Politicians and the mainstream pundits have a new bête noire: the populists – the people who refuse to toe the line. They no longer respect to practises laid down for them in the past, which coerced them into accepting their “lot” in life. The populist movements that emerged to give the UK Brexit and the USA a mercurial character called Donald Trump as president, materialised for one good reason. The checks and balances that are supposed to ensure social stability have broken down.
Archive | The Modern State
Ukraine & the Geopolitics of Rent-seeking
The Ukraine crisis is just the first of what will become a series of territorial interventions by Russia. Understanding why NATO’s members failed to anticipate Russia’s intervention enables us to visualise one stream in the coming global military conflicts. There is an economic logic to President Putin’s strategy. This is exposed by examining the trading […]
Ireland: Breeding a Failed State
Ireland is a breeding factory. It exists to export cattle and people, to feed the culinary and commercial needs of other nations. To brand the Republic a failed state is to be courteous. The truth is ugly to behold, and painful to the sensibilities of decent people on that island. More Officially, religion was downgraded […]
Organic Finance and the Servant State
The nation-state is a monster. That is why most Americans want “small government”. People resent the intrusive power of the state, but are overawed into submission. This acceptance is ridiculous, one indicator of cultural immaturity. Democracy has not provided the solution (as Egyptians have now discovered). But there is a fatal flaw in the constitution […]
Rogues or Rotten System?
Have you noticed how Hollywood protects the villains? Whether the narrative is about 19th century cowboys, 20th century Cold War spies or 21st century virtual time travellers, the deviants are always singled out as lone rogues. By killing them off, the system is cathartically cleansed. But what if that behaviour was symptomatic of a deviant […]