Democracy is over-rated
I briefly return, dear reader(s), courtesy of the University's un-marked Wi-Fi connection in the "bridge" area. This is one of three areas on campus with such a connection. The first is our ITS department, but mere students aren't allowed to hog up their bandwidth. The second and third areas are directly adjoining, so one is left with the impression that they only installed one Wi-Fi hotspot. Regardless, one must not denigrate them too much, for they are probably listening.
Again, I must apologise for my lack of posting, which is in turn because I have no internet access at home. However, a number of events have compelled me to make a few brief notes in this underused space.
First, I must comment on the German election. It seems that the campaign was very substantive. The CDU/CSU (the same party, but with a different name in Bavaria) focused on their leftist opponents' economic failures. The governing coalition of the Social Democrats and the Greens focused on blaming George Bush for Germany's economic woes. Also, they said that Merkel was little more than an agent for Bush's policy.
As is evident from the election results, the Germans responded well to Schroeder's well-considered campaign. Schroeder's party, the SPD, dropping Merkel's party from 51% in early polls to 35%. Schroeder is attempting to build a government, as is his opponent Merkel, but at the moment very little is clear. It seems either a minority coalition will be formed and rule by presidential decree, the CDU/CSU and the SPD will have to form a "grand coalition" (imagine the difficulties of needing bipartisan support for every new law in congress), or new elections will be called. The grand coalition is ungovernable, as the SPD wants to raise taxes and the CDU/CSU wants to cut them and deregulate the economy. A minority government ruling by presidential decree seems likely if this happens. Because it rules by decree and lacks a majority, it can't be viewed as legitimate. This was what happened in the governments of Heinrich Brüning (1930-32), Franz von Papen (1932), and Kurt von Schleicher (1932-1933). All of these governments ruled solely by presidential decree because they couldn't muster enough parties in a moderate coalition because extreme parties took away many of the votes. The two principal parties then were the German Communist Party and the National Socialist German Workers' Party. Eventually, a grand coalition headed by Adolf Hitler was appointed by the president.
A similar trend is occurring here (except that there is no Hitler). Both the CDU/CSU and the SPD, the mainstream parties, are down considerably in popularity from the last election (-3.3% and -4.3% respectively). Conversely, the Left party, the PDS (formerly the East German SED party) gained almost 5% this election. SED has also made big inroads to Berlin, where they famously bulldozed the Checkpoint Charlie memorial. They've also recently proposed that the statue of Lenin that used to stand in East Berlin be returned to the city. Given the rapid decay in the German economy, and the fact that the traditional German method for dealing with bad times is no longer open, radicalism is taking its place.
The second issue is the European response to Hurricane Katrina. As one would expect from our moral superiors, European officials have blamed the United States' failure to implement statist policies. The (former) German environmental minister blamed the US failure to join the Kyoto protocol for the storm, and Margot Wallstrom claimed that the problems in New Orleans occurred because of institutional American racism.
What's that? Some people were apparently angered by our European superiors. Many of these reactionaries pointed out the recent (summer 2003) heat wave in Europe, which killed 35,000 people across Europe, thirty-five times the current death toll of Hurricane Katrina. They also claim that the "institutional racism" is just as present in Europe, and that the reason why so many African-Americans died in New Orleans was that they comprised sixty per cent of the population of that city. They also point out that other places that were swarming with crackers were also hit.
However, again we seem to be a bit confused. Remember, people who die in a manner that promotes a European cause celebre are worth more than those who do not. Besides, as we all know, old people (who were the primary victims of the 2003 heat wave) are not worth as much as martyrs for a political cause because they are a burden to society, as our progressive European masters have demonstrated time and again.
For those interested in fun, visit our Uncyclopedia Article on Wheeling Jesuit University
Again, I must apologise for my lack of posting, which is in turn because I have no internet access at home. However, a number of events have compelled me to make a few brief notes in this underused space.
First, I must comment on the German election. It seems that the campaign was very substantive. The CDU/CSU (the same party, but with a different name in Bavaria) focused on their leftist opponents' economic failures. The governing coalition of the Social Democrats and the Greens focused on blaming George Bush for Germany's economic woes. Also, they said that Merkel was little more than an agent for Bush's policy.
As is evident from the election results, the Germans responded well to Schroeder's well-considered campaign. Schroeder's party, the SPD, dropping Merkel's party from 51% in early polls to 35%. Schroeder is attempting to build a government, as is his opponent Merkel, but at the moment very little is clear. It seems either a minority coalition will be formed and rule by presidential decree, the CDU/CSU and the SPD will have to form a "grand coalition" (imagine the difficulties of needing bipartisan support for every new law in congress), or new elections will be called. The grand coalition is ungovernable, as the SPD wants to raise taxes and the CDU/CSU wants to cut them and deregulate the economy. A minority government ruling by presidential decree seems likely if this happens. Because it rules by decree and lacks a majority, it can't be viewed as legitimate. This was what happened in the governments of Heinrich Brüning (1930-32), Franz von Papen (1932), and Kurt von Schleicher (1932-1933). All of these governments ruled solely by presidential decree because they couldn't muster enough parties in a moderate coalition because extreme parties took away many of the votes. The two principal parties then were the German Communist Party and the National Socialist German Workers' Party. Eventually, a grand coalition headed by Adolf Hitler was appointed by the president.
A similar trend is occurring here (except that there is no Hitler). Both the CDU/CSU and the SPD, the mainstream parties, are down considerably in popularity from the last election (-3.3% and -4.3% respectively). Conversely, the Left party, the PDS (formerly the East German SED party) gained almost 5% this election. SED has also made big inroads to Berlin, where they famously bulldozed the Checkpoint Charlie memorial. They've also recently proposed that the statue of Lenin that used to stand in East Berlin be returned to the city. Given the rapid decay in the German economy, and the fact that the traditional German method for dealing with bad times is no longer open, radicalism is taking its place.
The second issue is the European response to Hurricane Katrina. As one would expect from our moral superiors, European officials have blamed the United States' failure to implement statist policies. The (former) German environmental minister blamed the US failure to join the Kyoto protocol for the storm, and Margot Wallstrom claimed that the problems in New Orleans occurred because of institutional American racism.
What's that? Some people were apparently angered by our European superiors. Many of these reactionaries pointed out the recent (summer 2003) heat wave in Europe, which killed 35,000 people across Europe, thirty-five times the current death toll of Hurricane Katrina. They also claim that the "institutional racism" is just as present in Europe, and that the reason why so many African-Americans died in New Orleans was that they comprised sixty per cent of the population of that city. They also point out that other places that were swarming with crackers were also hit.
However, again we seem to be a bit confused. Remember, people who die in a manner that promotes a European cause celebre are worth more than those who do not. Besides, as we all know, old people (who were the primary victims of the 2003 heat wave) are not worth as much as martyrs for a political cause because they are a burden to society, as our progressive European masters have demonstrated time and again.
For those interested in fun, visit our Uncyclopedia Article on Wheeling Jesuit University
posted by The Admiral at 4:05 PM
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