I’m just back from the MatchPoints Seminar on ‘The Culture of Politics, Economics and International Relations’, in Aarhus, Denmark, where I gave a presentation on ‘Culture as Defence against Pathological Elites’. A number of interesting questions came up again and again over the four days of the conference. Is progress inevitable? Are human rights a western invention? Does modernisation have to mean westernisation? Continue reading
The biggest danger to our rights today is not from government acting against the will of the majority but from government which has become the mere instrument of this majority…. Wrong will be done as much by an all-powerful people as by an all-powerful prince.
James Madison
When psychopaths and people with other dangerous personality disorders hold power, the result is political tyranny. Continue reading
This week’s election in Pakistan marks the first transfer of power from one democratically elected civilian government to another in the country’s 66-year history. The challenge for new prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, is to build on this landmark event and create a peaceful democratic society in Pakistan. He will find that holding elections was the easy bit. Continue reading
A brief journey around the world shows just how much damage people with dangerous personality disorders continue to inflict upon us, and highlights the extent to which the cultures of violence and greed imposed by this dangerous minority are accepted by the rest of us as ‘normal’.
Russia
Stalin and the brutal legacy of the Soviet Communists have left Russia today suffering from a deep crisis of hope. Continue reading
disorderedworld 