In the Dutch port city of Vlissingen, there's a scandal over political corruption. The mayor and an alderman have been investigated for (and found guilty of) receiving unlawful compensation through deliberate misrepresentation (the alderman pretended to live outside of Vlissingen to receive compensation for his (non-existent) rent, the mayor paid for his private furniture with public funds). A citizen of Vlissingen spread a newsletter with details of the fraud, taken from the official report made by the investigating committee, and was immediately arrested by the police for "defamation".
First of all, defamation is not something the police usually arrests people for, defamation claims are settled in a civil law trial. Second of all, how is it defamation to publish extracts from the official findings of an investigating committee, and thirdly, is it not a little suspicious that the police, who are answerable to the mayor, are employed to remove things the mayor finds unpleasant?
I am very disturbed by what I consider to be a gross violation of freedom of speech and abuse of office by a non-elected official (we don't get to vote for mayors, they are appointed by 'the crown', i.e. the Prime Minister).
I was not aware that the Netherlands had become run by dictators! Odd that it's ok to walk about as high as a kite, yet not ok to tell the truth. Fucking madness!!
This stuff has been happening in Canada for years. It's so common that it's just become a part of our tapestry, and it's actually just noise now. What makes it worse is the Prime Minister completely defends these senators who misuse public funds like this.
As much as I empathize ... welcome to the madness !
The Real Wizard wrote:
This stuff has been happening in Canada for years. It's so common that it's just become a part of our tapestry, and it's actually just noise now. What makes it worse is the Prime Minister completely defends these senators who misuse public funds like this.
As much as I empathize ... welcome to the madness !
Do you remember I once said I thought Canada would be THE place to live if Scotland failed to get independence......
Well, maybe you're right!! I'll be moving to fecking ICELAND.
Iceland or the Scandinavian countries seem to be top politically sound destinations.
That said - Canada's multi-culturalism and vast landscapes make it a pretty awesome place to live, too. And the system, although seriously flawed, still functions quite well overall.
I still vote for Canada. But clearly I'm biased.
It's very disturbing how little people throughout the world seem to care about corruption. We are talking about it now, but the population as a whole doesn't give a damn. So long as they aren't hungry and get their televised entertainment, they won't lift a finger against any kind of injustice that doesn't immediately affect themselves in a way they can clearly understand. It seems the Romans were right - "panem et circenses" will keep the populace silent regardless of what the power-brokers and plutocrats do.
You're largely right, but there are exceptions.
Watch the documentary "Sharkwater" to see how the people of Costa Rica stood up against government corruption related to the shark finning industry.
Highly recommended viewing, btw. Killing sharks in such great numbers disrupts the food chain and will ultimately lead to our demise, because the plants at the bottom of the ocean that give us most of the oxygen we breathe will eventually disappear.
The people protesting may not have cared about this aspect of the problem per se, but they did rise up against the corruption en masse and it has largely come to a grinding halt.
thomasquinn 32989 wrote: It's very disturbing how little people throughout the world seem to care about corruption. We are talking about it now, but the population as a whole doesn't give a damn. So long as they aren't hungry and get their televised entertainment, they won't lift a finger against any kind of injustice that doesn't immediately affect themselves in a way they can clearly understand. It seems the Romans were right - "panem et circenses" will keep the populace silent regardless of what the power-brokers and plutocrats do.
Do you really think people don't care? What do you expect them to do exactly?
Because as far as i'm concerned and have noticed is that the people do actually care what happens politically in this country, but don't want to bite the hand that feeds them.
Can't really blame them actually, because the Dutch mentality basically is "Work and don't whine". If you whine about stuff, you get criticized immediately.
I understand your point of view. We do get screwed over a lot in this country...A LOT, but all you can do is protest. We both know that's a waste of time (and time is money). ;)