COMMENT: Hi Marty,

I’m another Englishman who is an avid reader of your blog and am very much looking forward to your ECM conference material later this year. As a European pouring thorough the continental news we are definitely seeing a reinforcing cycle of breakdown in government over the past few weeks and months. It seems everything from the migrant crisis to independence movements to the Polish elections to the British E.U referendum, people are slowly turning on the failed E.U project. It has peaked.

The latest which I wanted to share with you and your readers is the deteriorating situation in Portugal, their president has refused to appoint a coalition government even though it secured an absolute majority in the Portuguese parliament, all because it is anti-EU.

It seems they aren’t even disguising their disdain for the people’s wishes now, we know that historically the E.U has bulldozed democracy by the back door but now it seems to be getting more extreme and overt. We are surely not too long from people on the streets, PEGIDA being just the first example.

Kind Regards,

JF

Prison of Socrates Where the First Martyr to Philosophy Died

REPLY: Indeed, Portugal has crossed the Rubicon. Europe is headed into the abyss all because politicians are incapable of ever admitting a mistake and that prevents any hope of reform. This cannot end nicely for they are stupid fools.

This is why as part of the Solution, the only way forward is a Direct Democracy with representatives replacing politicians and career politicians cannot exist. There would have to be some safeguards for it was a Democracy where a majority of a 600 man jury sentenced Socrates to death for corrupting the minds of the youth. That verdict proved Socrates wrong for he believed that the people in charge of government (Democracy) would always seek justice.

Plato recorded not merely Socrates’ words upon being sentenced to death. He also recorded a prior debate he had with Thrasymachus about Justice who saw government from a far more realistic position. This serves as a warning that whatever form of government we attempt to create, it will always try to preserve its own self-interest. This is why career politicians must be banned. But how to temper and restrain the replacement. Ah, that is the question.d of very near