She quickly replied “We will know if you love us if you come back.”
She was right. Love hopes, love protects, love trusts and above all, love perseveres. It never quits. This is the love that never fails. I will never know this womens name, but her gentle words are with me always.
“People do not matter. The party is all powerful, because we have lists.” This is not from 1995, it is from a Romanian political party leader in 2015.
Years ago, Alexander the Great remarked “the people of Asia are not free because they have not learned to say the word ‘no’.” Romanians will never be free until they say ‘no’ to closed party lists.
Accountability integrates three concepts which are essential in democratic voting methods.
– The performance of each politician must be measured
– Each politician must provide specific answers on their acheivements and voting record
– Voters will determine whether a politican has another mandate or looks for a new job
In 1994 New Zealand created a non-political Royal Commission to create one of the world’s most respected voting methods.
How wonderful if Romania became the first country in Eastern Europe with a voting method that placed elections in the hands of the people and political parties competed on thoughtful ideas to improve our schools, eliminate bureaucracy and protect our environment. It would change the reality of being Romanian.
Citizens obtain a direct voice in writing the State’s laws by electing a member of their community to the Chamber of Deputies. The word ‘chamber’ literally means to echo the citizens’ voice so it passes from their village to the Parliament.
The essence of parliamentary democracy is that citizens elect their own representatives to make laws on their behalf.
Let’s repeat this – Citizens, not political party bosses, choose the people that right the laws of a democratic nation.
Since 1991, the laws of Romania have consistently followed the principle of allowing a few people in Bucharest to control as much of the country as possible.
This extractive principle is clearly evident in Romanian election law. Through closed party lists and limitations on new political parties, Romanian election laws are more communist than democratic.
Over the past 10 years, Romanian institutions have become widely respected in the areas of central banking, anti-terror, cyber security, military and justice. The gaping hole in Romania’s democracy is a broken, structurally flawed Parliamentary system.
“What has happened to America?” This is the question I am often asked by Europeans. It is not a question asked with satisfaction or gloating. It is asked with concern that the symbol of individual freedom and hope is fading.
American foreign policy has become reactionary and naive. American domestic policy has stepped backwards 100 years to the era when politicians were administrators for the wealthy.
In 1942, Edith Hamilton wrote “we all need to find a silent sanctuary where we free our harassed and perplexed minds to recapture values that are the possession of humanity”.
One of those values is fresh air, clean water and natural food. We are what we breathe, drink and eat.
During my 15 years of biotech investing I learned the simple truth that most modified substances and chemicals that we put into our bodies cause more problems than they solve.