1, 2,3,4, can I have a little more

Entirely unconsciously and totally unintentionally, Portugal's prime minister rendered an excellent democratic service to the population when he decided to announce a substantial shift in social security payroll withholdings from employers to employees, as another austerity measure in search for an increase in productivity and employment. 

The Economist questioned whether in 15 minutes (the duration of the press announcement) Mr Passos Coelho threw away 15 months of thorough sacrifice to secure the type of social cohesion that had come to distinguish Portugal from Greece.

The threatened impact of the announced measure on millions of net salaries has generated the type of popular response which in the far future historians might come to describe as the Arab originating 4 step approach whereby civil protest typically chrystallised in the early 21st century;

1. immediate twittering, site posting and blogging severe critisism and calling upon revolt;
2. grouping and facebooking together and organize and schedule revolt;
3. an actual old fashioned physical gathering on set locations to demonstrate,

In view of the effects of steps 1 to 3, step 4 is now being engined and engineered by those that were or became serious in the preceeding events, to develop, launch, opinion poll, submit potential alternatives, now that in this case the prime minister has publicly withdrawn his initial proposition and therewith more consciously and intentionally returned a €uro 3 billion national short term cash flow matter to the self declared common sense of an electorate.

It will not happen this time ... a step 5, whereby a population as such will actually see through some sort of implementable measure that would fit their rights and collective need and I am not referring to referenda or early elections.  Instead most people will eventually come to terms with the inevitability of some alternate burdensome and plausible austerity measure for sake of the immediate future of Portugal. 

Important is however, that matters and manners which traditionally appeared to be so exclusively vested within the chambers of a political elite, to be subsequently disseminated to a population standing by on a kind of need to know basis only, are fairly surely and not so slowely evaporating and that the traditional gap is reaching a more mature width.

All together now ..  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_CvWJocY-Y

Germinating democracy

Another anxiously awaited Euro up or under perceived event last Wednesday was the preliminary (!) ruling of the German constitutional court on the German government's conditioned ability whereby it could subscribe the ESM, so needed to mitigate further panic on the short term, although politically engineered to provide long term security for the Eurozone (exposed) countries.

I suppose in the heat of the moment, it had not occurred to me and apparently neither to many people that the plaintiff who had put the injuction against further financial advancements of the present German government intended role in safeguarding the Euro was a "mere" sum of organized civilians.

In a democracy - which should automatically imply a functioning judiciary system - it should be irrelevant who pursues to subject any matter to a test of constitutionality, but I have to admit I am impressed with the reaching ability of this Mehr Demokratie, a Berlin based organization of already more than 20 years old, proclaiming politicians are caught up in their own web and that democratie is thus to be secured via referenda and other civil initiatives, including protest.  They are the main sponsor of an international network for democracy for which the logo has recently been innovated to what I perceive to be small leaves of germinating (not Germanating!) seeds.

In today's world in order to be righteous in proclaiming nearly anything and especially sensitive matters as popular democracy in an union as the European one, it would be essential that a connection is made with other nations. 

Looking ahead, I cannot help wondering whether it would work, a fairly educated and experienced organization in one country, planned, structured and office equipped, looking to match up with possibly more hot headed striking, stone throwing, flag burning,  supermarket robbing, foreign car bashing, suicided bombing initiatives spread around the world, some of which one can only wonder how much was initiated by the equally ordinary civilians in the forefront.

Then again, isn't that where the true deficit lies, in a national population's lack of belief or mere hope for a functioning judiciary system, where all are equal before ... etc.  After all, in order for someone to be perceived a Robin Hood, someone near would need to be seen in the role of the incompetent Sheriff of Nottingham.

On maintaindra

There is something terribly wrong or extremely right, depending on one's view or position, surrounding the elections in The Netherlands.  While the Dutch and their candidate political representatives tend to consider that political agendas elsewhere in Europe will have a more relevant bearing on their near future than the outcome of this Wednesday's national elections, many in Europe are anxiously awaiting the election results as an apparent influencer on a wider multi-national political forefront.

On a normal working / business day, about 75 % of 12 million voters will select among 20 political parties, including a party for animal rights and another party against copyrights, representatives in a 150 seats national parliament / lower house. 

The Netherlands has a long tradition of what I would consider a fair democratic approach to society, probably best reflected in the survival of the Staten-Generaal, a kind of round table coalition - one province, one vote -  from its natural mutual voluntary founding in the early middle ages, through foreign Spanish, French, German occupancies, religious and world trade conflicts, to this very day. 

(I cannot think of any other country that honours German, Spanish and French influences in its national anthem and coat of arms.)

The Netherlands is too old to be referred to as a melting pot of cultures, too young to be regarded a civilization in itself, too small to be regarded an economic, political or otherwise world power, too big or developed to be regarded as emerging or risky.  Perhaps it is the sum or mix of these various ingredients, of which a general open and honest, nearly blunt form of expression is not the least significant, that makes the elections such a meaningful indicator of what is into play amongst an electorate, a population, at present. 

In that respect I can see why many (politicians) from the outside looking in, are worried on what will be expressed on the current status of matters.  It is not about the quality of politicians but the quality of a group of sufficiently informed people speaking their mind.