The Liposuction Of Political Fat Is Painful
From the desk of George Handlery on Fri, 2010-11-05 10:53
1. The following is the byproduct of a pleasant evening spent with an American couple that was about to return for the winter to their other home in California. A natural subject to discuss is the midterm elections in America. Special significance is attributed to the anticipated result’s place in the global scheme of things. “Trend, or no trend”, that is the question. The talk touches upon a subject that has been repeatedly discussed in this column. Is the anticipated -and since then completed- GOP sweep a further signal that the possible end of old politics by PC-consent might be an ongoing process? In this connection, the subject of strikes in France for continued retirement at 60 instead of 62 also comes up. To what extent does this resistance signal the limits of an eventual political turn-around? We conclude that the incessant chase of votes for “the next election” had induced traditional parties to bribe the electorate. The trick: promise to return part of the people’s money as a reward for support. In this realm, the differences between the old parties avoid the substance and they are limited only to the degree of the practice. In time, half of the electorate funds the other half. To many, the handouts to social services consumers have an attraction. They can be made to appear to be philanthropic trophies. To claim that we have supported someone in trouble, harvests points in the “done-good” area. Another motive to approve of “a bit more for everybody” is that the donor sees itself as a general beneficiary of funding. This brings us near to an ideal world. Once this process has taken us there, we will all be made “rich” by our politics’ gifts. We will also have enough free time –think of France’s 35-hour week- to enjoy it.
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