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The only thing I agree with Jerome about regarding these treaties is that they are not being defeated on the content, but on the procedure. When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
The current setting is an atomised society where trust in the political establishment is lost, along with most connections between the political process and the public. So, you can no longer rely on what used to work.
That doesn't seem like a sound base to tackle peak oil, climate change, or any other crises we might have to face in the next few years. When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
[Insert doom macro of choice here.]
[ThatBritGuy's Crystal Ball of Doom™ Technology] When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
Where we might disagree is that I think that a "yes" vote would have been a way more effective repudiation of the current crop of politicians than the "no" ever will be. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
I think what's being missed is that neither Brussels nor state politicians are seen as representative. The crisis of democracy is Euro-wide - and with good reason, because policy isn't being set by voters or by electorates, but by special interest groups, sub-cliques, elites and paid lobbyists.
Ordinary voters have been deliberately excluded from this process, and most government, in the EU and in nation states, is more interested in talking than listening. Even when someone like Wallstrom puts together one of her famous surveys, she won't be asking the questions that people are really asking themselves - which is why the hell anyone should bother voting when the same old crap gets rolled out cycle after cycle, and no alternative is available.
So the Irish vote is as much about the state of democracy in general as it is about the EU. If the EU wants a treaty that populations will support, it needs to find a way to present itself as a democratic and populist alternative.
Which is not, perhaps, a likely prospect.
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