Originally posted by eighthobstruction
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Interesting to note that in The Economist's Index of 'democracies', of the five top countries (Sweden, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Denmark) four are (hereditary) monarchies.It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world. -
all fairly cold too....bong chingComment
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The next step towards resolving the problems of the world and towards civilization will not be possible until all those evil imaginary figments "nations," "countries" and "borders" are abolished. Total chaos caused by over-population is coming quite soon now, and that will be the impetus. The chaos will be much much greater than the chaoses that followed the two great wars of the past century (which gently pushed humanity towards a "uniting of nations" - bad start to keep the name though what!), and so the impetus next time will be correspondingly much much stronger. A hundred years from now - i.e. within the life-time of many tiny tots of the present - it will have become a crime to utter the word "nation"! Get ready! Forget "Britain"!Comment
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Originally posted by Sydney Grew View Post
... a problem easily solved, surely, by the Grewian panacæa of generalised homo - sexual - ism.Comment
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Think global, act local, used to be the Greens' worthwhile catchphrase.Comment
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You've been trotting out this old chestnut for a long time now yet there remains not the remotest sign of a move towards any such goal anywhere; indeed, the trend (insofar as it could be seen as one at all) seems to be in the opposite direction, since in the past 30 years the Soviet Union has split into a number of independent states, Yugoslavia has split into several, Sudan has broken in two and, later this year, Scotland might sever its ties with the United Kingdom and Catalunya with Spain, making two more countries.Originally posted by Sydney Grew View Post
I don't see how - or, for that matter, why - over-population would or even could in itself be expected to provide the impetus, directly or indirectly, for the abolition of nations or the severance of borders between them that you evidenlty advocate. Global over-population can only realistically be identified when there are too many people for the world's natural resources to support; this situation will vary in accordance with the success or otherwise of the implementation of certain scientific discoveries that might help to sustain larger population numbers but, in any case, large parts of the habitable world are not over-populated and look unlikely to become so in the foreseeable future.
That said, your final exhortation to "forget "Britain!"" could well have merit if indeed Scotland does become independent of it this coming September, for that will surely turn the gaze of England upon Wales and what it might feel encouraged to do in the wake of Scotland's successful secession; if Wales does eventually follow suit, there will be no "Britain" left (and it won't matter so much in that particular context what if anything might happen to Northern Ireland as it's not part of Britain anyway, only a member of the United Kingdom, so the only change will be that such membership will cease upon the dissolution of the United Kingdom). Once again, though, the ultimate result will be more countries, not less.Comment
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Given the sheer paucity of their representation in UK, it should perhaps rather more realistically have been "think global, act local and try not to worry that Parliament as a whole doesn't much care which way you think or act".Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View PostComment
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Self-declared fan of Putin, old Bill Tong has been remarkable quiet of late - is he feeling a bit Tom and Mick?
Or is he spending his time railing at John Kerry, telling him not to interfere with the internal affairs of a sovereign state?Comment
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happy birthday Mr Putin
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Indeed. Happy birthday to the great man!Originally posted by mercia View Post
Black-belt Judoka, defender of nation states, democrat and redeemer of Crimea!
Raising a glass (Monkey Shoulder, not vodka!) on his happy day!Comment
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I trust that yer 'avin' a larf 'ere.Originally posted by Beef Oven! View Post
If we're going to celebrate a truly great Russian who was born on this day (though who is sadly no longer with us), then let it be Shura Cherkassky (who began life, however, in what is now the pre-EU member state known as Ukraine)...Comment
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But little Russians are/were Russians nevertheless, surely?Originally posted by Beef Oven! View Post
Putin is a Little Russian in some ways too, of course - not so much in physical stature but more in terms of the disproportionate amount of noise that he makes and attention that he seeks to draw to himself. The extent of danger associated with him is at least to some extent proportionate to the value of disposable cash available to him and his henchpersons and, these days, the economy of his country is looking increasingly parlous. Someone ought to turn his gas taps off; the sooner the better. Maybe his place could be taken by Mr Farage; at least the outcome of that would be interesting, if little else...Comment
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