Looking Back - Number three

In February 2003, as part of a longer post, I concluded, on the topic of democracy and tyranny which was the spark for my starting my first blog, as follows: Europe's intellectuals continue their determined assault on the Continent's democratic traditions and the drive towards tyranny continues apace. Remember this quote from Professor Bertrand Badie's paper entitled "The Nation State One Player Among Many" "The advent of citizenship has conferred on the national political community the status of a community with voting rights. In the context of the 19th century, and in the major part of the 20th, this was necessary for forging and perfecting democracy. There is no choice today but to admit that national political communities have fewer and fewer voting rights because the major decisions are no longer taken by the national political communities. Some of them are taken by the European Union, or even at world level........The national level will remain the citizen's level, but his freedom of debate will become totally illusory." Note, we are not just to lose our right to vote, but also the freedom to debate. When will some of these poltical theorists explain why democracy, parliamentary or otherwise, is unsuitable for Europe. My very ability to type this page, which instantaneously becomes available to be read by every internet connected citizen across the globe, let alone just within the existing or proposed EU, makes that position a nonsense. From here, within minutes I can register a vote on countless different websites expressing my opinion on pretty much every subject under the sun. The technology exists all we lack is the will! The full post may be read from here, the longer and more detailed post on the same topic which was refused publication on the EU regular discussion forum where I had previously been an active participant title DEMOCRACY OR PAN-EUROPEAN TOTALITARIANISM is here.