetent) politician again and again.

Any citizen was supposed to become a temporary politician and resume life and a career again outside government or legislature.

Term limits for all elected representatives or members of government would be one sensible reform!

Beyond the pork barrel and the sausage factory allegories of modern Western democracies

These are gigantic red herrings! This is an unfortunate byproduct of Western democracies! However, they usually and typically reflect peaceful political compromises between often legitimate opposing demands etc..

However, this should not distract attention from the far more important issues:

1. Government is not the solution! The best government ought to be limited and small. Prevent e.g. constant and expanding overregulation and so on!
2. Balanced budget requirement (except in war or extremely extraordinary situations)! Extravagant lifelong career politicians find always an excuse to spend more. To live within one's means applies to government too!
3. Constitutional caps on government debt! Servicing ever increasing government debt is a huge burden!
4. We urgently need constitutional term limits for all (lifelong career) politicians. The term limits for the U.S. President were not enough! The caste of lifelong career politicians in Western democracies has been a curse and a huge problem. The looming gerontocracy is another good reason to finally implement term limits. Like the great example of George Washington (like Cincinnatus before him), a citizen ought to become a temporary politician when the urge and necessity arises.

How do current dictatorships in Western democracies operate?

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance and a high degree of individual responsibility! This is a clarion call to rediscover classical liberalism!

"Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction.
It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people.
Those who have known freedom, and then lost it, have never known it again."
Ronald Reagan 1/5/1967

How do current dictatorships in Western democracies operate?

Summary: Mostly very smoothly! Emphasize emotions over mind and common sense!

Its citizens are constantly indoctrinated and polarized with propaganda and demagoguery e.g. Global Warming Hoax and Climate Change Religion, gender identity, or skin color! That is called divide et impera (divide and rule, a principle known to humans since antiquity, but perfected under Western democracies)! Making it extraordinary difficult for citizens to learn or know what is relevant and what to to believe.

Daily public lip service is paid by our elected representatives and others to individual liberty and free markets while Big Government grows in leaps and bounds.

Centralism dominates. As much power as possible is aggrandized and concentrated with the national government! Federalism or devolution of power is ignored and reduced!

Repeatedly, busybody elected lifelong career politicians are willing executors! The more laws, the better!

Deeply entrenched bureaucracies are complicit and promoters withstanding any political election cycles! The more regulations, the better! None other than Anthony Fauci is probably the most recent paramount  example and personification!

Most of the elites and intellectuals are actually agitators favoring dictatorship. They are  slaves of their narrow mind and go along to enforce and perpetuate the dictatorship! Simply, they don't trust the plebeians (the common citizen)! Or why are there so few prominent intellectuals promoting and explaining classical liberalism? Many of them long dead and often forgotten!

There are also strong tendencies to extend this dictatorship across Western countries. The European Union and the Brexit are supreme examples. Or take the recent attempts to impose an OECD global minimum corporate tax rate or by the latest G7 Summit to create a so called Climate Club etc.

Very likely external enemies of Western democracies are behind some of it! However, our elected representatives and elites care little to find out, because it may expose their own dealings!

Think tanks around the world sound alarm on declining democratic norms

Cause for concern! Liberty and democracy in decline around the world!

Excerpts from this study:

"The COVID-19 pandemic exposed and exacerbated several troubling global trends, including increasing authoritarianism, economic protectionism, and threats to human rights and civil liberties. It threatened to undo the significant gains in global economic and political development since the end of the Cold War. Today, 2.6 billion people—35 percent of the global population—live under regimes that are becoming more authoritarian. By contrast, just 8 percent of the world’s population live under regimes that are becoming more democratic. For the first time since 2001, democracies are not the majority regime type in the world. ...
However, in recent years, concerning trends have threatened to undo the progress achieved since the 1990s. Democratic progress has lulled into backsliding and growing authoritarian populism worldwide,10 including in developed democracies such as the United States, Poland, Switzerland, Turkey, Austria, the Netherlands, and Italy. This decline has been matched by reductions in civil liberties and personal freedoms. ... For the first time since 2001, democracies are no longer the predominant type of government in the world. ...
The pandemic has caused severe economic disruptions virtually everywhere, from shocks to supply chains and personal incomes to border closures and trade disputes. It has pushed 115 million additional people into extreme poverty, and disruptions of food supply chains, economic activity, and medical resources needed for COVID-19 response have frustrated ongoing human development efforts in numerous spheres. One estimate suggests that low-income countries will require an additional $200 billion in financing until at least 2025 to support their pandemic responses, including vaccination support, virus containment strategies, and financial support for workers and companies."

Navigating Through Turbulence | Think tanks’ impact on policy in a rapidly changing world

Brexiteers Have A Place In Hell

Posted: 2/6/2019

EU Council president Donald Tusk, the devil incarnate, spoke and the world listened!

This is how unelected officials at the highest places think about a citizen’s referendum

The British citizens should now be much more determined to leave the EU as fast as possible!

Thanks Donald Tusk for fuming!

This is actually very disappoint that this outburst is coming from a respected person like Donald Tusk who was e.g. the “... was one of the co-founders of the free-market-oriented Liberal Democratic Congress party. ” in Poland.

Sources:

1. https://www.ft.com/content/5d79d8e6-2a09-11e9-a5ab-ff8ef2b976c7

Too Many Stupid Donkeys In The U.S. Democratic Party

Posted: 7/12/2018

Motivation

These days are the congressional hearings regarding the high level FBI agent Peter Strzok, who among other things was fired from the infamous Robert Mueller investigation, who was involved in the Hillary Clinton investigation, and who had a dalliance with another FBI agent (female) discussing in text messages how to stop candidate Trump and more.

That a lot of high ranking politicians (Harry Reid, Pelosi, Schumer, Kamala Harris, Pocahontas, and so many more) from the Democratic Party have been awful and leftist to point beyond comprehension is severely damaging to Democracy in America!

When Politicians Are Grossly Irresponsible

Today, I followed for about 30 minutes or so the U.S. Congressional hearing about FBI agent Peter Strzok. During these 30 minutes, mostly Democratic Party politicians were given their allotted time during the hearing. Most of these democrats used their entire time to do election campaigning, running down their talking points. This was preposterous to watch! Not even a moment of pretense to take these hearings seriously although this hearing deals with what appears has the markings of Watergate II.

Sometimes pictures say more than 1,000 words. Here is one:

The U.S. Democratic Party Needs To Get Their Act Together

As I said before in my blog post, democracy works best when competent, common sense politicians in at least two opposing parties compete with each other for votes and approval from citizens.

It is always the opposition party’s responsibility to set an example and to demonstrate that they are capable to do a better job!

The Democratic Party of the U.S. has been in a deep crisis for many years now and therefore the political system of the U.S. tremendously suffers.

How To Reform The Judiciary In Western Civilized Countries

Posted: 7/15/2017

Unsatisfactory Current System

I strongly believe Western civilization has made a huge mistake to create or evolve a special elite or class of exclusively academically trained professionals. This has lead to unnecessary lofty theories, specialization, and complications for complications and professional relevancy sake.  

Common sense justice often suffers. Too many justices have ulterior motives like ideological motivations, and seeking fame or power etc.

An Independent Judiciary Of The People, By The People, And For The People

I propose to select adult citizens by random selection no matter what their age, have them trained for 2-3 years in jurisprudence, and then after successfully passing an examination have them be appointed to become judges. On which court they serve should also be determined by random choice.

The appointment will be term limited.

The examination could be carried out by current or former judges.

The Ends Of Government

Basically, government has only two ends: justice and protection

If we really mean government of the people, by the people, and for the people, then random choice selection of citizens needs to be seriously considered as an election method.

On Plato's Famous Cave Allegory

Posted: 7/9/2017

Trigger

Recently, I watched a YouTube video on Plato’s book Republic (514-520 BC) when I was reminded of the famous cave described by Plato. I had learnt about this cave allegory before, but only now I feel I have perhaps gained a deeper insight in the profound meaning of it.

What We Owe To The Ancient Greeks

Western people are largely defined by their greco-judeo-christian background. The greco part is unfortunately often omitted. Antisemitism tries to eliminate the judeo part.

My late father used to say something like the ancient Greek philosophers, writers, and poets have already discovered everything essential about human nature. Everything that came after is refinement, expansion or so.

Relevance Of The Allegory Of The Cave

Here is the Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_Cave

I will not repeat here the story of the cave, but instead focus on its import or implications even today:

1. More than 250 years ago since the era of Enlightenment began, many people, including many well educated people,  in Western countries still live in such a cave (or prison of their own making) as described by Plato.
2. These prisoners live blind in a very narrow reality and they cannot or would not free themselves from their imagined shackles
3. Many of those people who claim to be knowledgeable are in fact often very pretentious and prone to enormous hubris
4. The prisoners do not even desire to leave their prison. False fear and anxiety prevent this since they know no better life
5. Many of these prisoners would even voluntarily return to their prison once they were freed and escaped the cave

Hope Springs Eternal And Is Last To Die

What can be done to free more people from their cave at last:

1. Public education (government monopoly and a government instrument of control and power) needs to be phased out or greatly reduced. More variety and pluralism through private education like in Socrates and Plato’s times
2. Corrosive philosophies such as  historicism, scientism, and relativism need to be thoroughly debunked
3. Collectivist or other central plan ideologies that deny individual freedom and responsibility, or voluntary human cooperation, or human ingenuity, or charity, or humanity  are to be exposed as such
4. To restore more freedom and responsibilities to individual citizens instead of crave to cradle government paternalism and power and control over citizens
5. To restore more freedom to businesses and markets
6. To restore more federalism and smaller government

Alternative For Germany - A New Party In Germany To Reckon With

Posted: 5/29/2017

Trigger

A fairly new political party is active and quite successful with voters in Germany. The name of this party is Alternative fuer Deutschland (Alternative for Germany). Founded only a few years ago (in 2013) it has already managed to be elected into about a dozen or more parliaments of the 16 states comprising the Federal Republic of Germany. This fairly new party stands a good chance to win more than enough votes in the upcoming general election in September to gain entrance into the German parliament.

Ideology & Policies

Well, I do not claim to be an expert regarding this new party. However, I do follow Facebook postings of this party and major representatives of this party for some time now. Most of their postings are reasonable and common sense approaches to political issues.

Generally speaking, I would recommend this party as being serious about some urgently necessary reforms of democracy in Germany.

This party is widely characterised as a right wing populist party. However, this is the usual left wing spin of German and western media regarding this party. Quite often this party is even attacked in public as brown shirts or Nazi party and so on.

The Election Program

In Germany (as elsewhere, in other western democracies), the contending political parties issue election platforms or programs.

Here is the source: http://www.afd.de/wahlprogramm (in German only)

For sake of brevity, I will present here only a few items from the AfD election program for the general election of 2017 (items, in no particular order, which I think, are overdue reforms):

1. The ever progressing centralisation of the EU should be reversed to form a confederation of states
2. Term limits for politicians. E.g. like in the U.S., the chancellor should be limited to two terms in office. Elected representatives in parliament to four terms.
3. Direct election of the largely ceremonial, but important German president
4. Political parties in Germany have way too much control over who becomes a candidate for office. AfD wishes to have more free candidates to challenge incumbents etc.
5. Waste of taxpayers’ money should be a crime punishable under law (an interesting proposal)
6. Abolishment of lavish retirement benefits of elected representatives
7. Measures against corruption and lobbying of elected representatives
8. Abolishment of female quotas for politicians or businesses (how German politicians ever voted for such socialist nonsense is still beyond my comprehension)
9. Reestablishment of freedom of contract! E.g. abolishment of so called anti discrimination laws! Something, politicians in the U.S. could learn from.
10. Against the irresponsible and reckless long term European monetary policy of zero or negative interest rates and extreme buying of government and business bonds. AfD calls this the expropriation of older folks and people, who save their money
11. Germany first foreign policy
12. Demanding tax cuts in way overtaxed Germany. The value added tax should be lowered by 7 percentage points from currently 19%. Why Germans have put up with such a high, confiscatory sales tax for decades is beyond comprehension. Introduction of price adjustments into the tax code to prevent cold or hidden taxation

General Election 2017

According to recent polls it appears that this party will enter the German parliament in Berlin with around 8% of all votes cast. I would not be surprised if the results come in a few percentage points higher for this party.

If the Christian Democratic party (CDU/CSU) and the liberal party (FDP) remain clearly under 50% as a likely outcome of the election and form a coalition government, the AfD will probably gain significant influence on German politics.

There is a general, palpable, and substantial undercurrent of deep dissatisfaction of people in Germany with the way things are going and the at times chaotic, mismanagement of chancellor Merkel is long overdue to end.

  

A Caveat

This new, young party is already involved in some very serious, destructive, quite unnecessary, inner party strife. This has been exploited extensively by the left wing media on a daily basis.

On The Many Flaws Of Constitutional Democracy

Posted: 4/29/2017

Talking about the tyranny of the majority in a democracy to freely borrow this famous phrase from Alexis de Tocqueville. Majority in a democracy means 51% can tell the other 49% what they have to do and what they cannot do and the 51% does it all the time.

On the many flaws of constitutional democracy:

1. Let’s be bluntly honest, often democracy is not much better than mob rule, just a bit more civilized
2. The ever expanding power & control of an incessantly larger central government
3. The separation of the three branches of government is not seldom a fancy fiction. Too often judges are only too willing to accommodate the policies of the other two branches and to conspire against individual freedom
4. The ceaselessly growing number of laws & government regulations affecting every aspect of our lives are slowly strangulating individual liberty and businesses
5. The ever expanding welfare state (universal, unconditional basic income for everyone is only the latest iteration). This is frequently not much more than outright vote buying!
6. Elites of lifelong, career politicians dominate government and parliaments
7. Western constitutions & democracy offer way too few and way too ineffective safeguards to protect individual liberty (Friedrich Hayek's The Constitution of Liberty, Chap. 14, is entitled "The Safeguards of Individual Liberty). Something to be keenly aware of, every minute of your life!

President Truman On Term Limits For All Members Of The U.S. Congress

Posted: 8/23/2016

Trigger

Received an excellent e-mail today from the U.S. Term Limits organisation titled “This U.S. President Backed Term Limits on Congress”. It is about a great hand-written letter by Harry S. Truman. The original letter can be found here at the Truman Library & Museum.

In this letter, Truman advocated not only to limit the U.S. president to two terms but also all members of the U.S. Congress.

I am a strong supporter of strict term limits for everyone elected to public office or working for public service (including judges, police and much more).

Quotes

1. “We’d help to cure senility and seniority — both terrible legislative diseases.”
   [Astounding! Two thumbs up!]
2. “Twelve years of Washington is enough for any man.”
   [I second to that!]
3. “... there are old time Senators who even make Louis XIV of France and George I of England look like shining liberals.”
   [I had a good laugh! Thanks, Truman!]

Reckless Monetary Policy Dooms Western Democracies

Posted: 6/17/2016

I have blogged here numerous times about the irresponsible and reckless monetary policies pursued by the likes of Alan Greenspan and the dim witted economic professor and successor Ben Bernanke. The current head of the U.S. Federal Reserve System, another very pale economic professor, Janet Yellen is not much better. Mario Draghi (or Dracula) or his predecessor at the European Central Bank have not been better either. By the way, Ben Bernanke and Mario Draghi were both students of Stanley Fischer.

To destroy western civilization and individual freedom politicians start by debauching the currency. This basic wisdom has been known hundreds of years before Maynard Keynes or Lenin.

If awful monetary policies are pursued in conjunction with irresponsible fiscal policies (more deficits and more government debt and more government regulation instead of lower taxes and more economic freedom) as is the case in the first decade of the 21st century, then our elected politicians have created the perfect storm.

Why the considerable rise of populism in recent times in Europe or the USA?

Why are Western democracies in crisis as I blogged here before?

Profile Of A German Career Politician

Posted: 12/19/2015

Why is representative democracy so much in decline in the West in the eyes of its citizens? Why are serious reforms like more individual liberty and responsibility; small and limited government; and strict term limits for all in public office urgent and necessary?

Take Andrea Nahles, for example, she was born in 1970 and is a far lefty German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Since late 2013, she is the Federal Minister Of Labor and Social Affairs in the cabinet of chancellor Angela Merkel.

Like many other German Baby Boomers, she studied German literature (Germanistik) for 10 years at a German university. She began her political career at the age of 18 and since then has never done anything else than work on her political career. At the age of 28, she became a member of the German parliament and has been a member ever since except for 3 years. She has probably never worked in the private sector in her life.

Most recently, she came out with new labor market regulations that are obsolete and contrary to the needs of the 21st century to please labor unions etc. She has it completely backwards.

How it is possible that this largely unaccomplished and economic illiterate career politician can become the labor minister of one of the leading economies of the world is beyond comprehension.

She is by far not the only career politician with a similar profile in Western democracies!

Towards Reforming The U.S. Supreme Court

Posted: 6/28/2015  Updated: 9/5/2015

Introduction

In light of the latest infamous, highly unconstitutional decisions of the Roberts’s Court, We the People have to start thinking about the U.S. Constitution and how to reform the highest judiciary of the land. How much longer do We the People want to be subjected by party-line votes plus one swing vote by the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court to impose far reaching decisions on us.

I would argue that my proposals below preserve a better balance between We the People and the heretofore largely unchecked supra-legislative power of the U.S. Supreme Court. This, perhaps lengthy, process would certainly allow for more public debate etc. over a controversial decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.

A Reminder

It is very unfortunate that entrance of the U.S. Supreme Court is on the west side of the building. It should be on the east side, because the inscription of the pediment reads “Justice The Guardian Of Liberty”.

A Few Proposals

1. Strict Term limits for all federal judges!
   We the People should not have to suffer for decades by decisions composed by incompetent or political activist judges whether federal or highest court!
2. Nomination and election of judges & justices: Perhaps the nomination of federal judges & justices cannot be left to the president alone. Perhaps, the justices of the Supreme Court should be selected by popular vote like the president.
3. No more 5 to 4 decisions on any case or the U.S. Congress should be able to make a request that a particular cases requires an anonymous or any other quorum decision. As a minimum, every decision should be made by a two vote majority.
4. The U.S. Congress by a two thirds majority vote should be able to send a Supreme Court decision back to the Court for reconsideration
5. If the U.S. Supreme Court does not change its opinion or does not provide a better explanation or defense of its decision etc., the U.S. Congress by two thirds majority may decide to overturn the decision.
6. If the U.S. President vetoes this second vote of the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Congress in a third, perhaps this time requiring a 75%, vote can overrule the veto and finally overturn the court’s decision

Best Quotes Of George Washington

Posted: 1/25/2015

Trigger

I believe it quite possible that the writings and speeches of this man are not taught properly in the public schools of the U.S. Vraiment très dommage! It is high time to privatize the education of our children.

I personally do not particularly like to read George Washington’s writings, because his language is so verbose.

Best Quotes

I added emphasis and comment. This is a work in progress.

1. “It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country should inspire caution in those entrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism.” (Farewell Address of 1796)
   [Washington clearly warned of the danger of democracy to deteriorate over time into centralisation of power at the top level of government and concomitant, progressive loss of individual liberty.]