Peter Rose

Have governments kept up with the digital revolution? Are we all still governed by ”pen and paper” administrations, while living in the digital age?

Protests, terrorism and democracy Protest is legitimate in a democracy. Democracy allows for dissent and allows the expression of dissent, but when the protests turn violent, against people, police or property; have they become acts of terrorism? Terrorism is not to be tolerated in democracy, since it aims to forcibly overturn democratic governance.

American politics from a distance One view of how foreigners see American politics. America is a great nation, its people seem to have a collective energy and a general belief in their nation that is most admirable, they do not seem to have succumbed to the cynicism and pessimism that engulfs Europe.

Do we need to know? Separating politics from celebrity. Have we the right to know every detail of any celebrity or politicians life? What matters about a politician is not the same as what matters about a celebrity. Or is it? In both cases what really matters is how they perform at their chosen career. What matters to a vocalist is how well they sing. What matters to a politician is how well they make decisions. Of course there are now celebrities famous for being famous, apparently making fortunes out of being “in the public awareness” just being a celebrity is almost a profession but even these are treated as if every utterance matters. Why?

Waiting to be told- Information overload has political consequences. People in democracies are subjected to information saturation; the political reality of this is that the majority of voters have stopped being sceptical, they have stopped asking questions. Even the most necessary questions. Opinions which are repeated and “loudly” proclaimed, are often generally accepted as truth, until some one else makes equally loud and repeated denials.

- The political consequences of confusion. Thoughts on corona-virus pandemic October 2020 This is a world wide event that causing problems at every level of society, governments and governed; leisure and business. Searching daily for information and facts that can be verified, shows that confusion, misinformation and governmental policy changes are as endemic as the virus.