Ned's many friends know that he has a fondness for The Economist, considering it to be the only news magazine worth reading. He has, based on his careful attention to articles in The Economist over the past nearly one year, formulated a hypothesis on the state of global governance. It bodes ill for the future of 'democracy.' We believe that most countries are governed either by despots, religious fanatics, or corrupt forms of representative government. Given that there are more than 170 political entities on the planet, it is far easier to list those countries that Ned accepts as having reasonably competent, responsible governments. They are: Canada, Australia, a few countries in Western Europe, and perhaps Uruguay. The U.S. does not make the grade, since it is governed alternatively by sniveling Democrats or fanatical, hyper-religious sanctimonious hypocrites calling themselves Republicans.
Just consider some of the political entities on this planet: Mexico is corrupt and drug-ridden. Eastern Europe and Russia are corrupt and authoritarian. China is barely governable. Japan has been shown to be corrupt and incompetent. India's government is a corrupt laughing stock. Pakistan is nearly a Failed State, sinking into anarchy, but possessing nuclear weapons. Iraq is a preposterous creation of Western Imperialism. Israel is a religious autarky. Afghanistan is a society firmly wedded to the 7th century AD. The Middle East is clan-ridden and fatally corrupted by religion. If Greece were a business it would have been bankrupt by now. Lebanon would be fine if Syria and Hezbollah would leave it alone. Africa is a write-off, too busy destroying its environment and each other to be taken seriously. Many other countries are simply lines on a map, and are busily trying to subdue ethnic minorities fighting for their own state, like Thailand, Turkey and Sri Lanka.
Whom does that leave? Luxembourg. And it is ruled by a Grand Duke.
Just consider some of the political entities on this planet: Mexico is corrupt and drug-ridden. Eastern Europe and Russia are corrupt and authoritarian. China is barely governable. Japan has been shown to be corrupt and incompetent. India's government is a corrupt laughing stock. Pakistan is nearly a Failed State, sinking into anarchy, but possessing nuclear weapons. Iraq is a preposterous creation of Western Imperialism. Israel is a religious autarky. Afghanistan is a society firmly wedded to the 7th century AD. The Middle East is clan-ridden and fatally corrupted by religion. If Greece were a business it would have been bankrupt by now. Lebanon would be fine if Syria and Hezbollah would leave it alone. Africa is a write-off, too busy destroying its environment and each other to be taken seriously. Many other countries are simply lines on a map, and are busily trying to subdue ethnic minorities fighting for their own state, like Thailand, Turkey and Sri Lanka.
Whom does that leave? Luxembourg. And it is ruled by a Grand Duke.
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