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Police, Army
In France, the gendarmes and the military promise “devotion to the public good and to comply with orders received only in strict respect for the human person, and undertake only to make legitimate use of force”. They do not take oaths from those in power. Décret n° 2013-874 du 27 septembre 2013 relatif à la…
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Drugs
At the end of the 1970s, the neo-liberal idea developed that if you work hard you can succeed, but if you fail it’s because you haven’t given yourself the means. In the 1980s, under the Thatcher/Reagan era, Western countries became deindustrialised and mass unemployment emerged. In the 1990s, the “cool Britannia” left-wingers such as Tony…
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Humiliated by the Republic
During the industrial revolution, people were forcibly moved from the countryside to cities or industrial estates where there were factories or mines. Karl Marx turned these displaced people into a class, the proletariat. In the 1970s, they were dispossessed of their places of work by moving their sources of income abroad. Companies seeking to increase…
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Vth Republic, still there…
The French Fifth Republic gives too much power to the president, who can behave like a monarch without listening to the demands of the people. Thanks to the 49.3, he can pass decrees without the opinion of the elected parliament. He can choose his prime minister without taking the people’s vote into account. He can…
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Cicéron, De la République
“La liberté ne consiste pas à avoir un bon maître, mais à n’en point avoir.” Cicéron, De la République “Freedom is not about having a good master, but not having one.” — Cicero, The Republic «La libertad no consiste en tener un buen amo, sino en no tener ninguno». Cicerón, Sobre la República „Die…
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The Good tyrant ?
Tyranny can legally exist in a republic or a democracy. For instance, Julius Caesar was a very good leader. And yet, he has been assassinated because contemporary politicians, family and citizens feared his successor would be given too much power. They wanted to maintain the Republic and even if they were satisfied with Julius…
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Meisje met de parel
Why is Vermeer’s “Girl with the Pearl Earring” considered a masterpiece? – James Earle – TED-ed – “James Earle explains how this work represents the birth of a modern perspective on economics, politics, and love.” “In the seventeenth century, the city of Delft, like the Netherlands in general had turned against ruling aristocracy and the…