People abuse you every day. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening elsewhere. They’re on TV making [...]
Feb
19
2010
19
2010
Aug
30
2009
30
2009
Shopping power
‘Look,’ she told me one day in a Millsport coffee house. ‘Shopping — actual, physical shopping — could have been phased out centuries ago if they’d wanted it that way.’
‘They who?’
‘People. Society.’ She waved a hand impatiently. ‘Whoever. They had the capacity back then. Mail order, virtual supermarkets, automated debiting systems. It could have [...]
Jul
27
2009
27
2009
Notes and musings – part I
The very opposite condition, the condition safest for party power, is public apathy, gratitude for small favors and a deep general sense of the futility of politics. Yet there is nothing natural about political apathy, futility and mean gratitude. What lies behind them is not “human nature” but the citizens’ belief that politics and government [...]
Jul
22
2009
22
2009
Proposal to change the local electoral system in Bucharest
Proposal to change the local electoral system in Bucharest
The purpose of the system proposed for debate is a fundamental change in the attitude of citizens toward the electoral process. Under the current system, the citizen is overwhelmed with all sorts of ads and harassed by various candidates during the campaign and his role in the [...]