For decades we have suffered ministers who get elected to advance their own careers but not to deliver good government, in which they have no belief. Government that’s rotted from the top down is the consequence of that.
OK, yes. Self-serving fools get to help themselves to other peoples’ money. And?
Oh. Man thinks this can be solved by having different self-serving fools rather than reducing their ability to help themselves to other peoples’ money.
No cigar then.
Rather that than the likes of Milliband. Nothing is more dangerous than a true believer with the necessary power.
See also any politician who genuinely believes that immigration is necessary to save the country. Ditto DEI in any organisation.
O/T an interesting case study:-
If a devout Christian footballer and a devout Muslim footballer both refuse to wear a rainbow armband what happens next?
I think he has a particular self-serving fool in mind.
We could be discussing self serving fools in departments at British universities, couldn’t we? Although reports indicate even they’ve had enough.
I still don’t understand how he can demand ever more power for the State when he has hated every government certainly since he has been able to vote (with the possible exception of the brief Gordon Brown one).
I know he’s not the only one like that, but he does seem to be one of the most extreme.
Talking of people who act in their own self-interest I’ve got Suck Here Starmer on the TV I don’t own telling me how he has a plan. A plan for a mission with a strategy, for change. Quel tosseur, as they say en France.
@John
Nothing is more dangerous than a true believer with the necessary power
Far more dangerous is a popular leader that people trust and blindly follow. Zelensky came to power with 70% of the vote and had a 90% approval rating after the invasion. It’s not been working out too well for most of Ukraine’s population.
Why shouldn’t politicians work in their own self-interest? Everyone else does. The point is whether en passant they help or hinder the rest of us going our own ways.
Capitalism is a system that can produce overall benefit to society by harnessing the enlightened self-interest of individuals. Democracy ought to be able to achieve something similar in governments, but seems to be badly misfiring at the moment.
Zelenski may not be the best example of a politician acting in his simple best interest.
He didn’t choose to run when he could have. He knows that he is unlikely to see out his life peacefully: Putin is a vengeful man.
While he’s probably made some money on the side, he is a Saint by Ukrainian standards.
‘Democracy ought to be able to achieve something similar in governments, but seems to be badly misfiring at the moment.’
Chris
I can only quote Churchill, ‘Democracy is obviously the worst of all forms of government except for all the rest.’
A quick glance at history seems to confirm this!!
“ It’s not been working out too well for most of Ukraine’s population “
Compared to what? Vassalage at best?
We know the invading forces had torture equipment with them and by their actions in occupied areas Russians have shown what Ukrainians knew was coming.
Bugger “*what* was coming”.
From the news of yahoo:
“With tensions escalating in Ukraine, whether gas flows on Jan. 1 is becoming a political decision. Moscow has maintained it’s willing to continue to supply gas but Kyiv is reluctant to keep enabling a key source of income for Russia.”
You just know that Ukraine is going to do this to spite themselves, because they are corrupt Barnardos led by a social fascist who dresses worse than castro. It’s cheap gas man, let them sell it.
They could have been contenders a few years ago and they blew it all ‘cos they couldn’t handle some Russian language tv channels taking the piss.
This is one of the last places on the internet where Putin arse-lickers can hang about without being shunned.
His basic premise is that “good government” = “redistribution of income as I approve.” If you accept that, he makes perfect sense.
Elsewhere, the question was asked about South Korea’s almost consistant series of disasterous presidents:
How does a country as politically dysfunctional at this still perform the Asian Tiger miracle?
The answer given was:
Because business people do business without interference from political politicians.
It’s a starkly clear lesson that is repeated refused to be acknowledged, let alone learned from.
“It’s not been working out too well for most of Ukraine’s population”
It’s not clear what you think he should have done differently. Surrender?
Chris,
“Capitalism is a system that can produce overall benefit to society by harnessing the enlightened self-interest of individuals. Democracy ought to be able to achieve something similar in governments, but seems to be badly misfiring at the moment.”
But capitalism has that thing of Hayek’s “daily referendum”. So your local Tesco goes downhill, you can dump Tesco in a week. You have to wait 4 years to kick out the politicians. And you might want certain things done one way, other things another but you have to take a basket of things.
It’s why I’m a classic liberal. I want government to do as little as practically possible and leave the rest of it to markets.
“It’s not clear what you think he should have done differently. Surrender?”
Even if taking at face value the official western narrative up to that point, at the end of March ’22 Ukraine and Russia were ready to agree a deal, right up to when Captain Mainwaring leapt in and cried “Don’t do it, Pike”.