A 'Fragile Foundation'

[jackschmittusa]

link

One of my first thioughts when I read this article was that I could cut and paste sections of it and create an article about the U.S. i.e.:

TextThaksin Shinawatra, say his critics, has abused state power to enrich himself and undermine representative government.

TextThe disillusionment has grown because the social improvements people dreamed of when first casting their votes haven't materialized.

TextPart of the problem is that elections have in many cases failed to produce cleaner, fairer governance.

So has media sensationalism: much of what fills TV airtime in Taiwan are politicians playing to the cameras over minor disputes. "The smaller the differences, the fiercer the fight," says Shelley Rigger, a Taiwan expert from Davidson College in North Carolina.

"But in reality, it is still mired in the old political paradigm of empty promises appealing to shallow emotions." The country's prime minister, Lee Hae Chan, resigned this month after being spotted playing golf with allegedly corrupt businessmen. Seoul Mayor Lee Myung Bak, a presidential contender from a rival party, has been slammed by the media and political opponents for playing tennis at an exclusive city court without paying fees.

In Thailand, the middle-class protesters furious at Thaksin simply don't trust elections to produce good leaders. Media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul, a key member of the anti-Thaksin alliance, believes the rural Thais who form the backbone of Thaksin's support are too uneducated and easily manipulated to be allowed to choose the country's next leader.

Good leaders must be hard to come by these days.

 

[imported_Aelius]

A lot of people out there are exactly like that. If I had to pick out one manager from work (government), as an example, for being honest, fair, and trustworthy I would not be able to name a single one.

Why?

Because being able to put on a face that gives the illusion of trusthworthines is far more important then being it. Plus the nature of the government leadership dictates that they close ranks and readily feed their employees and lastly each other to the sharks and do whatever it takes to get ahead and stay ahead.

Thankfully I do not posses those qualities, as I found out the hard way, so I will never be considered for a manager position. Then again I would have a hard time sitting there chatting on MSN all day and going to hours long meetings and collecting $80k (CAN) minimum.

Anyway these are the types of people that end up in government and it's not just a Canadian problem. It is a problem everywhere. They are a product of a system. A system we created.

Ever wonder why so many politicians used to be lawyers? Nuff said.

 

[magomago]

Its not just in Asia people are starting to think like that. I REALLY think Plato was onto something with the notion of a philosopher king; it isn't that we should blame the masses~ but the problem is the many corrupt elements such bad leaders and PACs continously mess with and twist democracy to their advantage. I don't even pretend that I live in a real democracy anymore.

And the ironic part is we are talking about growing a "flourishing democracy" in Iraq...

As for Thailand...when opposition parties can't garner even more than 20% in an election it becomes hard to analyze the situation. While I will not claim to have any real knowledge, something sounds wrong on both sides when less than 20% tries to push out an alledgely corrupt government actively supported by the other 80%

 

[jrenz]

One of my first thioughts when I read this article was that I could cut and paste sections of it and create an article about the U.S. i.e.:

Yeah... and you you can say the exact same thing about almost every single other government on the planet. Point?