Gordons Brown's last budget?

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by KevinB

How is it that failed politicians always come out with lucrative careers?

It's because democracy, and parties and lobbies don't go well together. At the entrance to parliament, their should be a guard with a sign: "political parties forbidden". The more party you have, the less democracy remains.

German constitution surrogate (Grundgesetz):

Article 38 The deputies to the German Bundestag are elected in universal, direct, free, equal and secret elections. They are representatives of the whole people, are not bound by orders and instructions and are subject only to their conscience.

Any party leader demanding party discipline, and demanding all members voting according to the party line - calls for open violation of the constitution. Which is under penalty in Germany. Nevertheless it is daily routine, and it is sold as a great and wonderful thing if an election is held and party leaders agree to free it from party-discipline (they say then that they make the election "free" - and demand applause for that as if they had given the public a noble, precious gift. Applaus for doing what the costitution demands and rules as the usual routine anyway...?)

But if the individual Bundestag-deputy's conscience is flawed, the public is screwed nevertheless. Maybe the character of applicants for public offices should be checked more carefully... we also should ban doing politics as a life-long job. It should be limited like the number of terms a presdient can run, for example. And lastly an independant control is needed that monitors the interaction between economical lobbies, and politicians and law-makers. Democracy has miserably failed in this regard. Do I have a fail-safe idea how to do it? No. It seems their is no recipe aganst selfishness of the one, and stupidity of the others. Call it a lack of reason and altruism altogether. democarcy is basing on illusions like Communism. both think man is altruistic, and reasonable.

He is not.