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Not Telling
It always interested me that George Orwell, despite being from a lower-middle class family, was such a great believer in the previous era's philosophy of 'fair play'. Other writers have talked about how his own class & upbringing clashed so much with his profound love of the old-ways 'sportsmanship, gentlemanliness, dutifulness,' and physical courage to stand for ones beliefs no matter what the dangers to oneself.
Orwell disliked agrarian populism, and he saw his nightmare unfold in WW2's national socialism which was an almost entirely populist movement. Most sociologists ditched populism as a viable theory in favour of progressivism a long time ago. The blunt-instrument idea of populism & its "masses versus the elites" is what was so clumsily played out in the red-mob speeches of 2010. This crude mass-philosophy is actually the ultimate control tool for the ruling class, of which Thaksin the above-the-law billionaire most truly is.
Orwell and many others always believed that the elites had to be onboard for any kind of democracy to function. Academics, doctors, lecturers, teachers, engineers, lawyers etc. are all elites. They are highly-trained often at great cost in money and time & are paid higher wages for their expertise. But if you are traditional populist then you believe the red-mob speeches about 'crush the hi-so elite', this would actually mean that when you need life-saving surgery or a lawyer to represent you, there will only be farmers & politicians. It also interests me that Orwell believed in honesty and the courage to face the consequences of ones own actions with bravery & integrity. I think Orwell would be horrified at this story of a billionaire corporate crook, who hides far away from danger while funding uprisings of the 'masses against the elites'. Its a truly nightmare dystopia.
#5232176 Populist Policies Boomerang On Yingluck Govt
Posted
on 2012-04-19 13:54:56
#5231173 Populist Policies Boomerang On Yingluck Govt
Posted
on 2012-04-19 07:08:17
Populist promises have almost always been the springboard for dictatorships. Part of the problem is the PTP policies are only window-dressing & nobody actually knows what their long-term agenda and policies are.
They are the living emodiment of the English "jam tomorrow" folk-saying ; "well kids, you know its just dry bread today but there'll be jam tomorrow". This is also the type of 'faith in the future' message has been used by many dictators through the centuries. Stick with us, even though your lives are going down the drain, we promise the future will be great. everything will be okay when Thaksin gets back, or maybe in the time of his son's rule, or his grandson, great-grandson.
PTP run the country on a skeleton-crew basis, ticking only the mandatory boxes and avoiding everything else. IMO their energies are devoted behind the scenes to installing a permanent familial oligarchy.
I would guess the next step will be to give all poor people a free colour TV, & by coincidence people will be watching red-government propaganda on the free TVs along with brain-meltingly bad soap operas and game shows. That wouldn't be so bad if the Govt actually made people's lives better (as promised).
The mistakes made pre-flood & post-flood which were shockingly inept, were brushed aside by the regime as unimportant, but the flood exposed the government-level complete lack of robust quick-thinking which are the trademarks of competent leadership. It also raised the question of what they consider important. Even the request to have a state of emergency during the worst floods for over 50 years, was rebuffed by Yingluck along partisan and control-freak lines.
All the meaningful pre-election promises by PTP have failed to appear even in start-up phase, except for a few stragglers that emerged blinking into the light & feeling all alone.
People in the opposition are very concerned that the country they love is being hijacked, and in the worst case scenario the groundwork for a dynastic oligarchy is being laid-out. The feeling among many international observers is that the worst is yet to come & Thai peoples future is one of being industrially-fleeced & exploited & deceived.
They are the living emodiment of the English "jam tomorrow" folk-saying ; "well kids, you know its just dry bread today but there'll be jam tomorrow". This is also the type of 'faith in the future' message has been used by many dictators through the centuries. Stick with us, even though your lives are going down the drain, we promise the future will be great. everything will be okay when Thaksin gets back, or maybe in the time of his son's rule, or his grandson, great-grandson.
PTP run the country on a skeleton-crew basis, ticking only the mandatory boxes and avoiding everything else. IMO their energies are devoted behind the scenes to installing a permanent familial oligarchy.
I would guess the next step will be to give all poor people a free colour TV, & by coincidence people will be watching red-government propaganda on the free TVs along with brain-meltingly bad soap operas and game shows. That wouldn't be so bad if the Govt actually made people's lives better (as promised).
The mistakes made pre-flood & post-flood which were shockingly inept, were brushed aside by the regime as unimportant, but the flood exposed the government-level complete lack of robust quick-thinking which are the trademarks of competent leadership. It also raised the question of what they consider important. Even the request to have a state of emergency during the worst floods for over 50 years, was rebuffed by Yingluck along partisan and control-freak lines.
All the meaningful pre-election promises by PTP have failed to appear even in start-up phase, except for a few stragglers that emerged blinking into the light & feeling all alone.
People in the opposition are very concerned that the country they love is being hijacked, and in the worst case scenario the groundwork for a dynastic oligarchy is being laid-out. The feeling among many international observers is that the worst is yet to come & Thai peoples future is one of being industrially-fleeced & exploited & deceived.
#4994187 Deputy Education Minister Nattawut Puts Critics On Notice: Thailand
Posted
on 2012-01-21 08:48:55
Quote
New Deputy Education Minister Nattawut Saikua, who is also a co-leader of the red-shirt movement, said he would let his performance provide the justification for his appointment, adding that most of the criticism that he is not qualified for the job had come from the opposition.
Below is the expected new publicity picture for the esteemed minister.
