Plato's flight

While I found the author's diction at times somewhat bizarre, notwithstanding my guess that he was perhaps in his lyrical or philosophical mode, I persevered and on Page 11 I started to realize why:

"While some may disagree with the taxonomy of chaos that follows, most will recognise the vibrancy and resonance of these critical forces, of which there are ten.

1. The Break-up of Empires: the longstanding chaos that remains in many parts of the world, especially Africa and Asia, arising from the British, European, Japanese and Russian withdrawals - voluntary or otherwise - from territories unready or unable to manage their own affairs......."

I went back to the publication data and looked, doubting that my eyes might have fooled me - that it was some time in the fourties instead of in the last few years, that such a book might have passed as a voice amongst people with a healthy mind in an age of 'chaos', but to my amazement, the year of publishing was in fact 2008.

As one has to SEE to believe, so I said to myself, "I need to read a bit more." I went to Chapter 11, "The Conclusions", and found these interesting lines:

"Chapters 3 to 6 therefore sought to outline how government powers may be limited by transferring, or should I say reconferring, more sovereignty on to voters where it belongs."

And so in Page 64,

"yet in our so-called democratic society, the stalwart of the community - who may have spent a lifetime of productive labour, community service or military duty, coupled with decades of tax forbearance and family formation - has precisely the same voting power as the loutish, drug-addled, fould-mouthed, unemployed, benefits-gouging eighteen-year-old beggar......The solution is to enable all who are eligible to vote to earn entitlements for additional votes up to, say, a maximum of five votes. In this way those who contribute more to society may have a greater say in selecting the politicians from whom the nations' public leaders are chosen…….For example, in his 1953 novel, In The Wet, Nevil Shute cherished the idea of multiple votes…....Shute's idea was that the individual could earn up to seven votes:

1. Basic - All eligible adults over 21.

2. Education - University graduates with a degree (a broader mind).

3. Foreign Travel - Earning a living for two years or more outside Australia (more mind broadening).

4. Family - Raising two children to the age of fourteen without divorce (social contribution - under populated Australia needed lots of young people).

5. Achievement - Earning over £5,000 a year, a huge sum in 1950s Australia (successful businessmen create wealth for others).

6. Religion - A minister or church official (the holy vote).

7. Queen's Vote - The ultimate voting accolade, awarded by Royal Charter at the Queen's pleasure for extraordinary contributions to the country (in Australia, most likely a sportsman!).

......The Education Vote is, moreover, a criterion that begs manipulation; because western societies are finding it difficult to produce skilled artisans in sufficient numbers, but are awash with 'social scientists'......."

As one seldom finds a book that speaks so clearly for itself, I wish to just add the following:

Firstly, "British, European, Japanese and Russian withdrawals - voluntary or otherwise - from territories unready or unable to manage their own affairs." tells us in no ambiguous terms about the author's grounding in the historical dimension of his discourse.

Secondly, the above quote from Page 64 to 66 offers a very clear view of the authors ideas about one of the core concepts in his discussions - basic human rights and collective wisdom should be out of the window, "meritocracy" (in the suggested form) and "manipulation" should be embraced. To the author's credit, such a construct of "DEMOCRACY" closely resembles how "democracy" is played out in our economy.

Hot money almost always wins in making the quick killings - and perhaps if we could match the blazing speed of those quick killings, then we could measure the merit of our politicians while they go through the revolving doors of the current bipartisan political system with such alacrity. If the financial system crumbles, as Wall Street does every now and then, there's always the electorate, "political value-added" or not, to bail them out - all thanks to "manipulation" by our elitist governments. It is to the author's credit that he has pointed out the very two interdependent and essential elements of today's "democracy".

Am I being very silly to write this review, and to ask how this book could find its way to a library's shelf? I have always had a strange mental imagery of G W Bush cheering earnestly to movies such as the Independence Days, an imagery that blends the innocence of a child with the might of a very powerful grown-up man, and I have always wondered whether such a poverty in mind and an abundance in power can occur in one person. This book has helped cleared my doubts - for which I'm inclined to think that there's a reason for it to be in a library's collection.