"You Can't Fix Stupid But You Can Vote It Out"

The sign in the picture at the top of this article on Falkvinge.Net certainly says it all - and based on some of the crud I've seen in the way of proposed legislation, even separate from that noted in the accompanying article, the sooner we do vote out the stupids, the better.

We now come to one of "Richard's Pet Peeves" - that paying politicians "a lot" is a good thing, not a bad thing. The fact is, if it paid better, smart people might want the job instead of leaving it to those who either can't find "real" work or who expect to gain something else by being a politician for at least some time - like a patronage appointment, consulting job with a government supplier, etc.

Another of my major problems with at least the political system here in Canada is the whole concept of the "power of the party" and the use of the "whip" to get otherwise democratically elected individuals from ridings all over the nation to bow to the whims of at best the single individual from their midst pushed up as Prime Minister, and at worst a very small number of powerful people, not necessarily any of whom were actually elected.

Be that as it may, the fact is that in this age of information, the presentation of legislation backed by nothing more than fallacy (such as the concept that nuclear power is more dangerous than coal or oil generated power) or the efforts of lobbyists to push false agendas (drug companies pushing for longer patents, publishers pushing for stricter enforcement, etc.) in the face of absolutely conflicting real data about what is going on simply has me (in the words of an old coleague) "ready to chew pig-iron and spit little pigs."

I find it interesting that I, at the age of 60, have attitudes in common with the author of the above referenced article (Andrew Norton) who by all indications is about 1/2 my age. 

I always thought that radicalism was something that only youth engaged in - but then I'm always saying "I'm 18, with 42 years experience" so maybe I'm still right ;)

richard