BBC reports: English cities near Scotland want in!

     The Scots supporting the independent movement in their country were unable to pull off a miracle by becoming independent on the first try.  They were not far off, however.


      Last night, the BBC reported that English cities and towns near the Scottish border want to join Scotland and leave England.  That's a step toward helping Scotland in the long run.  I hope that Scotland will encourage these cities to take what steps are required to pull it off.  Be it that they would still have the ties that the former Empire had established for the Commonwealth.


      Scotland pave your own destiny by reaching out to those who want to embrace that destiny for themselves, too.

Congrads, German unions win big transit strike

    The BBC last night carried the news:  The German Unions won!  And, the trains are running throughout Germany today.


     You know, I was asked to form an opinion on the Mexican unions as part of the inauguration of NAFTA in the early 1990s.  I went down there and thought there was much that had to be done, but I never dreamed that being union members, they would exert so little power and display so little guts!


      Well, I'm hoping that the union movement in the US will once again become a powerful institution to have input in the run of things in this country.  Please, learn from the German union leaders and their membership!

Democracy under Technocracy

     On the Jim Bohanon Show the other night (on radio Westwood-1), Fred Siegel of the Manhattan Institute discussed his new book on the "now" Democrats.  Apparently, he argues that the Dems are more interested in promoting the green cause of preserving the planet than in advocating a higher standard of living for the middle class, which was the primary interest of the "old" Democrats.
 
      In the course of the presentation, he alluded to how democracy, as a process of the voting of the citizenry, would be re-conceived, if the "now" democrats were to have their way..  It seems as if the opinions of the people are not as highly valued by "now" Democrats, I take it he would aver.  I think in this he partially is correct, if my interpretation of his observation is correct.

      The problem I think  the "now" democrats are attempting to handle is the role of people's voting in a technocracy, realizing that the technocratic era of government is upon us.  A technocracy is the run of government by an educated elite, trained to make policy decisions that then they administer. No longer are the populace sought for their opinions and input on matters of policy at the stage of implementation.  By way of contrast, under the "old" democratic system, leaders in power would seek to cajole the voting public to adopt and advocate position they would want them to vote for via the ballot box or through the social media.  Thus, it is said, Dick Chaney as Vice President influenced the CIA to promulgate the administration's viewpoint to take over Iraq and end the Dictator's Saddam Hussein rule to the general public.  Indeed, Chaney is thought to have convinced Congress and the voting public that Hussein was developing nuclear capabilities and he was thereby able to gain their support in thinking that the regime had to be taken out immediately through US military action.  At the time, the people voiced overwhelmingly the point of view of the administration and war ensued.  Similarly, it is said that F. D. Roosevelt got us into WWII through his own tactical machinations, so that the people stood totally behind him..

      In any event, the idea under the "old" conception of democracy, that not only Democrats but Republicans operated under, was those in power should garner the support of the voters and the citizens before initiating the particular course of action they favored.  The "now" Democrats, many of whom are familiar with, if not advocating the "new" idea of democracy in a technocratic government, permits administrative agencies to dictate and enforce the policies enunciated by technocrats, which, be it noted, are backed up by scientific and generally accepted business reasons.  That is to say, in a technocracy, policy edicts and rules are the product of scientific and logical examination--even as the cadre of technocrats have so undertaken.  Democracy under technocracy becomes appropriate not at the juncture of decision-making but during the evaluation phase of those policies already in effect.  It becomes part of the process that brings to bear a critical analysis of how well these policies have worked.  In such a structure, citizens' collective experience of living under the rules and regulations of government (administered by technocrats) become an invaluable means in assaying the worthiness of  governmental actions to promote the common good.      

Unions: The answer to the Middle Class Losses

     Here in Sacramento, I have become aware once again of the value of the union movement in the US--indeed, in the world.  It is the major thrust of unions to stand for a healthy and prosperous middle class.  I'm not the only person who has argued this, but it needs a strong emphasis in an era when unions are languishing in this country.


     I think what really convinced me that union membership is a necessary ingredient to promote the values of the middle class nationally is how effective unions are in Germany, clearly a country dominated in affecting governmental policy not only of a healthy financial upper class but a united working middle class. 


     Merely, weak unions struggling to retain an ineffectual political power base just doesn't cut it.  As things stand now, wages are stagnant and united action by members of the working class is virtually non-existent.  Workers of the US unite!  Through your organizations, the middle class concept will be revived.  


     And above all, don't be penny-wise and pound-foolish!