Category Archives: Politics – international

Citizens’ juries as activism: holding political elites to their constitutional role

Posted on May 23, 2018 by Nicholas Gruen

For some time now we’ve been ‘proving up’ citizens’ juries as a means of consulting the people, but generally within the context of governments being in charge. As a result they’ve been mostly relatively innocuous. For instance the first two in … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Political theory, Politics - international, Sortition and citizens’ juries | 9 Comments

A Personal Comment on Syria

Posted on April 14, 2018 by Ingolf Eide

Setting aside the question of evidence, there’s a serious problem with the contention that Syria carried out the recent chemical attack in Douma. It requires us to accept not only that the Syrian government is evil but also that it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics - international | 38 Comments

Brexit Scenarios and some Advice for Brexiteers

Posted on March 2, 2018 by Paul Frijters

Brexit is the main political issue in the UK, competing with sex for the attention of the public. It is a daily gamble whether the news headline is about some politician fondling a knee 55 years ago or a row … Continue reading →

Posted in bubble, Cultural Critique, Democracy, Geeky Musings, Humour, Political theory, Politics - international, Social, Society | 11 Comments

Our countries need us.

Posted on February 24, 2018 by Paul Frijters

Humanity is at a high point. What our ancestors dreamed of is slowly becoming a reality: a world without hunger in which the vast majority of mankind live peaceful and long lives. We are not there yet, but in Europe, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural Critique, Democracy, Economics and public policy, Education, Ethics, History, Inequality, Information, Life, Literature, Philosophy, Political theory, Politics - international, Politics - national, Religion, Science, Social Policy, Society | 10 Comments

How to tax the platform economy?

Posted on February 2, 2018 by Paul Frijters

In the engine room of nation states, ie the tax departments, the coming battle with platform providers is taking shape. Uber, airbnb, facebook, linkedin, ebay, jobseek, and a myriad of specialised platform providers facilitate micro-trades that are largely untaxed by … Continue reading →

Posted in Death and taxes, Economics and public policy, Employment, Information, Innovation, Intellectual Monopoly Privileges, Intellectual Property, IT and Internet, Law, Political theory, Politics - international, Politics - national, Public and Private Goods, regulation, Social | 20 Comments

Anglo-Saxon histories (US, UK, AUS)

Posted on January 30, 2018 by Paul Frijters

Anglo-Saxon countries are often heaped together as having a single culture. When it comes to migration, attitudes to sex, teenage-pregnancy, inequality, language, and bellicosity, that seems about right. At least, the UK, the US, and Australia are pretty close on … Continue reading →

Posted in bubble, Bullshit, Cultural Critique, Ethics, Geeky Musings, History, Humour, Indigenous, Libertarian Musings, Politics - international, Politics - national | 30 Comments

Is the end of Brexit nigh?

Posted on December 8, 2017 by Paul Frijters

The EU and the UK government have just agreed to muddle on in their negotiations. Nothing is truly decided until everything is decided, but they have adopted a position document (see here) that details what they want the next steps … Continue reading →

Posted in bubble, Democracy, Economics and public policy, History, Political theory, Politics - international, Society | 13 Comments