Hellenes' Agonistes

[jseal]

Is anyone else here following this story? I'm fascinated by its different themes and threads.

[Oldfart]

Tell me more.

I've seen nothing on it here in Oz.

[dicksbro]

I haven't seen anything either ...

what's happened?

[jseal]

What are the limits of democracy?

[Oldfart]

What are the limits of democracy?

Whatever our masters will allow. :)

Where does democracy end and where does mob rule begin?

Is it a democracy when other people choose who can be candidates in our electoral districts?

[jseal]

... Is it a democracy when other people choose who can be candidates in our electoral districts?
That's wild! At least here we get to winnow the field by popular vote. Are your candidates appointed?

[dicksbro]

That's wild! At least here we get to winnow the field by popular vote. Are your candidates appointed?
In some large cities ... the elections are noted for having a very active cemetery vote. :faint:

[Oldfart]

That's wild! At least here we get to winnow the field by popular vote. Are your candidates appointed?
It is the political parties who choose who stands for them. Independents are largely irrrelevant, steamrollered by the parties.

[jseal]

It is the political parties who choose who stands for them. Independents are largely irrrelevant, steamrollered by the parties.
Independent voices have been historically incidental, save for their (often destructive) Black Swan entrances.

Candidate selection is not quite so restrictive here. While the different political parties vet the aspirants, once receiving the party’s imprimatur, several can vie for the opportunity to stand in the general election. Of course, this being the U.S., there are a variety of alternatives. As noted above, depending upon locale, post mortem ballots can tilt an otherwise level election playing field. That feature of this pillar of democracy seems less prevalent – or at least less reported - these days. Yet another colorful feature of freedom fades, alas!

Still, the stalwarts from the Peloponnese are holding the spotlight on their own opposition to their EU overlords. Tomorrow should be Der Tag des Gerichts. Shall the denouement be Grexit? Stay tuned ...

[Oldfart]

Here we field only one candidate per party in each electorate, and have a bizarre preferential voting system that even we struggle to understand to sort out an eventual winner. It's not who gets the most votes who wins, but who has the most primary and the most preferential redistributions.

[jseal]

German MPs back Greek debt bailout extension (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31654898)

Another political triumph!

[Oldfart]

Guilt?

[jseal]

Perhaps, but my reading is it’s another example of Germany’s emerging, at long last, as a major diplomatic force. The Greek voters revived the euro crisis by rebelling against the austerity which they blame on Germany’s bankrolling of their bailouts and enforcing those terms. The German Finance Minister and Chancellor Merkel led the EU to agree to extend the bail-out, but only after Greece dropped almost all its demands, an accomplishment that finessed the euro and the EU through yet another difficult event.

[jseal]

April is Greece's cruelest month, with a repayment to the IMF of $490 million due today and multiple billions in repayments due by the end of the month.

[jseal]

The prospects are grim (http://www.bbc.com/news/business-32864068). Let us hope for a negotiated resolution.

[Vigil]

The euro zone does not allow small individual nations the freedom of monetarist policy money supply, my old friend. The UK has been able to keep the same curve on money supply leading to deflation of cash savings and a near maintenance of other asset values simply through a bubble effect from the flight from cash.

[jseal]

The euro zone does not allow small individual nations the freedom of monetarist policy money supply, my old friend ...
So true. And now, at last, it comes down to this (http://www.consilium.europa.eu/press-releases-pdf/2015/6/40802199986_en.pdf).