Like a Parachute on a Hang Glider . . .

Gloom from someone on the Gaian Democracy (discussing new forms of democracy) list because it seems to have dried up. John Bunzl replies that Simpol is still going strong, and I kick in with this:


Contraction & Convergence is making slow and steady progress along the web of global warming thought. And the executive/boards of Amnesty, the United Nations Association and Medact are all in process of considering the Index of Governance, the notion that before the UN resorts to the use of military force against regimes that are abusing the human rights of their citizens, it needs to have in place a non-violent system that disables those oppressive governments. The Index of Governance will first measure objectively the human rights performance of all states at UN level, and will later set a tariff of targeted sanctions designed to disempower the ruling elite of states that abuse their citizens.

All these little initiatives from Civil Society are like a parachute on a hang glider: they may not save us, but they do give us something to do on the way down...

PS there is an election going on and I realise that it is my duty as a political blogger to notice it and I really will try to do so. Manana.