“The world is changing”, said the elf queen in Lord of the Rings. Yes, it is, and if governments, and the European Commission in particular, don’t stop being dictatorial power bullies, the EU will fall apart.
We live in a world where banks have been bailed out and the rich compensated for losses. At the same time, the middle classes and the lowest paid are made to hurt by higher taxes to foot the bill. This is enforced by the European Commission. At the same time, EU Commissionaires haven’t taken a pay cut — nor even agreed to pay taxes. The rule of the European Commission and governments needs to be tuned down and be taken towards greater democracy. Democracy in the sense it was always intended. Letting people be part of the decision trail, not just electing loud mouth representatives.
In this day and age it is pathetic how governments and the Commission cling to power. Refusing to become democratic and pass power to the individual citizen.
The technology to support more democracy and run fair and inexpensive transnational, national, regional and local votes and polls has been there for more than two decades. Today — in the age of the smart phone — a vote can even be activated every minute and closed within an hour. We need to empower our citizens and power down our institutions.
We need to thrive in our differences, become more local yet embrace our neighbors. Across borders we need interoperability, not top-down rule by legislation coming from Brussels. The only reason this is not implemented is the stale old rule of outdated institutions at all levels of governance. Governments have not evolved and continue to believe that they should lead their countries by totalitarian power, as if it was handed to them through a single election… this way of governing is outdated!