Barackface: europe

Showing posts with label europe. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Democracy's Contemporary Challenge

What is known as the War On Terror is very real, but a tussle that has not been given a name yet is not any less real. The three biggest wars of the previous century were democracy versus opposing ideologies that all tended towards autocracy. The two contemporary simultaneous tussles are similar. It is democracy versus the rest. America, Europe, India and Japan are hugely diverse cultures. But they all have political structures that are similar and can be described as democracies. That is not true of ISIS territory, that is not true of Russia, China, Pakistan, North Korea.

There is no avoiding the tussle, but it need not be bloody. The cheapest and the least bloody way might be funding Elon Musk's idea of satellite internet. The only way these two tussles conclude is when democracy wins, and the law of political entropy says you need to beam down the internet from the skies into these hostile territories.

Both Russia and Pakistan hold periodic elections. But they are not democracies.

India with its large Muslim population could play a key role for a major spread of democracy across the Arab/Muslim world. That makes India the new Britain, America's number one ally. And it is India that shares a border with China, not Japan or America or Europe, not to say thousands of years of history.

In Pakistan, the Pakistan Army and the ISI (curiously missing one letter S) run like parallel governments. That is not a democracy's structure.

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

A Genuine World Government

World Government And Federal States
Does The World Government Have To Await A Total Spread Of Democracy?

The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights is a pretty amazing document, the Magna Carta of our times. I envision a world government that has two chambers. In the lower chamber's voting right is in direct proportion to a country's population. In the upper chamber each country's voting right is in direct proportion to its GDP. Each member country pays one per cent of its GDP as the price for membership in the world body. And this need not wait until every country has become a democracy. This, on the other hand, will expedite the spread of democracy. This also will bring about rule of law between nations just like there is rule of law within nations. That will make room for a dramatic downsizing of the US defense budget by over 90%. God knows America needs to pay down on its debt. And if that cut is spread over 10 years, it need not be painful. The resources can go elsewhere, like in the energy sector.

The right to self determination is as fundamental as the right to free speech, the freedom of religion. What that means is all peoples have a right to federalism, and federalism means you can vote to secede at any time. On the other hand, a country could also vote to join another country and become its newest state, granted that country's legislature's accepts. Mexico might choose to join America. Or not. Mexico might wish, America might not so desire. Nepal might choose to join India, as might Burma, perhaps Bangladesh.

The good news is, this might be the only way to tackle Climate Change and avert catastrophe. Unless humanity can create a genuine world government, that is a sign humanity can not come together even in the face of certain disaster.

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

The State And Its Several Forms

English: The Ethnic composition of Muslims in the United States, according to the United States Department of State based on the publication of Being Muslim in America as of March 2009 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In China, the communist party stands above everything, above the courts, the government, everything. Islamists want states where the religious authority and organization supersedes everything. Both are worldviews seeking recognition.

The American/Western/Indian model of democracy is suspicious of those arrangements. But then the Chinese and Muslims have not ascended to the highest levels in America, Europe and India.

Even if eventually everyone ends up in countries that look politically like America, Britain and India today, some of these fermentations might be societies on the move. These might be phases as they get their footing. A rich China is going to be less intolerant of dissent. One hopes.

Islam wants to be treated on par with Christianity. Not getting that, it internalizes itself, and goes inward. Would you say?

Saturday, December 06, 2014

Europe, Japan And Immigration

Relative proportions of immigrants from Northwestern Europe (red) and Southern and Eastern Europe (blue) in the decades before and after the immigration restriction legislation. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I think one big reason Japan has been in the doldrums for decades now, and why Europe continues to be in a funk is that both are kind of hostile to immigration. And so you end up with skewed demographics, and you hurt the economy.

For its entire history, immigration has been America's number one strength. The president's recent positive step aside, Washington DC's hostility towards immigrants is a resolve to take America down the Japanese/European path.

Monday, November 10, 2014

Immigration As FDI

English: Foreign direct investment incoming in Jordan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is even more true of America. If there were zero immigration, the American economy would stagnate. The American economy needs a nonstop supply of new immigrants to stay vibrant. But the immigration debate has been poisoned by racists who defy all logic to try and turn new immigrants into scapegoats.

What have the immigrants ever done for us?

between 1995 and 2011 the migrants made a positive contribution of more than £4 billion ($6.4 billion) to Britain, compared with an overall negative contribution of £591 billion for native Britons. ...... it is likely that many recent migrants will return home, to enjoy their less productive later years—when they may cost the state more in terms of health care, for instance. They also argue that the youth of many recent arrivals means that they are at the beginning of their careers—and may be underemployed because of a lack of language skills, for example—so have not yet reached their full economic potential. The contributions of those who stay in Britain may well increase. It is a new form of foreign direct investment.

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Challenges To The Nation State

European Union (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The nation state has not been around forever, just like democracy has not been. And so the fact that it is being challenged should not surprise us. These are growing pains.

One major challenge is coming from technology. The individual is greatly empowered through technology, and so the nation state's space needs to shrink. But the nation state is refusing to be a happy, willing partner.

Another challenge is coming from globalization and the redrawing of national boundaries. Europe is a fine example. Europe has the ultimate in infrastructure. It has the roads and the trains and the communications technology. But old cultural identities have not gone away. There are identity movements threatening to break up several countries in Europe right now. I am not sure that is bad news. That is the nation state feeling the pressure.

Scotland is a good example. If Scotland breaks away, I think that will be a vote for the European Union. Defense and monetary policies are best served through larger structures like the European Union, India and the United States. But cultural identities need bigger expressions. That is only healthy.

I don't agree with the methods of the ISIS (at all), but maybe the World War I political boundaries in the Arab world are not sacrosanct after all. Maybe it is good if the Kurds break away. Iraq's boundaries perhaps need to be reimagined.

Sri Lanka is the most literate nation in South Asia. But it has the most complex ethnic problem of anywhere in the world. There has to be peaceful options where an oppressed minority can get justice when a unitary state's majoritarian government is not willing to act fair.

China is another challenge to the nation state. This nation state has lifted more people out of poverty than any other in world history. Give them some credit. Fundamental political reforms are long overdue. I envision a future for China where it has become a multi-party democracy, where it is federal, and Tibet and Taiwan are both part of it. But I feel China can teach America a thing or two about campaign finance reform. When you don't take money out of politics, your democracy is more than a little bit screwed.

Immigration reform failure in America is another challenge to the nation state. America is not keeping up. That is bad news.

Scotland peacefully separating has to become a model for many other parts of the world. If Scotland should move away from London and closer to Brussels, that will be an exercise in deeper, larger political integration. I am all for that.