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Welcome to Wednesday Night #1352 30 Jan 2008
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the account of the Wednesday Night #1351
Wednesday Night Salon #1352: The Perils of Dumb Democracy
Having all been on our best - and most diplomatic - behaviour last Wednesday, we can now revert to type, indulging in some vigorous debate of a number of items that were not on last week’s agenda.
But before we do, on behalf of Holly Jonas, we would like to call to your attention a special Valentine’s Day Fundraiser for opera lovers: La Scena Musicale takes you to the opera Barber of Seville. This year, La Scena Musicale’s annual Valentine’s Day Fundraising activity is an outing on Thursday, February 14 to the Opéra de Montréal’s performance of Rossini’s Barber of Seville, a story of young love overcoming adversity. Included in this package will be a gift bag containing a recording of Rossini’s opera.
For more information: English and/or français or contact Holly Jonas
Now, back to work. There are the Democrats’ results in South Carolina, and the Republicans’ in Florida. As we write, we are hoping and praying that, as seems likely, Florida will put an end to the Giuliani campaign. There’s the impact of the endorsement of Obama by Senator Ted Kennedy , not to mention Caroline and Representative Patrick Kennedy.These certainly trump endorsements of Hillary by ‘minor’ Kennedys.
The State of the Union Address received scant coverage in comparison to the Democrats, but President Bush did maintain his cheerleading for the Surge in Iraq. (On that topic, how many saw the extraordinary interview on “Sixty Minutes” with the FBI agent who interrogated Saddam Hussein?)
The other theme of the State of the Union (SoU) was a plea for bipartisan support of the Economic Stimulus package — we look forward to some critical analysis of the proposed package.
We would also add a couple of footnotes regarding the SoU. The passages on energy security, including: “We must continue changing the way America generates electric power, by even greater use of clean coal technology, solar and wind energy, and clean, safe nuclear power. We need to press on with battery research for plug-in and hybrid vehicles, and expand the use of clean diesel vehicles and biodiesel fuel. We must continue investing in new methods of producing ethanol — using everything from wood chips to grasses, to agricultural wastes.” – Ah yes, but then the other shoe dropped — “as we continue to diversify our fuel supply, we must step up domestic oil production in environmentally sensitive ways.”. And now for the sound of violins: “these technologies will help us be better stewards of the environment, and they will help us to confront the serious challenge of global climate change.”
All of which brings us in turn to matters economic and the World Economic Forum (Davos) meeting of last week Although we are told that economic uncertainty would dominate the meeting, as it grows ever-more expansive, so too does the agenda, from terrorism to sovereign wealth funds, to Bill Gates’ new farming initiative, leading us to wonder what actually is accomplished?
With the return of Parliament from aptly-named recess, a cloud of general nastiness has again settled over Ottawa, whether over the detainees in Afghanistan, or the firing of Linda Keen. There is also a general unease about sovereign wealth funds. Should we worry that a new study by the Conference Board of Canada, “’Hollowing Out’—Myth and Reality: Corporate Takeovers in an Age of Transformation”, found that Canadian companies were sold at an increasing rate from 2005 to 2007? Minister Flaherty does not appear to share the malaise about sovereign wealth funds. Fresh back from Davos and Abu Dhabi where he met with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, he is quoted “There is no doubt that sovereign wealth funds provide numerous economic benefits not only for the country of origin but for the countries they invest in.”
Most of the above subjec matter leads us quite easily to The Perils of Dumb Democracy , a paper presented by Kimon Valaskakis at a symposium organized last April at the Widener University School of Law (see below) and which has recently been published. Kimon will be joining us this Wednesday to talk about his paper, global governance, and the many current events that could easily be filed under the title of “Dumb Democracy”.
We look forward to a gathering of smart democrats prepared for any and all intellectual challenges. For up-to-the-minute relevant news and reviews, please return to this page and/or the wednesday-night site
CONSIDERING GLOBAL DEMOCRACY
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SYMPOSIUM:
ENVISIONING A MORE DEMOCRATIC GLOBAL SYSTEM
ANDREW STRAUSS
Beginning in the early 1990’s with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the
international system’s lack of transparency, accountability, and citizen
inclusiveness became a major political issue. By the time of the dramatic
protest against the World Trade Organization in Seattle, this global democratic
deficit had generally come to be considered one of the primary problems
associated with globalization. Paradoxically, however, in these many years of
concern, there has been little scholarly discussion offering concrete
suggestions for remedying the problem.
In the hopes of furthering such a discussion, fifteen prominent men and
women from around the world gathered at Widener University School of Law
in April 2006 to consider what could be done to make the global system more
democratic. On the table for discussion were political impediments to
achieving global democracy as well as specific democratization ideas and
proposals. The primary focus of the Symposium, however, was the specific
proposal for a popularly elected global parliamentary assembly.
The Perils of Dumb Democracy, New School of Athens President, Ambassador Kimon Valaskakis, furthers this
theme with his own analysis of what practices are consistent with creating a
successful national democracy before similarly turning to how such practices
can be applied to global democracy
Kimon’s paper
Editor
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