The appointments of Monti and Papademas to respectively lead the governments of Italy and Greece is an admission of failure of their democracy, and that this is the last desperate act to introduce some firm leadesrhip in both countries. They had both become too divided and difficult to govern in the usual way and thus have borrowed a page from the fascists, which both had experenced in the past but from which little was learnt.. Mussolini ruled Italy, with an iron fist because to govern it was "useless". He ended up being hanged upside down. The Generals overthrew the democratic government of pere Papandreou and established corporate rule, until their excesses caused the people to rise up and get rid of them and returned Paopandreou to power.
In Latin and Central America, from Argentina to Guatemala the landed aristocracy ruled their plutocracy with the help of the military. Fascism and tens of thousands of lives lost and years of civil wars was gradually replaced by democratically elected governments and the intervening years have seen the entrenchment of democratic values. It was not easy but they stayed the course and Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the rest have accepted that democracy with all its "messiness" is the best form of government, far superior to the "juntas".
The surrendering of power to technocrats is the capitulation to fears and ignorance, to save the banks and their questionable investments, which has seen the near bankruptcy of the PIIGS...PORTUGAL, IRELAND. ITALY, GREECE and SPAIN and the threat to the Euro and of the European Zone. Timid policies proposed by Gremany and France were adopted and failed and led to riots. This scared the "troika"..the IMF, the European Central Bank and the European Union and so additional pressures were placed on Greece and Italy. Papandreou wanted to legitimize the new austerity measures that he was forced to sign on to, by holding a referendum. This caused panic amongst the "troika" caused the (so far) "bloodless revolution", that replaced the elected government by technocrats led by Lucas Papademos, one of their own. In Italy the embattled Berlusconi, bedevilled by personal "foibles", and weakened by years of trying to hold a fractious coalition together, was pushed aside and replaced by the technocrat / European Commissioner Mario Monti. The Italian parliament "fell in step" and agreed to the economic reforms imposed by Europe. He will have a cabinet of 12 like-minded technocrats, who are charged with "recovering the trust of investors and European institutions", the Troika.
"Civil servants(technocrats), make the best government, but after two weeks, you will find them hanging from lamp posts", Walter Bagehot. In the short term, even a computer, properly programmed would come up with the best and most efficient policies (check out HAL), It is when those policies interact with the needs and wants of the people that their shortcomings, their weakness will be exposed. That is when the people will look for" lamp posts".
Government is not about efficiency alone. It is also about humanity. It is in the words of the Utilitarians "the greates happiness to the greatest numbers". That is what democracy, with all its warts, is.
Power without restraint serves only those in power. Power without responsibility seves the irresponsible and power witout accountability seves no one.
In Latin and Central America, from Argentina to Guatemala the landed aristocracy ruled their plutocracy with the help of the military. Fascism and tens of thousands of lives lost and years of civil wars was gradually replaced by democratically elected governments and the intervening years have seen the entrenchment of democratic values. It was not easy but they stayed the course and Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the rest have accepted that democracy with all its "messiness" is the best form of government, far superior to the "juntas".
The surrendering of power to technocrats is the capitulation to fears and ignorance, to save the banks and their questionable investments, which has seen the near bankruptcy of the PIIGS...PORTUGAL, IRELAND. ITALY, GREECE and SPAIN and the threat to the Euro and of the European Zone. Timid policies proposed by Gremany and France were adopted and failed and led to riots. This scared the "troika"..the IMF, the European Central Bank and the European Union and so additional pressures were placed on Greece and Italy. Papandreou wanted to legitimize the new austerity measures that he was forced to sign on to, by holding a referendum. This caused panic amongst the "troika" caused the (so far) "bloodless revolution", that replaced the elected government by technocrats led by Lucas Papademos, one of their own. In Italy the embattled Berlusconi, bedevilled by personal "foibles", and weakened by years of trying to hold a fractious coalition together, was pushed aside and replaced by the technocrat / European Commissioner Mario Monti. The Italian parliament "fell in step" and agreed to the economic reforms imposed by Europe. He will have a cabinet of 12 like-minded technocrats, who are charged with "recovering the trust of investors and European institutions", the Troika.
"Civil servants(technocrats), make the best government, but after two weeks, you will find them hanging from lamp posts", Walter Bagehot. In the short term, even a computer, properly programmed would come up with the best and most efficient policies (check out HAL), It is when those policies interact with the needs and wants of the people that their shortcomings, their weakness will be exposed. That is when the people will look for" lamp posts".
Government is not about efficiency alone. It is also about humanity. It is in the words of the Utilitarians "the greates happiness to the greatest numbers". That is what democracy, with all its warts, is.
Power without restraint serves only those in power. Power without responsibility seves the irresponsible and power witout accountability seves no one.
