We would like to take advantage of a summer post to take a break and neither talk about the comedy of public debts in Europe nor the near bankruptcy of the United States, nor the endless war in Libya, nor the horrific massacres in Syria, nor the merciless famine in Somalia, in Ethiopia and elsewhere, nor the radioactive leaks still very disturbing in the Fukushima power plant…
American democracy, they say, is an ideal model. And since Tocqueville (who admired it, while detecting the risk of seeing it one day slip into dictatorship), few have ventured to criticize its constitutional principles. Each saw in particular a nearly perfect separation of powers in the interest of the country.
The terrible Norwegian massacre, may appear as a terrible incident, isolated act of a mentally ill person, with no more importance than Unabomber, the American killer that inspired him. It can, however, be interpreted as the announcement of a vast geopolitical movement expected for a long time and anticipated by many theorists.
Strange irony: 2012 will be for many democracies, starting with ours, a very important election year. And in all other countries subject to dictatorships, peoples are yearning for free elections. The whole of humanity thus seems to take control of its destiny.
France is so beautiful in July! The most beautiful country in the world, no doubt.
While the Greek crisis seems to move away, the arrival, in the rotating presidency of the European Union, of Poland, sends back to the close and mysterious relationship between money and defense in all human history.
Candidacy season for the presidential elections is open. For both left and right parties. For now, we have failed to see emerge the real reasons behind these nominations, but personal ambitions, or so-called edication to the national cause. And for the moment, we are in the midst of a school-boys’ quarrel.
Hadopi, the High Authority in charge of fighting music downloading on the Internet, made illegal by the law that created it, has just presented an advertising campaign of great magnitude.
Jacques Attali will conclude the discussions of the 8th of July, at 6:30pm. Program and registration: http://www.lecercledeseconomistes.asso.fr/spip.php?article424
