The World They Made

If you want to know the state of the relationship between democratically elected governments of the West and the multinational corporations, all you have to do is look at the case of the Parliament of Westminster and News International. The British parliament is very upset with the way Rupert Murdoch runs his business. Its members are outraged that the citizens of Britain cannot be sure that their privacy is not being violated for profit, on a daily basis. But, they don't want to be labeled "anti-business" (especially in the Murdoch papers) and tell Murdoch straight out that his company cannot carry on with its bid for the rest of the Sky Network. So, they are reduced to pleading with Murdoch to do the decent thing and ignore the potential for huge profit. Fat chance.

The sovereign nation of Great Britain, through its elected representatives is pleading, cap in hand, to a corporation to act in a civil manner. This is a blatant example of what is going on, all over the world. Parliaments are now nothing more than the servants of the corporations and the corporations know it. Welcome to the New World Order.

Update: Murdoch has volunteered to drop his bid ( volunteered is the operative word). I guess pleading on your knees does work sometimes.

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Jeffrey Simpson Argues Against Evil Coalitions. Harper Smiles

Mr. Simpson, let me set you straight. First, the election was just last week. The people of the U.K. created the present configuration of the House of Commons through a democratic vote (however grotesquely warped the voting system).

This democratically elected House of Commons is now in the process of deciding who will form the government, based on who has and can keep confidence. If it is the will of the majority of this democratically elected House of Commons that the electoral system should be changed, it is a democratically arrived at decision on its face. So, please spare me the whining about referenda. Referenda are one tool of democratic governance, but not the only one and indeed, in my opinion, not the best one. The people of the U.K. elected their MP's to lead and pay them pretty well to do so. Let the will of the House of Commons, as created by the people, do its job and stop trying to Americanize the Westminster system. God knows that route has done nothing to enhance either Canada's democracy, or the reputations of our legislatures.

Update:Let me just add that for all his appeals to "democracy", Mr. Simpson seems quite willing to accept a system whereby absolute power is handed over to a single party that enjoys less than fifty percent support from the voters. It seems that Mr. Simpson's democratic tendencies are more sham than real. He likes the trappings of democracy, as long as the trains run on time.

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Where Have I Heard This Before?

Polly Toynbee in the Guardian:

If not now, when? For the first time the prize is within grasp. The people have spoken – and none of the above won. Radical reform to an electoral system that has fallen apart is at last on offer. The deadly duopoly between two moribund parties has broken. But will it be cobbled together again as if nothing had happened?

I won't get too excited about this. I have seen this movie far too often for that. I will just say that I hope electoral reform does come to the U.K. No one (except us) deserves a functioning electoral system more.

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