Monday, January 2, 2012

The loneliness of the long-distance runner

I have been, almost literally, struck

dumb these last few weeks of 2011 as
I have contemplated the intellectual
and ethical poverty of our ruling
classes.

One financial blog’s reflections on the

year and what the future holds caught
my mood perfectly
1. Wall Street dropped some of its
pretence to fairness and softer forms
of fraud and resorted to overt theft as MF Global stole significant sums of money,
bonds, and bullion assets directly from customer accounts, under the eyes of the
regulators, and transferred the money to its global bankers who refused to give it back.

Trend: Theft by the financiers will continue and intensify. The victims will be vilified to
blunt public reaction.

2. The Eurozone came under unremitting assault by the ratings agencies and their
associated banks and hedge funds. The Euro is an inherently 'difficult' currency to
manage and has always been more susceptible to broad swings in value. This is because it
is an economic union without a comprehensive political and financial union. It more
closely resembles the original thirteen states of the US under the Articles of
Confederation than it does a comprehensive Republic.

Trend: The Eurozone will continue to struggle to find a balance between political and
financial factors, and will evolve into a stronger union of fewer members. Germany and
France will continue to emerge as the great Western European power. The UK will be
preoccupied by its own set of severe internal problems and regional unrest as austerity
bites deeply. The UK will begin to act as more of an Anglo-American agent in the
Eurozone. It may take on more of the character of an Orwellian state.

Some people might (and do very persuasively) argue that it is time for a new hegemony.
It would be nice, certainly, for more respect to be shown to Scandinavian values. Even
the heavy-handed Catholic church has managed to sustain its critical attitude to greed
and, over the decades, seems to have pursued a much more positive attitude to
community enterprise. The success of the Mondragon model of cooperative industrial
activity is one which deserves much wider celebration – although it does worry me that
I cannot find a proper treatment in the English language of the story of how this small
venture by a catholic priest in the 1940s in a remote Spanish village led to such a
commercial success (giving now employment to 30,000 and weathering, so far, all

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economic storms). There are, however, videos on its inspiring
story here; here; here; and here. Think Ronnie Lessem’s Managing in four
worlds. However strong my affections are for such models, my own feeling is that the
better approach is that of the sceptic, agnostic or, indeed, anarchist – ie a “plague on all
your houses”.

This is a time of year for thinking about one's life and making resolutions. A few years
ago, I discovered a list of 40 tips for living a more balanced life. I've reduced it to 30
tips

A friend has noticed some of the references I've made in this blog to the benefits of
rural life for us over-connected zombies - and sent me a recent Pico Iyer article on the
joys of solitude
We have more and more ways to communicate but less and less to say. Partly because
we’re so busy communicating. And so rushing to meet so many deadlines that we hardly
register that what we need most are lifelines.
And a blogpost from an ex-banker has made the same point.

I've been trying to read over my blogposts of the past year (all 250 plus of them) - and
feel that I have been too much of the gadfly. Skating lightly over profound issues. My
feeling is that I should return in the posts to come to the issues they raise - read more
closely the large number of links I've given - and offer rather deeper thoughts........

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

aesthetic pleasures

This blog is a celebration of good writing and

living – and the town of Sofia (nestling in the
Balkans) and the village of Sirnea (nestling in
the Carpathians) take central place in that
celebration. Each has its own incredible
beauty – for the most part ignored and
undervalued by those who live there but so
much appreciated by nomads like me. In the
last days of 2011, we had the pleasure of
discovering yet more Old Masters’ paintings
in
The recently re-opened Bulgary gallery –
associated with the Bulgary restaurant www.restaurant.bulgary.bg - which has lovingly
recreating the ambiance of old Bulgaria. Two of the paintings I had admired in the last
Viktoria Gallery auction – Dmitrov Nikola’s 'River' (1955) and Olga Shishokova’s 'Coffee
in Karlovo' (1940) were there (as well as most of the Trtitchovs) and were suitably
negotiated into my collection. The Shishkova heads todays’ post and Dmitrov’s below.

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Today’s wanderings unearthed a small, new gallery on Sulunska St with old masters such
as Boris Mitov and Stanio Stomatev.
And also a glorious book celebrating, in poetic black and white pictures, the
beauty which can be found adorning the older Sofia buildings – if only you look behind
the peeling walls and high enough ! It’s called 'Sofia Enigma-Stigma' by Milchev and is
available (in Bulgarian and English text) from http://www.enthusiast.bg/ for only 7
euros.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

The East-West schism

Some strange scenes on television

yesterday - believers singing and
dancing in the river Tundzha, as they
celebrate Epiphany day in the town of
Kalofer, Bulgaria. Inspired by the
music of a folk orchestra and by
homemade plum brandy, they danced a
slow “mazhko horo,” or men’s dance,
stomping on the rocky riverbed. Led
by the town’s mayor, a bass drummer
and several bagpipers, the men danced
for nearly an hour, up to their waists in the cold water, pushing away chunks of ice
floating on the river.Traditionally, an Eastern Orthodox priest throws a cross in the
river and it is believed that the one who retrieves it will be freed from evil spirits that
might have troubled him. Across Bulgaria, young men also jumped into rivers and lakes
to recover crucifixes cast by priests in an old ritual marking the feast of Epiphany and
the baptism by John the Baptist of Jesus Christ when the latter was 30 years old.

The great It’s about Time painting blog gives us some historical and aesthetic
background on how the schism between the Eastern and Western parts of Christianity
have affected the celebrations at this time of year -
in Western Christianity, the arrival of the Magi at the site of Jesus' birth is called the
Feast of the Epiphany, celebrated on January 6. The Orthodox Church commemorates
the Adoration of the Magi on the Feast of the Nativity on December 25 – and January
6th apparently marks the baptism by John the Baptist of Christ when the latter was 30
years old.
Western paintings of the Journey and the Adoration of the Magi usually depict 3 Magi,
represented as kings, travelling to find the newborn Jesus in a stable by following a
star; laying before him gifts of gold, frankincense, & myrrh; & lingering to worship him.
Christian iconography has considerably expanded the simple biblical account of the Magi
given in Matthew (2:1-11). The early church used the story to emphasize the point that
Jesus was recognized, from his earliest infancy, as king of the earth and therefore
showed the Magi with eastern garb.

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The Its about Time blog shows how the early renaissance versions showed the garb of
the Magi with Eastern traces - which vanished in the later versions. An early example
of people being whitewashed out of history.

From the summer, I've been referring to the disturbing events taking place in Hungary.
They are well summarised in the EuroTribune website and in this Eurozine piece.
Eurozine is a network of European cultural magazines - sometimes a bit pretentious but
always with a distinctive voice. The latest issue has a series of articles on the European
crisis and also an article which promised to be an overdue critique of the role which EU
Structural Funds have played in developing and sustaining the clientilism and corruption
of souther europe but which, sadly deteriorated into a rather incoherent, if still
interesting, perspective on modern Greece.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Taking Stock

A new year is a good time for taking stock of one’s life

and work – so I’ve been looking at the 2011 posts on
this blog which has become a new focus of work in the
last 3 years (since I’ve eased off on my foreign
assignments). How do they compare with my original
intentions ? And are these, in fact, still useful – for me
and/or my readers ? UnderneathLabels and Quotes on
the right hand side you will find what I originally
wrote About the blog -
My generation believed that political activity could
improve things - but that belief is now dead
and cynicism threatens civilisation. This blog will try to
make sense of the organisational endeavours I've been
involved in; to see if there are any lessons which can be
passed on; to restore a bit of institutional memory and
social history (let alone hope).
I also read a lot and wanted to pass on the results of this to those who have neither the
time nor inclination -as well as my love of painting, particularly the realist 20th century
schools of Bulgaria and Belgium.
A final motive for the blog is more complicated - and has to do with life and family.
What have we done with our life? What is important to us? Not just professional
knowledge – but cultural and everyday passions.
On this last, I remember the disappointment when I went through my father’s papers
after his death. He was a very well-read and travelled man who composed his weekly
sermons with care; gave his time unstintingly to people with problems – and gave
illustrated lectures throughout the country on his travels in the 1970s to off-beat
places in countries such as Spain, Austria and Greece. Surely he would have left some
diaries or comments behind to give a sense of his inner thoughts? But there was little

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beyond his jottings about some books (for some lectures he gave) and a diary about a
camping holiday in the 1930s with his father. The same silence when I looked at the
papers of a charismatic political colleague who was struck down in his prime.
I couldn’t hold a candle to these two men – but we are all distinctive in our way. I have
been very lucky in the positions I have occupied, the places I’ve been, the people met,
the range and number of books read – and, not least, gifted with a reasonable facility
with and love for words and language. The least I could do was try to mix together
these ingredients of experiences and insights and create a new stew which might be
attractive even to those not normally inclined to eat stew?

So has the blog - with its 500 posts - so far realised its threefold intention – lessons
from 40 years’ of public management interventions; sharing of the insights of others;
life’s meaning and passions? Let me look at each.

Lessons from my own institutional endeavours

The early part of the blog covered the Scottish policy initiatives with which I was
associated between 1970-90 such as social dialogue, open-policy-making and social
inclusion – which were excerpted from a long paper available on my website.
More recently, the blog has focussed on my concerns about the technical assistance and
institutional building work I have been involved with in transition countries in the past
20 years – which are captured in the paper I gave at last year’s Varna Conference of
NISPAcee.
In the autumn, I had a string of 15 or so posts trying to make sense of the training
work which has been the focus of recent assignment.
However my more ambitious venture to bring all of this together in one paper is not yet
realised. A very early draft can be seen on my website.

Sharing the insights of others

In the din of communications, many sane voices are drowned out. And there are also a
range of linguistic, professional, academic, commercial and technical filters which get in
the way of even the most conscientious efforts to seek truth(s). We have slowly
realised how the google search engine has an element of “mirror image” in its search –
giving us more of what it thinks we want rather than what is actually available. And the
specialisation of university and professional education also cuts us off from valuable
sources. I’ve been lucky – in having had both the (academic) position and (political)
incentive for more than 15 years to read across intellectual disciplines in the pursuit of
tools to help the various ventures in which I’ve been engaged. I belong to a generation
and time which valued sharing of knowledge – rather than secreting or mystifying it
which has become the trend in recent decades. And I am lucky again in now having
gained acess to the technical facility which allows sharing (with a copy and paste) the
website references of useful papers.
Most of the blogposts contain several such links – in a single year probably 1,000 links.
That’s not bad!
Indeed I have realised that this feature of my writing makes it more convenient to have
my papers in electronic rather than paper form.

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Life’s passions
Clearly the blog has shared several of my passions – eg painting, places, reading and wine
– and has given a good sense of the enjoyment from simple activities such as wandering.
Originally the Carpathian reference in the title was to location only – it did not promise
any particular insights into this part of the world. But, in the past year, my musings
have broadened to give some insights into life in this part of the world…

So?
So far, so good. But perhaps the blog objectives are no longer relevant? Or a blog no
longer the appropriate format? The first two blog objectives are rather altruistic – a
reasonable question might be what I get out of the effort involved in drafting a
significant post. The answer is – more than might think! Writing is (or should be) a great
discipline. The recent Nobel prize-winner, Herta Mueller, expressed this very well in an
encounter she had a year or so ago in Bucharest - It is only when I start a sentence
that I find out what it has to say. I realise as I go along. So I have to somehow make
words help me and I have to keep searching until I think I have found something
acceptable. Writing has its own logic and it imposes the logic of language on you. There
is no more "day" and "night", "outside" and "inside". There is subject, verb, metaphor, a
certain way of constructing a phrase so as to give it rhythm – these are the laws that
are imposed on you. On the one hand, language is something which tortures me, doesn't
give me peace, forces me to rack my brains until I can't do it any longer; and on the
other hand, when I do this, it actually helps me. It is an inexplicable vicious circle.

A daily blog makes you focus more. I’ve made the point several times that the absence
of newspapers cluttering the house and (for the most part) of television over the past
20 years has been a great boon for me. It has created the quiet and space for
reflection. And the requirement to put a thought or two in writing on the blog makes me
think more clearly.
A second benefit is archival – I can retrieve thoughts and references so easily. I just
have to punch a key word into the search engine on the blog and I retrieve everything.
But there’s the rub! That you have to use the search engine – and be confident that you
know the correct word to punch. I haven’t been using the “label” feature properly in my
blogs. I’ve gone over some of them and then created a cloud label, as you will have
noticed, which I find has interesting results.

I have perhaps reached the point of needing to put the more worthwhile blogs in a book
format? I suspect that most readers are like me – and are more drawn to text which is
personal rather than abstract.
But published autobiographies are, by definition, by famous people – and highly suspect
for that very reason. Eric Hobsbawn’s was deeply disappointing. The various books
published by Arthur Koestler were vastly more satisfying.
Biographies, although more objective, are also about famous people; focus on their
achievements; and rarely, for me, give insights into the doubts, confusions and
uncertainties ordinary people have.

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I know, on the other hand, of only three highly personal life accounts from un-famous
people – and they all made a big impact on me. First a fairly short series of snapshots of
a political activist’s life . Then a deeply moving book written by a Scottish writer and
poet in the weeks before he carried out his planned suicide. Finally a much longer (875
pages !) and more rigorous set of musings from an ex-academic

And few books do proper justice to the aesthetics of publishing - whether font, format,
spacing, diagrams, pictures and poems. There, then, is a possible project for the
future?

One of the appropriate pieces BBC's Through the Night programmes offered me as I
was writing this was Shostakovitch's chamber symphony 110

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Good writing websites
Regular readers will have noticed that I have added a cloud element to the Labels
(keywords) which identifies the frequency with which I have blogged on a given subject
(while keeping the alpabetical listings). I have done this mainly to give the new reader a
quick idea of what this blog is about. Hence, also, the sentence I have added below the
masthead – to let people know that this blog does not « do » instant opinions on current
events. This is part of the New Year stock-taking I spoke about yesterday. Two other
new features are a "share it" facility – part of a new marketing urge I have - and a
small pollwhich I added for a couple of days – one question only about the length of
time readers stay on the site. Sadly it attracted no feedback - and I am therefore
discouraged from further experimentation of this sort.

In the last few days I’ve stumbled on some great websites which connect to challenging
articles on global dilemmas.
A good newspaper article reminded me about the edge website and annual questionwhich
I had forgotten about –
it sprang from the thought that to arrive at a satisfactory plateau of knowledge it was
pure folly to go to Harvard University library and read six million books. Better to
gather the 100 most brilliant minds in the world in a room, lock them in and have them
ask one another the questions they'd been asking themselves. The expected result – in
theory – was to be a synthesis of all thought. But it didn't work out that way. 100 most
brilliant minds were identified and phoned. The result: 70 hung up on him! Brockman
persisted with his idea, or at any rate with the notion that it might be possible to do
something analogous using the internet. And so Edge.org was born as a kind of high-
octane online salon with Brockman as its editor and host. He describes it as "a
conversation. We look for people whose creative work has expanded our notion of who
and what we are. We encourage work on the cutting edge of the culture and the
investigation of ideas that have not been generally exposed."
As of now, the roll call of current and deceased members of the Edge salon runs to 660.
They include many of the usual suspects (Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker, Daniel
Kahneman, Nassim Nicholas Taleb and Richard Thaler, to name just a few.)

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It's a good idea - but the results, clearly depend on those asked and those who respond.
My immediate feeling from a quick scan of the recent questions is that the replies are
dominated by the psychologists, IT people and physicists and are skewed by the
strange, highly specialiosed worls they inhabit. Why not more social scientists and
management theorists??

When I was googling for critical reviews of a couple of books, I came across a serious
book review site - bookforum - which offers, every few days, a collection of interesting
links for selected themes - for example on a subject which greatly exercised me 20
years ago - postcommunism. This in turn led me to a useful post on the subject at
another interesting site - the Monkey Cage. I’ve added the bookforum site to my list of
favourite links (which I've also checked for connections). The Browser is
another excellent resource which collects articles on specific themes.
Another site - Logos - is probably just a bit too academic for me and my readers.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

European Failure - of knowledge management

I want to return to a theme which I have mentioned several times on the blog – the
apparent absence in English-language texts (whether books, journals or blogs) of
analysis of the many positive models of socio-economic practice which can be found in
European countries such as France, Germany, Netherlands and Scandinavia. There are
many academic texts on the history and politics of these countries – and many academic
journals devoted to their literary or political aspects. But they are all academic in tone
and style and highly specialised – although I seem to recollect from the 1990s a few
academic journals which had more open content and style eg West European Politics;
Journal of Democracy; Governance – an international journal of policy, administration
and institutions; and Government and Opposition. However a quick look at the titles of
their current issues suggests that they have, in the meantime, become very specialised
and recondite.
Where, therefore, do you now turn if you want to learn on a regular basis (and in clear
analytical text) either about success stories of, for example, organisational change or
social policy in these countries or, even more interestingly, about how exactly that
success was achieved ?

Few books are written about such matters written, at any rate, in a style calculated to
appeal to the average activist or journalist. The book market caters for universities (a
large niche market) - or for the general public. University course are specialised - so we
get a lot of books and journals on public management reform - but almost nothing on
comparative policy outputs (although a fair amount on the process of comparative
policy-making - but very badly written). My fairly simple question and focus falls in the
cracks and therefore gets no coverage. A good example of market-failure!

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Eurozine is a rare website which does bring articles by thinkers of all European nations
together in one place – sometimes under a thematic umbrella - and has received several
honourable mentions on this blog. But the papers don’t deal with policy mechanics – but
operate at a more rarified level of philosophical discourse.

Of course one of the roles played by many Think Tanks is to

bring appropriate foreign experience to the notice of opinion-
makers in their countries – but this is generally done in a partial
and superficial way since most Think Tanks these days are
associated with a political party and have an axe to grind.
Experience is selected to fit an agenda – and the positive
aspects are stressed.eg the one on Free Schools which came out
in 2009. Those interested in the role of Think Tanks (and how
they have become politicised) could usefully read the
paper Scholars, Dollars and Policy Advice by James McGann
(2004) the doyen of the field on the American side; Think Tanks in policy-making - do
they matter ? from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (September 2011) which is a good
and up-to-date European perspective; and Recycling Bins, Garbage Cans or Think Tanks ?
Three Myths about policy analysis institutes by Diane Stone (2007) who is the European
doyenne of the field.
Then there are, of course, the EC and OECD networks and exchanges which do go into
depth on the whole range of concerns of governments – whether the policies and
systems of health and education; systems of public management ; or « wicked »
problems such as social exclusion. But the extensive results of their work are not easily
available – OECD puts most of theirs behind a paywall and few of the EC network
outputs are placed in the public domain.

It is here that the mainstream media fail us. Journalists can access the OECD material
free-of-charge and specialist journalists equally would have no problems obtaining
copies of the EC material.

If I am right about this gap (and I appeal to my readers to correct me), this is a
devastating comment on the « European project ». Hundreds (if not thousands) of
millions of euros have been spent on university and cultural exchanges, communications
and research – and what is there which ca answer my basic need ??

The power of stories

In the past few weeks, I’ve been going through the 500 pages of text and pictures
which the blogging of the past 2-3 years has produced – and asking myself where
exactly I am (or should be) going with it. The daily process of thinking about a
particular aspect of my life’s work of tinkering with government institutions is a useful
discipline. Since an early age, I have had the habit of writing critical analyses of policy
initiatives – in the naive belief that this was the route to improved performance (I had

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forgotten that this habit led to Socrates having to drink hemlock!). Many of my
reflections about these various efforts – whether at community, municipal, regional or
national levels - are available on my website

And the daily copying of reading references – whether of journals or books – has also
helped build up a useful virtual library. As, however, Umberto Eco has remarked – the
beauty of a good library is that only a minority of the texts have actually been read!

The question with which I am now wrestling is whether to continue with this process – a
bit like the 5- minute Thought of the Day programme which the BBC has been running
for decades – or to take time out to read more closely the material in the library and
try to write something more focussed and coherent. My blogposts reflect the gadfly
which is (and has been) an important part of me – alighting for some time on a flower
and then moving on to another.
It is, however, the process of going over my blogs which has made me realise how much
value I place on the ideas embodied in books. Most people are sceptical about the power
of ideas and assume that baser motives make the world go round. John Maynard Keynes
opposed this view with great elegance in 1935 when
he wrote

The ideas of economists and political philosophers,

both when they are right and when they are wrong,
are more powerful than is commonly understood.
Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical
men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt
from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves
of some defunct economist. Madmen in authority,
who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy
from some academic scribbler of a few years back. I
am sure that the power of vested interests is vastly
exaggerated compared with the gradual
encroachment of ideas
But we all need to make sense of the world. Some do
so with their own, home-built view of the world
which, all too often, is two-dimensional if not demented. Most of us, however, seek some
external guidance – but there are so many voices today that we require mediators and
popularisers to help us make sense of things - whether committed journalists like Will
Hutton, Paul Mason and George Monbiot; essayists such as Malcolm Gladwell and serious
analytical blogs such as Daniel Little’s Understanding Society.

Matthew Taylor is one of the few bloggers who, like me, has straddled the worlds of
theory and practice and continues, in his role as Director of the UK Royal Society of
Arts to reflect on his reading. He had a good post recently on a seminar which featured
Nassim Taleb -

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The event was packed out and the chairman was at pains to emphasise the powerful
influence of Taleb’s ideas on Government thinking. In essence Taleb’s argument – based
on a fascinating, but occasionally somewhat opaque, mixture of philosophy, statistics and
metaphors – is that big systems are much more prone to catastrophic failure (or in some
cases sensational success) than small devolved ones. From bankers to planners to
politicians, a combination of ignorance, complacency and self-interest leads to a
systematic underestimation of the inherent risk of large complex systems.

The British Prime Minister is clearly looking for a fig-leaf with which to clothe his moral
nakedness and finds Taleb’s arguments a useful cover. The RSA site actually has a video
of David Cameron in conversation in 2009 with Taleb when he was Opposition Leader.
Taleb has many useful insights to offer. He questions our reliance on the "narrative
fallacy", the way past information is used to analyse the causes of events when so much
history is actually "silent". It is the silence - the gap - the missing energy in the
historical system, which produces the black swan. Imagine, says Taleb, the problem of
turkeys:
Every single feeding will firm up the bird's belief that it is the general rule of life to be
fed every day by friendly members of the human race 'looking out for its best
interests', as a politician will say. On the afternoon of the Wednesday before
Thanksgiving, something unexpected will happen to the turkey. It will incur a revision of
belief
Those wanting to find out more about Taleb’s arguments will find a useful paper from
him on the Edge site I mentioned yesterday
Matthew Taylor then asks a powerful question on his post about the logic and
consistency of the Coalition Government’s use of Taleb’s thinking -
why is a democratically accountable and relatively weak organisation like a local
education authority portrayed by ministers as the kind of overbearing power that needs
to be broken up while Tesco (to take just one example) is left free to grow even more
powerful and major Academy chains, massive welfare to work providers and various
other large scale private sector providers are encouraged?

Saturday, January 14, 2012

user-friendly cities - a missing argument

A visit last week to the office which manages the project I lead here led to another
interesting conversation with one of the many pleasant young Bulgarians one finds here
in consultancies, academia and foundations. As always, there was a surprised reaction to
my characterisation of Sofia as one of Europe’s best capital cities. I gushed – as I
usually do – about the charm of central Sofia –
with only a couple of high-rise buildings, its small shops, narrow streets, trams and
atmosphere, the owners on the doorstep with a coffee and cigarette talking with
friends; with its parks and buskers with their retro music.
Of course the downside of such charm is that those (young and old) who run the tiny

11
vegetable, dressmakers, tricotage (thread); hairdresser shops and various types of
galleries barely make a living. How many of them are rented, I wonder, and therefore
vulnerable to landlord rental hikes and commercial redevelopment?
And I wonder how many of those who engage in this sort of soulless redevelopment
realise what they are destroying – the sheer pleasure of wandering in friendly and
attractive neighbourhoods. Is there nothing which can counter this Mammon? Do the
city authorities realise what an asset they have? If so, are they doing anything about
it? The lady mayor is certainly a huge improvement on her predecessor who, I was told
yesterday, used to charge significant sums for those who wanted an audience with him
to discuss their problems.
Mayor Jordanka has introduced traffic-free days; cleared many cars from the
pavements and created bike lanes (where Denmark, Germany and Netherlands have
blazed a trail). Here she is with a new Deputy Mayor who was, until October
2011, Deputy Minister of Culture

But have her advisers looked to the

examples from Italian cities - whose
city fathers well understood the
treasures for which they had
responsibility - and introduced
regulations, decades ago, which made it
very difficult to change the commercial
use of centrally-located shops. Banks
and mobile phone shops are an
abomination – and should be located in side-streets (like whore-houses).
We need to understand the reasons which have produced such soulless, homogeneous
monstrosities in so many European cities. The explanation is generally simple - a
combination of political pygmies and professional advisers seduced by commercial
interests. Their fall-back argument is the loss of municipal revenue from freezing
commercial useage which serves the needs of the average citizen – as against the fickle
purchases of young, transient, gentrifying residents who resemble so much the
destructive Genghis Khan hordes who swarmed through these areas centuries before.

So, those who respect this human-scale really do need to meet this argument. I've
mentioned several times the writings of Paul Kingsnorth who is one of the few people to
deal with this isse. Even he, however, has not dealt with this central question.

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Monday, January 16, 2012

Disturbances in Romania?

Tomorrow, weather conditions allowing (we had 7 cms of snow this afternoon), we drive
north to Bucharest. It’s less than 150 kms and fairly flat (via Razgrad and across the
Danube at Russe) and would normally not be a problem. What we will find in Bucharest is
beginning to worry us – with riots
apparently taking an increasing hold. An
Economist blog gives what seems a fairly
neutral report - "
POLENTA doesn't explode" is the gnomic
phrase Romanians use to describe the
attitude of resigned acceptance typical to
the country. But this weekend something
snapped. Thousands of people took to the
streets in Bucharest and 40 other towns,
venting their anger at their leaders' perceived incompetence in dealing with Romania's
economic crisis.
The centre of Bucharest was hit by violence on a scale unseen in two decades. Traian
Băsescu, the centre-right president, is the main target of the protesters' ire. "Get out,
you miserable dog" they chanted, as they hurled paving stones and smoke bombs at riot
police. Water cannons and tear gas were used to dispel the crowds.
The immediate trigger for the riots was the resignation of Raed Arafat, a popular
official in the health ministry, who stepped down after clashing with Mr Băsescu over a
set of controversial reforms to the health-care system. Mr Boc has now offered to
revise the plans, and offered an olive branch to Mr Arafat.
The Palestinian-born doctor, who emigrated to Romania in the 1980s, had helped set up
a professional medical emergency system. He disagreed with a government proposal to
privatise it, as part of its drive to cut public spending. "Quality does not automatically
arrive with privatisation. For the patient, the system will be weaker," he said announcing
his resignation. A day earlier Mr Băsescu had called Mr Arafat a liar on television,
adding that he had "leftist" views.
Mr Băsescu is well known for his undiplomatic, mercurial manner. On Friday, however, as
peaceful pro-Arafat demonstrations spread throughout the country, the president
asked the government to pull its draft health-care law. He blamed "media manipulation"
and was unable to resist noting sarcastically that "the emergency system works
perfectly."
Much more graphic coverage from a very committed outsider can be seen here. In fact,
if you follow the discussion thread of the Economist post, the reality (as always in
Romania) seem rather more complex - if not prosaic. I hope to come back to this
later in the week.

Cultural diversions

13
The Targovishte Art Gallery has a rather remote location (at least for present wintry
conditions) in a park on the town’s periphery next to a lake which must be glorious in
summer (and also to the football stadium). From the outside its cavernous size held
some promise – but this was quickly dashed by the iciness of the air as we stepped
inside. There was no heating (and loud leaks from the roofs) for the Gallery’s 2 huge
rooms – which held little of interest. One Neron and one Svetlin Russe which must be
fast deteriorating in such conditions.

Celebrating national bards

A positive glow from the snow-bound fields around Sofia as we headed east on the
smooth Highway which cuts a swathe through the Balkans; then on a French-type RN to
and past Veliko Trnovo (where the snow was thinner).
By then we were picking up Romanian Radio which was celebrating the birthday of
Romania’s most famous poet Mihai Eminiscu (1850-1899) whose star diminished
somewhat after 1989 – at least amongst the intellectuals who questioned his simplistic
nationalism. But ordinary people stuck with his love poetry .

Next week, all over the world, wherever there is (or has been) a small congregation of
Scots, our national bard, Rabbie Burns (1759-1796) , is celebrated at dinners with
poetry, whisky, speeches and music. Apparently during the Cold War one of the
greatest celebrations was in Moscow – since Burns’ egalitarianism was held in high
regard there. I was never into this when in Scotland – although it was de rigeur for the
members of the local elites to come together for drunken ribaldry every 25th January.
But since leaving the country in 1990 I have developed a respect for his poetry – and
this way of celebrating it. I even had my kilt flown over specially from Scotland for the
Copenhagen dinner in 1991!
As we drove, we mused about how many other poets are celebrated in this way.

Hills and small gorges took us into Targovishte where another 2-day workshop is being
held –starting the final phase of this training project on EC Structural Funds after the
hiaitus caused by the November municipal elections. Unlike Northern Europe, municipal
elections here can often lead to personnel
changes.

Targovishte has the size (and sadness) of my

home town in Scotland – 60,000 people and its
first traces are from the 16 C when it had the
name Eski Djumaya. In the 18th century its
market offered access to the Turkish Empire
dealing with Austria, Germany, England, Russia and
Middle East. At the time of the Bulgarian revival
the first economical college was established here – as well as many churches and
libraries, the crafts, trade, tobacco industry are grown. In 1934 it was named

14
Targovishte. In 1959 the town become the administrative centre of the region. Sunday
it looked totally desolate – apart from a small area some of whose traditional, revival
houses have been beautifully restored.
The hotel nestles in an attractive woody and grassed park at the bottom of hills outside
the town - and the architect has superbly exploited the site with the large lobby
windows giving full advantage of the view. The young staff are as courteous as I always
find them in this country - and the food and (famed) local wine as excellent as usual.

Neglect of Bulgarian painting patrimony

We reached Razgrad via a quiet country road from Targovishte with the
sparkling snow fading as we hit the vineyards. Razgrad is a fairly isolated town
of 40-50,000 people lying on the plain between Russe on the Danube and
Varna on the Black Sea. Its town centre is clean and lively – with the huge mosque
(which I have on one of my paintings) acting as the centre for the pedestrian area in
which the attractive and modern-looking municipal gallery is located.
Typically however, it being 12.10, it was closed for the long lunch break and – despite
the seductive poster advertising a special exhibition – we moved on for Russe on the
basis that we could visit next week when a workshop is being held nearby.

I’ve wanted to visit the Russe municipal gallery for some time – the town, after all, has
more than 200,000 people; has been an important port on the Danube for a long time;
and has a proud tradition of culture – with quite a few well-known painters to its name
eg Marko Monev. And the gallery was not difficult to find – the girls in the OBV petrol
station at the central station roundabout knew it was just round the corner. However
the gallery is in a scandalous state for such a city – with (a) no heating and (b) the
paintings in one of the three rooms lying propped on the floor with no means of
identification. Unlike all the other regional galleries I’ve visited in Bulgaria, the Russe
one charges for entrance – OK only 50 pence - but that does raise expectations a little.
No Monev paintings were on display but there were some superb works from Vladimir
Dmitrov-Maistera, Atanas Mihov, Benchko Obreshkov and Nenko Balkanski – all,
however, at risk from the disgraceful conditions. What was even more galling was that
an expensive book was on offer – at 25 euros – celebrating 75 years of the gallery. It
must have cost 5,000 euros to produce – money which would have been much better
spent to keep the paintings in a safer condition.
I can understand the galleries of smaller municipalities being in poor conditions – but
there is asolutely no excuse for this neglect for a city such as Russe. Places like

Razgrad and Kazanlak – with one fifth of the population – clearly do so much

better! Pity the poor young warden who sat wrapped up and freezing in his cubicle as I
happily snapped the choicer exhibits.
What sort of future does he have? He shrugged his shoulders when I asked about the
Monev paintings – and smiled sadly when I asked if there was a feedback book available

15
for me to make my comments! At the very least, the city authorities should relocate the
paintings to a smaller place which is easier to heat! And it doesn’t take much money to
produce a CD of the gallery collection.
Of course art galleries are a municipal responsibility and rightly so. And the Sofia and
Kazanluk galleries show what can be done by committed local authorities and staff –
with both organising special exhibitions and having a range of products (including CDs)
for sale. But the protection of Bulgarian painting patrimony is surely a national issue.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Some typical Bucharest encounters

Some typical Bucharest experiences in the first 24

hours.
Paying bills – first for flat administration, always 2
months in arrears and in inscrutable handwritten notes
with all the memory complications this involves – 75
euros for 2 months in our case (water, heating,
common facilities (incl. cleaning, lifts and concierge).
Then for 3 months cable TV (10 euros a month); and
internet (ditto).
It was the latter (Vodaphone) which caused the most
stress. Their shops are superbly equipped – but often
abominably managed by youngsters who are simply
incapable of putting themselves in their customers’
shoes (and this also goes for their managers). When
you are enter, you see a row of desks/counters
scattered casually to left and right. If you are particularly observant, you will see, on
your left, a machine with multiple choices - one of which you are supposed to punch to
get a numbered ticket. That’s not as easy as it sounds since it offers about 6 choices
and you have to understand what, for example, a personal legal entity is! I was, however,
looking to solve a problem with my internet contract (out of the country for 3 months,
disconnected and facing surcharges) . I could see an “internet” label and was duly
presented with a number. Trouble was that only one of the 7 desks I could see was
displaying electronic numbers and, when I approached desks for clarification, I got no
real help. “We’ll call out the numbers” one guy said – but, of course, this was done in
Romanian and not all distinctly.
After a 10 minutes’ wait and a second rebuttal from the only desk which was managing
to deal with customers, I asked to see the manager to whom I suggested some more
(customer) effective management systems. “Look, I said, these two desks have been
tied up for the last 15 minutes with customers buying hardware. Why don’t you have a
desk which deals with customer queries?” “And how on earth am I supposed to
understand to go when I come in – with only one of the 4 desks being manned actually
dsiplaying its electronic numbers?”

16
After a philosophical discussion about the difference between management and
efficiency, the guy confessed that they paid no attention to customer waiting time.
“But”, I protested, “we customers do!”

This was clearly a Pauline moment in the 30- year old manager’s life. “You may well have
a point”, he conceded, “I will talk to my staff”. I have to remember this is the country
of Ionesco!
He offered no personal help for my simple query – and I departed with a strong warning
that I was a disgruntled customer who would now write a formal letter of complaint to

the Vodaphone management .

At another branch (Bvd Magheru), I had a much more helpful reception – and was led to
understand that (a) I had (in the usual smallprint) signed a contract which rolled over
automatically after the year’s expiry; (b) it could not be cancelled until I paid the
outstanding charges (20 euros); and (c) that a facility was now available to allow me to
buy a monthly prepaid card for only 10 euros a month.
What a contrast! Hats off to that Magheru guy!

In between this, I stumbled first on a small art gallery which, at last, seems to cater
for my taste here in Romania – with quite a few Bessarabian painters at similar prices to
the Bulgarian galleries (the ratio has generally been 5-1)
And, then, in the Carturesti bookshop, a back collection of London Review of Books; and
Times Literary Supplements! Enough to make a guy like me climax! I emerged with 10 of
them – and will be back for more.
And I also came away with a superb bilingual edition of TS Eliot poetry – the last part
of which covers The Four Quartets.

In between all this, I dropped in to see the hard-core of the demonstrators still
demanding, at Piata Universitate, the government;s resignation - after the victory of
the (Palestinian) Deputy- State Secretary of Health who had resigned in protest last
week after the attempt to privatise the emergency service system he had put in place
and had been managing for the past 20 years. It is quite amazing that that thousands of
ordinary Romanian citizens in 40 cities turned out spontaneously to support him!

By the way, when I tried to give the reference to Ionescu. I learned that Wikipedia are
on srike for a day in order to draw our attention to the threat to internet freedom
from a bill currently being considered by the American Congress. A very good tactic by
Wikipedia - bringing home to us how much we depend on this spontaneous system! For
more on the serious implications of the Bill see here.

Some great US winter paintings from a century ago at this great painting blog; and, as I
head to Transylvania at the weekend, an old post about the traditional farming system
there.

17
Friday, January 20, 2012

Romanian paintings

Januaries in Bucharest were bitterly cold and snowy a decade or so ago. I remember
the snow covering cars in the mid-1990s. These days it was just a bit nippy as I zipped
through the various bookshops – and took in the incredible (renovated) palace which now
houses the Artmark auctioneers at C Rossetti 5. I have to say that such opulence (and
staffing) completely turns me off. It simply shows the huge mark-up they must put on
the paintings they sell. Although the prices seem a bit more reasonable than they were,
there were in fact no paintings which interested me in those displayed for the 26
January auction which, this time, includes quite a bit of the Ceaucescu family
possessions and memorabilia which you can see in the catalogue on the site which can be
downloaded. It brought back the memory of the (private) visit I was able to make in
1990 to the richly-endowed mansion the couple had at the back of the Peles palace in
Sinaii. Gold-plated bath taps no less - at a time when the population was starving! I had
good connections in those days as I was working for WHO - which had been in with the
old governments! I was there to show a new face - and explore new possibilities. Which
I did in the gloom and in the front of an ambulance which was the means of transport
for the young doctor who took me around the country.
The ArtMark auction paintings were hiding the gallery's more interesting permanent
exhibition. Better to visit between auctions!
I had noticed in the Humanitas
bookshop a new book (rather pricey at
25 euros) on a superb classic Romanian
painter unknown to me Camil Ressu
(born 1880) A good video of his
portrait work is available here.
But I was persuaded to buy in Artmark
a fascinating and well-crafted 300
page plus book (in English) – The Self-
Punishing One; arts and Romania in the
1980s and 1990s on the works and
times of 3 uncompromising Romanian
artists (Stefan Bertalan; Florin Mitroi,
Ion Grigorescu). How writers coped with the "communist" repression is a common theme
of discussions (I mentioned the Herda Mueller exchange here in November recently)
but I come across discussions about the effects on artistic endeavours much less
frequently. The only thing I can find online on a similar theme is in German.

Whence to the experience of visiting the Ploesti Art Gallery – The "Ion Ionescu-
Quintus" Art Museum of Prahova county's activity, with the two departments, Art
Museum Ploieşti and Memorial House of painter Nicolae Grigorescu in Câmpina, in

18
accordance with the Law 311/2003 to give it its proper title (needed if you are to find
it on the internet!). It is housed in a splendiferous palace in Ploiesti’s centre - which is a
large city 50 kms north of Bucharest on the main highway to the Carpathians and
Europe. Its oil resources gave it strategic and economic importance at the beginning of
the 20th century – evident in some of the architectural gems which can be seen if you
look hard enough. Josef Isser is perhaps the city’s most famous artistic son although
the country’s most famous painter (Nicolae Grigorescu) comes from the county
(Prahova) and is also well represented in the gallery’s collection - as is Theodor Pallady.
However, we apparently arrived at an inopportune time – 15.50 Friday – and got no
response when we rang the bell as requested. The security guard was concerned – not
least because an alarm was ringing - and ran around the building a couple of times
before assuring us that the gallery was open until 17.00. After 10 minutes I was
depositing my business card with a message of disappointment when the huge door
suddenly opened and a surprised-looking woman explained – to the security guy not us –
that there was no electricity although the lights appeared a few seconds after her
“explanation”. Thereafter the usual shrill altercation between Romanian custodians and
citizens – with no sense from the former that any apologies were due. And a special
graphic exhibition had taken over the building – with only half a dozen of the permanent
exhibits being on display. The (European) graphics had been hung so low that it was very
difficult to see their detail. The best feature for me was the building - with
superb entrance hall, painted ceilings and old and fully-functioning tiled stoves keeping
the rooms at their required temperature. We were supposed to pay 2 euros – but
somehow managed to emerge without payment. Another typical Romanian experience of
public services!

Two courageous speeches

I have admired – if not envied - the German political system since I first encountered it
in the 1960s as a student – and was able in the 1970s and 1980s, on my various European
trips, to compare the seriousness with which politicians (national and regional) were
taken in Germany (eg the interviews in the weekly Der Spiegel magazine) with the
shallow and elitist coverage of the London media. Willy Brandt and Helmut Schmidt
were both, in their very distinct ways, inspiring Chancellors – and their Green politicians
blazed a trail.
Helmut Schmidt (age 92) came out of retirement in December and gave a very powerful
address to his Social democrat colleagues about Europe. It’s worth watching (in
German) and reading (in English) – first for what he says about German responsibilities -
For all our surpluses in reality constitute the deficits of the other nations. The claims
that we have on others are their debts. It is a case of undesirable damage being done
to what was once elevated by us to a statutory ideal: »external balance«. This damage
must unnerve our partners. And when foreign, mostly American, voices – then they came
from all quarters – have been heard to call for Germany to take the leading role, all this
together causes further unease in our neighbours. And it revives bad memories.

19
This economic development and the simultaneous crisis in the ability of the organs of
the European Union have continued to force Germany into a central role. Together with
the French president, the Chancellor has accepted this role willingly. However, there
has appeared in many European capitals and likewise in the media of many of our
neighbours a growing concern about German dominance. This time it is not a question of
an overly strong military and political central power, but rather of an overly powerful
economic centre.
At this point, it is necessary for a serious and carefully considered warning for our
politicians, our media and our public opinion to be issued.
If we Germans allow ourselves to be seduced into claiming a political leading role in
Europe or at least playing first among equals, based on our economic strength, an
increasing majority of our neighbours will effectively resist this. The concern of the
periphery about an all too powerful European centre would soon come racing back. The
possible consequences of such a development would be crippling. And Germany would fall
into isolation.
The very large and very capable German Federal Republic needs – if only to protect us
from ourselves – to be embedded in European integration. For this reason, ever since
1992 and the times of Helmut Kohl, article 23 of our constitution obligates us to
cooperate »with the development of the European Union«. Article 23 obligates us as
part of this cooperation to the »principle of subsidiarity«. The present crisis regarding
the ability of EU organs does not change these principles.
Our geopolitically central location and, in addition, our unfortunate role in European
history in the first half of the twentieth century and our current capacity, all these
things together demand from every German government a very large measure of
sympathy towards the interests of our EU partners. And our willingness to help is
essential.
We Germans have indeed not achieved our great reconstruction of the last sixty years
alone and through our own might. Rather it would not have been possible without the aid
of the Western victorious powers, without our involvement in the European Community
and the Atlantic Alliance, without the aid of our neighbours, without the political break
up of eastern Central Europe and without the end of the communist dictatorship. We
Germans have reason to be grateful. And likewise we have the duty to show ourselves
worthy of the solidarity we received through providing our own solidarity towards our
neighbours.
As for what he says about the financial measures Europe needs to take -
The governments of the entire world in 2008/2009 saved the banks with guarantees
and taxpayers’ money. Ever since 2010, however, this flock of highly intelligent (but also
prone to psychoses) financial managers have continued to play their old game of profit
and bonification. In any event, the countries that participate in the common European
currency should join together to put into practice far-reaching regulations of their
common financial markets. Regulations to separate normal commercial banks from
investment and shadow banks, to ban the short selling of securities at a future date, to
ban trade in derivatives, provided they are not approved by the official stock exchange
supervisory body, and regulations for the effective restriction of transactions that
affect the Euro area and are carried out by the currently unsupervised ratings agencies

20
And it was remiss of me not to have mentioned before now the courageous speech given
in Berlin in November by the Polish Foreign Secretary who dared also to talk about
German responsibilities, Here are some of the responses.

Romania's demonstrations - in perspective

Monday’s blogpost carried an excerpt (and heading)

from The Economist magazine’s Eastern Approaches
blog about apparent riots in Romania. After visiting the
location here in Bucharest of the demonstrations and
reading both the (Romanian) comments on the Economist
blogpost and local papers, I think the Economist got the
balance wrong. One of the discussants put it well -
1. The violence was limited in scope and intensity. It is
now clear that it was provoked by fans of two football
teams (Dinamo, Steaua) as a reaction against a recently
enacted law requiring violent supporters to register
with police stations before the match. The picture and
the title suggests that the protests were very violent
and much broader than they were in fact. The leaders
of these football fans organizations made it very clear
in the press they were not interested in politics and
that their agenda was different.

2. Protests themselves are small in scope. It seems that at the peak, they were not
more than 1,500 (more like 1,200) in Bucharest. Very few of them can explain the
reasons they are protesting for. This is very typical for Occupy-type movements.
Bucharest population is well over 2 mil. Also typical to Occupy-type movements, the are
slogans are EQUALLY directed against opposition (USL) and government (PDL+UDMR).
Some protesters are what you'd define as anti-globalization (against what they believe
is new world order etc., you know the story), some are against the Rosia Montana gold
mining project, some are from animal protection NGOs etc. The crowd is very colourful.
3. Protesters have been summoned by USL (socialists+liberals, the opposition). There
are evidences on all major newspapers (check www.evz.ro). Some were called by SMS
etc. The protests turned against opposition as well (they booed when Orban appeared).
4. About protests in other cities,In Iasi, major city, 320,000 (20-120 protesters):
In Craiova, major city of 300,000 population (<100 protesters)
5. Don't use sources such as Realitatea TV or Antena 3. They have a known political
agenda for years. They compare with FoxNews, just that they are much worse. There
are so many other sources. Since so much of the press is somehow connected politically,
you should use as many different sources as possible. Just to give you an idea:
Realitatea TV was showing the case of a retired military earning 500 EUR/month (state

21
pension), WHILE at the same time being employed as assistant professor in some
(private? I don't remember) university and earning a salary. He committed suicide
because he was too poor. They were over-dramatising this episode.
As far as I could find out, only the pensions of the military personnel have been
trimmed. These were huge anyway (more than 1,500 RON, I'd guess on average 2,000
RON?). Many of the military employees have received early retirement when joining
NATO (probably out of fears that they may still be connected to KGB structures); the
Romanian army was considered as oversized. They have received large pensions and
many of them have IN ADDITION other jobs, since they are still relatively young (I
have examples in the family). This group has been very vocal lately. Some participants in
the 1989 events were receiving special pensions as well, apart from other privileges
(free land etc.). Apparently these pensions were large and have been trimmed.
One additional remark: The Economist blog ran a story some time ago (entitled Can an
Englishman rent his castle?) showing that in Romania very few live in rented flats, very
few have mortgages (these are essentially the high-income earners). Most people own
outright their homes and the housing costs are very low. The situation is not that bleak.
There are other, more complex social and psychological problems affecting the
population.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Back to basics

The northern skies looked more

promising as light came to Ploiesti and,
after de-icing, the car headed to the
mountains at 09.15 and started to
encounter the snow at the royal station
of Sinaii – or rather its branch of
Pennywise.
But the roads were good – even up past
Bran and Moiecu - and only got
problematic on the village track where
passing returning weekenders was a tight squeeze between the piles of snow at the
sides of the road.
Impossible to park in my usual places in the village – so I eventually skidded up to the
hotel car-park and abandoned the car there.

Walking – let alone carrying the stuff I’m starting to transfer from the Sofia flat – in
the metre of snow (almost) which now blankets the fields is a real test of fitness!

The new road which lies now at the foot of our garden was, of course, both impassible
and invisible – but I did notice that we had lost the gate which did allow the car onto

22
the garden slope on the odd ocassion the track was dry enough to get me far enough to
the house.
I was carrying so much in the car (books, wine, rakia, 7 paintings and an old carpet) that
I had not wanted to add the camera – and now regret it. The old house was looking
fantastic – with lights from all 6 windows on the middle level casting a superb glow as I
struggled up the hill from the old neighbours who greeted me so warmly (and with hot
tuica).
We have, however, no water – and no gas (a split canister?). But the kitchen fire quickly
spread warmth – and gave the necessary heat for soup et al. The cat – who was last
here in late September – seems glad to be back in the nooks and crannies but doesn’t
quite know what to make of the metre of snow.

The European future

Venturing north now on the last stage of this trip - to see how the mountain house is
coping with the weather. I fear some frozen pipes since I probably lost some anti-gel in
last year's tap split and leak.

I referred a couple of weeks ago to the debate about the future of Europe in the
Eurozine network. Ywo more interesting pieces by Swedish authors are now available -
Per Wirten’s Where were you when Europe fell apart?
In his book, Ill Fares the Land, Tony Judt predicted that neoliberal agitation for a
"minimal state" would cease after the crash in 2008 and be replaced by the return of
the state and a battle about its characteristics: should it be democratic or
authoritarian, kindly or malevolent, based on surveillance or trust? He turned out to be
right. That battle is being fought already.
The longstanding, wishful call for "more Europe" has been converted into a meaningless
platitude. Sharper, more focused opinions are now necessary: the parliament must be
the engine of politics, the Commission must submit to the will of the parliament, social
responsibility and a redistributive policy from wealthy to poor regions must become a
reality – otherwise there is no future either for the euro or the European idea .

and Bjoern Elmbrant’s Whose Europe are we living in?

The euro crisis has shown that this is the Europe of the big nations at the small
nations' expense, the Europe of banks rather than of citizens. Instead of demanding
that their own banks take responsibility, imposing debt rescheduling and a higher
equity, Merkel and Sarkozy have rigged what critics call a "fake debate". What was in
fact the consequences of the financial crisis of 2008 has instead been described as the
result of budgetary indiscipline. Although this might be true for Greece and possibly
Portugal, countries such as Ireland and Spain had a large budget surplus and low national
debt when Lehman Brothers crashed in 2008......

23
It is a Europe characterized by increasing nationalism. Just like during the Weimar
republic in Germany in the 1920s, today's nationalism is kindled by political
ineffectiveness and an economically strapped petit bourgeoisie. The issue concerns not
only the new poverty in indebted countries in the south. In northern Europe, the
margins of the middle class are gradually getting smaller – deep in debt, they no longer
think that solidarity is something they can afford.
Nationalism is the next-door neighbour of selfishness and self-interest. We see
rightwing populism at work also when popular and intelligible EU reforms are made void,
for example when the Danish People's Party reintroduced controls at the borders to
Germany and Sweden. Border controls can now also be "temporarily" reinforced in other
parts of the union "in extreme situations". If countries are allowed to decide for
themselves what an extreme situation might be, Schengen belongs to the past.
Migration issues are a Pandora's box, if you open it just a little, hatred and dirt emerge.
We are now seeing that box opening

Is Europe democratic, then? Less and less. Swedish political scientist Sverker
Gustavsson has described three conditions for democracy to work: democracy must
"deliver", i.e. be able to solve problems; democracy must admit that there are various
routes and that opposition is legitimate; and democracy must be predictable, not
arbitrary.
If we use these criteria to test the way the euro crisis has been handled, the result is
discouraging. The ability to solve problems is weak. Mistakes have been made and
decisions have been wrong and ill-timed. Fear of a free debate about the financial
markets has resulted in politicians lying – this has been admitted. But how do you make
citizens interested in an imminent crisis when there are no clear alternatives and when
politicians don't dare to tell the truth? Finally, there has been a lack of predictability,
as the EU keeps changing its stand, adopting ideas it rejected one month earlier.
Paragraph 125 of the Lisbon treaty stipulated that no rescue packages were to be
allowed, but then rescue packages were issued. It is forbidden for the ECB to buy
government bonds from countries in crisis, yet this has been done through the back
door.

The fact that indebted countries are now governed by "guardians" is also harmful to
democracy. These countries lose their sovereignty as austerity measures are forced
onto them from above and devaluation is not an option. Schools are shut down. Hospitals
reduce the number of operations. Salaries are cut. Pensions are cut. State property is
sold off. In Greece there is talk of selling off "cultural goods". Are we talking about the
Parthenon here? Where is the respect?
The question why the citizens should bow down to decree is legitimate. Especially when
they have hardly been able to influence these measures, for which there is no majority
within the population. The sense of powerlessness is a breeding ground for large-scale
rightwing populism. The design of the euro not only threatens the EU but democracy in
general.......
And so we have been left with a European Union dominated by the German obsession
with budget discipline. There is nothing wrong with having your budget in order, but in

24
turn it has paved the way for a neoliberal agenda and the argument that we have too
much welfare

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Scintillating writing

Left the Sirnea valley (1,400 metres up) not a moment too soon – with heavy snow being
forecast even in Bucharest and the southern plain. But not before I had made a special
trip to buy 4 kilos of the pungent home-made burdurf from my neighbours down the hill
– for my money the place they make the best cheese in the Balkans. Initially with a
strong cheddar taste, it matures into a variety of classic cheeses – depending on where
you keep it. I’ve known it as a variant of an Italian Parma but, when stuffed into jars
and kept in the cellar, it comes out as a juicy, pallat-blowing Pont L ‘Eveque French
cheese. I felt like an urban coward as I abandoned the hardy villagers to the winter
conditions – and excused myself with reference to the lack of water (from which
several other houses too high up the hillside were also suffering) and also with
my hacking chest cough .
Morning did indeed dawn with blustering winds and snow blanketing the cars. So the
planned visit to a Black Sea workshop is off.

Instead I immersed myself in Chris Hitchins’ Hitch 22 - a Memoir which had arrived
last year in Sirnea and whose first half covers exactly my own period of growing up and
coming to political consciousness in Britain. I made no reference to his death last month
– partly because I was somewhat offended that it eclipsed the obituaries of Vaclaw
Havel. Whatever one may think of the man, he was a magnificent writer who captures so
well in this book the nature of Britain the 1960s and 1970s - whether it was the
totalitarian system run by the pupils of schools who have groomed the offspring of its
governing elites for their on their own future roles; or the atmosphere and values in the
local branches of the Labour Party in those days.
He became an early activist in the International Socialist movement (whose people I
fought in the labour party) but then, sadly, became an apologist for American interests.
In that sense, he continued the great English intellectual tradition of the earlier part
of the century of switching sides. Terry Eagleton’s review of the book is a good
summary of what his enemies think -
The Oedipal children of the establishment have always proved useful to the left. Such
ruling-class renegades have the grit, chutzpah, inside knowledge, effortless self-
assurance, stylishness, fair conscience and bloody-mindedness of their social
background, but can turn these patrician virtues to radical ends. The only trouble is
that they tend to revert to type as they grow older, not least when political times are
lean. The Paul Foots and Perry Andersons of this world are a rare breed. Men and
women who began by bellowing "Out, out, out!" end up humiliating waiters and overrating
Evelyn Waugh. Those who, like Christopher Hitchens, detest a cliché turn into one of
the dreariest types of them all: the revolutionary hothead who learns how to stop

25
worrying about imperialism and love Paul Wolfowitz.

That Hitchens represents a grievous loss to the left is beyond doubt. He is a superb
writer, superior in wit and elegance to his hero George Orwell, and an unstanchably
eloquent speaker. He has an insatiable curiosity about the modern world and an
encyclopaedic knowledge of it, as well as an unflagging fascination with himself. Through
getting to know all the right people, an instinct as inbuilt as his pancreas, he could tell
you without missing a beat whom best to consult in Rabat about education policy in the
Atlas Mountains. The same instinct leads to chummy lunches with Bill Deedes and
Peregrine Worsthorne. In his younger days, he was not averse to dining with repulsive
fat cats while giving them a piece of his political mind. Nowadays, one imagines, he just
dines with repulsive fat cats.

The novellist, Blake Morrisons is a more sympathetic reviewer -

The best parts of the book are those dealing with his parents – his mother, Yvonne, who
committed suicide when he was 24, and his father, a former naval officer known as "the
Commander". Yet even here, the polemicist is in danger of eclipsing the memoirist. "I
had once thought that he'd helped me understand the Tory mentality, all the better to
combat and repudiate it," he writes of his father. "And in that respect he was greatly if
accidentally instructive. But over the longer stretch, I have come to realise that he
taught me – without ever intending to – what it is to feel disappointed and betrayed by
your 'own' side."
Hitchens began to leave home almost from infancy. A precocious child, whose first
words came out as complete sentences ("Let's all go and have a drink at the club" was
one of them, allegedly), he was packed off to boarding school at eight – a strain on the
family budget, but if there was going to be an upper class, Yvonne wanted her son to be
part of it. By 10 he knew all there was to know about dictatorships. But though beaten
and bullied, he was never buggered. And there were books, starting with War and Peace
and moving on to Wilfred Owen and George Orwell. When a housemaster warned him
that he was in danger of "ending up a pamphleteer", he felt encouraged.
1968 was a heady year to be a student. He appeared on University Challenge, spoke at
the Oxford Union and dined with government ministers. But he also held forth from
upturned milk crates, organized sit-ins and was charged with incitement to riot. The
spirit of the times was intoxicating but there were limits: sex and rock'n'roll were fine,
but not long hair (an affront to one's working-class comrades) or drugs (a "weak-minded
escapism almost as contemptible as religion").

At Oxford he met his first Americans, including Bill Clinton, who took his dope in the
form of cookies rather than inhaling (and whom he accuses of snithving to the American
authorities on the US draft-dodgers). Clinton aside, Hitchens admired these Americans,
and he began to have a recurrent dream of finding himself in Manhattan and feeling
freer for it. "Life in Britain had seemed like one long antechamber to a room that had
too many barriers to entry," he writes. In truth, every door in London seemed to open
to him. But the contradictions of his journalistic career were troubling ("with half of
myself I was supposed to be building up the Labour movement and then with another

26
half of myself subverting and infiltrating it from the ultra-left"), and perhaps that's
what attracted him to the US, to which he flew on a one-way ticket in 1981 – here was a
chance to quit the British class struggle and be wholly himself.
There's a lot to argue with here. But to take issue with Hitchens you will need to be
formidably prepared (as widely read, widely travelled and rhetorically astute as he is)
and to forget the idea that he "only does it to annoy", out of contrariness rather than
conviction. You'll have to sharpen your invective, too. Humour is one of his deadliest
weapons and there's plenty on display, some of it gently directed at himself
For those who want to hear the text itself, Utube has serialised the entire book
(although I can't get any sound!)

Thursday, January 26, 2012

EC Structural Funds - Cui Bono?

I'm cocooned at the moment in a cosy flat in a wind-swept and snow-bound concrete
block in down-town Bucharest.

The ever-watchful Open Europe operation

has targeted two big elements of EC
spending in reports just out – on
Structural Funds and its Development (or
“external” assistance). Its report on the
latter subject has been drafted for the
UK House of Commons Select Committee
on International Development which has
started an investigation of the EC’s
Development Assistance budget. In
combination with Member States’ own aid
budgets the EU as a whole provides 60%
of global Official Development Assistance
(ODA) making it the largest donor. "Despite some improvements", the Committee says,
"concerns have been expressed about the effectiveness of EC development
assistance, the slow disbursal of aid, the geographical distribution of EC aid and poor
coordination between Member States".
This blog (and papers on my website) have also made a more detailed critique in relation
to its state-building programmes in transition countries. The committee points out that
Total EC external assistance in 2010 was €11.1 billion. The UK share of this was
approximately €1.66. A new Commission policy paper, “An Agenda for Change” was
published in October 2011 for approval by the Council in May 2012. At the same time,
negotiations are proceeding for the Multi-Annual Financial Framework, and the
replenishment of the European Development Fund. Together these will set the
parameters for EC development aid from 2014-2020. The Committee invites evidence
on:

27
• The comparative advantage of the EU as a channel for UK development and
humanitarian assistance and the UK’s ability to influence EU development policy;
• The proposals set out in the “Agenda for Change”;
• The proposals for future funding of EC development cooperation;
• Progress towards policy coherence for development in climate change, global food
security, migration, intellectual property rights and security.
The Open Europe paper is a fairly political briefing on the issues of geographical
distribution, administration (costs and waste), EC “value-added” and policy issues (eg
questionable reliance on budgetary support) – but seems to have been written by epople
with little familiarity with the field of development work.

Its other paper – on EC Structural Funds - is a rather better one which actually looks at
what the research has actually tells us about the success over the years of this funding
in dealing with its basic objective – namely reducing regional differentials within
countries. The answer is "difficult to prove”. Of course, the 60 billion euros a year
programme is now more about building up the missing technical and social
infrastructures of new member States and the paper argues that this should be
properly recognised by the richer member states being taken aut of the programme’s
benefits. The paper reminds that

the previous UK Labour Government proposed limiting the funds to EU member states
with income levels below 90% of the EU average and suggests that this could create a
win-win situation. Such a move would instantly make the funds easier to manage and
tailor around the needs of the poorest regions in the EU. The paper estimates that 22
or 23 out of 27 member states would also either pay less or get more out of the EU
budget, as the funds are no longer transferred between richer member states.
Structural Funds are, however, an important political tool for those committed to "the
European project” in developing and sustaining clienteles. This should never be
forgotten!

I have never been a fan of the EC Structural Funds which I have seen expand from
almost nothing in the 1970s to 350 billion euros in the 2007-2113 period (60 billion a
year – eg 5 billion annual contribution for UK). As a senior politician with Strathclyde
Region which was the first British local authority to forge strong relations with the
European Commission in the 1980s (when we had no friends at Margaret Thatcher’s
court), you might imagine that I was positive about the European funding which we then
received. In fact, I was highly critical – mainly for the dishonesty of the claims made
about its net benefits. The British Treasury simply deducted whatever we gained from
our European funding from our UK funding.

The programme really expanded in the Delors era on the watch of Scottish politician
Bruce Millan as Regional Commissioner (1989-1994). In those days, we believed in
regional development. In my own case, it was my whole intellectual raison d’ etre! The
subject was coming into its own academically – and it was indeed the subject I first
focussed on in my own academic career (before I moved into public management). It

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spawned thousands of university departments and degrees many of which seem still –
despite public spending cuts - frozen in institutional landscapes. And I have never seen
an intellectual questioning of what it has brought us – although I did recently come
across this short critical article on the related field of urban development.

This Open Letter by some prominent Hungarians has just been published about the
situation in that country - and is a useful briefing on the issues - as is this EuroTribune
one. When I worked in that country, I vividly remember one of my older Hungarian
colleagues telling me that she hoped that, this time, the country might actually succeed
in something - since the history of her country to that point seemed to have consisted
of a series of failures.She must be crying herself to sleep these nights!

The cartoon is one of Honore Daumier's - "The Gargantuan". At times like these, we are
in desperate need of the caustic insights of the likes of Daumier, Goya, Kollwitz et al -
and those influenced by them such as the Bulgarian caricaturists of the early and mid-
part of the last century.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Briefings on the new Cohesion Policy

A summary of the new Cohesion Fund which the EC is

proposing to replace the present Structural Funds is
available here.
The University of Strathclyde’s European Policies
Research Centre can generally be counted on for clear
summaries of the issues involved in EC regional policies
and duly produced two years ago a paper “Challenges,
Consultations and Concepts – preparing for the Cohesion
Policy Debate”

Last August the Centre presented an updated 150 pages

briefing on the issues to the European Parliament -
Comparative study on the vision and options for
Coherence Policy after 2013 – although its Executive
Summary does not seem quite up to its normal standards
of clarity. Judge for yourself -
The Commission proposes to reinforce the urban agenda, encourage functional
geographies, support areas facing specific geographical or demographic problems and
enhance the strategic alignment between transnational cooperation and macro-regional
strategies.
Unsurprisingly, there is resistance to some of the more prescriptive elements. Yet, the
territorial dimension could benefit from a greater strategic steer at EU level,
potentially drawing on the recently agreed Territorial Agenda for 2020 to clarify and

29
reinforce future territorial priorities for Cohesion Policy. A more strategically focused
approach to the territorial dimension of cooperation must also be a priority, including a
greater focus on priorities and projects of real transnational and cross border
relevance, seeking greater coherence with mainstream, external cross-border
cooperation and macro-regional strategies and the simplification of administrative
requirements.
And what, exactly, does this mean???

The 2009 Barca Report was a bit long (250 pages plus 10 annexes) but did at least give
a good summary of what we know about the impact of Structural Funds -
20. The state of the empirical evidence on the performance of cohesion policy is very
unsatisfactory. The review of existing research, studies, and policy documents
undertaken in the process of preparing the Report suggests, first, that econometric
studies based on macro-data on growth and transfers, while providing specific
suggestions, do not offer any conclusive general answer on the effectiveness of policy.
This is due partly to the serious problems faced by any attempt to isolate at macro-
level the effects of cohesion policy from those of several confounding factors, and
partly to the fact that existing studies have largely analysed the effect on
convergence, which is not a good proxy of the policy objectives. The review also shows
both the
lack of any systematic attempt at EU and national/regional levels to assess whether
specific interventions “work” through the use of advanced methods of impact
evaluation, and a very poor use of the system of outcome indictors and targets formally
built by the policy.

21. Despite these severe limitations, the available quantitative evidence and a large
body of qualitative evidence lead to two conclusions on the current architecture of
cohesion policy. First, cohesion policy represents the appropriate basis for implementing
the place-based development approach needed by the Union. Second, cohesion policy
must undergo a comprehensive reform for it to meet the challenges facing the Union.

22. The strengths of cohesion policy, which indicate that it represents the appropriate
basis,
include, in particular:
• the development of several features of what has come to be called the “new paradigm
of regional policy”, namely the establishment of a system of multi-level governance and
contractual commitments that represents a valuable asset for Europe in any policy
effort requiring a distribution of responsibilities.
• A good track record of achieving targets, both when cohesion policy has been
implemented as a coherent part of a national development strategy and when local-scale
projects have been designed with an active role of the Commission and the input of its
expertise.
• A contribution to institution-building, social capital formation and a partnership
approach in many, though not all, regions, producing a lasting effect.

30
• The creation of an EU-wide network for disseminating experience, for cooperation
and, for sharing methodological tools in respect of evaluation and capacity building.

23. The most evident weaknesses which indicate the need for reform of cohesion policy
are:
• A deficit in strategic planning and in developing the policy concept through the
coherent adoption of a place-based, territorial perspective.
• A lack of focus on priorities and a failure to distinguish between the pursuit of
efficiency and social inclusion objectives.
• A failure of the contractual arrangements to focus on results and to provide enough
leverage for the Commission and Member States to design and promote institutional
changes tailored to the features and needs of places.
• Methodological and operational problems that have prevented both the appropriate
use of indicators and targets – for which no comparable information is available - and a
satisfactory analysis of “what works” in terms of policy impact.
• A remarkable lack of political and policy debate on results in terms of the well-being
of people, at both local and EU level, most of the attention being focused on financial
absorption and irregularities.

The new Cohesion Policy as a case-study in Orwellian language?

Having made a casual reference a few days ago to a rather superficial paper on EC
Structural Funds (with which I have a tangential link in my current Bulgarian project), I
was understandably attracted by the title of one of the LSE lecture series -
Redesigning the World's Largest Development Programme: EU cohesion policy - by the
Special Adviser to the current EC Regional Commissioner (Austrian Johannes Hahn) –
one Phil McCann, a Professor of Economic Geography. Particularly because it also
offered a 91 slide presentation.
Before I started to listen to it, I checked on Googlescholar to see whether McCann had
perhaps not written an article on the subject - which I could read in a fifth of the time
necessary to stick with the lecture. Unfortunately McCann’s papers are highly academic
and almost impossible to read – eg here.
The guy seems very chatty in person but the more he gets into his subject, the more
naïve he (and his type) seems. The academic discipline of geography has always seemed,
for me, one of the best of the social sciences with its strong multidisciplinary bias. So
(and from the title) I had hoped to get an insight into the intellectual and political
aspects of the european-wide discussions of the past 2 years about the future shape
of this central piece of the “European venture” (now almost level pegging spending with
the wasteful CAP).
What I got was a frightening Orwellian presentation of the latest fashionable EC
phrases. I have still to read all the relevant documentation which has poured from the
EC presses in the past 2 years (and to which I do brief justice in the sections below).
All I know is that the key adviser to the Regional Commissioner seems to know nothing

31
about policy analysis; seems completely taken in by words and phrases; and seems
blissfully ignorant about the various reasons for implementation failure. I do concede
that he was speaking to a student and graduate academic audience - and that this may
be one reason why he focussed on
words rather than realities.

Discussions on the future of EU

Cohesion Policy - €347 billion between
2007 and 2013 – were launched amost
3 years ago.
Two key documents which appeared
almost simultaneously in April 2009
have served as a basis for discussions
on regional policy reform: first a
reflection paper by Danuta Hübner, who had just demitted office as commissioner in
charge of regional policy (from Nov 2004) and amost immediately became chair of the
European Parliament’s Committee on Regional Development (!!)
The other document was a report she had commissed - and which was drafted by
Fabrizio Barca, director-general at the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Both papers categorically rejected any attempt to renationalise Cohesion Policy - which
was the thrust of the Open Europe Report I had mentioned earlier in the week.

Barca’s report, in particular, pays homage to the legitimacy of a policy, which he

considers essential to pursuing European goals. The policy, says the report, must serve
two objectives: development of territories based on local/regional possibilities; and
improvements in social welfare (combating social exclusion). Like Hübner, Barca
suggests placing territories at the centre of EU strategy. Both papers considered that
EU intervention must be refocused on a few key objectives.
The report's recommendations for reform seem typical in their language of such
documents. They are based on ten “pillars” and I would ask the reader – as a mind-game
– to try reversing the phrases to check for how much meaning they contain -
1: Concentration on core priorities (how many of us would suggest focussing on
inessentials??)
Dr Barca says the EU should concentrate around 65% of its funding on three or four
core priorities, with the share varying between Member States and regions according to
needs and strategies. Criteria for the allocation of funding would remain much as now
(i.e. based on GDP per capita). One or two core priorities should address social inclusion
to allow for the development of a "territorialised social agenda".
2: A new strategic framework
The strategic dialogue between the Commission and Member States (or Regions in some
cases) should be enhanced and based on a European Strategic Development Framework,
setting out clear-cut principles, indicators and targets for assessing performance.
3: A new contractual relationship, implementation and reporting
The Commission and Member States should develop a new type of contractual
agreement (a National Strategic Development Contract), focused on performance and

32
verifiable commitments.
4: Strengthened governance for core priorities
The Commission should establish a set of “conditionalities” for national institutions as a
requirement for allocating funding to specific priorities and should assess progress in
meeting targets.
5: Promoting additional, innovative and flexible spending (how many of us would
suggest inflexible spending????)
The Commission should strengthen the principle of "additionality", which ensures that
Member States do not substitute national with EU expenditure, by establishing a direct
link with the Stability and Growth Pact. A contractual commitment is needed to ensure
that measures are innovative and add value.
6: Promoting experimentation and mobilising local actors (ditto)
The Commission and Member States should encourage experimentation, and a better
balance between creating an incentive for local involvement in policies and preventing
the policy from being “hijacked” by interest groups.
7: Promoting the learning process: a move towards prospective impact evaluation
Better design and implementation of methods for estimating what outcomes would have
been had intervention not taken place would improve understanding of what works
where, and exert a disciplinary effect when actions are designed.
8: Strengthening the role of the Commission as a centre of competence (as distinct
from a centre of incompetence?)
Develop more specialised expertise in the Commission with greater coordination
between Directorate-Generals to match the enhanced role and discretion of the
Commission in the policy. This would imply significant investment in human resources and
organisational changes.
9: Addressing financial management and control (as distinct from ignoring them???)
Achieve greater efficiency in administering the Structural Funds by pursuing the
ongoing simplification agenda and considering other means of reducing costs and the
burden imposed on the Commission, the Member States and beneficiaries.
10: Reinforcing the high-level political system of checks and balances
A stronger system of checks and balances between the Commission, the European
Parliament and the Council, through the creation of a formal Council for Cohesion Policy.
Encourage an ongoing debate on the content, results and impact of the Cohesion Policy.

Such an approach argues for a Cohesion Policy which continues to address all EU
regions, both Barca and Hübner say. Pawel Samecki, who succeeded Hübner as
commissioner (but for one year only until replaced by an Austrian who is contesting
accusations of plagiarism in his doctorate)), follows the same logic. Since both (or all
three) defend the need to concentrate the greatest share of funds on less developed
regions, where GDP per inhabitant would remain the reference indicator for prioritising
funding, we are no longer talking about a ‘Sapir-style’ scenario. This was named after
the Belgian economist André Sapir who, in 2003, drew up a highly controversial report
for the Commission, which recommended a Cohesion Policy almost exclusively for regions
in the new member states. For the Commission, a regional policy addressed to all is
especially necessary since challenges, such as globalisation and climate change, affect

33
the whole of the European Union – the EU15 as much as more recent members – at a
time when national exchequers are stretched. There is no doubt, however, that some
member states will call on the Sapir scenario in discussions on the new Cohesion Policy

During her mandate, Hübner frequently insisted on the need to strengthen the
Commission’s strategic role in defining the policy to be implemented. The same idea is
taken up in the Barca report. This envisages a seamless process starting with a real
political debate and leading to adoption of a European framework and signature of
“strategic development contracts” between the Commission, member states and,
possibly, regions. In the Barca scenario, regional and local authorities would be more
widely involved than today, which the Commission is also said to support. These
contracts would formally commit signatories to a strategy, results and follow-up
reports.
A genuine assessment for monitoring the performance of programmes and results would
also need to be established – something Barca considers is lacking today. In her
reflection paper, Hübner talks of setting up a “culture of monitoring and
evaluation”. Commissioner Samecki also highlighted the need to concentrate further on
results and performance. In this, they are slavishly following the fashion of today - and
that part of McCann's presentation which dealt with this issue was positively
embarrassing in its naivety and failure to relate to the wider and highly critical
literature about performance management.

One of the problems about EC policy-making is that, despite (perhaps because of??) the
emphasis on transparency and consultation, the processes are conducted by insiders -
many of them paid by the EC itself (academics and not a few journalists). Outsiders like
myself are discouraged by the language, complexity and sheer volume of paper. It would
be interesting to spend some time reading the relevant stuff on Structural Funds
(regional policy, social funds, coherence et al) and explore some basic questions about
Value Added!!!

Monday, January 30, 2012

Cohesion Policy - part IV

The last few posts have been about the apparent lack of
public knowledge (including mine - let alone discussion) about
an issue which has been absorbing the energies of thousands
of specialists throughout Europe in the last 2-3 years –
namely the future shape and management of the huge
amounts of money which Europe disburses to Regions and
which take up the energies and time of so many officials in
countries such as Bulgaria and Romania – with so much acrimony (confusion, corruption
and penalties) and so few apparent results.

34
My concerns are not populist – since I have always accepted the existence of „market
failure” and the case for government intervention and spending programmes.
My recent experience in the field in Bulgaria raises the following sorts of questions -
• What was actually achieved in the period since 2007 by the 50 billion a year spent on
what most of us know as EC Structural Funds (although technically it comes from 6-7
differently-named programmes)?
• Where is the country by country analysis?
• Can one programme do justice to the needs of 27 countries – even granted its
management is in the hands of each country?
• Particularly a programme of which amost half is in new member states (still in transit
from centralised political cultures) and which yet makes no mention of the specifics of
these countries?
• Has it not been a mistake to run the programme as a regional development one when
the needs are more institutional and developmental?
• In what precise ways is the new proposed policy from 2014 different from that which
has ruled for the 2007-2013 period?
• And what weaknesses of the previous policy explains the changes?
• What exactly is the "place-based approach” which is trumpeted in the new policy ??
• Where are debates which deal clearly and honestly with these questions?

I am encouraged by one semi-official report (of 250 pages) which appeared in 2009 –
the Barca Report - which seems very well written, draws on a wide range of discussions
and openly admits (a) the conceptual and political confusion; (b) the difficulties in
measuring impact; and (c), in the very first page, the lack of public debate -
What is lacking is a political debate about whether that particular way of spending
public funds adds value compared to sectoral or national approaches. And when and
where it is effective. The same failure is visible in the academic debate, where very
often a line separates the “cohesion policy experts” and the rest of academia.
I've a long way to go in reading this report - so please be patient. And, in the meantime,
I stick with my main accusation - that there don't seem to be any journalists writing
about this issue!

Today Romanian media have been celebrating the birthday of their most famous
dramatist - Caragiale - who was born 160 years ago. The Romanians are very fond of
him and his mocking of the political process.Mitica was a character who cropped up in
his plays and whom the Transylvanians particularly associated with the slippery
southerners. Wikipedia have a very detailed entry on his life and works.

The painting is a Levitan

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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

World Social Forum

Every now and then I bemoan the lack

of journals giving an adequate coverage
of European life and policies. Any
amount of stuff on Europe as a concept
or European Union policies – but
virtually nothing which gives us a
comparative sense of national policies
(in those fields still within the control
of member states). Today I came
across a French website - Books and
Ideas - which does at least seem to offer, in the English language, some non-Anglo-
Saxon perspectives.
And one of its contributions offered an answer to something which had been puzzling
me since last summer when I wrote an article for a special issue of a Romanian journal
which was devoted to the world a decade after 09/11. My piece was entitled "The Dog
that didn’t Bark” and focussed on the general failure of radicals to capitalise on the
global crisis – and, more specifically, the apparent failure of the World Social Forum
which had been so active until 2005. The Forum is apparently right now holding another
of its huge meetings - in Brazil (significant that I get the detail only from a German
media source) - and Geoffrey Pleyers suggests two things in his article in
BooksandIdeas - first that the Forum has been a victim of its own success (with many
politicians now using their rhetoric); and, second, that the movement has now
fragmented around three distinct trends -

1. A Focus on the Local Level

Rather then getting involved in a global movement and international forums, a wide
“cultural trend” of the alter-globalization movement considers that social change may
only occur by implementing participatory, convivial and sustainable values in daily
practices, personal life and local spaces. In many Italian social centres, critical
consumption and local movements have often taken the space previously occupied by the
alter-globalization movement. Local “collective purchase groups” have grown and
multiplied in Western Europe and North America. Most of them gather a dozen
activists who organize collective purchases from local and often organic food producers.
Their goal is to make quality food affordable, to bring an alternative to the “anonymous
supermarket” and to promote local social relations. The movement for a “convivial
degrowth” belongs to a similar tendency and aims to implement a lifestyle that is less of
a strain on natural resources and reduces waste.

2. Citizens’ and Experts’ Advocacy Networks

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Rather than massive assemblies and demonstrations, another component of the
movement believes that concrete outcomes may be achieve through efficient single-
issue networks able to develop coherent arguments and efficient advocacy. Issues like
food sovereignty, Third World debt and financial transactions are considered both as
specific targets and as an introduction to broader questions. Through the protection of
water, activists raise for instance the issue of global public goods, oppose global
corporations and promote the idea of “the long-term efficiency of the public sector”
(“Water network assembly”, European Social Forum 2008). After several years of
intense exchanges among citizens and experts focusing on the same issue, the quality of
the arguments has considerably increased. In recent years, they have become the core
of social forums’ dynamic. Although they get little media attention, these networks have
proved efficient in many cases. During the fall of 2008, the European Water Network
contributed to the decision by the City of Paris to re-municipalize its water
distribution, which had been managed previously by private corporations. Debt
cancellation arguments have been adopted by Ecuadorian political commissions, and some
alter-globalization experts have joined national delegations in major international
meetings, including the 2008 WTO negotiations in Geneva.

3. Supporting Progressive Regimes

A third component of the movement believes that a broad social change will occur
through progressive public policies implemented by state leaders and institutions.
Alter-globalization activists have struggled to strengthen state agency in social,
environmental and economic matters. Now that state intervention has regained
legitimacy, this more “political” component of the movement believes that time has come
to join progressive political leaders’ efforts. It has notably been the case around
President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela as well as President Evo Morales in Bolivia. New
regional projects and institutions have been launched on this basis, like the “Bank of the
South” that has adopted the main tasks of the IMF in the region. For historical reasons
and their political cultures, Latin American and Indian activists are used to proximity
with political parties and leaders.

And a German journal gives a frightening insight into the Greek situation -
The Greek economy is not productive enough to generate growth. Aside from olive oil,
textiles and a few chemicals, there are hardly any Greek products suitable for export.
On the contrary, Greece is dependent on food imports to feed its population.
"Greece has been living beyond its means for years," an unpublished study by the
German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) concludes. "The consumption of goods
has exceeded economic output by far."
Especially devastating is the assessment that the DIW experts make about the
condition of an industry that is generally seen as a potential engine for growth: tourism.
According to the DIW study, the Greek tourism industry concentrates on the summer
months, with almost nothing happening throughout the rest of the year. There is almost
no tourism in the cities, which translates into low overall capacity utilization and high
costs for hotel operators. By contrast, capacity utilization in the hotel sector is much
more uniform in other Mediterranean countries.

37
According to the study, a key cause of the problem is the relatively poor
price/performance ratio. In Mediterranean tourism, Greece has to compete with non-
euro countries like Croatia, Tunisia, Morocco, Bulgaria and Turkey, which can offer their
services at significantly lower prices. The per-hour wage in the hospitality industry was
recently measured at €11.39 in Greece, as compared with only €8.49 in Portugal, €4 in
Turkey and as little as €1.55 in Bulgaria. The study arrives at grim conclusions, noting
that the drastic austerity programs will not only remain ineffective, but will also
stigmatize the country as "Europe's problem child" for a long time to come.
The painting is a....Turner, of course!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Romania's Al Capone moment

One of Romania’s ex-Prime Ministers was sentenced

yesterday to 2 years in jail – although, compared
with the wider suspicions against him and all those
who occupy such positions here, the issue on which
he was sentenced smacks a bit of the Al Capone
syndrome (done for taxation issues; this is Capone's
mugshot) -
Romanian High Court of Justice magistrates gave
former prime minister Adrian Nastase on Monday a
2-year sentence and stripped him of certain rights
in a corruption case known locally as the "Quality Trophy" file. In
this case, Nastase, who served as head of the Romanian government
between 2000 and 2004 (see pic below), was charged of supporting
his electoral campaign through funds collected in a "Quality Trophy"
event organized by the a public institution. The sentence can be
appealed. UPDATE Adrian Nastase said on Monday he would appeal
the verdict and that he was sure "things will be corrected on
appeal". He called the verdict a "political decision, a dirty decision"
and referred to "rumors" that head judge Ionut Matei "had
meetings with representatives of the National Anti-corruption Department", the body
which launched the corruption investigation against him.
In fact, Nastase cut a fairly impressive figure when he was PM - open and intelligent -
probably the least corrupt of the lot (apart from Trade Unionist lawyer and National
Peasant Party Ciorba). He did attract some ridicule for his attribution some years back
of his unexplained wealth to the inheritance from an old aunt. He is in fact the first
high-level politician to go to jail - Severin, the MEP, still shamelessly draws his salary
and expenses - despite his exposure a year ago for corrput practices and banishment
from the socialist bloc.
Those who wish to know about current events in Romania are best to follow the Sarah in

38
Romania blog which is on my links. And she had a good post recently on the
protests here which continue even in the biting cold here (minus 22 last night) -
Romania's president incumbent, Traian Basescu, spoke on national television last week
for the first time since protests began almost three weeks ago, in defense of his
government's tough austerity measures. The measures suffered in Romania have been
immensely strict. "Brutal and unthinkable in a West European country" was the verdict
on the two years of austerity from Andreas Treichl, the president of Austria's Erste
Group, the largest foreign investor in the Romanian banking sector.
• 2011 budget deficit 4.35% of GDP
• public sector pay cut by 25%
• VAT raised from 19% to 24% (only surpassed by Iceland, Hungary and Norway)

We have been very much aware of the harsh conditions inflicted on the Greeks due to
their own government's wheelings and dealings for decades, but very little, if anything,
was reported by the international press up until the protests on those suffered by the
Romanian people. In his 35-minute address to the nation, Mr Basescu acknowledged
"some citizens have lost faith" but said the measures had pulled the country out of a
recession, the Associated Press reported. "I know what needs to be done. We are
where we should be. Romania has come out of a recession," he said.
To say that 'some citizens have lost faith' is something of an understatement. If the
press and the social networks are to be believed, a very large majority of the country
has lost faith - and that can be seen in the thousands who have taken to the streets
across the entire country over the last 13 days. Teodor Baconschi, the Foreign Minister,
was fired after he called protesters "inept and violent slum dwellers," and compared
them to the miners who took to the streets of Bucharest in the 1990s. Clearly, the
government believed this would mollify the protesters, but they remain wholely
unconvinced.
In the nationally televised speech delivered live from the presidential palace on the
occasion of Cristian Diaconescu's swearing-in as the new Foreign Minister, Basescu said
his government would continue to create more jobs and fight against corruption and tax
evasion. If Romania is really going to fight corruption, surely those in power now will
have to step down and certain members of the opposition (the majority, in fact) would
be unable to take power. You know the saying - 'the fish rots from the head...' Of
course, corruption is so deep-seated one is helpless in knowing where to begin, but
those in power today are as guilty of it as anyone. As are some in the opposition. There
is the quandry. They are both as bad as each other. Today, the US Ambassador to
Romania, Mark H. Gitenstein, criticised the country's high-level corruption - not
particularly helpful, since it's nothing particularly new...
Those calling for Traian Basescu's resignation continue to state that ANYONE would be
better than him. Those hoping he stays say that this is truly not the case. And so far,
there is nobody else.
On 24 january, about 2,000 teachers, nurses, retired army officers and trade unionist
rallied outside the government's headquarters: "I want to regain my dignity, I want this
dictatorship formed by president and prime minister to fall," said Otilia Dobrica, a
kindergarten teacher and part-time secretary who earns around $420 a month.

39
"We can't take any more," nurse Adriana Vintila explained. "Four million Romanians have
left to work abroad because they can no longer survive in their home country. I don't
want to leave; it's the government that should go."
About 5,000 people rallied in Iasi, calling for early elections, whilst in Bucharest's Piata
Victoriei, protesters shouted "Freedom, Early Elections!" during yesterday's anti-
government rally. “When I was the captain of a ship I never failed to bring my ship to
port and I won’t fail to bring Romania to safe harbour,” Traian Basescu said during his
address. “The belief that the president no longer represents the people is false. The
president’s obligation is to represent them continuously, as the president has been
elected through direct vote.”
Romania has been transformed since the overthrow of the Communist dictatorship in
1989 and the sometimes violent instability that followed. The nouveau-riche jet-set of
young Romanians fill trendy nightclubs and plush restaurants that have sprouted up in
Bucharest, and shiny new SUVs cruise the capital’s boulevards. There are many who do
not wish to lose what Romania has today - better, richer in comparison to the way things
were. They say that Traian Basescu is not a dictator and that Romania is no longer a
dictatorship - they lived in and survived one. They know. Today, they have an opposition
in parliament and they can protest in the streets. That is proof that no dictatorship
exists today.
And yet, those in favour of the opposition, or at least, those calling for the resignation
of Traian Basescu, Emil Boc and the fall of the present government say the benefits of
progress have been uneven: life is harsh in rural areas and in the capital. Seventy
hospitals nationwide have been closed; education has taken a nose-dive; if one wants a
decently-paid job then one must go abroad; pensions are insultingly low; salaries have
been cut. Among the EU nations, only neighbouring Bulgaria is poorer. Laws are passed
without going through parliament to suit those in power, eg. Rosia Montana. That is NOT
democracy.
Traian Basescu's speech, said Crin Antonescu, leader of PNL, was a sign that he was out
of touch with reality and that he should resign, whilst Victor Ponta, the leader of PSD,
told Agerpres that the speech said nothing at all and had no link whatsoever to do with
what was happening in Romania.
Indeed, Romania finds itself today at a deeply messy and complex impasse. To choose
between rotten apples and rotten pears is impossible and, until someone better comes
along, until a new party surfaces that is not filled with officers and informants of the
securitate and yesterday's nomenclatura, I remain fearful for the future of the
country of my heart.
And Sarah also has a very readable piece today about Romania’s great dramatist –
Caragiale – who was, as I mentioned on the 30 January posting, born 160 years ago -
By the late 1870s, Caragiale began writing the plays which cemented his reputation as
an important playwright in Romania. In both plays and prose, he showed an incredible
sense of the Romanian language, customs, and mannerisms, especially in the common
person, and successfully used them for comedy and satire. Caragiale was highly
observant of the human condition, particularly our tendency towards mistakes. He used
what he saw and heard in his stories which generally focused on social conflicts and
political corruption. The plays, especially, were full of fast-moving action and farce,

40
employing solid characters with witty dialogue who usually failed in their goals. In the
1980s, Caragiale's plays were banned until the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was executed
in 1989
Thank you, Sarah, for these excellent posts!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Classic Romanian painters

Still blocked in Bucharest with the snow and biting

temperatures (minus 27 in Brasov last night) and, being the
first Wednesday of the month, what better to do than take
advantage of the free entry to galleries which this date
always offers. So off to the great National Museum of
Romanian Art – and straight up to the third floor (so as not
to be tired out by the time the modern section is reached!)
The large collection there starts with a generous number of
the bright Theodor Aman (1831-1891) society paintings –
ditto Nicolae Grigorescu (1838-1907) and Ion Andreescu
(1850-1882) - and gives a new perspective on every visit.

I had previously praised a website which purports to show

the Romanian cultural patrimony but now notice that none of
the great paintings on display seem to be in the virtual
collection.

Stefan Popescu (1872-1948), for example, is a great favourite of mine – particularly

those which reflect his time in northern
Africa. Sadly, however, I can find none of
these on the site (which is, in any event
organised in a very administrative, non-user
friendly way) - or online generally. If you
scroll down on this blogpost (on my links)
about the Brasov Gallery you will get a
certain sense of some of the classic
Romanian painters.

The National Gallery always has interesting

publications and, this time, I bought (for 7
euros) a very well-produced 122 page book on their modern school. At the Humanitas
bookshop nearby, I bought, for 9 euros, the 150 page book on Theodor Aman – and also
a great-looking source book on Balkan Cinema.

41
Friday, February 3, 2012

we don't live in a post industrial age

I’m reading Ha-Joon Chang’s 23 Things they don’t tell you about Capitalism at the
moment – and am very impressed. An economist who
writes simply and elegantly (shades of JK
Galbraith) and makes you think (as distinct from
fall asleep). Section nine – entitled We do not live
in a post-industrial age - took me back to
arguments with my father in the 1970s about the
role of industry. The indifference (at least) of
British social scientists – and the policy elites who
took their arguments – to the decline of
manfacturing industry is a phenomenon to which we
have not yet done historical justice! Here’s some of
what Chang has to say –

Part of the de-industrialisation myth is due to optical

illusions – reflecting, for example, changes in statistical
classification rather than changes in real activities. One
such illusion is due to the outsourcing of some activities
that used to be provided inhouse by manufacturing firms and thus captured as manufacturing
output (e.g., catering, cleaning, technical supports). When they are outsourced, recorded
service outputs increase without a real increase in service activities. Even though there is no
reliable estimate of its magnitude, experts agree that outsourcing has been a significant
source of de-industrialisation in the US and Britain, especially during the 1980s.
In addition to the outsourcing effect, the extent of manufacturing contraction is
exaggerated by what is called the reclassification effect. A UK government report estimates
that up to 10% of the fall in manufacturing employment between 1998 and 2006 in the UK
may be accounted for by some manufacturing firms, seeing their service activities becoming
predominant, applying to the government statistical agency to be re-classified as service
firms, even when they are still engaged in some manufacturing activities.
A third factor in the myth is the relative price-effect. With the (inflation-adjusted) amount
of money you paid to get a PC ten years ago, today you can probably buy three, if not four,
computers of equal or even greater computing power (and certainly smaller sizes). As a result,
you probably have two, rather than just one, computers. But, even with two computers, the
portion of your income that you spend on computers has gone down quite a lot (for the sake of
argument, I am assuming that your income, after adjusting for inflation, is the same). In
contrast, you are probably getting the same number of haircuts as you did ten years ago (if
you haven’t gone thin on the top, that is). The price of haircuts has probably gone up
somewhat, so the proportion of your income that goes to your haircut is greater than it was
10 years ago.

The result is that it looks as if you are spending a greater (smaller) portion of your income on
haircuts (computers) than before, but the reality is that you are actually consuming more
computers than before, while your consumption of haircuts is the same.

42
 A very thorough review in Dissident Voice starts with an excellent summary of some
of the main points Chang makes - all starting with a statement of "what they tell us",
followed by a demolition of the conventional wisdom –

* Government must never interfere with “the free market.” (Chang says WRONG: modern
economies would collapse without numerous forms of government intervention. Smart
capitalists know very well that “there is no such thing as a free market.”)
* Companies should always be run in the interests of their owners/shareholders (WRONG:
shareholders often damage the long-term prospects of companies by over-emphasizing short-
term profit.)
* Economic health requires the assumption that people think only about themselves (WRONG:
the most successful firms and national economies understand how to harness peoples’
cooperative and altruistic sentiments and instincts.)
* Poor counties need to adopt “free market” (neoliberal) policies (especially “free trade”) to
achieve sustained growth. (WRONG: developing countries experienced superior growth in the
period of state-led Third World development [1945-1970] than in the period of neoliberal,
market-oriented “reform.” This is richly consistent with how the world’s richest nations – the
ones who preach neoliberalism to the rest of the world – rose to ascendancy in the past:
“through a combination of protectionism, subsidies, and other [state- and not market-led)
policies that today they advise developing countries not to adopt” [63].)

* The relatively free market, capitalist-friendly neoliberal United States enjoys the highest
standard of living in the world. (WRONG: thanks to the nation’s remarkably high levels of
inequality [itself a symptom of its extreme neoliberalism], millions of Americans do not enjoy
the United States’ remarkable average living standard. That extreme inequality and the
poverty it generates are the main factors behind comparatively poor health indicators and
crime levels in the U.S. Higher immigration and poor working conditions explain are the main
reasons that many services are purchased more cheaply in the U.S. At the same time,
Americans work considerably longer hours than Europeans so that “per hours worked, their
command over goods and service is smaller than that of several European countries [103].”)

* Making rich people richer makes the rest richer too since it is rich people who seek out
marketing opportunities and then invest to create jobs (WRONG: pro-rich policies have failed
to produce economic expansion in the last three decades. “Trickle down economics” doesn’t
work. It can have no positive outcomes in the absence of polices that (contrary to neoliberal
doctrine) that make the rich deliver higher investment and share the benefits with – and put
spending power in the hands of – non-affluent people, who spend a higher portion of their
income than do the rich).

* Government must give maximum freedom to big corporations for the good of the countries
in which those companies reside (WRONG: it is often better for the national economy and
even the individual company for government to impose reasonable restraints and obligations
on those companies).

* Capital has no nationality in the age of multinational corporations and globalization and
therefore it nationalistic government policies towards transnational capital is “at best
ineffective and at worst counterproductive” (WRONG: “most transnational companies in fact
remain national companies with international operations, rather than genuinely nation-less
companies” and it is “very naïve to base economic policies on the myth that capital does not

43
 have any national roots anymore”)

* Governments lack the ability (including the required expertise and information) to make
intelligent business choices and thereby “pick winners” through state-led industrial policy.
(WRONG: governments can and do regularly choose winning firms and industries over and
against “market signals” and in ways that can and do “improve national economic
performance”).

* The only equality that is economically functional or advisable is equality of opportunity.

Policies that seek to generate more equality of outcome are inherently inefficient and unjust
(WRONG: the equality of opportunity that is required to broaden the spread of economic
benefits does not really exist without at least some measures to enhance equality of outcome.
Free public education is woefully insufficient to broaden opportunity when it is not
accompanied by policies that put a basic decent minimum standard of material living for
households on the bottom end of the scale).

* The big government welfare state damages economies by depriving the rich of the incentive
to create wealth and making the poor lazy. It creates resistance to the change that modern
economies require. (WRONG: by providing second and third chances and a safety net to the
non-affluent, the welfare state encourages workers to be more open to change when comes to
choosing their first jobs and letting go of their existing jobs).

* Efficient financial markets – capable of the rapid allocation and re-allocation of capital
across time and place – are the source of economic health and expansion Recent financial
disturbances aside, smart policy makers should do nothing to slow down and complicate the
operation of the world’s high speed financial markets (WRONG: U.S. and western financial
markets are actually too efficient. The currently over-developed financial sector is now so
proficient and organized in the pursuit of short-term profits that it is a leading source of
economic instability and is incapable of giving emergent enterprises and industries and
complex national economies the patient nurturance they require to develop over time.)

The painting is the only abstract which graces my collection - by Stefan Pelmus, more of
whose paintings can be seen here.

44
Sunday, February 5, 2012

EC's Cohesion Funds (part V) A Tale of Sound and Fury?

There’s something to be said for ignoring a policy field

for several years and then trying to catch up with it in
one go – it makes you focus on the essentials and
certainly saves a lot of time! So it’s been in the last few
days as I have downloaded and skimmed a lot of material
on the (rather incestuous) debate which has been taking
place over the past 2-3 years about the EC Structural
(or Cohesion) Funds whose programme for 2014-
2020 will have to be decided this year.

As the Commission’s views eventually surfaced at the

end of 2011, it seems, frankly, to be have been a case of
"sound and fury…signifying…nothing”! When I read the
leaflet which set out the Commission’s proposals of 6
October, they don’t seem to contain anything
significantly new – more ex-ante evaluation; better
monitoring; and a new category of "transitional regions”.
And the much-discussed idea of more local flexibility seems to have died without trace.
So perhaps the journalists I accused of neglect in an earlier post have been correct to
leave the subject well alone. As we say, it "doesn't appear to amount to a row of beans!"
In 2010, a slide presentation caught the terms of the then current debate rather well.
For those masochists who want to follow the details of the debate, an archived site
allows you to access both the key papers and also the various components of the 2009
Barca report including its ten 10 commissioned studies and a summary of some hearings.

Despite a caustic comment recently about language, the papers from Strathclyde
University’s European Policies Centre are the only clear updates you get on Structural
Funds. The latest is appropriately subtitled "let the negotiations begin".
In November 2011 one of the leading members of the Centre produced a paper EC
Cohesion Policy and Europe 2020 – between place-based and people-based prosperity
which subjected the debate on the EC’s Cohesion Policy to the dreadful Discourse
Analysis -
Ideas are increasingly recognized as playing an important causal role in policy
development. Instead of seeing change as the product of strategic contestation among
actors with clear and fixed interests, an ideational perspective emphasises the struggle
for power among actors motivated by different ideas.
The last half of the paper, however is actually interesting - it traces the history of
cohesion policy and then explores the various policy positions about the nature and
shape of the future programme (which now accounts for 40% of the EU budget). The

45
paper suggests 2 central dimensions – focus and management – to construct a matrix.
The focus can be geographical place or sector (eg transport, energy, IT, environment);
the management central (EC led) or local (national) – which gives four options -
• Territorial contractualism (top-down); supported by two key players – the European
Parliament and the European Commission’s Regional Policy Department (DG Regio)
• Territorial experimentalism (with more local flexibility); supported by the Committee
of Regions
• Sectoral functionalism (top-down); supported by the other relevant Commission
Directorates
• Sectoral coordination

Ideas in these arguments become tools which rationalise the interests of the various
actors. As I thought about the process, I was suddenly reminded of one of the seminal
texts in the literature of political science – Graham Allison’s The Essence of Decision
(1971) - which applied three different explanatory models to the Cuban Crisis – the
rational (what is in the interests of the government); the organisational process
(organisations do what they are used to doing); and bureaucratic (court) politics
("various overlapping bargaining games among players arranged hierarchically in the
national government”). This is a paper of his from 1968 which presents the basic
proposition; and this a critique from 1992.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Money silences

A very important and revealing short piece on media freedom by Nick Cohen deserves a
high profile -
The grand posture of writers in liberal democracies is that they are the moral
equivalents of dissidents in repressive regimes. Loud-mouthed newspaper columnists
claim to 'speak truth to power'. Novelists, artists, playwrights and comedians announce
their willingness to transgress boundaries. Their publishers look for controversy like
boozers look for brawls because they know that few marketing strategies beat the
claim that a courageous iconoclast is challenging establishments and shattering taboos.
To maintain the illusion that they are part of some kind of radical underground,
intellectuals must practise a deceit. They can never admit to their audience that fear
of violent reprisals, ostracism or crippling financial penalties keeps them away from
subjects that ought to concern them - and their fellow citizens.
Challenging writing about economic crises is rare. Diligent readers have every right to
ask why so few financial writers warned them that the greatest crash since 1929 was on
the way. As no less a personage than Her Majesty the Queen said to the academics at
the London School of Economics, 'Did nobody notice?'
In Britain's case, any writer who had tried to research a book on the rapacious and
authoritarian managers at the Royal Bank of Scotland or HBOS, for instance, or on the
insanely reckless derivative swap and insurance markets in the London-based

46
subsidiaries of Wall Street banks, would have run into the libel law. It is some barrier
to overcome. The cost of a libel action in England and Wales is 140 times the European
average. Contrary to common law and natural justice, the burden of proof is on the
defendant. Even the few remaining wealthy newspapers, which have business models
that have not yet been destroyed by the Internet, find it hard to afford a court case.
For the publisher of a serious book, which would do well if it sold 50,000 copies, the
idea of risking £1 million or more in a legal fight to defend it is close to unthinkable.

In 2006, the Danish tabloid Ekstra Bladet investigated the links between the Icelandic
bank Kaupthing and tax havens. Kaupthing's managers did not like what they read, but
failed to persuade the Danish press council that the paper had done anything wrong.
The bank sued for libel in London instead. The newspaper pulled the articles and
apologised because English lawyers ran up costs that were beyond its editor's worst
nightmares - £1 million, and that was before a case had gone to court.
Kaupthing went for the paper in England not just because it wanted to kill the original
story, but because it also wanted to deter others from spreading the idea that Iceland
was not a safe place for investors. The English legal profession obliged. Newspapers'
lawyers thought once, twice, one hundred times before authorising critical stories. A
few months later Kaupthing collapsed - along with the other entrepreneurial, go-ahead
Icelandic banks - and British depositors lost £3.5 billion. By allowing libel tourists to fly
to London and use our repressive laws, the English legal profession had also stopped the
British investors from learning of the danger in investing in the country's banks.

You no more hear writers and broadcasters admit that they are frightened of
investigating investment banks than you hear them admit that they are frightened of
challenging the founding myths of Islam. We cannot puncture our own myth that we are
fearless seekers after truth, even though, if we honestly owned up to our limitations,
we might force society to confront the fact that modern censorship does not conform
to old models. It is a mistake to think of repression as repression by the state alone. In
much of the world it still is, but in Britain, America and most of continental Europe the
age of globalisation has done its work, and it is privatised rather than state forces that
threaten freedom of speech.

Editors are no longer frightened of politicians but of Islamist violence, oligarchs and
CEOs. They worry about libel and the ability of the wealthy to bend the ear of their
proprietors or withdraw advertising. But they are not frightened about leaking the
secrets or criticising the actions of elected governments. We need new ways of thinking
about censorship. The first step is the most essential. Only when we have the courage
to admit that we are afraid can we begin the task of extending our freedoms.

47
Friday, February 10, 2012

Managing knowledge

A colleague sent me recently some

diagrams about knowledge

management – which prompted

some musings about a term which has

never been an inviting one for me. When
so much institutional knowledge has
been lost by peremptory sackings and
downsizings in the past decade and
more, how can anyone take seriously an
interest/discipline for the retention and management of knowledge? Or was KM indeed
brought into being precisely because such losses of personnel were anticipated? And
how does KM relate to the previously fashionable "organisational learning" – and the
writers associated with that eg Peter Senge let alone the less celebrated Reg Revans
and his "action learning"?
What precisely have we gained through use of the latest term? I could relate to the
previous terms – but find "knowledge management” pretentious (in its reification of
knowledge, implication that organisations can capture it) and offensive (in its apparent
emphasis on systems rather than people). Perhaps it’s just me and my anarchistic
leanings – I have never really properly belonged to an organisation although, when a
senior politicians, I did organise a variety of forums which brought people together who
did not normally rub shoulders with one another. And, as my website and blog
demonstrate, I am very committed to sharing knowledge and experiences. I belong
to that generation which does not see it as a private resource. But Knowledge
Management, as I understand the subject, springs from the recognition that the skills
and knowledge of an organisation’s staff are, potentially, the distinctive advantage it
has these days which can pull in the profit. If only, that is, it can identify the winning
formula and ensure it is applied appropriately elsewhere in the organisation. But all of
this implies and requires trust – and this is the one thing which the management of
modern organisations has succeeded in destroying.
Of course, many non-profit bodies, not least in the development field such as The
World Bank, see themselves as knowledge hubs and have published useful stuff about
how to collect, access and use appropriate lessons from practice. One recent (and
rather simplistic example) example was from the World Bank Institute and, some years
ago, the ODI did a very useful literature review.

48
But I still feel that the field itself deserves the sort of ridicule which , by
serendipidity, another blogger heaped on management fads -
Until five years ago, I'd never heard of brand wheels. I'd chosen the relative penury of
bookselling so that I would never have to sit in boardrooms, having serious
conversations about things that didn't matter. It was an unspoken agreement. Then
HMV bought the company I worked for and suddenly books were called 'product',
knowledge became 'learnings' and the staff were called 'resource' (always singular, I
noticed). The agreement had been broken. It was a horrible time.
One day I was invited to a regional meeting and an ambitious young manager revealed a
diagram of a thing called a 'brand wheel'. It consisted of various segments that
represented different aspects of running a bookshop. Things so painfully obvious that it
seemed unnecessary to write them down.
There were lots of words like knowledge (not 'learnings', on this occasion), authority,
communication, enthusiasm and development. There was a reductive quality about the
brand wheel that smacked of totalitarianism (I'm sure that Stalin would have had one if
he'd known about them): this is who we are, this is what we think and this is what we
must do.
And my prejudices were reinforced when I glanced at the many volumes of text of the
incredible project which has just tried to diagnose the state of the "knowledge
sector" in Indonesia.

And, if you’re wondering why I’ve not said anything about the change of Romanian
government which we have been experiencing this week, it’s simply because other people
are saying it much better than me. See Sara’s blogposts since 6 February

The painting is a Josef Iser (1881-1958) - probably at the Hippidrome of his home town
Ploiesti and one of whose paintings was available, at a private gallery I visited
yesterday, for 15,000 euros. It's the Ana gallery which has a great collection of
paintings -most however piled inaccessibly against the walls - and managed by a dour
woman who follows you round and names the authors of each work you touch regardless
of the interest you show. Very depressing.

49
Wednesday, February 15, 2012

collapse of empires

I am now literally marooned here in the

Bucharest snow – such heavy snowfalls as
have blocked the car exit although I have
tried to clear the snow each day. As tends
to happen in such situations, I have been
losing myself in the past – first with Joseph
Roth’s classic The Radeztky March written
in 1930 and then with Robert
Service’s Trotsky; a Life.

Roth’s book is the first of a trilogy and relates the stories of three generations of the
Trotta family, professional Austro-Hungarian soldiers and career bureaucrats of
Slovenian origin — from imperial zenith to First World War nadir. For saving him in
battle, the Emperor awards Lt. Trotta the Order of Maria Theresa and ennobles him.
Elevation to the nobility ultimately leads to the Trotta family’s ruination, paralleling the
imperial collapse of Austria–Hungary (1867–1918).

Although he does not assume the airs of a social superior, everyone from the new
baron’s old life perceives him as a changed person, as a nobleman. The perceptions and
expectations of society eventually compel his reluctant integration in the aristocracy, a
class with whom he is temperamentally uncomfortable. The disillusioned Baron Trotta
opposes his son’s aspirations to a military career, insisting he prepare to become a
government official, the second most respected career in the Austrian Empire; by
custom, the German son was expected to obey. The son eventually becomes a district
administrator in a Moravian town. As a father, the second Baron Trotta (still ignorant
of why his war-hero father thwarted his military ambitions) sends his own son to
become a cavalry officer; grandfather’s legend determines grandson’s life. The cavalry
officer’s career of the third Baron Trotta comprises postings throughout the empire of
Austria-Hungary and a dissipated life of wine, women, song, gambling, and dueling, off-
duty pursuits characteristic of the military officer class in peace-time. In the progress
of his career, Baron Trotta’s infantry unit suppresses a local uprising against the
imperial government; awareness of the aftermath of his professional brutality begins
his disillusionment with empire. I found this quotation from the last few pages of the
book which covers the retreat from the borderland with Russia -

Most of these orders were to do with the evacuation of villages and town and the
treatment of pro-Russian Ukrainians, clerics, and spies. Hasty court-martials in villages
passed hasty sentences. Secret informers delivered unverifiable reports on peasants,
Orthodox priests, teachers, photographers, officials. There was no time. The army had

50
to retreat swiftly but also punish the traitors swiftly. And while ambulances, baggage
columns, field artillery, dragoons, riflemen, and footsoldiers formed abrupt and helpless
clusters on the sodden roads, while couriers galloped to and fro, while inhabitants of
small towns fled westward in endless throngs, surrounded by white terror, laden with
red-and-white featherbeds, grey sacks, brown furniture, and blue kerosene lamps, the
shots of hasty executioners carrying out hasty sentences rang from the church squares
of hamlets and villages, and the sombre rolls of drums accompanied the monotonous
decisions of judges, and the wives of victims lay shrieking for mercy before the mud-
caked boots of officers, and red and silver flames burst from huts and barns, stables
and haystacks. The Austrian army’s war had begun with court-martials. For days on end
genuine and supposed traitors hung from the trees on church squares to terrify the
living.

Robert Service's Trotsky (2009) deals with the aftermath of the collapse of both the
Austro Hungarian and Russian empires. It's a reasonable read - although the flurry of
the revolutionary action did leave me a bit bewildered at time and I felt more space was
needed (it's almost 600 pages). The picture painted of the man is not an attractive one
- arrogance is the main feature stressed. The book has in fact attracted a fair amount
of criticism - both for factual errors and those of bias - on a professional historian
site which one might normally expect to be positive; and also by more political critics
here and here.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Technocrats, securitats ...and cronycrats

An article in Scottish Review by

someone apparently also living in
Romania asks whether we now have
'Eurocracy' replacing democracy –
pointing not only to the parachuting of
bankers into the Greek and Italian
Prime Minister jobs (in the greek case,
the same guy who had overseen the
falsification of accounts when the
country entered the euro) but also to
recent events in Romania. Romania has
just completed a 2 year (apparently successful - at least in IMF terms!) spell of control
by the IMF and, the article writes, –
two days after the IMF representative left Bucharest, the government of the deeply
unpopular prime minister, Mr Emile Boc, resigned en masse and was swiftly replaced by a
completely new government of what appear to be young technocrats. In Romania, the
prime minister is appointed by the elected president. Finally, two days later, the

51
governor of the Romanian Central Bank, the only man with any clue about fiscal and
economic policy in the entire country, announced that responsibility for the nation's
fiscal policy should no longer rest with the IMF but should be transferred to those nice
German regulators at the EU, through the new fiscal treaty. Romania's president was
one of the first non-Eurozone government heads to sign the treaty. Romania is
confirmed as the next country, after Greece and Italy, to be governed by Merkozy's
EU fiscal and political regime.
I have much sympathy with the author’s general point about the reduction of democracy
but he is not quite right to argue that the new Romanian government is an example of
the new "technocracy”. It is certainly true that the new Prime Minister Mihai Razvan
Ungureanu, is not an elected politician. He was, previously, head of Romania's foreign
intelligence – which makes him a "securitat" rather than "technocrat"! His full list of
new ministers was approved yesterday in the Parliament. M.R. Ungureanu's government
team is formed of all-new members from the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL), while
coalition partners, the Hungarian Democrats (UDMR), and the UNPR retain their
ministers who have served in Emil Boc's government. Two independents also keep their
portfolios. Half, therefore, of the new government is unchanged – and only about 6 (on
my count) are not politicians half of them incumbents. The full list of the new
government is:

• Deputy PM - Marko Bela (UDMR, incumbent)

• Home Affairs and Administration Ministry - Gabriel Berca (PDL)
• Finance Ministry - Bogdan Dragoi (PDL)
• Economy Ministry - Lucian Bode (PDL)
• Foreign Affairs Ministry - Cristian Diaconescu (UNPR, incumbent)
• Transport Ministry -Alexandru Nazare (PDL)
• Environment Ministry - Laszlo Borbely (UDMR, incumbent)
• Tourism Ministry - Cristian Petrescu (PDL)
• Defense Ministry - Gabriel Oprea (UNPR, incumbent)
• Culture Ministry - Kelemen Hunor (UDMR, incumbent)
• Justice Ministry - Catalin Predoiu (independent, incumbent)
• Communications Ministry - Serban Mustea (PDL)
• Labor Ministry - Claudia Boghicevici (PDL)
• Education Ministry - Catalin Baba (PDL)
• Health Ministry - Ladislau Ritli (UDMR, incumbent)
• Agriculture Ministry - Stelian Fuia (PDL)
• European Affairs Ministry - Leonard Orban (independent, incumbent)

As many of the new members of the government are young - some of them in their early
30s - Mihai Razvan Ungureanu pointed out on Wednesday it was a young government
formed of
new faces, exceptional professionals, people who I've worked with in various structures
of the government. It is a government worthy of trust and ready to show not only a
change in political generations but also a change of principle in activity

52
Frankly I don’t hold my breath. I have already commented that the younger generation
of ambitious people here is no better than its elders. They owe their position to those
elders (whether parents or protectors) and their education abroad has made them even
more arrogant than their elders. It is, for me, significant, that the new Minister of
Finance is the very young man I fingered in September 2010 for cronyism and disregard
for such legalities as the need to make an open and honest declaration of financial
interests. He was then State Secretary at the Ministry and is therefore apparently one
of the non-elected technocrats – except that I doubt whether his route to that high-
level civil service position permits that term to be used of him and his like. This is what
my September 2010 blog said about him -

People like Dragoi enjoy such patronage (with no experience - he became a State
Secretary at the age of 26 after an extended education!) and protection and seem so
contemptuous of these forms that he doesn't even bother to update his form which
understates his income by a factor of 40! 250 euros he says when it is actually 9,600!
His out-of-date form does, however, declare some of the additional revenues he earned
as a committee member of various state funds.
I alighted on his declaration form by accident – just choosing his file at random from
the list of officials’ forms. These assets, earnings and concealments reveal systemic
immorality which, in Romania’s case, seems to be shaped and sustained by the role of its
political parties which grabbed significant amounts of property in 1990 and which now
determine the career path of young characters like Dragoi (nationally and
internationally) and take in return a significant part of his earnings. For more on this
issue see Tom Gallagher's 2010 article.

When people talk about pinning their hopes on the younger generation, I will always
think of this face. It is when such behaviour is revealed that I feel some shame for
having spent time working trying to reform such systems.
Perhaps, therefore, the term we should be using for Romania and similar countries with
similar systems is not "technocracy" (which implies ability) but "cronycracy". By the
way, an earlier article in Scottish Review by the same author was the best piece Ive
read about the reasons for the protests here which led to the change in government.

The caricature is Daumier - one of history's best! This one is called Marionettes.

Some positive Greek responses

For some time now, I’ve been wanting to visit Thessalonika which is just down the road.
A week or so ago, I watched a documentary about the city’s new mayor – a 69 year-old
vintner who got involved in citizen politics some 7 years back through disgust with the
way the city was being run. It was clear he (Boutaris) was a popular figure as he walked
through its streets with the journalist. Der Spiegel has a short article about how he is
going about the reform of the city’s administration – eg hiring an auditor in his first

53
week in office and reducing the number of Directorates from 31 to 20. Already the
city's budget has decreased by 30%
Thessaloniki was always seen as a stronghold of the conservatives and nationalists. The
conservative New Democracy party controlled city hall for 24 years, holding the city
hostage with its cronies. During the election campaign, the local archbishop refused to
allow Boutaris to kiss the cross during mass, even imposing an excommunication of sorts
on the candidate: "As long as I am in office, you will not see the inside of city hall." A
television crew recorded the incident, and when the footage was aired even
conservative citizens were outraged over the archbishop's audacity. "People wanted
change. They realized that things couldn't go on that way," says Pengas. Under
Boutaris's predecessor, €51.4 million ($68.4 million) had suddenly and inexplicably
disappeared from the city budget. No one knew what had happened to the money. A
former prefect is now under investigation in the case.
One of the mayor’s young aides reckons that the city (with 7,000 officials) has double
the number it needs – thanks to cronyism. So clearly some of the shine will come off the
mayor’s image as he begins to tackle that problem. Already his attempts (with French
help) to introduce performance evaluation of staff has hit resisitance.
All of this confirms the appalling picture which emerged in the recent OECD report on
Greek administration - which, again, seems to have been covered only by Der Spiegel.
But the Archbishop's behaviour reminds me of Michael Lewis' article on the Greek
crisis which appeared in October 2010 (in the American Vanity Fair of all places) which
fingered the Orthodox Church as the richest and most corrupt body in Greece!

Most of the articles which are appearing about the impact of government measures are
focussing on the impoverisation of its people and settlements. But Le Monde of the 10th
February ran an article called vivre la decroissance by two journalists Olivier Razemon
and Alain Sailles to Athens telling the story of people who had set up a “bank of time”
(trapeza chronou)..It works like this; people work as certain amount of hours and in
exchange they get some services. Some people have set up a clothes exchange…Others
are working solar systems in order to get free electricity…Some cultivate tomatoes,
spinach, thyme, laurel, in a word all sorts of fruits and vegetables…which can be
exchange for hours in the bank of time. The two journalists asked the question: “a big
debate has ben launched; must we exchange products for services? If yes, how do you
define the value of this product”. People in Britain have tried similar ‘alternative
systems” like ‘letts’. It did not get very far…

An interesting Greek blog I've just come across gives a lot of detail going back some
years about the situation there.
One of the journalists has recently published a book on a theme close to my heart – how
concrete is destroying our countryside -
Année après année, la campagne française disparaît sous la ville. Malgré les
proclamations indignées et les législations vertueuses, la terre fertile se raréfie, les
espaces naturels se morcellent, la ville s’éparpille et se cloisonne, l’automobile s’impose
comme unique lien social. Le phénomène, connu sous le nom d’étalement urbain, ne résulte
pas seulement, comme on le croit souvent, de la crise du logement et du désir

54
d’accession à la propriété individuelle. Centres commerciaux, entrepôts, parkings, la ville
étalée se nourrit, en France comme ailleurs, d’une économie opulente et d’une société qui
valorise le bonheur individuel, à court terme de préférence. Autrement dit, nous sommes
tous responsables.
Les égoïsmes locaux, les tentations des élus et les tics des aménageurs se heurtent ça
et là à des réflexes de survie. On pourrait densifier et vitaliser la ville existante. On
pourrait prendre les décisions au bon niveau et en réfléchissant à l’avenir. On pourrait
résister au tout-parking. On pourrait améliorer la qualité de vie sans gaspiller le
territoire.
Les auteurs brossent un portrait vivant et sans concession de la bataille inégale qui se
livre entre la soif de bitume et les rares garde-fous susceptibles de contrer le
phénomène. Tout est perdu ? Voire. Et si les crises qui se profilent fournissaient un
sursaut brutal mais inespéré ?

Friday, February 17, 2012

Geopolitics of Coffee and tea

One of my favourite blogs is the It’s About

time one – which sends me on a daily basis
marvellous pictures of old paintings
generally on a theme such as the ruffles
which adorn the necks of aristocratic
figures or the preparation of foods in
medieval times – eg here and here
Some amazingly modern faces and styles
are in evidence
I hadn’t realised that the famous Vienna
coffee shops came from a some coffee
beans being found in the fields outside
Vienna in the aftermath of the Ottoman siege of Vienna in the 17th Century. Curious
that the main thing which impacted me on my first visit to Istanbul some 25 years ago
was their teas! In powder form and carried on trays around the bazzars and served as
you looked at carpets.
My 3 years of ceremonially receiving and serving teas in small, beautiful bowls and
teapots in Uzbekistan 1999-2002 almost killed the coffee habit in me. The coffees of
Sofia dragged me back to the dangerous weed – but, at least, Sofia hedges its bets by
having so many small shops which seel both coffee beans and Chinese teas!
I wanted to get an explanation for this apparent decline in Turkish tea-drinking but
Google seemed strangely hooked on either the Tea Party or the Greg Mortensen saga
(Three Cups of Tea). Wikipedia tells me that
tea became the widely consumed beverage of choice in Turkey only in the 20th century.
It was initially encouraged as an alternative to coffee,which had become expensive and

55
at times unavailable in the aftermath of the First World War. Upon the loss of

southeastern territories after the fall of the Ottoman Empire , coffee became an

expensive import. At the urging of the founder of the republic, Atatürk, Turks turned
more to tea as it was easily sustainable by domestic sources
A Greek site tells me that tea there was expensive and, on independence from the
Ottomans, was considered an upper-class habit. Another site told me of the Ottoman
(red) tea spoken about by travellers and still apparently available in places such as Bursa
- with 10 different natural ingredients - ginger, havlıcan (a plant in the ginger family),
hibiscus, linden, cloves, lemon, orange, cinnamon, apple and thyme.

And I found this superb tea and carpets

site which reminded me of the carpet-
buying days in central asia and Turkey
which preceded my current passion for
painting.

Finally some lovely miniatures from the

website with which I started

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Some readings on the crisis

It may not have been evident from recent posts

that one of my central concerns is the
identification of an agenda for social change which
is capable – by its appeal, relevance and clarity – of
uniting a significant block of change agents in
Europe at least. Two of my common moans are the
insular nature of so much of the writing about this
which one finds in the English language; and the
failure of so many of the writers to build bridges
to others writing on relevant subjects.
These faults were very evident in a Noreena Hertz
pamphlet entitled Coop Capitalism just published
by Cooperatives UK. Hertz is, apparently, one of
these young celebrity Economists who have been
taken up by the mass media and one of whose
faults is to present ideas as if they were new. I’m

56
not sure, for example, if her use of the term "gucci capialism” adds to our
understanding of the crisis we face – and her references to examples of cooperatives
are highly selective and superficial (Mondragon gets no mention). She allows this blurb
about her to appear in the pamphlet -
many have described Professor Hertz as a visionary and she is one of the most
influential economists on the international stage. Her work is considered to provide a
much needed blueprint for rethinking economics and corporate strategy. For more than
two decades Noreena Hertz’s economic predictions have been accurate and ahead of
the curve. In her number one best-selling book “The Silent Takeover”, Hertz predicted
that unregulated markets and massive financial institutions would have serious global
consequences whilst her 2005 best-seller, “IOU: The Debt Threat”, predicted the 2008
financial crisis. Her books have been translated into 17 languages
Here is an example of how the media treat her – but here a more serious treatment of
her ideas . I realise, of course, that such a comment could be taken as an example of
how the left tear one another part – but change agents need to show more modesty and
generosity in their referencing of relevant work.

Labour Left has published a 300 page Red Book which can be downloaded here. Labour
Left’s ambition is
to generate ethically socialist policies for inclusion in the next Labour General Election
manifesto. We aim to intellectually reclaim what it means to be left and we wish to help
Ed Miliband steer a course away from Neo-Liberalism. It is clear from the surge in new
members, especially younger ones since the General Election in 2010, that there is an
appetite for socialist policies that tame the excesses of capitalism and re-balance the
UK economy in a way that is fairer to the have-nots
Unfortunately, like all collections, the book’s contributions are ad-hoc (if worthy)
presentations of various ideas relating to health, education and environmental issues –
with no wider analysis of policy contexts nor argument as to whether the particular
ideas would be supported let alone successful.

At the other end of the analytical and geographical spectrum is a major publication
from the European Trade Unions Institute which, in 300 pages, looks at the changes in
the infrastructure of each of the main European economies in the last 20 years. It
takes as its starting point Colin Crouch’s insight about the strange non-death of neo-
liberalism and is entitled A Triumph of Failed Ideas – european models of capitalism
It made me realise how seldom I have referenced the valiant efforts of various
European Trade Unions and their research bodies in their tracking developments of the
past decade eg the fantastic public services international research unit of the
University of Greenwich which has been giving great briefings on the consequences of
privatisation for more than a decade; NHS policy briefings ; European Services
Strategy Unit.
But I have just come across what, for me, is the best source of radical thinking and
activities in Europe – the Transform network which issues a biannual journal.

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Monday, February 20, 2012

Presidents...and presidents

Yesterday I watched Sarkozy’s opening

speech of the French Presidential
campaign which he delivered to 10,000
faithful at Marseilles. A stirring event –
like 2 previous he delivered recently
before he actually declared his official
candidacy. So far I haven’t seen
Hollande on TV5. Both candidates are up
against a strong National Front challenge – so hardly surprising that Sarkozy’s speech
was virulently nationalist -
Aimer la France, c'est refuser d'accepter les 35 heures (the working week which
Sarkozy has tried to break) c'est refuser de promettre la retraite à 60 ans (...) c'est
refuser d'augmenter les dépenses et d'augmenter les impôts en pleine crise de la dette
(...) c'est refuser d'aborder l'immigration par la seule posture idéologique", a-t-il
lancé. « Quand on aime la France, on n'est pas du côté de ceux qui, pour défendre leurs
intérêts, bloquent le pays et prennent les Français en otage (...) on a l'obsession de ne
pas l'affaiblir (...) on dit la vérité aux Français sur ce que l'on veut faire, sinon on jette
le discrédit sur la parole publique", a poursuivi le chef de l'Etat sous les
applaudissements. (Liberation)
"Je me souviens qu'au début, j'ai fait de la politique parce que je voulais agir, je voulais
résoudre des problèmes, je voulais aider les gens à surmonter leurs difficultés, a
poursuivi le candidat de l'UMP. Mais en me tournant sur toutes ces années, j'ai compris
que le combat essentiel, c'est celui que l'on mène pour le pays qui nous a vu naître. Il n'
y a pas un seul combat qui soit supérieur à celui qui mène pour son pays." (Le Monde)
For a detailed assessment of the policy platforms, we have to go to a blog which
actually gives us a useful insight into the socialist candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon who is
also running and attracting about 8% in the polls at the moment and whose manifesto is
apparently a best-seller

The German Presidency is, as they say, "honorific” – and, with both of the last 2
incumbents having to resign, there are those who suggest the post is unecessary. This is
to disregard the moral authority which incumbents such as Richard von Weizsacker and
Johannes Rau brought to the country. Weizsacker was a Christian Democract and
President 1984-1994 and West Berlin Mayor 1981-84. Rau was a Social Democrat;
President 1999-2004 and Head of the huge RheinWestphalen Land (Region) from 1978-
98.
I was spellbound listening to the speeches of the former as he made his famous gentle
and highly civilised commentaries. A Foreign Affairs review expressed it well -
More than any of his predecessors in the presidential office, he has used that
supraparty position to address fundamental issues, such as the ever-present unease

58
about the German past, and he does so with clarity and admirable forthrightness. He
has what few statesmen nowadays have: moral authority, and in his book-with its
intelligent interlocutors-he turns from the past to the present and the future. His
greatest worry concerns the vitality of liberal democracy in the enlarged Federal
Republic, particularly in light of the power of German political parties in politics and
public life generally-their power and the paucity of their imagination, the failure of
their leadership. He is remarkably candid in his criticism of parties that only seek
electoral gain and calls for a more active citizenry and regrets the immobility of
Germany's political life, "the Utopia of the status quo." German commentators have
seized on formulations that clearly hit the inadequacies of the present government, but
these are incidental and inevitable. Weizsäcker's criticisms go far deeper. It took
courage and, I suppose, the deepest concern to disturb the political complacency of his
country and to do so with thoughts that in the German context and in some parts recall
conservative criticisms of the Weimar period. But Weizsäcker's aim to strengthen, to
vitalize liberal democracy is beyond question.
Johannes Rau was a son of a Lutheran priest and this showed in his approach. You can
see a speech here which he delivered to the Israeli Knesset, the first German to
address it.

I was lucky enough to meet both of these men informally and can therefore vouch
personally for the humility they brought to their role. Weizsacker was holidying in
Scotland and popped in quietly to pay his respects to the leader of the Regional Council.
As the (elected) Secretary to the majority party, I had private access to the Leader’s
office and stumbled in on their meeting. Rau I also stumbled across when in a Duisberg
hotel on Council business. He was not then the President – but I recognised him when he
came in with his wife and a couple of assistants, introduced myself ( as a fellow social
democrat); gave him a gift book on my Region which I happened to be carrying and was
rewarded with a chat.

I am glad to see that, with the nomination of Glauk, Germany seems now to be returning
to its tradition of Presidents with moral authority. The German political system seems
to me one of the best - with the leaders of strong Laender in the 2nd chamber acting
as a responsible challenge to the Executive. Typical that, despite all the so-called
discussion which has been going on for several decades about the reform of the British
second chamber, this option has never been presented forcibly.....

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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Consultancy....again

Eighteen months ago I highlighted a story

about the English health service spending
300 million in the previous year on
consultancy companies – equivalent to the
pay of 10,000 nurses. This was just the
tip of the iceberg – with spending on
consultants having got out of control
under New Labour. A 2006 book on the
subject suggested that spending had gone
up 10 times under them. Four reasons for
this –
• New Labour’s initial suspicion of the
senior civil servants who had served a
radical right Conservative Government for 18 years
• a naivety about the implementation of complex IT projects (and lack of coordination
on them)
• The curious combination New Labour had of managerialism and social engineering
• the jobs and connections many of the new Ministers had had with big consultancies
when in opposition.

A story in today’s Guardian indicates that in New Labour’s final years, the spending
increased by a factor 50 to one in one department. The Ministry of Defence apparently
spent only 6 million pounds a few years ago on consultants but its bill came in at 297
million in 2010. Curiously, The Guardian tries to put the blame on the Coalition
Government but, on my arithmetic, 2009.2010 was still on the New Labour watch. What
will be interesting will be to see the figures for 2011 – when the present government
started its programme of reducing defence manpower by 60,000.
The paper did report a few days back that government departments have spent 30
million pounds hiring temporary staff to cope with the shortage of staff they are
experiencing after the redundancies of the past year.

Exactly a year ago I drew attention to the publications of the National Audit Office
(NAO) on the subject. The NAO is supposed to be the nation’s financial watchdog but
started to look at the issue of consultant use only in 2005. Since then it has issued
various reports exposing the bad practice and issuing both recommendations, guidelines
and the inevitable “toolkits”. Their last report (issued in October 2010 for the new
government) gives a useful overview of issues - and one of the annexes to the
significant 2007 report is a helpful set of guidelines on increasing the commitment of
clients and consultants during the projects.
It’s sloppy journalism on the Guardian’s part not to give this sort of background – and

60
follow it up eg by asking whether the NAO has been asking what use departments have
been making of their guidelines.
For those interested in the consultancy business, a more analytical study of the
different types of consultancy has been done by a Canadian think-tank.

On the subject of slack journalism, it is a blog in Paris which tells us here in Bucharest
that several Romanians have been on a hunger strike in an attempt to get some
transparency on the crimes committed during the communist era. Doru Maries is near
death - having been on hunger strike for 90 days. The local media have apparently given
no coverage to this.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Everything for sale?

Last September, I wrote with some

indignation about a Romanian journal
labelling an article I wrote for them
"left-wing”. Despite my work as a
Labour Party Councillor in the 1970s
and 1980s (the last 5 years on a full-
time basis), I was always opposed to its
statist bias. Put this down to the
influence of Karl Popper, Ivan Illich and
Paulo Freire. As a result, my main
contribution to politics in the West of
Scotland was to drive an agenda of
support for community structures and inititatives. When the Labour party had its left-
right split after its 1979 defeat, I was left feeling homeless – with neither option
attracting me. And my suspicion of some attitudes in state professionalism and
ambivalence about public sector trade unionism led me to view with some sympathy some
of the Thatcher policies on contracting-out and privatisation of public services.

I feel, therefore, I can be fairly objective in assessing the results of the privatisation
which has swept the globe in the past 30 years. With the exception of gas and
electricity, I think the results have been disastrous. This post is written for open-
minded readers who want some guidance on useful material on the issue - particularly
from the British experience (which has, after all, been at it for 30 years now).
For how privatisation of water, social care etc have panned out I mentioned recently
the Public Services International Research Unit of the University of Greenwich which
has been giving great briefings on the consequences of privatisation globally for more
than a decade.

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Privatising the UK railways is perhaps the greatest disaster story – with subsidies to
the private rail and track companies being almost three times (at constant prices) the
subsidies which british Rail received – and the level of consumer comfort, convenience
and satisfaction at an all-time low. Christan Wolmar is the great historian of UK rail
privatisation

The English academic, Julian le Grand, was one Tony Blair’s advisers and promoter of
the idea of releasing market forces into British social services such as health and
education.
Perhaps the text which best captures the hopes and fears is The House of Commons
Select Committee on Public Administration 2005 report - Choice, Voice and Public
Services and, particularly the 190 pages of evidence it received from both sides of the
ideological fence.

The most prolific writer on (and critic of) the privatisation of the british health system
is Allyson Pollock – whose most recent book on the subject is NHS Inc. She also blogs
occasionally about the issues. The UK government is now attempting (for England only)
the most dramatic set of changes ever seen - wcich would effectively dismantle the
public Health Service - here is the view of an independent peer (and medic) who was
once a Minister of Health.

The role which market mechanisms do now play in education (and might further in the
future) can be followed in the second volume of the House of Commons publication
mentioned above. An acadenmic treatment is Education Management Organisations and
the Privatisation of Public Education: A Cross-National Comparison of the USA and
Britain and an angrier statement from a practitioner in Education for sale.
One of the most formidable books I have on my Sirnea bookshelves is Robert Kuttner’s
Everything for Sale – the virtues and limits of markets (1996) which received the
following accolade from the late economist Robert Heilbroner "I have never seen the
market system better described, more intelligently appreciated, or more trenchantly
criticized than in EVERYTHING FOR SALE." A New York Times review gave a useful
summary of the book –

Mr. Kuttner's target is the total faith in the market-pricing system held by economists
of the Chicago school (and by members of two allied scholarly movements in the fields
of political science and law -- public choice and law and economics): their idea that whatever is
must be optimal if it is the result of the operation of a market. More broadly, Mr. Kuttner wants
to dismantle the view that markets essentially work and government interventions essentially
don't. By relentlessly piling on example after detailed example of market failure and government
success, he gradually makes the idea that all efforts to modulate the market are doomed seem
like a blind prejudice that has been holding the nation inexplicably in its grip. If you're ever
challenged to name ''just one thing'' the United States Government has ever done right, you'll
be fully prepared to answer after reading ''Everything for Sale.'' There are all sorts of
necessary social and economic goods, Mr. Kuttner says, that markets can't be relied upon to
provide. Free markets underinvest in pure research, so government needs to finance it, or to
structure the economy so that private companies can afford to conduct it. Government made us

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prosperous by creating the higher education system, railroads, canals, commercial aviation and
the Internet. Moreover, markets generate problems -- pollution, dangerous products, economic
disasters like bank failures -- so they need to be regulated. Regulation does not retard growth:
''The zenith of the era of regulation -- the postwar boom -- was the most successful period of
American capitalism.'' Finally, markets fail to provide all citizens with such essentials as health
care, physical safety and basic economic security, so these have to come from government.
Demonstrating an impressive mastery of a vast range of material, Mr. Kuttner lays out the case
for the market's insufficiency in field after field: employment, medicine, banking, securities,
telecommunications, electric power. This material isn't exactly riveting, but it is presented
clearly and convincingly enough to qualify as self-improving reading matter. Then he shows, over
and over, how his primary villains, academic free-market ideologues, have pushed society in the
direction of abandoning carefully constructed solutions to market failures -- solutions that were
working quite well.
Mr. Kuttner is an unapologetic social democrat, a believer in America's moving in the direction of
a Western European or Scandinavian-style mixed economy, with a bigger Government, higher
taxes and stronger unions. One of the strengths of ''Everything for Sale'' is Mr. Kuttner's
complete lack of the usual tendency in journalists and policy intellectuals to keep the discussion
within the frame of the political possibilities of the moment. He wants to change the debate
entirely. He insistently attributes our economic problems to political, not market, failure. For
example, American blue-collar workers are underpaid, he says, because it isn't skills they lack
but political power. Conversely, the solution to most of the market's deficiencies is not fine-
tuning but ''a redistribution of economic and political power.'' As Mr. Kuttner explains (in
italics), ''There is no escape from politics

Kuttner’s book deal, however, with the economic arguments. It does not really go into
the politics. For that you have to read Colin Leys’s Market-Driven Politics (2001). It was
Leys who helped me understand exactly what is meant by the dreadful word
"commodification” and his book shows how it started to be applied in the UK in the
1980s to such fields as health and broadcasting. Leys is actually a development
economist and most of his material on the internet is therefore on that topic – although
an interesting preface to a new book of his called Total Capitalism is available here

The photograph is of Loch Lomond in Central Scotland - a National Park for public
benefit and therefore free from development and market forces.

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Monday, February 27, 2012

A new language for political change?

Where is the modern equivalent of the

classic "What did you do in the war,
daddy?” – to make us oldies face up to
our moral responsibility for
the degraded world we have allowed to
develop in the past 30 years?
The last post started out as a confession
– but then got sidetracked into an
annotated bibiography. So let’s get back
on track.
I was, in many ways, typical of an important strand of the generation which was at
university in the early 60s – and which helped release the economist and managerial
gene from Pandora’s box. We knew better than our parents. Everything needed to
change - organisations (particularly the public ones) were outdated and needed to be
shaken up in the name of managerialism. The compacency (if not self-interest) of
officials needed to be challenged – whether by community activists or by market
forces. I was no believer in markets – regional development, after all, was my first
great passion. And I had read my Galbraith and realised how oligopolistic and
manipulative our bigger companies were (although even these were being threatened in
the early 80s by young, upstart companies – at least in some sectors).

It was indeed a cultural revolution if not a Reformation– with rationality being the new
religion and social scientists the new priests. Trade unions were seen even in the Labour
Party to which it had given birth and succoured over decades as Luddites – as part of
the collectivism from which we were to be saved.

What I was trying to say in the last post was that we have allowed the worship of
choice and of market forces to go too far. Too many people, of course, have been
deceived into thinking that corporate power is the market. And it has been all too easy
for those marketing the market (in the media) to link anything collectivist with a
dangerous or depasse socialism.
So a new language seems to be needed to reassert civilised values – and perhaps it’s the
language of "The Commons" some references to which I stumbled upon recently. The
most interesting is a manifesto of sorts from a German -
Over the last two hundred years, the explosion of knowledge, technology, and
productivity has enabled an unprecedented increase of private wealth. This has
improved our quality of life in numerous ways. At the same time, however, we have
permitted the depletion of resources and the dwindling of societal wealth. This is
brought to our attention by current, interrelated crises in finance, the economy,

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nutrition, energy, and in the fundamental ecological systems of life. These crises are
sharpening our awareness of the existence and importance of the commons.

What exactly are the Commons? They are the fundamental building blocks and pre-
condition of our life and social wealth. They include knowledge and water, seeds and
software, cultural works and the atmosphere. Commons are not just “things,” however.
They are living, dynamic systems of life. They form the social fabric of a free society.
Natural commons are necessary for our survival, while social commons ensure social
cohesion, and cultural commons enable us to evolve as individuals. It is imperative that
we focus our personal creativity, talents, and enthusiasm on protecting and increasing
our social wealth and natural commons. This will require a change in some basic
structures of politics, economics, and society.

More social prosperity instead of more gross domestic product! When the economic
growth curve drops and the GDP sinks, it seems threatening to us. Yet appearances
deceive. The GDP merely maps production figures and monetary flows without regard
for their ecological or social value; such numbers do not measure the things we truly
need to live, – they may simply count their destruction. Social prosperity cannot be
measured through such means. A reduction in the GDP does not necessarily signal a
reduction in the real wealth of a society. Recognizing this fact widens our perspective
and opens doors for new types of solutions.
More detail can be found in report of a December 2010 Conference and its proceedings;
and in the papers of this site

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

The future of universities

For some time now I have been wanting to comment about two issues – first, whether
funding and expectations of universities throughout the world has not reached an
unrealistic level; and, second, the more coherent and urgent shape taken by recent
discussions about the possible negotiation of a more independent status of my small
country (Scotland). A report issued at the beginning of February by the Scottish
Executive on the governance of Scottish Universities brings the two issues nicely
together.

I have, of course, been highly critical of university social sciences on this blog – but it
was the iconoclastic chapter about higher education in in Ha Joo Chang’s 23 Things they
don’t tell you about capitalism which brought my thoughts to a head.
An article in the London Review of Books contained an excellent summary of the current
misgivings about the direction taken in the past few decades by British Universities -

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We are all deeply anxious about the future of British universities. Our list of concerns
is a long one. It includes the discontinuance of free university education; the withdrawal
of direct public funding for the teaching of the humanities and the social sciences; the
subjection of universities to an intrusive regime of government regulation and
inquisitorial audit; the crude attempt to measure and increase scholarly ‘output’; the
requirement that all academic research have an ‘impact’ on the economy; the
transformation of self-governing communities of scholars into mega-businesses, staffed
by a highly-paid executive class, who oversee the professors, or middle managers, who
in turn rule over an ill-paid and often temporary or part-time proletariat of junior
lecturers and research assistants, coping with an ever worsening staff-student ratio;
the notion that universities, rather than collaborating in their common task, should
compete with one another, and with private providers, to sell their services in a market,
where students are seen, not as partners in a joint enterprise of learning and
understanding, but as ‘consumers’, seeking the cheapest deals that will enable them to
emerge with the highest earning prospects; the indiscriminate application of the label
‘university’ to institutions whose primary task is to provide vocational training and whose
staff do not carry out research; and the rejection of the idea that higher education
might have a non-monetary value, or that science, scholarship and intellectual inquiry
are important for reasons unconnected with economic growth.
What a contrast with the medieval idea that knowledge was a gift of God, which was not
to be sold for money, but should be freely imparted. Or with the 19th-century German
concept of the university devoted to the higher learning; or with the tradition in this
country that some graduates, rather than rushing off to work in investment banks,
might wish to put what they had learned to the service of society by teaching in
secondary schools or working for charities or arts organisations or nature conservation
or foreign aid agencies or innumerable other good but distinctly unremunerative causes.
Our litany of discontents makes me realise how fortunate I was to have entered
academic life in the mid-1950s, and thus to have experienced several decades of what
now looks like a golden age of academic freedom, It was a time when students were
publicly funded and when the Treasury grant to universities was distributed by the
University Grants Committee, largely made up of academics and working at arm’s length
from the government; they understood what universities needed and they ruled with a
light touch, distributing block grants and requiring only that the money be spent on
buildings, teaching and research. It was a time when the ‘new’ universities of the 1960s
were devising novel syllabuses, constructed with an eye to the intellectual excitement
they generated. Of course, there were fewer universities in those days, and only a
minority of young people had access to them. It is a matter for rejoicing that higher
education in some form or other is nowadays potentially available to nearly half of the
relevant age group. But because there are so many universities, real and so-called, there
are fewer resources to go around and the use of those resources is more intensively
policed. As a result, the environment in which today’s students and academics work has
sharply deteriorated. When I think of the freedom I enjoyed as a young Oxford don,
with no one telling me how to teach or what I should research or how I should adapt my
activities to maximise the faculty’s performance in the RAE, and when I contrast it with
the oppressive micro-management which has grown up in response to government

66
requirements, I am not surprised that so many of today’s most able students have
ceased to opt for an academic career in the way they once would have done.
But that is to look at things very much from the perspective of the academic. Ha-Joo
Chang looks at it from the point of view of the student and of society as a whole. In 23
Things They Don't Tell You about Capitalism, South Korea-born Chang offers a critique
of education in his home nation. In a chapter titled "More education in itself is not going
to make a country richer", he takes issue with "the common myth that education was
the key to the East Asian miracle". Chang argues that "an unhealthy dynamic has been
established for higher education in many high-income and upper-middle-income
countries". Once enrolment reaches a certain rate, "people have to go to university in
order to get a decent job" - even though most jobs do not require specialist training in
higher education. The case of Switzerland shows that high national productivity can be
achieved with low university enrolment, Chang suggests. However, rich nations such as
the US and South Korea waste resources on higher education "in the essentially zero-
sum game of sorting" - that is, establishing each individual's ranking in the hierarchy of
employability. "When everyone accepted that educational performance is really the
right measure of your innate capabilities, there is all the interest in the world to help
your children to produce better educational achievements. Parents started hiring
private tutors and sending them to expensive cramming schools."
In his book, Chang argues that "what really matters in the determination of national
prosperity is not the educational levels of individuals but the nation's ability to organise
individuals into enterprises with high productivity". Chang says the situation "does
change over time but you need a lot of effort. You can't just decide tomorrow not to
discriminate against people from lesser universities."
A diminishing of the attachment to higher education would also require great
investment in sources of employment for people not cut out for university, he adds.

In the next post, I will introduce the Scottish context (where local students do not pay
fees) - and give a flavour of the independent report commissioned by the Scottish
government on the management of Scottish Universities. Interestingly the committee
was Chaired by a German with irish citizenship who became Principal of a Scottish
University a few years ago. He has an interesting blog.

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Thursday, March 1, 2012

Lessons from Scotland

My home country, Scotland, is in the news these days. It has

had a Nationalist government for more than 4 years – and its
citizens will in a couple of years be asked to vote on
independence from the UK. Somewhat perversely, perhaps, I
rarely blog on matters relating to Scotland - which is most
remiss since it has been experiencing some interesting
developments in the past 2 decades. The debate within
Scotland aabout independence has been going on for decades
- but a new constitutional debate has started recently in
England. Outsiders (of whom there are many amongst my
readership) cannot understand the present debate without
knowing something about the past - recent and not so recent. This post must,
therefore say something about how we got to the present point.

I left Scotland in the early 90s just as a remarkable development was taking place
there – Scottish civil society and its establishment (political, municipal, legal, religious)
coming together from disgust with the results of consecutive UK elections of the 1980s
which had left the ruling Conservative government with not a single one of the 70 odd
Scottish members of parliament being Conservative. The Conservative government
(which lasted from 1979-1997) - let alone its neo-liberal agenda - was simply felt to
have no legitimacy in Scotland. Bear in mind that the 1703 Union of Scotland and
England had left Scotland with its separate legal and religious systems and an
educational system which also went its own way, helping to forge a strong sense of
Scottishness in schools - whose composition was more mixed and democratic than in
England.

In 1988 a cross-section of prominent members of Scottish society came together to

form the Scottish Constitutional Convention - and started a process which lasted a
decade. The Convention produced not just the blueprint for the 1999 Scottish
Parliament (which had last met in 1707) but, perhaps more importantly, the social and
political momentum to ensure its achievement – and the creation of a more consensual
way of governing. The details can be found on the archives of the Convention of whcih
this is an excerpt -
In July 1988, a constitutional steering committee, composed of prominent Scots and set
up by the Campaign for a Scottish Assembly, recommended the formation of a broadly-
drawn Scottish Constitutional Convention to make plans for the future governance of
Scotland. All political parties were invited to take part. The Conservative Party declined
to participate from the outset. The Scottish National Party, although involved in the
initial preparatory work, was ultimately unable to accept the principles of consensus

68
underlying the Convention's aims, and therefore did not join its deliberations. It is
important to record that many individuals from both these parties have supported our
work publicly or privately.
Nonetheless, the Convention is beyond question the most broadly representative body in
Scotland. It has enjoyed the support of the Scottish Labour Party the Scottish Liberal
Democrats, and a number of smaller parties. In all, the Convention has included 80 per
cent of Scotland's MPs and MEPs; representatives of the great majority of local
authorities; and many important elements in Scottish civic society, including the
Scottish Trades Union Congress, the churches, ethnic minority groups, women's
movements, and sections of the business and industrial community. Current membership
is listed as Appendix II.
The Convention held its inaugural meeting on 30 March 1989 in the Church of
Scotland's General Assembly Hall in Edinburgh. It adopted a declaration, which was
signed by all its members. This was a Claim of Right
Those wanting more on the fascinating detail of the process should read here. It is a
real case-study in consensual change - demonstrating that those who want to achieve
significant change have to have patience and humility. Lasting change is never
aachieved by slogans and the demonising which passes for most political activity
these days.

I had been one of the leaders of Strathclyde Region from the mid 1970s which included
half of Scotland’s population - the Scottish Nationalist party began to win seats and put
the Labour Government of the day under such pressure that a Bill to enact a Scottish
Parliament was enacted. I took part in a referendum in Scotland in 1979
which asked the Scottish electorate whether they wished the Bill creating a Scottish
parliament to be implemented. A total of 1,230,937 (51.6%) voted at the referendum in
favour of an Assembly, a narrow majority of about 77,400 over those voting against.
However, this total represented only 32.9% of the registered electorate as a whole -
compared with the 40% reuired by the Act. The Labour government accepted that the
Act's requirements had not been met, and that devolution would therefore not be
introduced for Scotland. This led to the withdrawal of nationalist support from the
Government, its loss of a vote of Confidence and a General Election which the
Conservatives won.

The emasculation in the late 1980s of local government by Thatcher forced me to look
elswhere for a career. An invitation from Ilona Kickbusch, the Director of WHO’s
European Public Health’s division came at the right time - to help her construct a
network for health promotion in the countries of recently liberated central and eastern
europe. The senior position I held in a Region had given me access to various European
networks throughout the 1980s.
I have therefore had to follow its political developments from afar, in particular –
• the abolition by the London-based Conservative Government of the Regional system of
local government in the mid 1990s;
• the election in 1999 (thanks to the New Labour government) of a Scottish Parliament
and Exective which was, thanks to a new system of proportional representation, a

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coalition of the Labour and Liberal parties;
• the increasingly independent path taken by the Exective in matters of social policy eg
ensuring free care of the elderly (unlike England)
• the appointment in 2007 of a minority Nationalist government – with a pledge to
organise at an appropiate time a referendum on independence
*a stunning Nationalist over-all majority in the 2011 elections
• its style and content of government – which is more social democratic than that of
New Labour eg resisting university fees

postscript
As I drafted this post, I began to feel a bit guilty about going into history. I feel a lot
better now that I have just read today's article from one of the key figures in the
Scottish Convention - appealing for Scots to cast their minds back to that period -
when Scots voted in the referendum of 1997 they knew they were voting not just for a
transfer of powers or for a mini-Westminster, but for a parliament that had been
designed, conceived and carefully planned over six long years of vigorous and often
heated debate. I should know, I bear the scars. It was to be a parliament, we said,
'radically different from the rituals of Westminster; more participative, more creative,
less needlessly confrontational – a culture of openness'.

That vision has to some extent been fulfilled, but it is time to move on. The point is –
and this is what Prime Minister Cameron does not seem to get – that Scotland's
parliament was not a gift of Westminster. Home rule was home-made. It must stay that
way.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Vagabond in Bulgaria

The snow had melted sufficiently by the weekend to

allow me to drive down to the flat in Sofia – the snow was
still lying in the Romanian fields but no longer in the
Bulgarian ones. Midweek, however, the snow struck again!
Earlier in the month, when snow melted in the south, the
walls of a dam in the south of the country had crumbled
and an entire village was inundated – with 10 deaths. The
history and management of the dam give a good insight
into governance issues in this part of the world. Noone
apparently understands what its purpose was and its
ownership was split between three bodies – with obvious
(and tragic) results. The story appears in the current
issue of Bulgaria’s monthly English magazine Vagabond which is always a good read.
The current issue gave me useful data on the property market -
Property prices in Bulgaria will continue to fall, experts say, but it is difficult to predict whether the
downward trend will be gradual or whether the property market will crash like it did in 2009. In Sofia, the

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average price of residential property is 40 percent lower than in 2008, as buyers now typically pay 700-750
euros per square metre. The majority of properties are bought by first-time buyers, usually young families,
who take out mortgages to buy small flats. Russians continue to be the chief purchasers of holiday
properties.

Another article also threw some light on another issue which has been vexing me very
recently – relating to interactions between foreigners like me and Bulgarians. An Italian
friend of mine spent almost a decade here, building up a great network of contacts –
which, ultimately, did nothing to further his prospects. He left the country with some
bitter comments about outsiders never being accepted here. At the time I simply could
not agree since I have quite a few people here I count as real friends. However, I have
noticed recently the different assumptions about hospitality. I am very open – but find
it difficult to get many friends to visit me in my flat. And it is rare to receive an
invitation. An article by a Professor of multi-cultural communication confirms the point
that inviting foreigners to one’s home is a very big deal here – and makes the point in
relation to facial expressions that “if you smile at people they will think you are either
laughing at them or that there is something wrong with you”!! Little wonder that I was
viewed as a madman initially by some of my local staff when I headed a project here in
2007/08!

The current issue also contains an article about the great network of small rural
guesthouses here in Bulgaria where you can eat local produce; get friendly family
hospitality and access to great leisure pursuits (including horse-riding). A great Guide
from the Bulgarian Alternative Tourism Association can be downloaded here
And, if you are into serious mountain climbing, then this looks a great oroganisation to
contact for advisers and guides
While I’m on the subject, here’s also an outsider’s view of the top 15 places to visit in
Bulgaria. And also a nice piece (in English if you scroll down) about Balcic in the far
North-East corner which used to belong to
Romania.
I’ve been renewing my contact with some of the
small galleries here in Sofia and saw a nice-
looking and well-sized Zhekov for 1,500 euros –
the same price a picture of his went for in the
December Victoria Auction. The painting at the
top of this post is a Zhekov - which hopefully
explains why he is one of the top Bulgarian
painters for me.
In a small antique shop very nearby which seems
now to be stocking painters from the genre and
period I like, a superb (anonymous) painting of
Rila Monastery from the mid 20th century was to
be had for 150 euros.
And the painting above is Vladimir Kavaldjiev
from the 1960s was on sale at a 2010 auction for
750 euros but can now be had for 600.

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Sunday, March 4, 2012

Liberation and Loss in Bulgaria

I knew something was special when I

saw the Bulgarian flag stuck out of a
neighbour’s window yesterday morning;
small national flags for sale in
pedestrianised Vitosha Bvd; and a small
crowd watching the changing of the
guard at the Presidency. Young people
told us it was Liberty Day – from which
I thought it was Independence Day –
but that in fact is September 22 and
marks the declaration of Bulgaria as a
sovereign nation. March 3 is in fact a
more bitter-sweet date for the
Bulgarians since it marks the day in 1878 when Russia and the Ottoman Empire signed
the San Stefano Treaty which gave the country autonomous status within the Ottoman
Empire after 500 years of Ottoman domination.
It was also awarded a large landmass (indeed access to the Aegean Sea) but lost a
significant part of this new territory later the same year at the Berlin Congress
(the Macedonian and Greek parts in the left and bottom of the map). According to
Wikipedia
The Treaty was in fact a preliminary one but, almost immediately, became the central
point of Bulgarian foreign policy, lasting until 1944 and led to the disastrous Second
Balkan War and Bulgaria's even more disastrous participation in World War I. The
enlarged Bulgaria envisioned by the treaty alarmed neighboring states as well as France
and Great Britain. As a result, it was never implemented, being superseded by the
Treaty of Berlin following the Congress of the same name.

On the square round the corner from the President’s Palace, we found about 30 buses
parked – with signs from Bulgaria’s main towns. A Russian and Yiddish German speaking
Bulgarian photographer with whom I tried to elicit more info in Russian could cast no
light on where the bus passengers were - or for what purpose. As we approached the
imposing Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, we could hear martial music. I thought this was
part of the national celebrations but it quickly turned out to be part of the neo-fascist
Ataka party’s takeover of the celebrations. I’m not religious myself but I found highly
offensive the scaffolding they had constructed over the entrance to the Cathedral and
the the military music which pored from it. Presumably the church authorities were in
on this? The banner which topped the scaffolding demanded freedom from foreign
control.
As I turned away in disgust (from the agression and context rather than message), I

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was hit with even more loud and aggressive rock music being played by louts on an open-
lorry which led an Ataka demonstration of about 4,000 just as it was turning into the
square. Acording to the news report
the march had started from the National Palace of Culture all the way through
downtown Sofia to the "Nevsky" square, with several stops, such as the buildings of the
Finance and Economy Ministries. There, Ataka leader, Volen Siderov, demanded the
resignation of their respective ministers for betraying national interests and working
for colonizers and for the impoverishment of Bulgarians. Siderov delivered a 50-minute-
long speech, asking for decent jobs for all Bulgarians, European wages (current rates
are about 15% of the EU average), eliminating monopolies and transferring all business
back to Bulgarian hands. He accused European leaders of trying to cut Bulgaria to
pieces, as all Great Forces have done, not caring about Bulgarian people and their well-
being, and labeled the EU the "new Soviet Union." The nationalist leader further
slammed Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, and his cabinet of not doing anything to improve
the situation for fellow countrymen and women. At the end of the speech, Siderov,
appealed to all, who are banging him and want his post, to have the courage to look him
in the eye and tell him what they want and let people be the judge. "Any action against
Ataka only serves Turkish and Gipsy interests, and all enemies of Bulgaria," he said.

A lot of old people from all over over

Bulgaria had come to take part in the
march and register their disgust with
how the world has treated them in the
past 20 years. In that sense, it was not
quite what you expect to see in a
demonstration by an aggressive neo-
fascist group.
It was a very subdued and sad group of
people who shuffled past us.
After the march had passed, we tried to engage an elderly man in conversation, but he
insisted very proudly that he spoke only Bulgarian.

Bulgarian labour costs per hour were 3 euros in 2010 compared with an EU average of
25 euros – but the 20% plus rate which has been registered in the past years has
caused a warning to be issued recently by the EC
The Bulgarian Finance Ministry doesn’t see it that way. It notes that lately the
country’s current account deficit has declined – from 23.1 percent of GDP in 2008 to
8.9 percent for 2009 to just 1.3 percent for 2010, tracking closely with the advance of
the financial crisis. What’s more, the ministry says, the current account for 2011 will
show a surplus, amounting to 1.8 percent of GDP. While the Finance Ministry argued
about numbers, some Bulgarian commentators went straight to outrage. “Some … in
Brussels forget that besides the relative numbers, there are also absolute ones,” wrote
Svetoslav Terziev in the Sega (Now) newspaper. “The average monthly salary in Bulgaria
is 350 euros and Oli Rehn’s is 22,122.”

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Very fair point! Cost of living is cheaper here but not one eighth cheaper - which it
would need to be for those on lower incomes to survive. More like 60% of costs in any
other European capital than the 12% required by labout costs!
I'm happy to accept the going rate for consultants here - which is half what I would get
for work in Central Asia and at least a quarter of what I might normally expect in the
UK ( although I suspect the public sector redundancies there have driven the rate). My
fee, however, is still ten times that of the average daily wage here!!
Ataka (and Bulgarian commentators) are quite right to target the EC
bureaucrats whose behaviour, typically, is calculated to destroy the whole European
edifice.

Monday, March 5, 2012

picking up Voltaire's Coconuts

A second-hand English bookshop here in Sofia which

boasts 10,000 titles – this is the Elephant Bookstore.
Go down Rakovski St from the square in front of
Alexander Nevski Cathedral, cross Dundorov Bv and
its on your left – although somewhat disguised at the
back of a tea Shop which you have to enter through
a large iron gate.

The collection is in a tiny space – with the books piled to a high ceiling. I emerged with 5
or 8, depending on how you count them since one was a bumper collection of four West
of Scotland novels written variously between the 1930s to 1980s entitled Growing up in
the West and containing no less than 4 different books - Edwin Muir (Poor Tom) by one
of Scotland’s most respected writers of the 20th century and three less well-known
writers - JF Hendry (Fernie Brae), Gordon M Williams (From Scenes like these) and
Tom Gallacher (The Apprentice). Although the last was published in 1983 and is based
on life and shipyard work in the 1950s in my home town (Greenock), I was not aware of
the book or the writer. Many people say there was a renaissance of Scottish writing in
the 1980s – but I would suggest that this is to underestimate what was being produced
fairly consistently in the 20th century in this small country of 5 million people. I’ll say
something more shortly about this.
Another book was also an unknown Voltaire’s Coconuts – or anglomania in Europe by Ian
Buruma an under-rated writer who was born a Dutchman, writes now in English and has
lived in Japan, UK and America. The book brings many European historical figures to life
eg Voltaire, Goethe, Garabaldi, Mazzini, Marx - all from the perspective of their
attitude to the structure of English life and government. It starts with Voltaire's
famous query - "Why can't the laws that guarantee British liberties be adapted
elsewhere?"
Having been imprisoned in the Bastille for publishing a satirical poem on religious

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persecution in France, Voltaire travelled to England to find his model of tolerance and
liberty. As a universalist and a rationalist, the French philosopher assumed that these
virtues could be transplanted elsewhere, and most especially to the France of the
ancien Regime. Anticipating objections on the lines of "you might as well ask why
coconuts, which bear fruit in India, do not ripen in Rome” he stated that it took time
for those (legal) coconuts to ripen in England too. There is no reason, he said, why they
shouldn't do well everywhere, even in Bosnia and Serbia. So let's start planting them
now."
What Voltaire essentially admired in England was the theory of equality before the law
and the separation of legislative and executive powers. England in the 18th and 19th
centuries was seen by prominent French and German figures in many regards in the way
we now view the United States of America – full of dynamism, workshop of money but
with rather uncouth, disrespectful citizens and media.

A 1998 edition of JK Galbraith’s 1958 The Affluent Society was the next book – this
one with a foreward in which the author assessed what time had done to his analysis.
One of the reviews I unearthed was by writer and left-wing Labour MP John Strachey
in the long-defunct Encounter magazine. Here is a highly viewable video of Galbraith
reminiscing,
Books by Saul Bellow (The Adventures of Augie March) and Louis de Bernieres (Captain
Corelli’s Mandolin) rounded off my purchases – all for the total price of 17 euros! Such
is the joy of serendipity in foreign bookshops – and this one in particular!
The cafe also has a great atmosphere and buzz – being Sunday, parents and kids were
present, with lost of activities for the latter. My one complaint is that a lot of the
books were disfigured - apparently deliberately - with the back page of the cover
having been torn off. This is pure sacrilege - I have never come across this apparent
policy........

I have, on this blog, already posted links to surveys of the literature from small
countries in central europe particularly Hungary which I offered in a discussion about
the subject on another blog
The Irish are well-known as good story- tellers and writers– whether it is George
Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, WB Yeats, Louis McNeice or, more recently,
William Trevor, John Banville, John McGahern or Sebastian Barry. As a Scot, I have an
obvious bias in suggesting that the quality and quantity of the Scottish literary output
of the past 80 years is on a par with the European best (Latin American and China are
something else!!). For an introduction see this assessment and this listing of the best
100 Scottish books

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Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Writing

I'm off to Sliven in a few minutes -

visiting, Insallah, the Stara Zagora Art
Gallery on the way - Mario Zhekov's
hometown. Sliven was Dobre Dobrev's
home - so hopefully the gallery there
has paintings of his on display. And
the area also boasts great white wine.
A mixed pinot gris (Dionis) won a silver medal in Paris last year. The mayor was a famour
footballer - but I notice he was removed from office a couple of years back!
So no real post today - just a great quote I found of Vaclav Havel about writing -
The beauty of language is that it can never capture precisely what it wants. Language is
disconnected, hard, digital as it were, and for that reason, it can never completely
capture something as connected as reality, experience, or our souls. This opens the door
to the magnificent battle for self-expression that has accompanied man down through
history. It is a battle without end, and thanks to it, everything that is human is
continually being elucidated, each time somewhat differently.
Moreover, it is in this battle that man in fact becomes himself. As an individual and as a
species. He simply tries to capture the world and himself more and more exactly
through words, images, or actions, and the more he succeeds, the more aware he is that
he can never completely capture himself, nor any part of the world. But that drives him
to keep trying, again and again, and thus he continues to define himself more and more
exactly. It's a Sisyphean fate. But it can't be helped: man will carry the complete truth
about himself to the grave.

Friday, March 9, 2012

A good display in Stara Zagora

Stara Zagora was reached in exactly 3

hours – along an excellent motorway
which, however, peters out at that
point. It has a superb location with the
Balkan mountains as a majestic
backcloth. It was completely destroyed
by the Turks in 1877 for welcoming
the Russian army of General Gurko and
was subsequently rebuilt on a strict
grid-plan with leafy Boulevards.
I therefore had no problems finding
the Art gallery which is a most

76
impressive one – well maintained and offering, for 1 euro, 3 separate exhibitions.

The permament one displays some of the works of the many painters who have been
born and worked there – eg Anton Mitov, Mario Zhekov and Atanas Mihov (1879-1974)
who, with Zhekov and Dobre Dobrev, is now becoming one of my real favourites.
Paintings by Nikola Tanev, Ivan Penkov (below) and Moutafov were also on display.

The Gallery also offered a collection of women’s portraits and, finally, a display of
woodcuts and graphics in a temperature
controlled room.

A superb book The Artists of Stara

Zagora was also available - produced by
the Gallery Director Marin Dobrev who
was kind enough to sign it for me. And I
was allowed to snap many of the
paintings – without flash, of course. The
exhibits were so enthralling I spent
almost two hours in total there – with a
return visit after the lunchbreak.
Many new names – eg Vasil Marinov and a great portraitist Elizabeth Konsulova-Vazova
(1881-1965)

Friday, March 9, 2012

Sliven's excellent galleries

Sliven, with 100,000 inhabitants, is half the size of neighbouring Stara Zagora; also has
a dramatic location with mountains rising sheer from behind; but has a more run-down
appearance. I associate the town with two things – the painter Dobre Dobrev (198-
1973) and excellent white wine (Vini Sliven which has become very difficult to find now
in Sofia; Windy Hills I have not yet tasted)!

And the town has done Dobrev proud –

with some 50 of his paintings on
permanent display in a superb National
Revival house. Here I found the
painting which had so attracted me in
the special exhibition mounted 2
years ago by the Sofia City Gallery -
with the fingers of the man at the
cafe so clearly drawn!
I was taken to the Gallery by Evelin
who had been kind enough to show me

77
round the Sirak Stitnik Gallery which is the town’s main gallery – with a collection just
as good as that I saw the previous day in the neighbouring town.
Not only the country’s greats such as Tanev, Abadjiev and Boris Denev but a special
exhibition of the graphics of a new painter for me - Kozuharev, Nikola (1892-1971).

He's famous apparently for his

mythological and historical paintings but
was also a war artist - covering the
Balkan War and First World Wars - and
some of these sketches were on display.
This painting is of the capture of
Bulgaria's greatest freedom-fighter -
Vassil Levski.
Unfortunately, there was no heating in
the place - like the Russe and
Targovishte galleries

Saturday, March 10, 2012

The amorality of Professions

I see that rule of law has not improved in Azerbaijan since I worked and lived in Baku
between 2003-05. Those attending the Eurovision Song contest being held there in a
couple of months should be told about the evictions which have taken place to house the
stupid event. I went to work there (for 2 years) immediately after I had spent 3 years
in Uzbekistan, For me, the repressive nature of the regimes which ruled the 2 countries
was so similar - but the oil and geography ensured that Azerbaijan remained a Western
favourite while Uzbekistan was increasingly demonised. These evictions are just a very
public example of the way the authorities in that country trample all over its citizens'
basic rights.

A good vignette about professionals

Sometimes you find real gems in discussions threads. Here's a great comment on the
legal system from someone whose name I didn't note in a now-forgotten discussion
thread. It could be used of any professional system -
Judges, lawyers, barristers and other professional morality men work consciously and
unconsciously to create unnecessary needs and ensure that there is no other means of
meeting them than through their profession. This they do in five ways.

• Firstly, they make truth, justice and authority inseparable from an abstract and
extremely complicated code that only they are trained to understand. In this they are
no different from scientists, doctors or politicians; or from the priests they took over
from, who, before printing and wide-literacy, had sole access to the word of God.
• Secondly, and connected with their abstraction of truth, they create and use a

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nomenclature, or jargon, to describe both their own activity as well as normal life. Laws
are couched in such obscure language that only
those who have spent years learning the code are
able to interpret and discuss them.
• Thirdly, going to court involves a series of
ceremonial, formalised rituals, invested with all the
mystique of a religion, that bewilder, terrify or
pacify outsiders into further dependence and
unnecessary “respect”.
• Fourthly, there is little and usually no provision for
the independent litigant to represent herself. She is
given little or no help or encouragement to defend
her case. She is unprofessional, and so is treated, by
judges and lawyers alike, as incompetent,
untrustworthy and irresponsible. Witnesses are
treated in a similar way: only professionals can give
opinions; everyone else must stick to facts.
• Finally, “nobody is above the law.” This demonstrable lie ensures that justice cannot be
done outside of court. This does not just include legal disputes, crime and so forth, but
also marriage, divorce, buying a house and making a will, all of which are invalid without a
trip to the lawyer.
I am reminded, as I read this, of the historical critique - The Third Revolution;
professional elites in the modern world by Harold Perkins which I have referred to
several times on this blog. And who better than Daumier to offer a graphic comment on
the legal profession! Here is a wonderful video on the Daumier caricatures.
Bulgarian caricaturists such as Ilya
Beshkov are worthy successors to
Daumier - here is one I bought recently.

A year ago -
I had a good post about social change in
which I referred to Robert Quinn’s
book Change the world; how ordinary
people can accomplish extraordinary
results as an excellent antidote for
those who are still fixated on the expert
model of change – those who imagine it can be achieved by “telling”, “forcing” or by
participation. Quinn exposes the last for what it normally is (despite the best intentions
of those in power) – a form of manipulation – and effectively encourages us, through
examples, to have more faith in people. As the blurb says –
the idea that inner change makes outer change possible has always been part of
spiritual and psychological teachings. But not an idea that’s generally addressed in
leadership and management training.
Quinn's book looks at how leaders such as Christ, Gandhi and Luther King have
mobilised people for major change – and suggests that, by using 8 principles, “change

79
agents” are capable of helping ordinary people to achieve transformative change. These
principles are -
• Envisage the productive community (ie imagine a better system)
• Look within
• Embrace the hypocritical self
• Transcend fear
• Embody a vision of the common good
• Disturb the system
• Surrender to the emergent system
• Entice through moral power

Monday, March 12, 2012

Fighting Big Brother

A year ago I had a rather brief post about the decline of

journalism (three of my readers have already beaten me to
this today!!) and hinted about the role which media
concentration and corporate power was playing in the
restriction of our democratic freedoms. By sheer
coincidence, I came across yesterday a gripping video on how
precisely lobbyists and deregulation made this possible in the
USA in the 1990s and early 2000s (with propaganda
calculated to make George Orwell spin in his grave) - and with
what results. There are some great interviews with media
people who clearly have taken risks in being so outspoken –
and a stunning interview with a Republican appointee who acts
like a programmed Alien in her responses to some critical
questioning. The video focuses on serious abuse of
power which never made the news - vetoed by those who
feared corporate power sponsors. Another video is here
Rather belatedly, perhaps, some centres have been formed to fight this – in the US the
Center for Public Integrity; in the UK,,a Centre for the Freedom of the Media; and a
more recent The Bureau Investigates

Two useful papers are Mapping global media policy; and Media pluralism and
concentration; the UK case
For those who care about democracy, these are the organisations which deserve and
need public support.

Craig Murray had posted a couple of videos from a recent Conference in Berlin on
Freedom of Expression which show, for example, how the BBC elite has clearly made
him a non-person because of his courage in exposing the lies and deciet which pass for
foreign policy. I hope this link works - since the first link I put up quickly disappeared

80
from the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy's site!! I have asked the Institute for an
explanation of this.........

A dig at the Aid business

I'm not a cynical person - it is rather scepticism I celebrate. But satire is a useful
wepaon against the pomposity and hubris of large organisations - and I did enjoy a piece
on the genesis of the aid business of which this is an excerpt -
In the beginning, the Donors said, “Let us make development in our image, and in our
likeness, so that we may bring about changes in developing countries”. And other
Government Departments replied, “Yes, but not too much change, and not all at once,
who knows What might Happen.” And the Donors did reflect upon this, and after a time
they did say, “Let there be Aid Programmes”.
And lo, having completed the appropriate paperwork and then randomly recruited staff
members on the basis of spurious social connections, the Aid Workers did create a
great many Aid Programmes upon the land, with rather fewer in the sea.
Now at first many Aid Programmes were formless and empty, there was darkness over
any possible engagement with intended beneficiaries, and attribution of impact was
absolutely nowhere to be seen. With naught else to look at, the Donors did peck at the
financials like bureaucratic vultures.
And the Donors did say, “Let there be light on this programme”, but there was no light,
merely quarterly reports cut and pasted from other endeavours. But the Aid Workers
saw that the reports were sufficient to get the donors off their backs. They called the
reports “evidence-based” and they did construct programme narratives, after a fashion.
And there were visits and some more reports.

But upon reading the reviews, the Donors said, “Let all the programmes under this sky
be gathered to one place, and let duplication and waste disappear.” But it was not so.
Instead the Aid Workers did gather in the bar and Grumble about it over numerous
beers. The next day, the Aid Workers said those programmes whose representatives
had gathered in that bar formed ‘a new Coordinated Operational Network System, or
CONS’. And the Donors did scratch their heads, and then said, “Well, Okay”.

Then the Donors said, “Let the programmes produce results: monitoring systems and
impact-bearing evidence, both qualitative and quantitative, according to their various
kinds.” But again, it was not so. The programmes produced reports bearing more
narratives and nice photos on the front. But the content was heavily skewed according
to pre-defined objectives and indicators that could have been copied off a cereal box.

And the Aid Workers saw that it was rather woolly and vague, and were satisfied. And
the Donors saw that it was not Actually very good, but would at least keep the Right
Wing Press off their backs for a little longer.
And then one Aid Worker did Stand up and Say, “Let our Programmes be shaped by
those we seek to serve, and Let them tell us what is good and right, and let us shine a

81
true light into these programmes of ours, so that a light may then shine forth from
them. And let that Light be Truly called ‘Development’.”
But the other Aid Workers did say, “Shut up and sit down, What are you playing at,
Dost thou wish to get us all into the Deep Excrement?”
Thankfully the Donors were too busy creating new Declarations of Aid Effectiveness,
within which all new and existing efforts should be fixed, according to their kind, and so
did not notice.
And so this Aid Worker did leave that place, and became a Participatory Monitoring and
Evaluation Specialist.
The other Aid Workers blessed her departure and said “Come back when our next mid-
term review is due, and verily your rates will be good.” And they were.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

The European Commission Terrorists

Daniel Cohn-Bendit has been a breath of fresh air

in European politics since 1968. Ensconced in the
European Parliament for the past couple of
decades (as a Green), his disparaging term for
Commissioner Barrosso and his advisers has,
apparently, been “The Chicago boys” - a nice
conflation of mafia and the source of academic
neo-liberalism. Recently, he has started to call
them “The neo-liberal Taliban” and Social Europe
has a useful post outlining the various positions
taken by the EC which justify this term
So, let’s look at the facts:
• According to the Commission’s reading, the
deepest financial and economic crisis since the
1930s is simply a state debt crisis and has little to
do with the crash of Lehmann Brothers and other banks. Yet, in reality, states were
forced to step in to save the banks and their markets due to the meltdown in the
financial industry. Many member states with previously reasonable debt levels assumed
private debts and thus increased their public debt. But for the Commission, only the
last link of the chain is important: austerity regimes must be established all over
Europe to counter the “debt challenge”, to introduce “debt brakes” and the name for
these austerity regimes is “economic governance”.
• Under the Troika regime, Greece has been asked to cut debts. The Greeks are willing
to save money by cutting the defence budget but the Commission’s reaction has been
negative: it recommends cutting pensions instead.
The Troika regime is asking Ireland to cut salaries. The Irish trade unions have
challenged the approach as neoliberal but the Commission’s maintains that it’s all just

82
economics!
• The Commission’s country recommendations follow the same pattern: Belgium should
see its long existing wage indexation as a cause of the debts and abolish it; Spain should
let collective bargaining agreements extinguish without renewal; France should limit the
rate of increase of minimum wages. The Commission will enforce these recommendations
via a system of fines and sanctions.
• The recent White Paper on pensions claims to support workers’ mobility. What it
actually seems to promote is the mobility of insurance companies and the uniformity of
insurance products all over Europe.
• There is still no breakthrough on a Financial Transaction Tax, Eurobonds, strict
regulation of financial markets, a split of the banking system etc.
• The so-called “reform agenda” is still under the banner of more smart regulation, more
labour market reform, more flexicurity etc.

Europe needs to be protected against this neoliberal dismantling. The financial industry
brought the system close to a breakdown and the “neoliberal Taliban” are bringing
Europe close to collapse. They overlook the symptoms of growing euroscepticism all over
Europe and they fail to deliver solutions. Whether or not austerity works, seems not so
important for them.
Another interesting Social Europe post is here

A painting privilege in Shumen

Another workshop at Targovishte – and the morning swim and exercise we have now
started in Sofia (just round the corner in at Rodina Hotel) left no time to pop in to see
the Veliko Tornovo Gallery (about which I haven’t heard anything in any case). But I had
learned that Shumen has an interesting gallery from this link I had accidentally come
across. The town of Shumen (80 kms from Varna and the Black Sea) is a bit
unprepossessing as you drive in – with decaying 1950s residential blocks. But its centre
is a pleasant surprise, with one the largest pedestrian areas I have ever seen – with
trees, a theatre, statues and a mountain range behind. Its upper side is graced with a
series of old, large official buildings – of which a mock Italian palace (the police station)
is perhaps the most interesting.
The Elena Karamihaylova Gallery was known only by two elderly ladies and was initially a
disappointment – since the second floor containing the permanent collection was closed
for reconstruction. But conversations with 3 (of the 7) staff managed to convey our
love of Bulgarian painting and the Director graciously presented us with an attractive
pack containing 20 postcards of the paintings, a CD and a small booklet giving the
history of the collection and short notes on the artists.
When, however, I mentioned the name Alexander Moutafov (who was apparently born in
Shumen), it was literally the key to open an Aladdin;s Cave.

83
Valentina Velikova, the paintings expert, took us to the archives where we saw the
collection (of 1,300 items) stored and filed. And she was kind enough to find and pull out
for our inspection various portraits by Elena Karamihaylova and paintings by Nikola
Tanev, Alexander Moutafov and Stanio Stamatov. Marvellous to have a chance to handle
such work. And great that a small gallery
should have developed such a nice pack.
They are rare amongsdt Regional galleries
in having a CD - only Kazanlak (so far on
my travels) has offered such a product. It
is so simple, cheap to creat - and so
necessary given the large numbers of
paintings which are doomed to spend their
life in basement archives!

During the journey, I had said that I did

not think that Brits had made their home
in this part of the country - but, on the
way back to the hotel, we popped into a Lidl supermarket and got into conversation with
a british couple who have been living in a village outside Shumen for the past 5 years.
They told us that quite a few Brits were in the area.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

The way we live now

This blog has mentioned several times the

advantages of the semi-nomadic life. Since
renting the flat in Sofia last April, I’ve
accumulated a fair number of books and
paintings and may well end the rental
shortly (the delight of the Carpathian
mountains in spring beckons). So each trip
north means a box of books, of clothes and
a pile of at least 10 paintings. And
therefore an opportunity to dip into some
books as I travel. Yesterday I started to
read, for the second time, Tony Judt’s
short Ill Fares the Land (2010). The
link gives the book's entire Introduction
and is therefore well worth reading. It
starts very powerfully "Something is profoundly wrong with the way we live today,"
Judt begins - We are obsessed with money and have lost any sense of community.

84
In the 30 years following the Second World War, there was a widespread belief that
the state could do a better job than the unregulated market. A benign welfare state
would keep us from the poverty of the 1930s. It would protect us from cradle to grave.
These assumptions underpinned Butskellism in Britain, the Great Society in the United
States and European social democracy. In the 1970s, confidence in the state and a
larger public realm fell apart. Since then, many have lost any sense of the state as
either efficient or benign. Instead, we have come to believe, as Margaret Thatcher
said, that: "There is no such thing as society; there are individual men and women, and
there are families."
Judt pulls no punches. This new obsession with wealth, privatisation and the private
sector is disastrous. The evidence of public squalor is all around us: "Broken highways,
bankrupt cities, collapsing bridges, failed schools, the unemployed, the underpaid and
the uninsured: all suggest a collective failure of will." The first chapter, "The Way We
Live Now", is a passionate argument against the rise of inequality, the collapse in social
mobility and the "pathological social problems" that follow. "Economic disadvantage for
the overwhelming majority," he writes, "translates into ill-health, missed educational
opportunity and - increasingly - the familiar symptoms of depression." Inequality is
"corrosive". "It rots societies from within," he says.
I suspect we can all save ourselves a lot of time by asking about the motives which
spurred an author to write – mostly it has to do with academic reputation, money or
hubris. When a man is on his death-bed and takes incredible trouble (and pain) to draft
a book for posterity it will generally be worth reading. Here is how historian Judt
explains its origins in the Introduction –

For thirty years students have been complaining to me that ‘it was easy for you’: your
generation had ideals and ideas, you believed in something, you were able to change
things. ‘We’ (the children of the ’80s, the ’90s, the ‘aughts’) have nothing. In many
respects my students are right. It was easy for us — just as it was easy, at least in this
sense, for the generations who came before us. The last time a cohort of young people
expressed comparable frustration at the emptiness of their lives and the dispiriting
purposelessness of their world was in the 1920s: it is not by chance that historians
speak of a ‘lost generation’.

If young people today are at a loss, it is not for want of targets. Any conversation with
students or schoolchildren will produce a startling checklist of anxieties. Indeed, the
rising generation is acutely worried about the world it is to inherit. But accompanying
these fears there is a general sentiment of frustration: ‘we’ know something is wrong
and there are many things we don’t like. But what can we believe in? What should we do?
This is an ironic reversal of the attitudes of an earlier age. Back in the era of self-
assured radical dogma, young people were far from uncertain. The characteristic tone
of the ’60s was that of overweening confidence: we knew just how to fix the world. It
was this note of unmerited arrogance that partly accounts for the reactionary backlash
that followed; if the Left is to recover its fortunes, some modesty will be in order. All
the same, you must be able to name a problem if you wish to solve it. This book was
written for young people on both sides of the Atlantic.

85
The title of his book is taken from these lines of Oliver Goldsmith’s famous 1770 poem -
Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay.''

and, for me, one of significant things about the book is that each of its chapter
headings echoes a famous book of the past century thus eg The World We Have
Lost; What is to be done?; Shape of Things to Come – thus subtly emphasising the
recognition (as Google Scholar puts it) that we "stand on the shoulders of Giants”. Our
selfish world has too few writers who properly spell out the relevant work by other
writers and too many who pretend to have blazed a unique trail (modern book publishing
seems to require such hyperbole). The academics go the opposite extreme of
referencing so much and so generally that you are left with no real sense of intellectual
development.

One extensive review summarised the book’s arguments thus -

He is the most important contemporary representative of a nearly extinct political
tendency – the anti-communist, social-democratic Left. His manifesto is driven by his
conviction that in rejecting social democracy 30 years ago the West stumbled badly,
and by his hope that the social-democratic tradition can now be revived. His manifesto
is sober but also urgent, written by a man who knows that time is not on his side, and
for this reason deeply moving.

For Judt, social democracy is multifaceted and complex. Originally, social democracy
was a response to the barbarity of communism, where the utopian socialist dream was
moderated by a commitment to liberal democracy and where eventually a historic
compromise with capitalism was struck. After the shock of the Great Depression, social
democracy became, in addition, a distinctive form of political economy, inspired by
Maynard Keynes. For a generation, under the Keynesian consensus, worldly wisdom
triumphed over neo-classical academic orthodoxy. Social democracy was, accordingly, no
longer merely one kind of politics but the animating spirit of an era lasting from 1945
until the election of Margaret Thatcher. During this era, social democracy was
associated with a series of policy prescriptions: progressive taxation and the “mixed
economy” of public and private ownership. It was also primarily responsible for the
creation of the protective social-welfare state, its greatest achievement. Yet, for
Judt, social democracy is even more than this. It is the most humane moral–political
idea, in which, for once, both the two great values unleashed by the French Revolution –
freedom and equality – are valued and pursued.

What went wrong for social democracy? Although Judt rather perfunctorily
recognises that in the mid-1970s the social-democratic state hit unanticipated
economic troubles, his explanation of the collapse places greater weight on cultural
factors. By the 1970s, a younger postwar generation had begun to take the
achievements of the postwar social-democratic era for granted, and even to chafe at
the dullness of the security it had delivered. In addition, the New Left was by now more
interested in the politics of personal identity – of race and gender, rather than class –

86
than it was in defending the achievements of the postwar Left. Both factors made the
social order vulnerable to an intellectual attack that was mounted by the Austrian
émigrés – not only Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises, but also Karl Popper, Joseph
Schumpeter and Peter Drucker – who were mesmerised by the interwar collapse of
liberalism throughout central Europe and who, grotesquely, mistook the creation of the
social-democratic welfare state for a way station on “the road to serfdom”.

There is strength in Judt’s explanation of the fall of social democracy, but also
weakness. Judt underestimates the degree to which the ‘stagflation’ crisis knocked the
confidence of the conventional Keynesian economists, whose thought was premised on
the idea that inflation and stagnation were the alternative illnesses to which the
capitalist economy might succumb. He is also rather unbalanced about the legacy of the
New Left. Even if there was a narcissistic tendency in identity politics, it is also true
that the eruption of the ’60s helped trigger a vast cultural revolution that shook
centuries-old habits of mind on issues related to gender and race. Not only did this
transform Western sensibility unambiguously for the better, it also extended to women
and non-whites one idea that Judt places at the heart of social-democratic values:
equality.

For Judt it is because of the victory of neo-liberalism, especially in the UK and the US,
that the land now fares ill. Most important for him is the toleration shown for the
return to pre-Great Depression levels of inequality. Judt begins with tables taken from
a remarkable recent study, The Spirit Level. They show that measuring almost
everything we value – health, mental wellbeing, social mobility, trust, levels of crime –
the more equal societies of north-west Europe perform notably better than the less
equal societies of the UK and, especially, the US.

Because of the return of gross inequality, the participatory element of democratic

politics has withered. For too long citizens have watched as the wealthy have fashioned
the world according to their desires. Without the feeling of belonging to a common
world, participation has no point. For Judt, the rise of the “gated” community is a
potent symbol of the loss of this common world. Even political leaders – “pygmies”, such
as Tony Blair and Bill Clinton, compared to their predecessors, Winston Churchill and
Franklin Roosevelt – have become passive, leaving decision-making to the neo-liberal
economic “experts” (the descendants of the Austrian school) whose central role has
been to make the world safe for the bankers and brokers. The orthodox economists
have, long ago, displaced political thinkers and convinced the world “there is no
alternative” to their nostrums. Although discredited by the Global Financial Crisis, so
far nothing has filled the void. At the coming of the crisis, Keynesianism made a return
of sorts, but this was little more than a neo-liberal “tactical retreat”. At the moment of
crisis everyone looked to government for action. Yet, according to Judt, no one is
presently thinking afresh about the role of the state.

It is clear that for him the damage done will not be easy to repair. Although the
welfare state has proven somewhat resistant to the neo-liberal assault – even Margaret

87
Thatcher could not abandon the National Health Scheme – privatisation has made rapid
gains in many areas, especially social services and transport, where its influence has
been negative, or worse. But the spirit of neo-liberalism has also paralysed the vital
organs of the culture. Universities are now overwhelmed by an economistic language of
“outputs” and “impacts”. We have taught the young to value nothing more than the
pursuit of wealth. Even intellectuals do not escape his scorn. Most are conformist and
afraid to dissent. Even when they are not, they prefer to speak about morally
straightforward issues rather than the complexity of public policy. (Ouch!) No one now
seems capable of expressing, or indeed of feeling, the appropriate anger. Perhaps
dangerously, Judt calls on intellectuals and others to trust their “instincts”.

Judt knows that contemporary social democracy is feeble. Since the collapse of
communism, the Left no longer believes that its goals are, in the words of Bernard
Williams, “cheered on by the universe”. More deeply, it has lost its language; its crisis is
thus “discursive”. But he is still convinced that a rebirth of social democracy is possible.
In part this is because neo-liberalism has been discredited. In part it is because the
quest for equality has not lost its grip on our moral imagination. And in part it is because
we live at a time of unprecedented uncertainty – about the economic future, about the
dangers of global warming, about the pace and unpredictability of change. The Right is
certain to try to exploit the mood of deep uncertainty. Yet, there is on the Left a long
tradition of fighting to conserve the human world from the forces that threaten it. If
there is to be a return to social democracy, it is almost certain to be what Judt calls “a
social democracy of fear”.

Friday, March 16, 2012

The Uzbek Connection

I had no sooner blogged earlier in the

week about media restrictions – and
inserted a link to a good Craig Murray
lecture and interview on the topic than he
posted the news that these 2 videos had
been removed from the site of the
Institute of Cultural Diplomacy in Berlin
(the only two videos from the Conference
on Free Expression (!) to be subject to
this treatment)
One of the discussants on the discussion which followed suggested that this might be
connected with some uncomplimentary things Craig had said about German politicians
and foreign policy somewhere else in Berlin at the same time, namely -
The former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, has also roundly criticized
the relationship between Germany and the Karimov regime in Uzbekistan. Speaking at

88
the High Level Hearings on Uzbekistan, held in Berlin on 1 March, Murray said that
Termez was the first military base Germany had taken over beyond its own borders
since the end of World War II. “It is ironic that Germany’s first overseas military base
is being used to reinforce the totalitarian system in Uzbekistan,” said Murray.
He also revealed his contempt for the hypocrisy of European and particularly German
politicians who try to justify their cooperation with Karimov by citing dubious ‘progress’
in Uzbekistan’s approach to human rights.
It would be more honest, Murray said, if politicians in the EU and Germany admitted
that they cooperate with Karimov because of the military base in Termez which is
essential to them in supporting their military campaign in Afghanistan.
Uzbekistan finds itself in a very advantageous position because of the war in
Afghanistan, said Scott Horton, editor of the influential Harper’s magazine, at the
same Hearings in Berlin Uzbek - Greater security is not all that Karimov has gained by
cooperating with NATO, said Horton. A company belonging to his elder daughter Gulnara
makes money from supplying goods to NATO troops in Afghanistan, he claims. “All goods
that are imported are processed through Gulnara’s company; it’s a win-win situation,”
Horton said.

It was, therefore, highly ironic that, on Monday, I was suddenly asked by a German
company if I would take over as Team Leader of an EC project with the Uzbek
Parliament!
Part of me was keen to see the country again – not least to visit Khiva and Bukhara and
to take the proper opportunity this time to see (and perhaps acquire) some of the
country's fascinating art work.
But another part of me, however, questioned whether I could ethically justify this –
given how much more repressive the regime has become in the decade since I last lived
and worked there. Since I left the country in 2002, several hundreds of people were
massacred at Andijan (in 2006); and Craig Murray has exposed the scale of torture
And, given the opinions I have about the "political class" everywhere (let alone in
Uzbekistan where they are mere ciphers), could I really sleep at night if I was part of a
project supposed to be strengthening it????
At a more personal level, I have read cases since I left the country of foreigners
driving cars being arrested and held to ransom for several thousands of dollars. I drove
myself around Tashkent and the countryside 1999-2002 and had no trouble with the
police. But I had a red Cabinet Office pass – which commanded deep respect.
I had to respond immediately – and sent an ambivalent reply, asking whether the team
has the same sort of official pass I had a decade ago. I heard no more! So fate solved
my ethical dilemma! And, to date, I have had no response from the Institute of Cultural
Diplomacy to my query.

update

And, three weeks on, a story appeared which indicates the strength of the set of cards
which Uzebistan has as countries such as the UK prepare to pull out of Afghanistan.
And how the UK prostitutes itself to ensure a base in this Dictatorship....

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setting priorities in municipal services

Razgrad's Ivan Petrov Gallery proved worth the wait. Housed in a superb, modernised
and specially-designed building (with EC funding) in the heart of the town right next to
the well-kept mosque, it has an enthusiastic Director, Todor Todorov, who personally
showed us round the collection on display. This included about 6 Danail Dechevs, a
Tanev, a Boris Denev, several Vladimir Dimitrovs and two painters so far unknown to me
- Maxim Tsankov (1877-1965) and Kosta Petrov (1894-1973).
Unfortunately Vodaphone here in Romania does not give me the capacity to upload
a photo from my camera - that will have to await my return to Bulgaria (on Sunday we go
to a workshop at Balcik on the Black Sea for a couple of days. The art gallery there is
also well worth a visit - as befits an area which has attracted so many painters.) In the
meantime I post another example of Dechev's work which has smaller capacity.
Razgrad's permanent exhibition also includes an excellent
graphics collection.
The gallery’s catalogue is the best I have seen – with coloured
reproductions and English as well as Bulgarian notes on the
paintings and painters. It also has a website – although still,
clearly, in the process of construction.
Razgrad's gallery, therefore, must go to the top of my unofficial list of best housed,
managed and documented regional galleries in Bulgaria - with Stara Zagora a close
second. Russe is the worst. Of course, these are not necessarily the best criteria - for
example the poorly-housed Targovishte Gallery was abuzz with a group of school-kids -
and the unheated Skitnik gallery in Sliven sponsors an annual Plein Air summer
school. Such local acess and use should clearly be the core of the mission of any art
gallery.

I find these differences an interesting example of the effects and importance of local
government - although I've made the point here before that the proper maintenance of
older paintings which are part of a country's national patrimony has national
significance. The lack of heating which threatens so many paintings in Bulgaria's
regional art galleries is a disgrace - but perhaps it is too easy to put this down to lack
of municipal funding. I found it curious that one of the galleries I visited had 7
staff. Of course I never like to recommend job-shedding but, in this case, perhaps lack
of heating simplyshows a poor sense of budgetary priorities!

The Razgrad Gallery is the only one I have seen which has used Regional Funds to make
such a major refurbishment - which shows both official initiative and political support. I
still have to visit Balcik, Burgas, Dobrich, Veliko Tarnovo and Pleven Galleries - and pay
homage at Svishtosh to Nikola Tanev. I doubt, however, whether I will find a better
gallery!

90
A Year Ago;
I offered a very useful annotated bibliography on the economic aspects of social
change.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Breakdown of the social agreement

Winston Churchill was the source of great quotes – one of which was “If you're not a
liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you're not a conservative at forty you have no
brain.” Pity he didn’t say something about what happens to political beliefs after you
become 60! Of course, a lot depends on the context – both personal and social. And I
don’t suppose I am alone in having moved even more left in the past decade.
I have always had a fairly critical perspective on the power structure – but could never
join the more radical left in its specific prescriptions. I was too sceptical about social
engineering. I profoundly believed in social progress coming from a balance of power. My
mistake was to imagine that the power elite accepted the new balance of power which
had been forged by the middle of the last century.

An important article on the Social Europe site by an adviser to the Norwegian Union of
Municipal and General Employees puts the failure of the European social democratic
movement to make any real electoral headway in a useful historical context -
The current deep ideological and political crisis on the broad left can only be
understood in the context of the rather socially peaceful post World War II period,
the heydays of the social welfare state and the existence of a class compromise
between labour and capital in Europe. This historic compromise was the result of a very
specific historic development, in which capitalist forces gave concessions to the well
organised working class in Western Europe to damp its radicalism and win workers’
support in the cold war against the Soviet Union. However, in the dominant trade union
and labour movement these historic specific achievements gradually formed the basis
for a generalised social partnership ideology which became more and more delinked
from the analyses of the power relations on which it was built. Thus, it also led to a
certain depoliticisation and deradicalisation of the trade union and labour movement.
The historic role of the Social Democratic parties became to administer the class
compromise, rather than to mobilise the working class for further social progress. This
is very well illustrated by the fact that the political and ideological crisis really hit
those political parties as the class compromise started to disintegrate from around
1980 – and capitalist forces launched their neoliberal offensive.
What we have seen in Europe over the last 30 years is therefore governments which
have pursued some kind of neoliberal policies whether they have been right wing, centre
or so-called centre-left governments. The Social Democratic Parties in the EU member
countries have, without exception, supported all the neoliberal constitutional
amendments of the EU, and the entire construction of a Singel Market, which in reality
has been a systematic project of deregulation, privatisation and undermining of trade

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unions and social welfare.

Most of the European trade union confederations are clinging to what in EU language is
called the ‘social dialogue’. This means that they act as if the post World War II class
compromise is still intact, and that bi- and tripartite cooperation between labour,
capital and the state is still the most effective way of promoting the interests of
workers. That the class compromise has come to an end, and that the social forces
with which they seek dialogue are attacking public services, wages, pensions and
the very fundamental trade unions rights day and night, do not seem to weaken
most European trade union organisations’ belief in social partnership and social
dialogue as the main way forward…..
The European social model, such as we know it from its heyday, has at any rate been
abandoned in reality by the European elites, even if they continue to pay lip-service to
it.
A solution to the crisis, built on solidarity, will require massive mobilisation in order to
change the balance of power in society. Only if the trade union and labour movement
is strong enough to pose a threat to the existing economic order, will the
speculators and their political servants start to give in. That is why support for
those who are now fighting to contain this cutback policy is so crucial. The
restructuring of the political left seems to be part of the task. Either the trade union
and labour movement will manage to defend the social progress gained via the welfare
state, or it risks being left with a right-wing authoritarian and socially degraded
Europe. A great part of the social progress of the last century is at stake.
Open Democracy is running a special series at the moment on various aspects of the
global crisis – and I recommend one contribution which carries the marvellous title
Alternative Finance Radicals – infusing rebellion with entrepreneurial activity. Two
reasons make it a worthwhile read – first the number of links it gives to relevant work
elsewhere (a rare generosity these days); and, second, its arguments for the need to
break down the barriers which separate people who could be working fruitfully together
-
Left-wing, rebellion-based approaches make bold stands against systems perceived as
unjust, while entrepreneurial creativity-based approaches seek to make those systems
redundant by bypassing them. Both are forms of subversion, although the latter tends
to require a keener engagement with the mainstream. Financial activism, traditionally
associated with economic justice ‘activists’, should also be thought of as including those
who are proactively building new models outside of the traditional activist ‘scene’.
Perhaps the ideal is a hybrid radical, well-versed in the micro-level practicalities of
alternatives, and possessing an entrepreneurial flair infused with the rebellious spirit of
critical theory. Encouraging hybrid radicals entails overcoming silos, and that’s part
diplomatic mission, and part a co-ordination problem. It’s also about articulating a
common vision that cuts across different networks with different immediate priorities
and internal languages.

Two useful blogs I came across today are by Marxist economists – Michael Roberts
writes in a clear and forthright manner and gives important data on the global crisis as

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it is affecting Europe. Another, Critique of Crisis Theory, is theoretical and much
harder going – but the link I have given contains a fascinating account of one man’s
intellectual journey over the past 40 years.
Until now, Boffy’s Blog was my only Marxist voice – and his latest commentary on ageing,
the health service and the public spending cuts in the UK is a good example of
the baroque treasure you often get on his site.

For a more concrete example of how corporate power deals with its so-called partners,
have a look at this great John Harris video on what it’s like to be the owner of a “tied”
pub in the UK (tied, that is, to a brewery giant)

A year ago
I commented on a promising European initiative by the Guardian – a new site which
as well as drilling down into different nations, we are also keen for the site to reflect –
and inspire – more wide-ranging pan-European debates about the future of Europe as an
idea and as a project, something that feels particularly urgent in this time of economic,
political and social flux”.
My comment was that
"The barrier to our understanding of development in other European countries is not
just linguistic. It stems also from the intellectual compartmentalisation (or apartheid)
which universities and European networks have encouraged in our elites. European
political scientists, for example, have excellent networks but talk in a highly specialised
language about recondite topics which they publish in inaccessible language in
inaccessible journals. What insights they have about each other’s countries are rarely
made available to the wider public. The same is true of the civil service nationals who
participate in EC comitology or OECD networks – let alone the myriad professional
networks. We talk about gated communities – but they exist virtually as well as
physically.

The potentially exciting thing about this venture (as I understand the proposal, it will
be a blog site) is that we would hear from than the voices of politicians and journalists.
Several of the (ex-pat) respondents on the discussion thread offered to write. Others
suggested big names (eg Umberto Eco; Julian Barnes; Claudio Magris; Hans Magnus
Enzensburger. I mentioned Geert Mak and Jan Morris). On reflection it would be good
to have the contributors to this site being those who know their subject without
necessarily being a professional specialist and who can write elegantly (without
necessarily being a journalist).

Spiegel and le Monde are easy partners since they already have English versions. But
there are a few European level ventures worth plugging into the venture eg Sign and
Sight which translates outstanding articles by non-English language authors and
Eurozine which is a network of 75 European highbrow journals and translates
interesting articles into at least one major European language. I've added these two to
the Links on the right-hand column on this blogsite".

93
Sadly, the hope of the site has not been realised. It has, indeed, an abandoned look
about it - sign of the times perhaps as the national shutters go up.....
I'm in Ploiesti at the moment and a nice Romanian site has a good post on one of its
small museums.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Artists' Paradise

Bulgaria's North-East (like most of its other extremities) is pretty poor. It has known
better days. The Black Sea was like a mill pond yesterday – and the blue skies and sun
had Balchik’s small promenade full. The small town which clings to the white sandstone
cliffs is popular with both Bulgarians and Romanians – it is only 30 kilometres or so from
the border and did indeed belong to Romania for almost 30 years. After the Second
Balkan War, in 1913, the town, styled Balcic, became part of the Kingdom of Romania
and was much loved by its Queen Mary. It was regained by Bulgaria during World War I
(1916–1919), but Romania restored its authority when hostilities in the region ceased.
Quite a lot of the Romanian bourgeoisie built villas - many of which have collapsed due
to the soil subsidence which is a problem in the area.
But in 1940, just before the outbreak of World War II in the region, Balchik was ceded
by Romania to Bulgaria. When we were last here - 10 years ago (on the way back from a
trip to Turkey) - our landlady lowered her voice to speak Romanian.

The town’s art gallery has apparently

paintings from that period by Romanian
artists – who were charmed by the
strong muslim air the town had in those
days. The gallery’s website
understandably uses the language of
"occupation” when it talks about “the
group of eleven Romanian artists who
have painted Balchik during the
occupation of Dobroudzha”. The group
includes two favourites of mine -
Alexandru Satmari and Samuel
Mutzner. Many Bulgarian artists have taken the air here - not least Mario Zhekov (I
don't think the villa shown in this painting of his survives) - and the area also boasts
famous cliffs further north.
Sadly, however, the permanent collection was closed - due to reconstruction (as with
Shumen, the charming young woman could offer no firm date for its re-opening). But a
few of the Romanian paintings were on display - as well as a temporary exhibition of
paintings by an 84 year old Nedelcho Nanov - mostly miniatures of the area painted
variously in the 1960s and 2000s.
He is now based in Sofia - and this "Interior" was, for me, particularly intriguing.

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A trip north to Kavarna - which was also
a painter's haunt - was, however,
disappointing. The town has been built
back from the sea - and a curious
remote stretch of road leads to the sea
and to an eerie ghost town of half-
finished modern blocks of tourist flats.
The one positive feature of the town
was its gleaming new sports facilities.....
A forest of wind turbines as we
approached the town suggested a
progressive mayor - but turned out to
be linked to horrific new golf courses
and the usual allien complexes of the rich associated with them. There was even a
special Italian/Bulgarian furniture chain standing at the side of the road out of
Balchik catering for these aliens. "Green" electricity is apparently more expensive than
the local!
Tomorrow we hope to see the Dobrich Art Gallery collection the way back to Sofia
(they assure me that it is possible to see the permanent exhibits!). That gallery offers
a first for Bulgarian regional galleries – a blog!

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

An interesting conversation in Dobrich

95
Dobrich in some 30 kilomtres inland from Balchik and has the look and feel of a town
double its official size of 93,000 citizens. Its central square is one of the largest I
have ever seen – and is adorned by various large buildings, one of which (previously the
Court of Justice built under the "occupation") now houses the extensive art collection –
which you can find listed on the town’s excellent (English) website (at the end of its list
of cultural centres)
While we were admiring the small
special exhibition of Vladimir Dmitrov-
he Master’s work, we were approached
by the Gallery’s Director, Evelina
Handzhieva who speaks excellent
French and, very graciously, gave us a
personal tour of her domain. It started
with a group of schoolkids who were
receiving some interactive training in
the process of paper-making – the
gallery, uniquely, has a collection of
paperworks produced by the
participants of a recent international
event held here.
Separate sections are devoted to the gallery’s collection of sculptures and prints – and
to local artists as well as old masters - such as this rare work of Ivan Mrkvichka (1856-
1938),

one of two Czechs (the other is Jaroslav Vesin) who are credited with setting Bulgarian
painting on its modern path.

The breadth of the collection is one of the widest I have seen (with a nice mix of older
and contemporary). The exhibition space is so extensive that the tour took more than
an hour – with Daniela being loaned a coat to protect her against the cold (no heating
again).
I was very taken with this contemporary work by Plaven Valchev (born 1951).
I have been nicely received in all of the Regional galleries I have visited in Bulgaria –
but this was the first time I was able to have a proper conversation about the problems
of running galleries here at this time.
Over a cup of tea, Evelina (like all the
Directors here I’ve met an artist
herself) explained that it is the
Ministry of Culture who set a formula
which dictates the number of staff to
which regional galleries are entitled. So
much for local government autonomy!!
And, in Dobrich’s case, with such an
huge palace, the staff of 12 (including 2
cleaners and 3 attendants) is simply

96
 insufficient. There is no surveillance
system - so security is labour-intensive.
As was evident from the number of
brochures, the Director is highly
proactive in seeking out opportunities
for marketing and funding (A Swiss
Foundation was mentioned) and the
Gallery’s CD lists the various
international exhibitions (eg China and
Slovakia) which have been mounted with
the support of Embassies here. But it is
an uphill struggle – a good venture of
bussing tourists from the beaches nearby during the summer fizzled out.
It is not easy to produce a winning formula for such a problem. But one thing is clear for
me – it requires local solutions and this means removing the dead hand of central control
– and encouraging networking between galleries (national and international), hotels,
businesses (eg the new owners of the rich agricultural land and the golf courses!!) and
educational establishments.
Don't get me wrong - national financial support needs to be maintained (otherwise the
galleries could be at more risk)) but on the basis of more imagination......

This is a detail of the Valchev painting

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Fine example of 1980s art

Hats off (again!) to Vihra Pesheva of

Astry Gallery here who has mounted
another wonderful celebration of an
older Bulgarian artist. This time it is a
extensive collection of the work of
Vassil Valev from the 1980s. Valev
was born in 1934 in a village near
Burgas – and his oil and aquarelle work
from this period focusses on that. He
was Director for a time of Targovishte
Art Gallery and is now still a Professor. His intro on the website says simply -
I was born in the village where I spent my childhood and teen years. Many of my stories
relate to the village: Cow yards, neighbours gossiping, rural suburbs, rural toil. Even my
landscapes from Sofia are the suburbs rather than the noisy city centre. The
characters in my paintings are working people, often elderly, those suffering…

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AsVihra puts it – "Bulgaria’s period under the socialist regime still arouses complex
emotions. The art from this period is, variously, denied, ignored or treated as a
collector’s genre rather than appreciated individually. But it is part of our cultural
heritage and Vassil Valev’s work offers a rare depth". Whether showing tobacco
harvesters, Iraqi nomads or family groups, the works (often gouache) show a deep
human sympathy.
Vihra does not have a lot of space in her small gallery - but this time her exhibition
offers not only the oils on the wall but a collection of unmounted aquarelles in folders.
The average price is about 500 levs. Some of them, for me, have the Ilyia Beshkov
touch.
All this in addition to the display of oils and small scupltures in the entrance area from
other living artists always makes her gallery a joy to visit.

Back to Capitalism

The big issue when I was becoming

politically aware in the 1950s was about
company ownership. Managers, it was
argued, were replacing owners as the key
decision-makers – “corporation man”
seemed to have replaced the “robber
baron” as society’s concern. But they
were a harmless breed – with, so it was
argued, a more civilised set of objectives
than the raw pursuit of profit and
repression of labour which had characterised the latter. James Burnham was a key
figure in the recognition of the role of managers; this 1946 essay by George
Orwell played an important part in bringing Burnham's thesis to wider attention.
And, with the scale of publicly-owned companies and the new confidence of post-war
Keynesians, intellectuals started to argue that the left could live with what remained in
private hands.
CAR Crosland’s The Future of Socialism, published in 1956, was the elegant expression
of the new view that patterns of company ownership were no longer of interest to
socialists. After fifty years, however, ownership is back as a political issue.
Will Hutton has figured several times on this blog as the guy who has most closely
mapped the DNA of European capitalism. Recently he has been chairing a British
Commission on changes which are needed to this model and outlines the results in an
article here -
There is a worldwide debate trying to define what 21st-century capitalism could be.
Some countries, such as Singapore and Israel, have developed small state
entrepreneurial capitalism as their answer. Then there is Germany and the Nordic

98
countries' stakeholder capitalism; the democratic development capitalism of Brazil and
India; China's self-described "socialist market" capitalism; and government activism
even works in the US – witness the revival of the car industry. Nowhere can you find a
modicum of economic and social success without some form of public and private
partnership, directed financial systems, corporate ownership structures driving
engagement and stewardship and effective social safety nets.

This reality is now being increasingly recognised, not least because of the financial
crisis whose origins in excessive faith in market forces was caused by the Anglo-Saxon
right's ideas. Last week, I launched the conclusions of the Ownership Commission which
I have chaired for the last two years. A group of us, including the president of the CBI,
and the chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, concluded that an indispensable
precondition for a sustained British recovery was a new and more systematic attempt to
secure better ownership of British business assets.
We must have more plural and diverse ownership structures, in particular more medium-
sized family firms, co-operatives and employee-owned companies, and the public limited
company needs to become less fixated with short-term profit goals. We need to ensure
the tax, legal and regulatory system triggers the maximum amount of ownership
engagement and stewardship and, where it falls short, to devise new means of filling the
gaps.
Plc shareholders, we advocate, should, as far as possible, pool their voting rights in new
not-for-profit mutuals better to engage with the companies they own. We think
company directors should be better enfranchised to think of the sustainable, long-term
entirety of their business rather than the next hour's share price. We want the
absurdities of the tax and regulatory system that hold back co-operatives and
employee-owned companies to be swept away. We want medium-sized firms to be able to
build more quickly their capital and their balance sheets – to create the equivalent in
Britain of the German Mittelstand, the amazing cluster of largely family-owned
companies that drive Germany's innovation and export success. We propose a dramatic
and fast scaling-up of existing support along with new measures, such as banks being
able to get Treasury indemnities for new lending.

Ownership policy driving plurality, engagement and better stewardship should be one of
the anchors of any framework for recovery, in effect the creation of a British variant
of north European stakeholder capitalism, as business secretary Vince Cable, speaking
at our launch, recognised and endorsed. But it is only a precondition. Britain has to
reshape its financial system so that it backs business. The state has to become an
active economic player, constructing the system of institutions and direct support that
will drive particular industrial and business sectors forward. We have to spend hard
cash on infrastructure and R&D. And Britain's fraying social safety net needs repair,
not further destruction.
We need a better capitalism and this budget should have decisively begun its creation.
Instead, it will be a fudge, betting all on lowering the deficit. A missed chance for
Britain and the first notes of the requiem for this coalition.

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The discussion thread is interesting and one of the discussants posed a series of
excellent questions -
1) How is capital going to be regulated when capital is free to roam though wires, to
evade taxes, entice governments with corruption and blackmail governments with
disinvestment to reduce wages, taxes and err … regulation? Waves of capital move
around the world to where conditions are better for accumulation leaving joblessness
and devastation. Global wages and taxes drop in relation to economic output and this
damages demand, capacity, employment and the health of the global economy.

2) How are gigantic corporations going to be regulated? The Forbes 2000 had revenues
of $32 trillion in 2010 (global GDP is $60 trillion). Their profits rose by 67% since
2009!! How many people do they employ? – only 80 million or 1% of the global population.
How much do they return back to society for what they turnover? – not much. How
many small businesses disappear annually as the process of oligopolisation relentlessly
continues in capitalism? How can we have a global economy where decent wages –
unsupported by private debt and government spending - can sustain a level of capacity
that can provide decent levels of employment in this world with this hideous type of
economy? How is this destructive process of oligopoly going to be reversed?

3) How will bank failures be avoided in the future? How will the risk taken by banks be
minimised with regulation without thwarting investment and damaging the real economy
in a system where hundreds of trillions of capital must be *constantly reinvested* by
these banks that must inevitably take risks in these investments. If this investment
halts for a second we will all starve.
Credit bubbles like the one burst in 2008 are not a peculiarity; they are the norm in
capitalism. Every panic of the 19th century and every crisis of the 20th century was a
result of overextension of credit. And curbing credit bubbles is not a solution. It simply
causes permanent stagnation unless a dynamic economy is sustained by healthy demand.
Once more this is the real issue. The recent bubble did nothing but to mask the real
failure of the economy which we are now facing when we contemplate restricting
unsustainable credit. Without this bubble we would have had much less economic
activity and much higher unemployment.

4) In the short term, how is the debt crisis going to be resolved? Where is growth
going to come from when the debt stimulus *still* being pumped is removed from the
already anemic economy. What levels of unemployment one needs to expect if
deleveraging the local debt or the global total debt (in the order of 300% of global
GDP) is seriously attempted.

5) How will capitalism deal with the fundamental problem of "growth". The system
"needs" an exponential growth rate that matches the rate with which the productivity
of labour naturally increases thanks to competition that forces streamlining and
automation in order to .... keep employment stable. This is simply ridiculous.
Regarding the glossing over German, Swedish, Danish, Finnish and Northern Yeti
welfare Capitalism: it is declining together with the decline of capitalism: benefits and

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wages drop, poverty and inequality increase in these places. Welfare was funded by
trade surpluses, natural resources, high productivity plus quite a lot of local debt in
many cases. And also by the debt and trade deficits incurred by other countries,but the
party is over!
I am afraid, this is a truly intractable problem of a system that meets its own
contradictions. And such vague articles do not even start to address the problem.
Here’s a fascinating interview with a sharp Greek economist on the background to
the Eurocrisis.
And also a good piece on another localist Greek initiative

And the painting (a gouache) is one of three of Vasil Vulev I bought on Thursday -
when I was also fortunate enough to meet the painter himself.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

"Europeans can't blog"

It appears that Europeans can’t blog - or at least the economists can’t – which I find
surprising in view of the number of such blogs I can find. The argument, however, is
that
European blogs are still very much “unconnected”. That is, they use hyperlinks far less
than their American counterparts - or do it but in a way that doesn’t create two-way
debate. In brief, Europe has bloggers, but no blogosphere: it lacks a living ecosystem to
exchange and debate
Linking to some newspaper article, even with a discussion section, does not create a
two-way discussion (…) and linking to articles on your own blog is nice, but not really a
sign of an interlinked blogosphere.
The article recognisese that the language barrier does make a European discussion more
difficult – but makes two other interesting points. First that there are few European
blogs dealing with economics which aggregate relevant blogs in the way this fascinting
American one does . And that the culture of open discourse is underdeveloped in
Europe. Especially the last aspect is problematic because it is hardest to change but
arguably the most important. As they phrase it, "European economists seem to prefer
to spread knowledge rather than stir debate".
The discussion sparked by the article led me to this excellent blog portal on European
issues which actually links to 900 blogs on EU-related matters.
The new LSE blog on European politics and policy makes a point which I have made here
myself -
I also do not see a relevant EU-focussed academic blogging community. There is so
much EU research out there, so many specialists on a wide range of EU topics, but they
are not out here debating their research and their specialist topics, neither with each
other nor with the rest of the world. The don’t bring the academic debate on EU
affairs to the digital public and they therefore miss the great chance of making
academic research on EU matters more connected to reality and reality more connected

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to what we find out in often years long research process.
For me, the EUROPP blog is a chance to foster academic involvement online, in the EU
blogosphere and beyond. This will only work if those writing here are aware what is
written elsewhere in the digital sphere, if they react by linking and debating what was
said by others, by going to other blogs, fora, Facebook discussion threads and if they
involve in the discussions where they happen instead of just leaving self-sufficient
texts here on this blog.
Good blogging is quite easy if one takes the time to do a little research and to
understand the dynamics of these discussions In this sense, blogging is like academic
work: Cite others, add your own thoughts and knowledge – and once you know roughly
what you have found or what you want to say, go to fora where the debate is already
going on.
The EU blogosphere is like one of the academic conferences you can go to, and the
state of this conference is not bad at all – but I’d say it could be much better with the
involvement of more academics.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Cultural toursim in Bulgaria

A year ago I announced that I was trying to draft a booklet on realist Bulgarian art to
encourage visitors to visit the great galleries here - and gave a link on my website to
the concept as it then stood. Thanks to the recent regional tour and a kind offer of
assistance from the Curator of the Dobrich Gallery, I have been working on the draft
again – and have just uploaded a new version to the website. This one gives a small
amount of info on about 150 painters who have taken my fancy.And yesterday I found
another charming little private gallery (Loran) exhibiting works from the mid century.

The caricaturists
The Bulgarian tradition of caricaturists is a very strong one – starting (I think) with
Alexander Bozhinov a hundred years ago and including people such as Ilyia Beshkov,
Marco Behar and Boris Angeloushev. One of them, indeed, Rayko Aleksiev so annoyed
the communists that he was arrested on their coming to power and died in prison under
suspicious circumstances. A Gallery is named after him.
One of my prize possessions is a copy of a 1954 magazine called New Bulgaria with each
of its 18 pages covered with 3-4 amazing pencil caricatures almost certainly doodled by
Bulgaria’ most loved graphic artists – Ilyia Beshkov. I was happy to pay 250 euros for it
– after all I got 50 sketches for about the same price as the going rate for one
(admittedly larger) caricature of his!
And in one of Sofia’s many street stalls, I bought last week two 1962 issues of an art
magazine Izkustvo – one of which had excellent Beshkov reproductions – to add to the
rather worn 1941 issue I have of another cultural newspaper Shturschel (?) which has a
Beshkov reproduction on its front page.

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 Cultural Tourism
This got me surfing the net to try to find some
information about these art journals of the early
and mid part of the century. I drew a blank
but did come across some interesting
material on the Bulgarian cultural
heritage - not least some grim experiences
one young painter had during the the
Communist period. How artists
coped during communist repression is a
fascinating subject - some (like Boris Denev
and Nikolai Boiadjiev refused to toe the
official line on painting and almost stopped
painting); many other moved into theatre
design and cinema). Things had
eased by the 1980s largely due to the influence of PM Zhivkov's daughter who was a
great art afficiando!
I unearthed an interesting paper on how the communist heritage could be used as part
of a cultural tourist strategy (which missed this human dimension) and another paper
(by the same Dobrich author) on how Bulgaria might develop a strategy for cultural
tourism.
Also an interesting example of how some of the treasures here are ignored even by the
locals.

The gouache above may look a little like a Beshkov - but is actually one of the V Vulev's
I bought a few days ago in Vihra's Gallery

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Stealing the world

I’ve just finished reading Nicholas Shaxon’s Treasure Islands: Tax Havens and the Men
Who Stole the World (2011).It describes how the City of London is at the heart of a
colossal corrupt system which had its origins in the activities of US gangsters seeking
to launder crime proceeds to make them legitimate. To do this the British colony of
Bermuda was first used but when that became too hot they moved to the Cayman
Islands in the Caribbean. Despite its tiny population (30,000) these mosquito ridden
islets are nominally home to 800,000 registered companies all of them paying virtually
no tax. Cayman is now the world's 5th largest financial centre hosting three quarters of
the world's hedge funds and $1.9 trillion on deposit, four times as much as New York
banks. Even critics of conventional wisdom such as Paul Krugman have admitted that
they failed to spot what was going on -

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I was vaguely aware of the existence of a growing sector of financial institutions that
didn’t look like conventional banks, and weren’t regulated like conventional banks, but
engaged in bank-like activities. Yet I gave no thought to the systemic risks.
Wealthy people own about $11.5 trillion in offshore tax havens- one quarter of all global
wealth. In 2006 700 of Britain's biggest businesses paid no tax at all in the UK. Shaxon
also relates how the British Establishment have regarded the tax havens UK has long
sheltered in the inner ring of Jersey, Gernsey, Isle of Man and its residual overseas
territories in the Caribbean – where any pretence at democracy has long since gone. A
whole chapter is devoted to how anyone who voices the slightest criticism in Jersey is
hounded for their life by policy-makers who not only benefit from the financial deals
but don’t even bother to hide the conflicts of interest.

He argues that tax havens – which the International Monetary Fund estimates to hold
more than a third of the world’s GDP on their balance sheets – have fundamentally
undermined the world’s economic system. Not only has the legitimate, on-shore financial
system become progressively deregulated to compete with offshore – helping to cause
the 2008 crash – but tax avoidance keeps poor nations reliant on aid. He explains:
Offshore business is, at heart, about artificially manipulating paper trails of money
across borders. To get an idea of how artificial it can be, consider the banana. Each
bunch takes two routes into your fruit bowl. The first route involves a Honduran worker
employed by a multinational who picks the bananas, which are packaged and shipped to
Britain. The multinational sells the fruit to a big supermarket chain, which sells it to
you. The second route – the accountants’ paper trail – is more round-about. When a
Honduran banana is sold in Britain, where are the final profits generated, from a tax
point of view? In Honduras? In the British supermarket? In the multinational’s US head
office? How much do management expertise, the brand name, or insurance contribute to
profits and costs? Nobody can say for sure. So the accountant can, more or less, make
it up. They might, for example, advise the banana company to run its purchasing network
from the Cayman Islands and run its financial services out of Luxembourg. The
multinational might locate the company brand in Ireland; its shipping arm in the Isle of
Man; ‘management expertise’ in Jersey and its insurance subsidy in Bermuda.

Say the Luxembourg financing subsidiary now lends money to the Honduras subsidiary
and charges interest at $20 million per year. The Honduran subsidiary deducts this sum
from its local profits, cutting or wiping them out (and its tax bill). The Luxembourg’s
subsidiary’s $20 million in extra income, however, is only taxed at Luxembourg’s ultra-
low tax haven rate. With a wave of an accountant’s wand, a hefty tax bill has
disappeared, and capital has shifted offshore. What are the implications of this? Most
importantly, our banana multinational has managed to avoid paying the Honduran
government – or indeed any government – any tax. About two-thirds of global cross-
border world trade happens inside multinational corporations. Developing countries lose
an estimated $160 billion each year just to corporate trade mispricing of this kind. In
2006, the world’s three biggest banana companies, Del Monte, Dole, and Chiquita, paid
only $235,000 tax between them – despite combined profits of nearly $750 million.

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The book describes how all of this has happened in the last few decades - and the role
which the establishment in 1957 of Eurodollars played. As one of the reviewers put it -
Whatever became of the UK coalition's zeal to bring bankers to heel? The same thing
that wrecked Gordon Brown's supposed plan to close global tax loopholes – and brought
all parallel efforts to dust. Simply, the threat to scarper offshore if too many
displeasing measures are inflicted.
Simply, the impossibility of getting international action in a world where States like
Delaware compete with offshore havens to register companies whose activities are
guaranteed secrecy – and therefore not only pay no taxes but wriggle out of all
regulatory requirements. And trigger off a "race to the bottom".
The City of London, seeing its imperial glories fade, used the leftover connections of
empire to construct a web of influence and cash around the globe (with the Bank of
England playing head spider). The Swiss, sitting pretty, had lessons of neutrality,
secrecy and cupidity to impart to a wider audience. Enter bright sparks who might have
invented spaceships or life-saving drugs, but in fact invented the eurodollar market – a
continent of opportunity without actual territory or policing, because it existed
somewhere over there, somewhere offshore. And, of course, enter the tax havens that
helped make the whole edifice possible: enter anywhere where transparency lay covered
in mists and democracy was up for sale to the highest bidder: enter the havens of
opportunity.
In both the book and on video he voices his astonishment that so few academics and
journalists have explored this field. And it takes a great deal of courage to expose and
challenge the power which is involved. The sections of the book devoted to some of
these people is very inspiring.
It's not easy to see how the genie can be put back in the bottle - but at least with
books like these there is no longer any excuse for ignorance. People are getting
organised. Here's a useful update on latest moves from a tax justice network. Shaxson
had an excellent discussion about the various issues on Open Democracy a year ago -
and Richard Murphy - one of the key reformers who previously worked with one of the
Big Accountancies) - is optimistic

Sunday, April 1, 2012

A Deafening Silence

Groupthink has always fascinated me. Even more, its corollary – the failure to ask how it
can be avoided in future. The result is that governments and organisations bounce
around from one fashionable idea to another. The 2008 global crisis and its aftermath
is not only a case-study ("how did our various elites buy such snakeoil?") – but a stark
demonstration of the need for social ideas to be subjected to more critical appraisal.
Indeed of the need for more contrarians and sceptics – and for a culture which values
such a critical approach.
The institutions and professions which are supposed to develop and sustain the critical

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analysis central to liberal democracy – universities, journalism, opposition political
parties – have been found so severely deficient in this respect as to have lost almost all
credibility. And with it, our model of democracy!

There may be a debate within (and about) the economics profession prompted by Paul
Krugman, Steve Keen and the Real World Economics network - but where is the debate
about the conditions in universities, journalism and politics which allowed such a
profession (and that of management) to exert so much unchallenged influence and
to screw us all so right royally?

A recent book Confronting Managerialism: How the Business Elite and Their Schools
Threw Our Lives Out of Balance by Robert R. Locke and J. C. Spender offers some
useful comparative, social insights. It contrasts the role of engineer-economists (and
their schools) in post-war France with that of managers in America
US engineers principally in schools of industrial administration (MIT, Carnegie Institute
of Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology, etc.) propagated the scientific toolkit
of operations research. But their interaction with corporate management differed
considerably from what took place in France. In 1900 when Frederick Winslow Taylor
began the scientific management movement, engineers on the shop floor were deeply
involved. But by the second quarter of the 20th century a revolution in corporate
governance was well underway. Its historian, Alfred D. Chandler, Jr., most famously in
The Visible Hand (1977), describes this rise of new managerial hierarchies in giant
corporations whose managerial needs were quite different from those Taylorism
induced. Because top corporate management concentrated on money more than product
management, it required staff that could deal with financial reporting and marketing,
that could oversee money flows through the various corporate divisions -- information
that was much more vital to decision making in a multifaceted strategic setting than
product knowledge. It required accountants and controllers to design and run the
management system; they replaced the engineers previously at the top. At General
Motors Alfred P. Sloan installed systems of financial reporting to headquarters “based
heavily on analysis of managerial accounting data,” (Rother, 63). Sloan noted that GM
was in the business of making money not automobiles. Other multiple division
corporations followed suit. In 1929 The Controllers’ institute was founded in the United
States because of their increasing managerial importance.

French engineers at the head of industry, preoccupied with saving their country from
backwardness, succeeded in their task during what the French call “The Thirty Glorious
Years” of postwar modernization (1945-75). American managers succeeded, too, in
making lots of money. But there was little in the educational background of most top
managers in US industrial corporations that permitted them to work closely with
operational research scientists and economists like in the system of French engineering
education and industrial leadership. US corporate moneymen lacked the scientific and
mathematical knowledge needed to grasp quickly what operations research people and
neo-classical economists were talking about..............

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Post-war American business school professors and students had abysmal mathematical
knowledge Business school professors, students and finance investors did not
comprehend mathematics enough to see its limitation as a tool in the modeling of
financial markets. When the financial crisis came, surprised finance analysts, Paul
Wilmott and Emanuel Derman issued The Financial Modelers Manifesto, which opened
with words reminiscent of Karl Marx: “A specter is haunting markets – the specter of
illiquidity, frozen credit, and the failure of financial models.” Then followed the
admission: “Physics, because of its astonishing success at predicting the future behavior
of material objects from their present state, has inspired most financial modeling.
Physicists study the world by repeating the same experiments over and over again to
discover forces and their almost magical mathematical laws. … It’s a different story
with finance and economics, which are concerned with the mental world of monetary
value. Financial theory has tried hard to emulate the style and elegance of physics in
order to discover its own laws. … The truth is that there are no fundamental laws in
finance.”

Monday, April 2, 2012

Responsibility, accountability and all that

What would you make of a zoo which kept its more harmless animals under strong guard but
which allowed its man-eaters to roam free? I am beginning to feel this is a good way to look at
Western systems of social control and regulation.

Some 15 years or so ago, transparency and accountability became a big issue in my professional
field (of governance). I have only recently begun to question the motives which have been at
work.
Reassuring, at one level, in the story it told of how various public organisations were held to
account by citizens, it demonstrated one of many apparently superior elements of the capitalist
model of governance over the communist one which had been the default system of the countries
in which many of us were working post 1989. For example, in 2001 I myself wrote this briefing
note on the issue for my beneficiaries in a Central Asian State.
But, at another level, the emphasis (in the UK at any rate) on the need for more and more
scrutiny of government business has perhaps had a hidden agenda – part of the wider drive
there has been for several decades to convince people that government activities were
inherently inefficient and malevolent. After all, while we were devoting more and more energy to
scrutiny, for example, of local government activities, regulations and controls were being lifted
from banks and financial agencies.

Bank profits these days – as most people have noticed – are pocketed by members of the 1% but
their losses are nationalised. And only in Iceland, it appears, are attempts being made to
prosecute a few (including a Prime Minister) who are deemed culpable for the banking crisis.
It was only Shaxon’s book Treasure Islands which made me realise that bank bosses and owners
had managed only a decade or so ago to wriggle out of their legal responsibilities – by having
their legal status altered to that of "limited liability”. Until then, bank bosses stood to lose
everything if their banks went down. No more!

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And I noticed yesterday that no less a figure than Nassim Taleb (of Black Swan fame) has
suggested that we return to this simple model of accountability for financial insititutions -
Instead of relying on thousands of meandering pages of regulation, we should enforce a basic
principle when it comes to financial oversight:
The captain goes down with the ship;
Every captain and every ship.

In other words, nobody should be in a position to have the upside without sharing the downside,
particularly when others may be harmed. While this principle seems simple, we have moved away
from it in the finance world, particularly when it comes to financial organizations that have been
deemed “too big to fail.”
The best risk-management rule was formulated nearly 4,000 years ago. Hammurabi’s code
specifies: If a builder builds a house for a man and does not make its construction firm,
and the house which he has built collapses and causes the death of the owner of the
house, that builder shall be put to death.
Clearly, the Babylonians understood that the builder will always know more about the risks than
the client, and can hide fragilities and improve his profitability by cutting corners—in, say, the
foundation. The builder can also fool the inspector (or the regulator). The person hiding risk has
a large informational advantage over the one looking for it.
Of course, despite the public condemnation of bankers (a word which appropriately rhymes with
wankers) there is by no means an intellectual consensus on the precise role which various groups
have played in this global crisis. Robert Skidelsky looks briefly in his book Return of The Master
at 6 possible groups to blame (bankers, hedge funds, credit-rating agencies, central bankers,
regulators and governments) before turning his fire on economists. And, in a very-well written
2009 book The Financial Crisis – who is to blame, the ex-Chair of the British Financial Services
Agency (Howard Davies) explores 39 different explanations of its possible cause. You can see
some overheads and videos from his various presentations here, here and here

A wikipedia entry also gives a useful summary of the various explanations. Those looking for
more complex treatment should have a look at this paper which
reviews current explanations of crisis whose differences are classified according to whether the
causes are located in structure or agency or in neither as part of a kind of third way explanation.
In this section we argue that these explanations of the crisis (as accident, conspiracy or
calculative failure) share common assumptions about how crisis is generated within socio-
technical systems amenable to technical, mainly technocratic, fixes. The second section shifts
the problem into a much more political frame, initially by introducing the politics literatures on
policy fiascos which are more commonly associated with foreign policy humiliations than with
economic crisis. Within this frame, the section focuses on the massive failure of regulation
before the crisis and argues that the crisis was then permitted by the inaction of political and
technocratic elites whose hubristic detachment was such that they made no serious attempt to
control the finance sector. The third section explains how the process of financial innovation
produced a fragile latticework of connections that was inherently ungovernable. A brief
conclusion draws out some implications.
My basic point, however, remains - that we should be responsible for our actions. That is the
sysem in which 99% of us work - the systems created in the past few decades have lifted that
basic rule from the 1% and encouraged total irresponsibility.

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Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Privatisation of public facilities stinks!

I’ ve already confessed on the blog that I was too open-minded in my attitude during the opening
stages of Thatcher’s privatisation agenda. Who knows, I mused in the 1980s, perhaps private
management skills and more competition can shake up these systems and make them more
customer-friendly. Where there was indeed the possibility of competition (telecommunications
and energy) the results have been defensible.
Elsewhere (railways, water, health, education etc) the results have been utterly disastrous and
we all need to shout this from the treetops. Private ownership or management of public assets
stinks!!
Cities worldwide are experiencing the failures of water privatisation. Unequal access, inflated
prices, environmental hazards and scandalous profit margins are prompting municipalities to take
back control of this essential service. A new book Remunicipalisation – putting water back into
public hands from Corporate Europe Observatory, Transnational Institute and the Municipal
Services Project examines this growing trend for water ‘remunicipalisation’. Case studies analyse
the transition from private to public water provision in Paris, Dar es Salaam, Buenos Aires and
Hamilton, and look at a national-level experiment in Malaysia.
The journey toward better public water illustrates the benefits and challenges of municipal
ownership, but the book also highlights the stranglehold of international financial institutions
and the legacies of corporate control, putting water in the context of the larger debate about
‘alternatives to privatisation’ and drawing lessons from these experiences for future action in
favour of public services.

Most of us thought that the global crisis would loosen the grip of corporate power, neo-
liberalism and deregulation and make voters more sympathetic to the traditional social
democratic agenda. The opposite seems to have happened. We need a better understanding of
the reasons for this. In my view there are at least three –
• the crassness of the new breed of social democrats (New Labour and others who chose to
make Faustian deals)
• the power of the corporate media
• the sheer scale of the neo-liberal lobbying tentacles

Radical reform is blocked because the crisis has strengthened elite power over governing
structures and highlighted the importance of what an important recent paper called "democratic
disconnects" .
First, the crisis has discredited banking and finance but it has not disempowered financial elites
because crisis has strengthened the power of conservative financial, bureaucratic and political
elites within our governing structures. Second, a series of democratic disconnects have
disempowered the critics of finance in the technocracy and civil society who have been unable to
turn popular hostility into effective reform of finance. The disconnects are such that, after the
decline of the mass parties, it is now structurally difficult to convert the radical technocratic
agenda or civil society activism into effective policy reform. Our story is of a stifled revolution
and the reassertion of power by traditional elites.
For this reason, it is all the more important that successes in driving back corporate power are
properly reported. These examples of remunicipalisation are inspiring.

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Thursday, April 5, 2012

More tax evasion

I wrote a few days back about the impact of Nicholas Shaxson’s book Treasure Islands - and the
revelations it contains about unregulated financial institutions and tax havens being much more
extensive than we realised. Today there is a story about how Amazon UK changed its ownership a
few years back (now owned by a Luxemburg company) and has paid no Corporation tax on its 7.5
billion euros annual sales

Ironic (to put it mildly!) that I bought Shaxson’s book from Amazon UK; that Shaxson is
apparently domiciled in Switzerland; and that his book was published by Bodley Head – once a
proud and independent company but now part of the multinational Random House which itself
engages in the tax gymnastics the book attacks.
Actually it's not ironic! It is a powerful demonstration of how extensive the coils of the octopus
of the new gene of capitalism has become!
For new readers, these are not the rantings of a leftist - but of someone who in the 1980s
strongly fought the hard left (and would still justify my role) but from whose eyes the scales
have now fallen about the parasitical greed of the commercial elite.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Back in Romania

Bucharest is in full spring growth – so

male testerones are obvious in the drivers
(a stand-off within minutes of arriving -
with a driver unwilling to back the metre
needed to let me acess my
street). The stupid arrogance of a young
(female) Vodaphone staff member who
can’t answer a simple question (about the
term-date for an internet payment)
ensures gender balance. I advise her on
the answer she should have given and add
a comment that she lacks listening skills
and seems able only to use formulae
they’ve been trained to use. When I leave, she utters a “Good Day” and fails to
appreciate the irony.

Romania’s honour is saved (as always) by its older generation – in the shape of a wood
sculptor from Targovishte (80 year-old Marin Manea) who has a stall at the Easter Fare
at the Peasant Museum here in Bucharest.
I could not resist a traditional "dresser" he has beautifully carved (and embossed) from

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Tei (Linden or Lime) wood. For 60 euros. Perhaps "dresser" is not quite the right term
since what he had carved was the upper part which holds the plates and cups (almost a
metre in depth - with 3 levels). When I have the camera and unit in one place, I’ll post a
photo.

I expressed my admiration and envy of his skills – and he offered to teach me. An idea
worth thinking about – and appropriate on the day I read this section of a late Updike
short story ("Personal Archeology")
an utterance…gouged with effort from the compacted accumulation of daily pretence
and accomodation
Updike did not win the Nobel Literature Prixe - and this reflects badly on that Award.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

In praise of Direct Action

There couldn’t have been a more appropriate location for a lone

protest against the ongoing insidious repression of our democratic
freedoms than that of the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race yesterday.
Not just that these are the universities which predominantly cater
for the elites but that the homes of the super-privileged overlook the
river.
And the impact should be all the greater since the guy who disrupted this traditional
annual race on the River Thames is himself one of the elite – expressing (in what I
confess I find a powerful but strangely-written manifesto) his deep concern about the
direction public policies in countries such as the UK seem to be taking us -
Everyone will remember some of their history lessons ... where people have been taken
advantage of by people that believe themselves somehow better, more entitled
than others. Most recently this has included the enclosure and eviction from the
commons, transatlantic slavery, imperialism and colonialism, fascism, holocausts,
genocides and dictatorships and migrant labour camps. It is difficult to grasp, as many
of us have strong memories of the previous ‘boom’ decade, but .... we have just about
reached the precipice of another era of mass enslavement and the large scale enclosure
of ‘Our Public’. What is happening in the UK, for example, is not ‘privatisation’ but a
contemporary demonstration of full scale enclosure of Our Public. "Couldn’t happen
again ..." why not? Why wouldn’t something different but similar happen again? What
policies, what institutions, exist to prevent something similar from happening again?
What evidence is there that this isn’t happening? When did Our Public last experience
an injection of its own readily available dose of agency and liberty?
To enclose and to enslave requires the audacity, cunning and daring to take advantage of
our natural kindness, our belief in others, our respect for authority, our desire to
please, and our apprehension about ‘causing waves’, our hope for all to have a better life,
somehow. It also depends on our disbelief, despite having experienced it, that other
people would purposefully set out to harm us for their own advantage. More recently we

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have also been encouraged, though the evidence displays the opposite much of the time,
that a whole raft of institutions exists that work to prevent human catastrophes like
our right to protest being denied, detention without trial or charge, the monopolisation
of industries, and essentials like food and water. These institutions were established to
prevent slavery, genocide, indentured labour and groupings of indices of deprivation and
poverty from occurring. It is likely many in the western Baby Boomers generation (large
percentage of the UK population), who have benefited so much from these institutions,
are finding it very difficult to consider that these institutions might now be turning
against them, their children and their grandchildren? Could what is happening in the UK
(and around the world); the state of exception with Olympics, the wholesale removal of
countless civil rights, the project to create fear and suspicion of others, the transfer
of our money into the vaults of a handful of corporations, the ongoing wars, the pomp
and ceremony for unelected official anniversaries, the amazingly high unemployment,
the devastation to public services such as health and education, the isolation of
education due to high fees, the entangled corrupt relationship between the media,
police and politicians, the racism, the increasing misogyny, the forced labour in
supermarkets, the spying on our emails, skype calls, the control of food production and
distribution and the reductions of tax burdens for the richest ... could these all be best
understood as the process of enclosure? Do we resist now setting out to avoid
something akin to slavery and imperialism? Or do we hesitate and find ourselves and our
children without agency once again and in a long battle to gain it again? How long might
it take and how many lives might this demand?

His manifesto encourages others to take similar direct actions. There are so many
people of my age who have nothing to lose and who should certainly be inspired by his
example. The discussion thread which The Guardian eventually added to the story was,
curiously (since Guardian readers are notoriousoy liberal), pretty hostile to the
action. So much so that I was moved to add my own comment to the discussion -
Most of these comments are at the level of "He stole my football, mummy!!" Ironically,
they confirm the point the guy hints at in his statement/manifesto - that too many of
us seem to be living in a protected bubble, unaware of what is going on around us - our
sense of history lost. Direct Action has an honourable tradition - and has to be a serious
option when corporate power has castrated our political choices and system. That
Guardian readers can react in such a selfish way will, however, have to be taken into
consideration during discussions about future actions.
And, for those who can't see a bigger picture, who are stuck at the level of the
individual rower who has trained hard for months, can you not imagine the courage it
takes for a guy to prepare for such an act?

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Monday, April 9, 2012

Cold Transylvanian idyll

I was premature in removing the snowbound

Transylvanian valley from the blog masthead! I arrived
a few hours ago in my mountain house for my first visit
since mid-January to find the village wearing a newly-
endowed cloak of light snow. Apparently, in my absence,
the snow has been at least two metres and covered
cars and some houses – but my roof and verandah have
survived the pressure. Although there is still no running
water….and the gas-stove hose seems to have given up the ghost. So the kitchen fire
was duly kindled – and supplied the heat for everything.

And lots of books and paintings were duly transferred – with less difficulty now that
the cowpath at the bottom of the garden has been upgraded to a track which can
sustain the car. Not quite the dual carriageway I had feared in the autumn - although
various assets such as the gate and a pile of construction material have been stripped
without consultation by the municipality). And the lack of water may be due to the road
construction!
Tomorrow the car has its bi-ennial technical test – which will hopefully allow me to make
the last trip to Sofia (and its swimming and fitness facilities) in a few days before
vacating the flat there at the end of the month. Sad to leave the aesthetic thrills I get
there – but its good to be back in this country house with its views, library and music….

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Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Hedonism as the new default system?

A banker with links to the oil industry

has commented that my blog indicates
that I wear a rather large “hairshirt”. I
would like to think that only someone
with such an exploitative background
could make such a comment.
But I fear that the notion that
individual pleasure is the default style
and that those concerned with social
injustices are strange aberrants has
become much more widespread than we
think.
I’m actually as hedonistic as the next
person in my pursuit of good experiences
- be they good wines, blue sea or
mountain landscapes.
But I’m old enough to know that selfish behaviour (in whatever form it takes – injustice,
exploitation etc) destroys lives and has to be fought. Otherwise this becomes (as it is
becoming) the default behaviour.

Martin Niemöller, prominent German anti-Nazi theologian and Lutheran pastor, put it
very eloquently 70 years ago
In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't
a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a
Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a
trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a
Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.

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Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Making sense of our lives

It’s perhaps appropriate that my

thoughts this Easter week have turned
to basic questions such as
• How can we make sense of the life we
lead?
• What is a good life?
• Can we learn from those who live a good
life?
• How can we best remember such people
– and what they stand for?

My father, for example, led a very full

and “good” life - so did other, public-spirited people I worked with in Scotland in the
1970s and 1980s. When they died, they were sorely missed by thousands of ordinary
people whose problems they had dealt with – in my father’s case as a Minister of the
same Church (“charge”) for 50 years.
I was disappointed, however, to find that they had left behind few (or no) personal
reflections on the dilemmas they had faced and lessons they felt life had given them.
My father’s weekly sermons may have shown patterns of concerns (even if they were
not exactly personal notes) but he seems to have thrown them away on his retirement
(at age 75). On the other hand, bookstore shelves groan with biographies and
autobiographies of the Great and Not So Good – mostly exercises in self-
aggrandisement.

For years, I’ve been worrying about this apparent bias against the modest, self-less
servant we find at local levels. I became cynical about the British Honours’ system
largely because noone nominated or accepted my father for such recognition; whereas I
knew many on high salaries in public service who were avid for an Honour and whose
patience and avidity duly paid off. Arise Sir Robert!!

We Brits are not very good at remembering the dead. In Bulgaria, they have the custom
of posting a sheet with details and a picture of a deceased person on the door of their
building and church. It remains there until the ravages of time erase it.
In Romania, ceremonies are held at set (lengthening) intervals from the date of the
death.
My father got a Memorial Service – but then silence. The website of the church he
nursed for 50 years had its centenary celebration recently – and its website did not
even mention him. The Museum/library complex he served as (a very active) Chairman
for many years has been absorbed within the town’s municipal services – although its

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curator remembered him fondly when I talked with her some years ago about possible
ways to commerate him. An annual Lecture? An annual award?
I dithered and took no decision.
And even when a rare book gets to be written about one of these self-less servants (eg
Geoff Shaw who died in 1978) it tends to be read only by the faithful and has no
internet profile. That’s one aspect of the internet I have seen little discussed – that it
whitewashes people of my father’s generation out just as mercilessly as Stalin did.

In the meantime I am a child of my immodest age and fill the airwaves with papers and
blogthoughts. Overkill! Search for the nuggets! I readily admit that I use writing to
explore my uncertainties.
And yet theree is an arrogance there as well whcih seems to know no bounds – I have
even been contemplating a Trust to be established after my death to help pursue some
of my concerns!

And here we get to the heart of this post. I know that I have done little in my life that
is in itself special. But I am very much a man of my hubristic times – who absorbed the
critical optimism of the developing social sciences in the 1960s. But someone with
endowed with enough self-confidence to admit ignorance and doubt; with wide reading;
and with no little luck. I was lucky enough to hold a senior (but background) political
position at an early age. And also lucky enough to be able to reinvent myself at age 50
as an international consultant. I have, therefore, been priviliged to have
• seen politics and policy-making in action from upclose in different countries for forty
years
• had access to the academic literature on the subject
• viewed it all through a sceptical and vaguely anarchistic prism

Surely, I like to think, this combination of praxis, knowledge and reflection (and of
international experience) has given me insights others (more specialised and
focused) don’t have?
We are all, of course, different – in the cards fate deals with us; and in what we make
of them. Perhaps, therefore, it is utterly unrealistic to imagine that we would do
anything differently from the mere fact of reading how a wiser and better person
had tackled an issue. I will never forget the written response of a Hungarian official on
the proforma I had given those who made a study-visit in the mid 1990s - "the one thing
I have learned is that there is nothing to learn from other countries"! And the same
message was in the poster I had in my office in the 1980s - "In my next life, I will make
the same mistakes - but earlier"!

Of course, case-studies are an iportant part of MBA studies. And, in my field of

government and policy-making, we still need more flesh and blood cases. There is still
too much abstract theorisising - too much aping of a discredited 'economic rationality'
model.
We all seek for meaning in our lives - its perhaps difficult to accept that everything is

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accidental and random!.We are all more interesting than perhaps the normal rules of
conversation allow us to demonstrate.
Some years ago, we were all being encouraged to write (short) autobiographies setting
out the key time-lines in our life and then exploring questions such as –
• How did your upbringing affect your life?
• What do you consider your greatest achievement?
• Your greatest failure?
• Your most noble failure?
• Your most interesting experience?
• Your greatest passion?
• Your most challenging project?
• How would you like to be remembered?

Perhaps we talk too much. Writing is a tough master – it exposes the fallacies and gaps
in our thoughts. Have any of my readers tried out this sort of autobiography, I
wonder? Was it useful?

In conclusion - I have to confess that I don't actually know where all this takes me in
my own question about what I have learned from my various political and
project experiences which is worth passing on!!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Are contemporary English and North American novels "gutless"?

There’s a very good discussion thread in today’s

Guardian stimulated by an article which
suggests that contemporary English and North
American novels are gutless – “Sadly, the
article argues, literary writers in these
countries today seem to have no time for
politics” (He recognises that Scotland and
Ireland are different).
The discussion which follows is a serious one -
some agreeing with the author's contention
and offering reasons for the lack of
contemporary Orwells; others profoundly
disagreeing and offering examples of good
political writing. I've selected just three of the offerings -
John Le Carré is someone I´d count as a political author, one of England´s best authors
and someone whose status as a "genre writer" perhaps means he´s not given his due
compared to the likes of Amis, McEwan and the other overrated stars of English
Literary Fiction. While he doesn´t have the linguistic showboating of Amis, you learn

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far more about the way the world works and the fact that his works are allegedly
thrillers has nothing to do with his intelligence and unwillingness to dumb down or sugar
coat an essentially bleak artistic vision of humanity and the operations of power.
Really, good writing always transcends genre simply because it has an intelligence
and craft and originality that stops it from being "generic". If a book is good its
irrelevant what genre it is placed in as a matter of marketing speak. Bad literary
fiction is genre fiction as well simply because it is "generic" in that sense, while good
writing whether it be le Carré or Roberto Bolaño makes the notion of genre irrelevant.
When I say good writing there are many ways to be "good" of course. Le Carré isn´t a
great stylist, in the way that say James Kelman or William Faulkner might be, or rather
while he does write well, the style isn´t really what he is about, but he is a great drawer
of characters and elucidator of the mechanics of the world. Whereas really what does
Amis have which gets him so much attention?

Chakrabortty's chasing a packaging problem - if it is a problem. The book industry has

strangled itself with high-cost hardback (auto)biographies of such distasteful entities
as Blair, Bush, Brown, Darling, Prescott, Jobs, Lawson... not to mention its surrender
before the supposedly fascinating lives of z-list celebs. Nevertheless, Michael Moore,
Naomi Klein, Richard Dawkins, Howard Zinn and Chomsky (among many others) have
managed to get opuses out that I'd qualify as deeply political. It's more that subversion
and protest has shifted to a better packaging. Film. Inside Job, Slumdog Millionaire,
Inconvenient Truth, Sicko, Farenheit 911, SuperSize Me, Frozen Planet, Munich,
Darwin's Nightmare... Wider audience, greater impact, just as good as a book, extra
commentaries on the DVDs. Chakrabortty may merely be suffering from a nostalgia for
the printed page (and theatre, but the audience there is pitifully limited) but don't let
this make you think that eloquent, hard-hitting, informed protest has ceased to be

I question the premise of this article unless the author objects to the lack of explicit,
didactic political advocacy in fiction. I have read quite a few novels published in the last
15 years that are clearly political in their dissection of societal behavior and values:
Pamuk's Snow (a wonderful book in the style of the late 19th Century Russian masters),
Ballard's Super-Cannes and Millennium People, Le Carre's Absolute Friends, Ellroy's
White Jazz and American Tabloid, Don DeLillo's Cosmopolis, Ma Jian's Beijing Coma, Mo
Yan's The Garlic Ballads and Takani's Battle Royale, among others. All of them explicitly
critique existing social and political conditions, encouraging us to ponder alternatives
If the mood takes me, I'll perhaps offer some thoughts of my own.
Here in my Transylvanian village of Sirnea, the Easter celebrations have already started
- with the priests' incantations echoing around the valley. Very touching.

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Why public provision makes economic sense

The blog has made several references to the Nordic social model. At a time when neo-
liberal attacks on the "welfare state" are as strong as they have ever been, it is
important that a properly strong response is given to these attacks. The argument is
that public goods make strong economic sense. And this is well stated in a recent Social
Europe article
there are many misunderstandings of the Nordic states, even by sympathetic
commentators. The most common one is that the state is portrayed as a very costly
undertaking that by its high level of taxation becomes a hindrance to economic growth.
This reveals a misconception regarding what the welfare state is about. The largest
part of this type of welfare state is not benefits to poor people but universal social
insurances and social services (like health care, pensions, support to families with
children and public education) that benefit the whole, or very large, segments of the
population. These goods are in high demand by almost all citizens and research shows
that having these demands covered by universal systems in many cases becomes more
cost effective.

The economic theory about problems of asymmetric information in markets is well

suited for understanding this. Although this theory is quite technical, the logic is very
simple. For example, in private health insurance systems, the costs that such
information problems lead to (overtreatment, overbilling, the administrative costs for
insurance companies screening out bad risks, the costs for handling legal problems
about coverage) can become astronomical as seems to be the case in the United
States[2]. Universal systems are much more cost effective in handling these problems
since risks are spread over the whole population and the incentives for providers to
overbill or use costly but unnecessary treatments are minimal.

The second misunderstanding is that such welfare states by necessity come with heavy
handed bureaucratic intrusion and paternalism (“the nanny state”) and that it cannot be
combined with freedom of choice for various services. This is for the most part wrong.
An example is the publicly financed school system in Denmark and Sweden that are full-
fledged charter systems. Public schools compete with private charter schools that are
run on public money and have to accept to work under the same national regulations and
education plans. For example, they have to accept students without any discrimination
concerning their learning abilities. This can be compared with the intrusive inquiries and
testing used by many private schools in the US in their admission processes. The same
choice systems have been developed when it comes to health care, elderly care and pre-
schools in the Nordic countries. Simply put, public funding of social services can very
well be combined with consumer choice and respect for personal integrity.

A third common misunderstanding about the universal welfare state system is the neo-
liberal argument that high public expenditures is detrimental to market-based economic

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growth. As shown by the economic historian Peter Lindert, this is simply not the case.
In a global perspective, rich states have a level of taxation that is almost twice as high
compared to poor states. And when the rich western states are compared over time,
the evidence that high public spending is negative for economic growth is simply not
there. This is also shown when the leading international business organization, the
World Economic Forum, ranks countries’ economic competitiveness. The Nordic
countries come out at the very top, far ahead of most low tax/low spending countries.
In addition these states have their public finances in good order, simply because people
are willing to pay taxes for the services that are proven. And lastly, when it comes to
measures of human well-being, the Nordic countries outperform all other known social
models. Thus, the future of the state looks bright, provided it is modelled on the
Nordic model.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Coming to terms with evil

We Scots have had a special

relationship with Europe – the North
Sea, for example, gave us special
access to Russia and Poland in medieval
times. Our architects left their marks
in Tsarist Russia – and our traders
established a quarter in Gdansk which
was still active recently. And the
Protestant faith was also a factor
which created links with (North)
Germany.
My father was one of a few Scottish pastors who developed a “Reconciliation” mission in
the post-war period there – focussing on Detmold, Heiligenkirchen and Bad Meinberg
areas in Nord-Rhein Westphalia. He took us with him on at least one trip there in the
mid 1950s and it is to this I owe my (mainland) European orientation and (in all
probability) the direction my life has taken - particularly in the past 20 years in central
Europe and Central Asia.
One of my fond family memories is my father wading through the various parts of the
weekend Die Zeit newspaper - printed on special thin but glossy paper - which was flown
over to him. Not surprisingly I excelled at German and French at school - and started
out on a language degree at University (which I changed half-way through to an
Economics and Politics one)

In 1961 I ventured to a Polish student work-camp – via Berlin – and will never forget the
sight from the train of a still-bombed out Wroclaw. The next year I spent some weeks

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at a summer school at Gottingen University – where I was introduced to the post-war
stories of Heinrich Boell.
In 1964 I spent 2 months living and working in Berlin (thanks to AISEC) where I
encountered for the first time the fervour of an old Nazi – the mother of my girlfriend
of the time.

For these various reasons, I have had a particular

fascination with the issue of how the Germans have
tried to come to terms with the terrifying social
transformation of the Nazi period. One of my
treasured possessions during a 1980s visit was a
collection of letters written by ordinary Germans
trying to make sense of what was going on around
them in the early and mid 1930s.
After an initial period of silence, it appeared that
by the 1980s the schools were making a good job of
helping the new generation face us to their past.

German historian Moritz Pfeiffer asked his

granddad what he did in World War II, and then
fact-checked the testimony. His findings in a new
book shed light on a dying generation that remains
outwardly unrepentant, but is increasingly willing to break decades of silence on how,
and why, it followed Hitler -
Germany has won praise for collectively confronting its Nazi past, but the subject has
remained a taboo in millions of family homes -- with children and grandchildren declining
to press their elders on what they did in the war. At least 20 to 25 million Germans
knew about the Holocaust while it was happening, according to conservative estimates,
and some 10 million fought on the Eastern Front in a war of annihilation that targeted
civilians from the start. That, says German historian Moritz Pfeiffer, makes the
genocide and the crimes against humanity a part of family history.

Time is running out. The answer to how a cultured, civilized nation stooped so low lies in
the minds of the dying Third Reich generation, many of whom are ready and willing to
talk at the end of their lives, says Pfeiffer, 29, who has just completed an
unprecedented research project based on his own family.
"The situation has changed radically compared with the decades immediately after the
war," Pfeiffer, a historian at a museum on the SS at Wewelsburg Castle, told SPIEGEL
ONLINE. "The generation of eyewitnesses evidently wants to talk now, at least that's
my impression. Towards the end of one's life the distance to the events is so great that
people are ready to give testimony."
"Immediately after the war, conversations about it between parents and children
appear to have been impossible because it was all too fresh," Pfeiffer continued. "Now
the problem is that no one is listening to that generation anymore. As a source of
information, one's relatives are largely being ignored. But one day it will be too late."

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New Approach to Questioning Relatives
Oral history has become increasingly popular, even though personal reminiscences are
chronically unreliable as they are distorted by time. But Pfeiffer took a new approach
by interviewing his two maternal grandparents about what they did in the war, and then
systematically checking their statements using contemporary sources such as letters
and army records.
No one has done this before.
He juxtaposed his findings with context from up-to-date historical research on the
period and wrote a book that has shed new light on the generation that unquestioningly
followed Hitler, failed to own up to its guilt in the immediate aftermath of the war and,
more than six decades on, remains unable to express personal remorse for the civilian
casualties of Hitler's war of aggression, let alone for the Holocaust.

His recently published book, "My Grandfather in the War 1939-1945," (published in
German only) is based on the interviews he conducted in 2005 with his grandfather,
named only as Hans Hermann K., who was a career officer in a Wehrmacht infantry
regiment. His grandmother Edith was too ill to be interviewed at length but he analyzed
many of her letters. Both died in 2006. Both of them supported the Nazi regime and
Pfeiffer admits that they were morally "contaminated," like millions of ordinary
Germans of that generation. He describes his grandmother Edith as a "committed,
almost fanatical Nazi."

'No One Can Say What They Would Have Done'

But the project wasn't an attempt to pass judgment on his grandparents, says Pfeiffer.
He only wanted to understand them. "No one today can say what they would have done
or thought at the time," he said. "I believe that people will learn a lot if they
understand how their respected and loved parents or grandparents behaved in the face
of a totalitarian dictatorship and murderous racial ideology," Pfeiffer said. "Dealing
with one's family history in the Nazi period in an open, factual and self-critical way is an
important contribution to accepting democracy and avoiding a repeat of what happened
between 1933 and 1945."
Hans Hermann K. was so good at goosestepping that he was briefly transferred to a
parade unit in Berlin. Edith joined the Nazi Party and was so zealous that when she
married Hans Hermann in 1943, she provided documentation tracing her Aryan roots all
the way back to the early 18th century -- even SS members were "only" required to
verify their racial purity back to January 1, 1800.
During the course of his research, Moritz Pfeiffer found large gaps, contradictions and
evasive answers in Hans Hermann's testimony -- regarding his purported ignorance of
mass executions of civilians, for example.

Grandfather Fought in France, Poland, Soviet Union

Hans Hermann was a lieutenant in the famous 6th Army and fought in the invasions of
Poland, France and the Soviet Union, where he lost an eye in September 1942 when a
shell exploded near him. His wound probaby saved his life. Shortly after he was

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evacuated back to Germany for treatment, his unit was sent to Stalingrad and virtually
wiped out. Only 6,000 men survived out of the more than 100,000 that were taken
prisoner by the Red Army at Stalingrad.

Few would disagree that Germany as a nation has worked hard to atone for its past,
unlike Austria and Japan which have cloaked themselves in denial. Germany has paid an
estimated €70 billion in compensation for the suffering it caused, conducts solemn
ceremonies to commemorate the victims and, above all, has owned up to what was done
in its name.
Companies and government ministries have opened up their archives to historians to
illuminate their role in the Third Reich, and a late push in prosecutions of war criminals
is underway to make up for the failure to bring them to justice in the decades after the
war.

But millions never confronted their own personal role as cogs in the Nazi machinery.
Hans Hermann was no different, even though he readily agreed to talk to his grandson.
He was born in 1921 to an arch-conservative, nationalist family with military traditions
in the western city of Wuppertal. His father, a furniture store owner, regaled him with
stories about his time as a lieutenant in World War I, and it was instilled in him at an
early age that the war reparations of the Versailles Treaty were exaggerated. The
store boomed after Hitler took power because the new government provided cheap
government loans for married couples to buy kitchen and bedroom furniture.

In the interview, Hans Hermann was frank about his attitude towards Jews in the mid-
1930s, when he was in his early teens and a member of the Jungvolk youth organization,
which was affiliated with the Hitler Youth. Asked by Moritz whether he thought at the
time that the racial laws banning Jews from public life and systematically expropriating
their property were unfair, he said: "No, we didn't regard that as injustice, we had to
go with the times and the times were like that. The media didn't have the importance
then that they do today."

Part 2: 'We Had to Keep Our Mouths Shut'

But Hans Hermann didn't join the Nazi party, and said in 2005 that he opposed the
Reichskristallnacht, the Nov. 9, 1938 pogrom organized by the Nazi regime in which
thousands of Jewish stores and synagogues were attacked and burned. "That wasn't
right. We were angry about the violence and the fire in the synagogue, that wasn't our
thing," he said. "That was the SA, that was the SS, we rejected that … But we couldn't
do anything, we had to keep our mouths shut."
Asked about the invasion of Poland and the executions of civilians, Hans Hermann was
evasive, at first describing relations between the German army and Poles as "friendly"
and saying he knew nothing about mass shootings of Polish civilians at the time.
When pressed by Moritz, however, he admitted he knew about killings being committed
by the SS, but added that the Wehrmacht had nothing to do with it -- a typical
attitude that reflected the long-held myth that regular German soldiers weren't
involved in atrocities.

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Pfeiffer said he found his grandfather's indifference to the suffering of the Polish
population, 6 million of whom died in the war, "staggering" but, again, typical of the
response of many Germans of his generation.
In 1941, Hans Hermann took part in Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet
Union. He was in the Infantry Regiment 208 of the 79th Infantry Division, and he said
he knew nothing about criminal orders such as the German army's infamous "Commissar
Order" -- that all Soviet political commissars detected among the captured must be
killed.

'Hardly Believable'
Asked about the Commissar Order, Hans Hermann said: "I didn't hear anything about
that, don't know it. We were behind the combat troops who were the ones taking
prisoners."
Pfeiffer refuted the claim that his grandfather's unit took no prisoners. He found the
war diary of the 79th Infantry Division which records that 5,088 Russian soldiers were
captured between August 5 and August 31 alone. Between September 20 and 25, a
further 24,000 were taken prisoner.
Even the ones who weren't shot dead on the spot had a slim chance of survival. More
than 3 million of the 5.7 million Red Army soldiers captured by German forces in World
War II died, a proportion of almost 60 percent.
Pfeiffer said his grandfather as a front line officer and company commander would have
been subject to the order to weed out the political commissars from among captured
Red Army soldiers and have them shot. The historian said he couldn't ascertain whether
his grandfather ever had to take such a decision. But historical evidence exists that the
79th Infantry division carried out the order.
Also, historians have proven that the 6th Army, which Hans Hermann's division was part
of, carried out war crimes and massacres, and assisted in the murder of 33,771 Jews in
the ravine of Babi Yar in Ukraine at the end of September 1941.
Pfeiffer said it was "hardly believable" that his grandfather didn't know anything about
the mass killings. Hans Hermann also said: "The Bolshevists were our enemies, that was
clear and we had to be guided by that. But those who greeted us with salt and bread on
their doorstep, they couldn't be enemies, we treated them well." He didn't say what
happened to civilians who didn't greet the troops with salt and bread.

'Spellbound by the Words of the Führer'

Pfeiffer's book also presents letters written by his grandmother Edith that showed her
ardent support for Hitler. On Nov. 8, 1943, she wrote to her husband after hearing
Hitler speak: "I am still totally spellbound by the words of the Führer that were
stirring and inspiring as ever! I glow with enthusiasm … One feels strong enough to tear
out trees."
In his interview, Hans Hermann expressed criticism of the Allied bombings of German
cities. "How could that be possible, against the civilian population!" He made no mention
of German bombing attacks on Rotterdam and Coventry in 1940.

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He was taken prisoner by American forces in Metz, France, in October 1944 and didn't
see his wife again until March 1946.
Pfeiffer concluded that his grandfather wasn't lying outright in his interviews, but
merely doing what millions of Germans had done after the war -- engaging in denial,
playing down their role to lessen their responsibility.
It led to the convenient myth in the immediate aftermath of the war that the entire
nation had been duped by a small clique of criminals who bore sole responsibility for the
Holocaust -- and that ordinary Germans had themselves been victims.

Germany has long since jettisoned that fallacy. But Pfeiffer admits that his book didn't
answer a key question about his loving, kind grandparents who were pillars of his family
for decades.
"Why did the humanity of my grandparents not rebel against the mass murders and why
didn't my grandfather, even in his interview in 2005, concede guilt or shame or express
any sympathy for the victims?"

'Moral Insanity'
When asked whether he felt that he shared any of the collective guilt for the
Holocaust, Hans Hermann said: "No. That is no guilt collectively. No group is levelling
this collective guilt, it's differentiated today, in historical research as well. The
individual guilt of people and groups is being researched."
Pfeiffer writes that his grandparents were infected by the same "moral insanity" that
afflicted many Germans during and after World War I: "A state of emotional coldness,
a lack of self-criticism and absolute egotism combined with a strong deficit of moral
judgment as well as the support, acceptance and justification of cruelty when the
enemy was affected by it."
Those are damning words. Pfeiffer said his grandparents' generation probably had no
choice but to suppress their guilt in order to keep on functioning in the hard post-war
years when all their energy was focused on rebuilding their livelihoods. "It was a
necessary human reaction," said Pfeiffer.

The Vergangenheitsbewältigung -- the confrontation with the past -- got a much-needed

push with the 1968 student protests. For many, the atonement didn't come fast enough.
German author Ralph Giordano referred to the "Second Guilt" in a book he wrote in
1987 -- the reluctance to own up to the crimes, and the ability of Nazi perpetrators to
prosper in postwar West Germany.

Pfeiffer hopes his book will encourage other children and grandchildren of eyewitnesses
to follow suit. "I think conversations like the ones I carried out will bring relatives
together rather than drive a wedge between them," he said.
Pfeiffer's original intention had been just to write a family history for personal use.
After he interviewed his grandfather, he edited the transcript and presented it to the
family at Christmas in 2005.

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'Non-Verbal Admissions of Guilt'
But he had noticed omissions in his grandfather's testimony and had asked him to
submit to a second, more rigorous interview in summer 2006. Hans Hermann agreed.
Unfortunately, Moritz never got the chance to conduct it. Edith died in June that year
after a long illness. Overcome by grief, Hans Hermann died six weeks later.

Asked how he thinks his grandfather would have reacted to his book, Pfeiffer said: "I
think he would have initially been shocked about the unsparing presentation of his life
story and wouldn't exactly have been delighted at my critical comments and conclusions.
"But I think he would have spent a long time examining it and would acknowledge the
factual analysis and the fact that I wasn't trying to discredit him or settle any scores."

Pfeiffer sees a big difference between what the dying generation is able to articulate
and what it is actually feeling. He detected what he called "non-verbal admissions of
guilt" in his grandfather's behavior. After the war, Hans Hermann encouraged his
daughter to learn French and hosted French pupils on exchange programs. He also
supported the European integration policy of Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle,
and avoided going to veterans' reunions.

In 2005, he was outraged at first by a research report Pfeiffer co-wrote at the

University of Freiburg about the involvement of the Wehrmacht in war crimes. A few
weeks later, however, he told his grandson: "I have thought a lot about it -- and there's
some truth to it."
Moritz Pfeiffer: "Mein Großvater im Krieg 1939-1945. Erinnerung und Fakten im
Vergleich". Donat-Verlag, Bremen 2012, 216 Seiten

Blog feedback

Flying blind at the moment. Blogger is not able to give me the usual statistics on
readership (numbers. country, posts etc) - just when I was beginning to hit a hundred a
day. Of course, its impossible to identify the hard core of readers - and one can only
guess about the reasons for the sudden surges in readership (generally my inserting a
weblink in a discussion thread). Wish I could identify how many of those who come this
way actually stay.......Not that this would affect what I write about!!

In the meantime a nice quotation from Siri Hustvedt's The Sorrow of an American
(about a son trying to track down the truth about his father) hit home -
His was an illness that besets the intellectual; the indefatigible will to mastery. Chronic
and incurable, it affects those who lust after a world that makes sense (page 176)

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Saturday, April 14, 2012

Living in truth

Forgive me if this post strikes some as sacriligous. I am not myself a religious believer -
although I do have a strong sense of the sacred. I do not find it easy to relate to the
character of Jesus Christ - and his name has been used to support so much humbug and
injustice. And, with so many other religions, is divisive. I prefer this Easter to
remember Václav Havel (who died so recently) for enabling a generation to gain the
chance to live in truth. I missed Jeffrey Sach's tribute in December -
The world’s greatest shortage is not of oil, clean water, or food, but of moral
leadership. With a commitment to truth – scientific, ethical, and personal – a society
can overcome the many crises of poverty, disease, hunger, and instability that confront
us. Yet power abhors truth, and battles it relentlessly. Havel was a pivotal leader of the
revolutionary movements that culminated in freedom in Eastern Europe and the end, 20
years ago this month, of the Soviet Union. Havel’s plays, essays, and letters described
the moral struggle of living honestly under Eastern Europe’s Communist dictatorships.
He risked everything to live in truth, as he called it – honest to himself and heroically
honest to the authoritarian power that repressed his society and crushed the freedoms
of hundreds of millions.
“The Power of the Powerless” was one of his most influential essays - a reflection on
the mind of a greengrocer who obediently puts a poster “among the onions and carrots”
urging “Workers of the World—Unite!” In gentle, ironic but scathing prose, Mr Havel
exposed the lies and cowardice that made possible the communist grip on power. The
greengrocer puts up the poster partly out of habit, partly because everyone else does
it, and partly out of fear of the consequences if he does not. Just as the “Good Soldier
Svejk” encapsulated the cowardly absurdity of life in the Austro-Hungarian army, Mr
Havel’s greengrocer epitomised the petty humiliations of “normalised” Czechoslovakia.
The people pretended to follow the Party, and the Party pretended to lead. Those
shallow foundations were vulnerable to individual acts of disobedience.
Just imagine, Havel wrote, ...that one day something in our greengrocer snaps and he
stops putting up the slogans merely to ingratiate himself. He stops voting in elections he
knows are a farce. He begins to say what he really thinks at political meetings. And he
even finds the strength in himself to express solidarity with those whom his conscience
commands him to support. In this revolt the greengrocer steps out of living within the
lie. He rejects the ritual and breaks the rules of the game. He discovers once more his
suppressed identity and dignity. He gives his freedom a concrete significance. His revolt
is an attempt to live within the truth ...
That would bring ostracism and punishment, but imposed for compliance’s sake, not out
of conviction. His real crime was not speaking out, but exposing the sham:
He has shattered the world of appearances, the fundamental pillar of the system...He
has demonstrated that living a lie is living a lie. He has broken through the exalted
façade…and exposed the real, base foundations of power…He has shown everyone that
it is possible to live within the truth. Living within the lie can constitute the system only

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if it is universal…everyone who steps out of line denies it in principle and threatens it in
its entirety ...
The phrase “living in truth” was Havel’s hallmark. No single phrase did more to inspire
those trying to subvert and overthrow the communist empire in Europe. Jeffrey Sach's
trbute continues -
Havel paid dearly for this choice, spending several years in prison and many more under
surveillance, harassment, and censorship of his writings. Yet the glow of truth spread.
Havel gave hope, courage, and even fearlessness to a generation of his compatriots.
When the web of lies collapsed in November 1989, hundreds of thousands of Czechs
and Slovaks poured into the streets to proclaim their freedom – and to sweep the
banished and jailed playwright into Prague Castle as Czechoslovakia’s newly elected
president.
Just as lies and corruption are contagious, so, too, moral truth and bravery spreads
from one champion to another. Havel and Michnik could succeed in part because of the
miracle of Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader who emerged from a poisoned system,
yet who valued truth above force. And Gorbachev could triumph in part because of the
sheer power of honesty of his countryman, Andrei Sakharov, the great and fearless
nuclear physicist who also risked all to speak truth in the very heart of the Soviet
empire – and who paid for it with years of internal exile.

These pillars of moral leadership typically drew upon still other examples, including that
of Mahatma Gandhi, who called his autobiography The Story of My Experiments With
Truth. They all believed that truth, both scientific and moral, could ultimately prevail
against any phalanx of lies and power. Many died in the service of that belief; all of us
alive today reap the benefits of their faith in the power of truth in action.
Havel’s life is a reminder of the miracles that such a credo can bring about; yet it is
also a reminder of the more somber fact that truth’s victories are never definitive.
Each generation must adapt its moral foundations to the ever-changing conditions of
politics, culture, society, and technology.

Much of today’s struggle – everywhere – pits truth against greed. Even if our
challenges are different from those faced by Havel, the importance of living in
truth has not changed. Today’s reality is of a world in which wealth translates into
power, and power is abused in order to augment personal wealth, at the expense of
the poor and the natural environment. As those in power destroy the environment,
launch wars on false pretexts, forment social unrest, and ignore the plight of the
poor, they seem unaware that they and their children will also pay a heavy price.
Moral leaders nowadays should build on the foundations laid by Havel. Many people,
of course, now despair about the possibilities for constructive change. Yet the battles
that we face – against powerful corporate lobbies, relentless public-relations spin, and
our governments’ incessant lies – are a shadow of what Havel, Michnik, Sakharov, and
others faced when taking on brutal Soviet-backed regimes.
In contrast to these titans of dissent, we are empowered with the instruments of social
media to spread the word, overcome isolation, and mobilize millions in support of reform
and renewal. Many of us enjoy minimum protections of speech and assembly, though

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these are inevitably hard won, imperfect, and fragile. Yet, of the profoundest
importance and benefit, we are also blessed with the enduring inspiration of Havel’s life
in truth.
Yesterday's post was about one German historian's exploration of his Grandfather's
difficulties in describing (let alone justifying) his behaviour during Nazi times. The
same day, a Frenchwoman wrote a moving tribute to a 94 year old Frenchman, Raymond
Aubrac for his role both during the French Resistance and througout his long life -
The Resistance – comprising only a handful of valiant and fearless men and women – is
the one event in contemporary history that we French, as a nation, desperately cling to.
Generations of French people have indeed lived with the moral burden of Vichy France.
Every French family hides tales of passive collaboration with the Nazis. Collectively, as
a nation, we have survived shame thanks to De Gaulle and a few men like Aubrac.
What is most admirable with Aubrac, whose wife died in 2007, is the fact that he
fought all his life against injustice. He and Lucie were always present at protests,
speaking out, tirelessly visiting schools, writing columns in newspapers, battling and
arguing, with as much passion as reason. Stéphane Hessel, age 94, is the same: after
striking a storm last year with his pamphlet Time for Outrage! (3.5m copies sold), he
campaigns to keep the Resistance's beliefs alive in the face of rampant inequality and
intolerance.
At a time of continued conformity, consumerism and hedonism - it is such lives we need
to exalt.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Easter in Sirnea

A wet Easter Sunday here in Sirnea. My old neighbour, Lucita, brought me yesterday
some small meat offerings and a couple of painted eggs; and at 08.00 this morning I
received a call from Viciu down the hill which started with the greeting Hristos a înviat!
(Christ is risen!) to which I was able to give the appropriate response Adevărat a
înviat!(He has indeed – or does it mean His Resurrection is the truth??
The call carried an invitation to come for an Easter brunch (and small Tuica) at 09.00.
He had been up all night – at the church with the rest of the village from 01.00.-04.00!
And hadn’t slept since. I felt duly ashamed.
I had noticed how few visitors there seem to be in the village this year – only one car in
the hotel car-park and no sound from the guesthouse down on the mainroad from which
there are normally sounds of gaiety on such holiday weekends. Viciu reports a television
comment that people had been going to Bulgaria instead – cheaper and nicer!
According to tradition, there shall be no partying, no weddings, no having fun and not a
great deal of anything in fact during Lent, unflinchingly observed by many in Romania,
right up until midnight on April 14th. Only when the priest emerges from his church
with a candle (around 00:10) to declare that ‘Hristos a înviat’ can the faithful who have
abstained from smiling, sex or chocolate for the past 40 days once again indulge their
desires. And then only after the biggest meal of the year. That meal will invariably be

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lamb (miel). Indeed, Easter is the one time of the year Romanians eat lamb, and it can
easily be found in shops. Every part of the lamb is used: the head goes in the soup, the
organs are used to make ‘drob’ (a kind of paté), and the legs are slowly roasted in red
wine and served with roast potatoes and spinach.
You should also be prepared to eat more than a few hard boiled eggs. Before the main
meal (which, we have yet to mention, gets eaten after the return from midnight mass,
at around 1am) eggs are cracked.
Dyed in bright colours (often, but not always red) on Good Friday, hard boiled eggs are
cracked between family members with the words ‘Hristos a înviat’ and response
‘Adevărat a înviat’. The eggs should then be eaten.

I’m not into development issues so much at the moment – but this is a good discussion of
an issue which has been vexing that community recently - Results-focussed reporting.
The piece is written by one of the community’s most thoughtful writers - Owen Barder –
who also does a good podcast series on development issues called Development Drums.
The latest interview is with Tim Harford who is a journalist at the Financial Times and
the author of The Undercover Economist and, most recently, of Adapt: Why Success
Always Begins with Failure. In this interview, he talks about the implications for
development of his idea that successful complex systems emerge from a process of
trial and error and suggests three principles -
you need to try a lot of different things; they need to be small enough that failures will
not ruin you; and you need to be able to distinguish success from failure, which some
systems are very ill-equipped to do.

Living in truth - part II

A current example of someone living in truth - a committed American soldier sick of the
lies the American public are being told about the "progress" in the Afghan War -
Lieutenant-Colonel Daniel, 48, drew up two reports containing research and observations
garnered from his last tour. As part of his job he had criss-crossed the country,
travelling 9,000 miles and talking to more than 250 people. He had built up a picture of
a hopeless cause; a country where Afghan soldiers were incapable of holding on to
American gains. US soldiers would fight and die for territory and then see Afghan
troops let it fall to the Taliban. Often the Afghans actively worked with the Taliban or
simply refused to fight. One Afghan police officer laughed in Davis's face when asked if
he ever tried to fight the enemy. "That would be dangerous!" the man said. Yet at the
same time Davis saw America's military chiefs, such as General David Petraeus,
constantly speak about America's successes, especially when working with local troops.
So Davis compiled two reports: one classified and one unclassified. He sent both to
politicians in Washington and lobbied them on his concerns. Then in February he went
public by giving an interview to the New York Times and writing a damning editorial in a
military newspaper. Then – and only then – did he tell his own army bosses what he had
done.

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Davis pulled no punches. His report's opening statement read: "Senior ranking US
military leaders have so distorted the truth when communicating with the US Congress
and American people in regards to conditions on the ground in Afghanistan that the
truth has become unrecognisable."

The report detailed an alarming picture of Taliban advances and spiralling violence.
Afghan security forces were unwilling or unable to fight, or actively aiding the enemy.
That picture was contrasted with repeated rosy statements from US military leaders.
His classified version was far more damning, but it remains a secret. "I am no WikiLeaks
guy part two," Davis said.
He foresees a simple and logical end point for Afghanistan – civil war and societal
collapse, probably long before the last US combat soldier is scheduled to leave. He says
the Afghan army and police simply cannot cope and the US forces training and working
with them know that, despite official pronouncements to the contrary. "What I saw
first hand in virtually every circumstance was a barely functioning organisation often
co-operating with the insurgent enemy," Davis's report said.
The document was also damning about the role of the US media in reporting the war -
slavishly repeating the military handouts.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Moving On

My run down to Sofia on Monday

coincided with the Easter return to
Sofia – the last 80 kilometres of the
(generally 2 lane) Balkan Highway which
is normally a delight was this time
pretty stressful with the Testerone
Teddies aggressively racing right up to
the bumpers of cars they considered
inferior.

Just 2 weeks to close down here before

I start the long run to Scotland for an important event there in mid-May. I find it very
difficult to contemplate leaving Sofia’s charms – even although there is every chance I
will be back in the late autumn.
The deadline puts some much-needed pressure on my project about Bulgarian realist
painting of the past century. Tomorrow I see a designer about the possible next
possible step. That is a small booklet which would give brief details about 175 Bulgarian
painters - with a CD containing images of about 1,000 paintings. Depending on its
reception, I could then develop to the book I had originally imagined.

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Sunday, April 22, 2012
Balkan idyll in the sun?

The latest issue of Vagabond has an interesting

article on the fate of many working class Brits who
were attracted a decade ago by British TV
programmes to buy cheap property in the Bulgarian
countryside. The piece is called British homes across
rural Bulgaria lie empty. Where have all the people
gone? and makes the following interesting points -

The Britons who came at this time had never had the financial
assets to dabble in UK property, nor any experience of
speculation. Obsessed with land ownership and investment
potential, the idea of a life in the sun without a mortgage was
just too big a dream to pass up. By day, they would wrestle
physically on village streets and by night, sedated by the tropical
chirping of crickets, cheap alcohol and impossibly attractive
waitresses, they would discuss their numerous purchases and
renovation plans.
It was basically so damn cheap and easy, the exchange rate was good and the Bulgarians more than willing
to ship old baba off to a flat in town, vacating the decaying village home, previously considered worthless.
Everything was for sale and everything was within their budget. We felt like Allan Sugar and Donald Trump
all rolled into one!
But few actually thought about the implications of a life spent in a rural village. Might not self-sufficiency
be difficult, when you have never looked after a plant or a pet before? It’s not actually sunny all year
round. Winter can be bloody freezing and then there is the complex Bulgarian language.

The British in Britain harp on endlessly about immigrants who can't speak English. They harbour a deep
resentment against anyone who would have the audacity to arrive on British soil without being absolutely
fluent in English. Taking up residence here, this irony goes unnoticed as they proceed to shout louder and
gesticulate more wildly, in the hope that Bulgarians will understand. Few villagers would really expect you to
arrive speaking their small nation's incredibly difficult language, but they do appear a little shocked that
most have no idea of Russian, French or German, all languages many "simple" rural people can actually use
rather well.
Welcome to neo-colonialism on a village scale. My wealth here gives me status and power. If you want a
share, speak to me in Enger-lish!

Not surprisingly the number of British residents here in Bulgaria has fallen dramatically
- from a peak apparently of about 40,000 in the boom times to about 5,000 now. Even
for those prepared to make an effort to integrate, there have been pitfalls to navigate
-
Many have fallen foul of unscrupulous British agents and tradesmen who preyed on gullible and frightened
newcomers. Naturally distrustful of the foreign and non-English speaking Bulgarians, they turned to their
fellow expats for assistance, only to lose everything. Stories of thousands of pounds sent for renovations
which were never started, theft s and houses sold several times over are the expat urban myths of rural
Bulgaria.
Loneliness, culture shock and alcoholism have also played a significant role, as have unrealistic financial
planning or the complete lack of it in some cases. These people, however, have largely returned home, tail
between their legs, once again to plug back into our cosy little social security system. Maybe that's the

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point to all this. We are a spoilt and privileged nation, and with the numerous financial safety nets Brits
have to fall back on, we have little need for research or planning prior to making these life-altering
decisions. If it all goes "belly up" we can go home and start again, courtesy of the State. We will be OK. A
house, an income, healthcare and education, all for free. We can take enormous risks on crazy, un-thought
through dreams based on little more than sunshine, and not worry about ending up with nothing, destitute
and ruined. Maybe if we had to plan more and actually think about what we could lose, we wouldn't take such
insane risks with our families' futures.
But, that said, it's these very same attributes that have brought some Britons to successfully integrate in
villages across Bulgaria. This new and vital human influx has given many rural communities a tiny but
significant fighting chance, against the mass tide of urbanisation and the possibility of remaining on the
world map for a few more decades to come.

The wood carving was one of two I have just bought from Svetlin Mitov who is a great
wood sculptor who has a stall at the corner of the SUM building near the Mosque.This
original cost only 40 euros!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Introducing the Bulgarian Realists

What would be achieve without deadlines? Or,as

Doctor Johnson said, “Depend upon it, Sir, when a
man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight,
it concentrates his mind wonderfully”!
The knowledge that I will be away from Sofia for
some four months at least has put sufficient
pressure on me to be able to fill in a lot of the
gaps I had in the text of my draft booklet on
Bulgarian Realist painting of the last century – and
to decide to go for a modest first venture of a 50
page booklet with an accompaning CD Rom.
Yassen (here in the Konus Gallery) and Evelina (in
the Dobrich municipal gallery) have been very
helpful in supplying me with much needed
information on a dozen or so of the painters. But,
typically, I keep encountering at this stage, new
artists and new information.

First a glorious 1987 book on the satirist Marko Behar (1914-73) which my friend
Alexander Aleksiev drew to my attention on Sunday at his tiny Alladin’s cave at 38 Tsar
Asen St.
Behar combined elements of Grosz, Kollwitz and Beshkov – but was very much his own
man. I imagine him a bit like Bert Brecht – the German poet of the period.

And then late Monday afternoon, I was cycling around various galleries to ensure I had
the right names and addresses for the Annexes to the booklet and went into the Lorian
Gallery which I discovered recently at 16 Oborishte St in the University area. Recently
moved to this location, they have a smallish display downstairs with more expensive

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stuff upstairs eg a Tanev. They have started to produce special books on artists – and I
was shown a delightful one on an artist I had never heard of – Margarita Milidjiiska.
And their current exhibition also introduced me to another new painter (for me) – Boris
Dankov who produced charming landscapes in the 1960s.

Anyway, at 08.30 this morning, I duly delivered the final text of the booklet - now
entitled Introducing the Bulgarian Realists – how to get to know the Bulgarians through
their paintings to the designers.
The painting at the top of the post is my latest acquisition a Georgi Velchev who lived
from 1891 - 1955.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Some relevant social science work!!

The British Academy has been a rather

mysterious body for me which only impacted
a year or so ago when I noticed a fascinating
discussion they had organised around an
important book The Strange Career of
British Democracy produced a few years
back by one of the country’s best political
scientists - David Marquand.

Today I was alerted to a series of papers

they have commissioned and produced under
the title New Paradigms in Public
Policy which consists of what look to be
clear and stimulating papers by such key names as Gerry Stoker – Building a New
Politics; Peter Taylor-Gooby Squaring the Public Policy Circle; Andrew Gamble –
Economic Futures; and Ian Gough - Climate Change and Public Policy

Their website (above) indicates a body which is playing a very important role in
encouraging the application of social science minds to the problems we face in
contemporary society -
The British Academy, established by Royal Charter in 1902, champions and supports the
humanities and social sciences. We are an independent, self-governing fellowship of
scholars elected for their distinction and achievement. Our purpose is to inspire,
recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout
the UK and internationally and to champion their role and value. As
a Fellowship composed of nearly 900 distinguished scholars, we take a lead in
representing the humanities and social sciences, facilitating international collaboration,
providing an independent and authoritative source of advice, and contributing to public
policy and debate

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The painting is a Dobre Dobrev - a demonstration in Sliven in 1945

Friday, April 27, 2012

Peeling the layers of the onion

The way the media control our

politicians (and shape the way we look
at the world) was laid bare by yet more
stunning information thrown up by the
continuing investigation in Britain of
the operations of News International
(the Murdoch Empire). We didn’t learn
a great deal from the appearance of
Murdoch and his son some months ago
in front of the UK Parliamentary
Committee on Culture – except perhaps
that he has a beautiful young Chinese
wife and suffers (as does his son) from memory lapse. But an official inquiry (Leveson )
is now looking (in public) and in detail at the behind-the scene operations of media
owners, their contact with politicians and their ethics. It has revealed, for
example, how the Scottish First Minister (Alex Salmond) bought the political support of
Rupert Murdoch - the the News International (NI) newspapers suddenly, as result,
switching from hostility to the nationalist cause to support. Even worse, the inquiry has
laid bare the private contacts there were between News International lobbyists and
the Minister who had the authority to decide whether NI would be allowed to take-over
a new TV media channel. Polly Toynbee has a powerful article on the story which sets
out very well the political issues which are at stake. The article should be read by
everyone -
The picture emerges of a party deciding long before coming to power to gift Rupert
Murdoch a media and cultural dominance beyond anything seen yet. So much is known
already: the Prime Minister made a hasty speech threatening to abolish the regulatory
agency which tries to ensure competition and standards in the communication industry
(Ofcom). . The relevant Minister (Hunt) rejected Ofcom's advice to refer the BSkyB
bid to the Competition Commission. Cameron was completing what Margaret Thatcher
began – and all for what? Fickle support from Rupert Murdoch's press.
Thatcher broke every rule, twisted every regulation and bent EU law to give Murdoch a
newspaper and television dominance unthinkable in the US or most countries. We have
ranted and railed helplessly over the decades, pointing our finger every time politicians
of any party kowtowed to the man they feared. Democracy was bound to be suborned.
That's precisely what competition law is there to prevent: monopolies are monsters. Is
there anything so exceptional about Rupert Murdoch? He's canny and fly, but probably
no more so than many sharp-witted businessmen who spot their chance in a flabby
market.
All he has done is exactly what Adam Smith (the real one) famously said every
businessman does given half a chance – corner markets and conspire against the

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consumer. The success of his business was built on gaining the edge by evading
regulators and avoiding taxes, as all companies will unless stopped. So let's not obsess
over his character.
If you think this is a navel-gazing media story, here's a reminder of what Hunt was
about to unleash on the country, with Cameron and George Osborne's approval. If
Murdoch were allowed to own all BSkyB, within a year or two he would package all his
newspapers on subscription or online together with his movie and sports channels in
offers consumers could hardly refuse, at loss-leading prices. Other news providers,
including this one, would be driven out, or reduced to a husk. His would be the
commanding news voice. Except for the BBC – which his media have attacked
relentlessly for years. Sky's dominance over the BBC is already looming: now past its
investment phase, Sky's income is multiplying fast at £5.5bn a year, against the BBC's
static £3.5bn. Sky's growing billions can buy everything, not only sports and movies, but
every best series: the BBC trains and develops talent, predatory Sky will snatch it. Nor
is Sky that good for the Treasury: for every £1 in Sky subscriptions, 90p flees the
country, straight to News Corp and Hollywood in the US.
The BBC is remarkable value for money: Sky subscribers can pay £500 a year, the
licence fee is £145 for masses more content. Sky is parasitic, as its own subscribers
watch many more hours of BBC than Sky, so Sky would collapse if the BBC denied it its
channels. Yet the BBC still pays £5m a year for appearing on its platform, a deal struck
by Thatcher to help Murdoch. The sum was cut, but in all other countries commercial
broadcasters pay national broadcasters for the right to use their content – not the
other way round. The BBC should be paid a hefty fee from BSkyB to compensate for
the 16% cut it suffered, partly as a result of Murdoch lobbying. The cut was pure spite,
since the licence fee has no connection with Treasury deficits. Pressure persists to
deprive viewers of listed national events saved to watch free on BBC: Wimbledon and
the rest would go the way of Premier League football.
If it does nothing else, this scandal will stop the government daring to give anything
more to Sky. Much as the Tories detest the BBC – which, like the NHS – stands as a
defiant symbol of non-market success, expect no overt attacks on it for a while now.
But the BBC charter comes up for renewal in 2017: a Tory victory at the next election
would liberate them to follow their vengeful instincts.Jeremy Hunt was within days of
giving Murdoch everything, because the government wished it. A token gesture would
have put Sky News behind Chinese walls, but on all previous precedent, soon his
newspapers, print, online and TV would have merged into a single newsroom. That would
require repeal of the law imposing impartiality on broadcasters. But already Murdoch's
friends were softening up opinion against old-fashioned, dull TV news, unsuited to the
rowdy, opinionated internet era: Fox News would soon be here. If the arrival of
Murdoch's kick-arse Sun was a shock, we'd look back on it as an age of innocence
compared with what Fox would do – look what it's done to US politics. Cameron has said
it is his ambition to finish Margaret Thatcher's work. As she privatised nationalised
industries, so he would marketise the public sector, with his NHS commercialisation and
his promise to put all public services out to tender. The dismantling or shrivelling of the
BBC would soon have followed. If the Guardian journalist, Nick Davies, had not exposed
the hacking of a missing and murdered girl’s phone in the nick of time, all would have

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been lost – an odd way for the BBC to be reprieved.
The 81-year-old under scrutiny this week rambled a bit and remembered nothing to his
own detriment. He was an unsatisfying villain, as most are. But the villainy here is not
about one man. He stands as an Adam Smith lesson in the primacy of competition law
and what happens when politicians let the free market rip to do political favours.
A famous British politician (Aneuran Bevan) once wrote a book in which he compared his
search to discover where power lay in Britain to the peeling of an onion - each layer
stripped, there was yet another beneath it. With the current, public inquiries in Britain,
we seem to be getting to the core......
I couldn't find an appropriate painting to illustrate the title - and have used this
instead this Stanio Stamatov painting which was pulled out of the Shumen archives
specially for me to view.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Great art in Sofia

A flurry of artistic activity, starting on

Thursday morning with a visit to the
designers of my booklet on Bulgarian
Realists to organise the CD which will
accompany it (with 800 photos of Bulgarian
paintings of that period); and to get an
initial rough copy.
This last was particularly needed to take
with me to the midday invitation I had
received to visit what had been the home
of one of Bulgaria’s great painters - Tsanko
Lavrenov. The invitation came from his
grandson (Plaven Petrov, now the owner of
the Loran Gallery) who has turned the flat in one of Sofia’s nice old areas into a great showpiece
for this self-taught artist from Plovdiv.
Born in 1896, Lavrenov viewed with suspicion the new artistic trends coming from Western
Europe, wanting instead to establish a style more faithful to local traditions. He spent
considerable time in monasteries in the area and on Mount Athos, studying the paintings and
books in the archives. He was a close friend of Zlatyu Boaadjiev and Danail Dechev.
Plaven had been impressed that a
foreigner was so interested in Bulgarian
art as to prepare and publish – at his
own expense - a booklet on the subject.
Over wine, we explored some of the
peculiarities of the Bulgarian market.
Then an inspection of the superb
collection he has of his grandfather’s
paintings. He was kind enough to present
me with this print signed by Lavrenov
himself.

Evening saw another great Vernissaj at

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Vihra’s Astry Gallery – this time showing some of young Maria Raycheva’s output from a visit she
made recently to Paris.

Notre Dame and the Seine must be the most over-painted subjects of all time. Tackling them
again runs therefore the risk of boredom – the artistic equivalent of a cliché.

And I feel that the painting shown behind Maria in the photograph does fall into that category.
Others, however, do show a really original touch – including a couple I bought.
And while there, I also bought two fine bronzes.
Friday morning, it was a visit to the Sofia City Art Gallery’s special exhibition of Ivan Nenov,
another of Bulgaria’s greats - but this time in the modernist style.
He lived to the grand old age of 95 and apparently remained active and dignified to the end.

He is known for his portraits of women on the beach or

at windows but, over his long life, was very versatile
and went through different stages. He travelled
extensively in the 1930s and took part in international
exhibitions of modern art in Italy and Germany.
However, he was declared a formalist in the 1950s and,
for almost a
decade,
could not
exhibit his
works.
Instead he
focussed on
ceramics and
mosaics. In
1975 he
managed,
somehow, to give his first solo exhibition in
Sofia (previous attempts had been
thwarted).Rehabilitated in the late 1950s, he was
elected in 1994 an academician in the
Academy of Sciences.

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Monday, April 30, 2012
Nomad

Clearing the flat here in Sofia for a 4

month absence - during which my
landlady may rent the place out.
Michael Palin's BBC 's "Other Europe"
series has him today on BBC
Entertainment here in Bulgaria in the
Plovdiv gypsy quarter; then onto in
Edirne in a container lorry; and then in
Istanbul at the Bosphorus. As I watch,
the idea comes of renting a flat in
Istanbul for 6 months or so from next
spring. This at the same time I am
contemplating buying a flat here in Sofia
- or in the old part of Brasov!
Tomorrow early I hope to leave Sofia and cross the Danube border at midday before the
returning Romanian holiday-makers from the Black Sea cram the border. Then on to the
Carpathian house for last-minute tuning before making the drive through Hungary, Slovakia,
Austria, Germany and Belgium to Scotland ( via the Zeebrugge overnight ferry) by mid-May
Verily I am a nomad! Indeed I was just counting how many addresses I've had over the last 25
years - it works out at 25, a new one each year on average. That's why it has sometimes been
impossible for me to fit some bureaucratic requirements eg informing of change of address!!
Scottish courts used to (may still) have a term for people like me - NFA (No Fixed Abode). As a
young magistrate in the 1970s, many of the miscreants who appeared before me were so
designated. "Nomad" or "peripatetic" sounds so much better!
At a time when commentators are trying to work out how the 20% of French voters who
supported Le Pen's candidacy for the French Presidency will cast their vote in the second round
next Sunday, it's useful to read again what was in my blogpost of 29 April last year about
populism

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Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Bread and Circus

Glad to see a voice of common sense

among all the media hype about the
London Olympics - in an article the
stupendous insanity boiling around the
London Olympics which focuses on the
incredible money being spent on things
such as the security systems to ensure
there are no protests let alone
terrorism. Harold McMillan - a British
Prime Minister in the 1960s - was once
asked to suggest the collective name
for a group of Prime Ministers and famously replied "a lack of Principles"! I think of this
phrase whenever I think of the Organising Committee of Olympic games - the most
aloof, out-of-touch and corrupt group of people one can imagine who inflict on hapless
cities a modern-day equivalent of potlatch (burning of one's possessions as a sign of
wealth and conspicuous consumption) . We should remember that the Athens Olympics
were probably the straw that broke the camel's back in that country.
The Olympic spectacle has always crystallised two things: first, the unrivalled power of
governments to lay on such gigantic and ludicrously wasteful spectacles; and second,
whatever madness is swirling around the host country. Running, jumping and swimming,
by comparison, will always be an added extra.In Moscow (1980), the Olympics displayed
the vanities of what might be called late communism, just as the invasion
of Afghanistan revealed fatal Soviet hubris. In Los Angeles (1984), the games embodied
the decisive arrival of the consumer capitalism that has since eaten the planet (my
favourite bits of the opening and closing ceremonies were Lionel Richie, and the 84
grand pianos). Beijing (2008) attested to the niceness of the Chinese state by forcibly
moving 1.5 million people to clear the way for Olympic buildings and installations, and
allowing no opening for any noises-off about such minor matters as Tibet. And Berlin in
1936 barely needs mentioning, though it's worth bearing in mind the subsequent
comments of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the International Olympic
Committee: "People are worried … by the fact that the 1936 games were illuminated by
Hitlerite strength and discipline. How could it have been otherwise? On the contrary, it
is eminently desirable for the games to be thus clothed, with the same success, in the
garment woven for them over four years by each people."
The London games will be an expression of three of the most rotten aspects of our
version of modernity: surveillance and the arms trade; out-of-control consumerism; and
most spectacularly, the fact that the elites who make their money out of these things
have been barely touched by the crisis that is ruining lives across the planet. The fact
has been barely commented on, but needs repeating: no matter that this week sees
thousands of disabled people having their income cut by £100 a week, or that endless
areas of public provision are being hacked down at speed: the cost to the public of an
orgy of corporate hospitality, is currently put at £11bn. £11bn! Meanwhile, the distance

140
between 99.9% of people and the Olympic elite has been beautifully demonstrated by
perhaps the event's most unpleasant bit of symbolism: those "Games lanes", along which
dignitaries and sponsors will be sped to east London, while the rest of us sweat our way
through likely gridlock.
A year ago, the blog was asking whether our much-vaunted political system "in the
West" was actually all that much different or better than that of the Chinese.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Back in the Carpathians
Monday and Tuesday were the last days in Sofia until September. The last cycle rides – in quiet
streets since May Day is taken seriously in this part of the world and many people had decamped
in the warm weather.
Loaded the car Tuesday – except for about 12 paintings which were loaded early Wednesday.
Two new paintings which Yassen had produced
for me were left in his tender care – one of
which is this great Dobri Dobrev.
Then a leisurely 3 hour drive to Veliko
Tarnovo to visit
the BorisDenev Art Gallery there – in a
superb location.

The walk across a footbridge over the River

Yantra offers the perspective of the ancient
town given by the painting I posted last
Tuesday

The Gallery was originally built in the 1970s

as an Art School but actually opened as a
police station! Very symbolic!
It was eventually opened as
an ArtGallery in the mid 1980s.
The Director showed me round a great
collection – 2 Tanevs on display and a
room and a corridor devoted entirely to
Boris Denev’s work – the room with about
7 large oil paintings of the town and the
corridor with aquarelles mainly of Italian
scenes.
For this post, I have selected this moving
portrayal of his mother.

Then another leisurely 3 hour drive

to Bucharest where, once again, the car conked out while sitting outside the Vodaphone shop in
the heat. But started and drove fine after a wait of 20 minutes or so.
I’m writing this a few days later – after a visit to the great Bosch garage at Zarnesti in
the Carpathian mountains whose boss (Sorin) tried to diagnose the problem on Friday afternoon

141
after my drive to my mountain house Thursday.
Some further work is needed on the old car on Wednesday – and has made me question the
notion of my 7,000 kilometre round-trip to Scotland next week for my daughter’s wedding. I've
done the drive several times and know the road well and driving this time seemed a good idea
since I could take the 30 litres of Bulgarian wine I have to the wedding plus the Slovak, Austrian
and German I could buy on the trip - and bring back books from the second-hand bookshops I
intend to visit in the UK. But it is about three times more expensive than the plane (with about 6
overnights plus 450 euros for the Zeebrugge- Hull ferry) AND the stress on the old body and
car!!

This morning I had the bath taps and boiler replaced and water therefore restored in the house.
For the last couple of days I have borrowed water from a neighbour in large plastic bottles.
There are actually ecological advantages in operating this way. You waste less water!
For those interested in the vagaries and delights of the English language, have a look at this
highly entertaining website and weekly post

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Stories

I learned only this morning that the

moon was special last night - but I had
spotted its brightness from my
verandah and snapped this at 21.00.
My upbringing in a Scottish manse
imbued me with a strong Protestant
ethic. I have, as a result, always driven
myself hard. “The devil finds work for
idle hands” did not need to be uttered
at home simply because it was an
unspoken adage. Rather than loafing
around as a teenager, I was busy
organising and getting up at 05.30 to do my rowing training on the
choppy Clyde waterfront. And I was soon trying to hold down 2 jobs – academic and
political. However ironic Weber’s thesis about Protestantism being the cause of
capitalism might seem, it always had a certain plausibility for me.
The German sociologist Max Weber published The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of
Capitalism in 1914. The Protestant Ethics is variously defined as -
a feeling of obligation in one's calling (a sense of vocation), hard work, self-discipline,
frugality (thrift), sobriety, efficiency in one's calling (stewardship), rational and
systematic behaviour, high ethics, earthly rewards as signs of grace and salvation.
Not surprising, therefore, that I had (in my younger days at any rate) a rather furtive
attitude to novels – could I really justify such an indulgence when so much needed to be
sorted out in the world?

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My anxieties, I now read, were apparently in vain - all storytelling, regardless of genre,
increases society’s fund of empathy and reinforces an ethic of decency that is deeper
than politics.
The article is in a rather annoying format so I have excerpted its key argument here -
Is fiction good for us? We spend huge chunks of our lives immersed in novels, films, TV
shows, and other forms of fiction. Some see this as a positive thing, arguing that made-
up stories cultivate our mental and moral development. But others have argued that
fiction is mentally and ethically corrosive. It’s an ancient question: Does fiction build
the morality of individuals and societies, or does it break it down?
This controversy has been flaring up — sometimes literally, in the form of book
burnings — ever since Plato tried to ban fiction from his ideal republic. In 1961, FCC
chairman Newton Minow famously said that television was not working in “the public
interest” because its “formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and
thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, western bad men, western good men, private
eyes, gangsters, more violence, and cartoons” amounted to a “vast wasteland.” And what
he said of TV programming has also been said, over the centuries, of novels, theater,
comic books, and films: They are not in the public interest.
Until recently, we’ve only been able to guess about the actual psychological effects of
fiction on individuals and society. But new research in psychology and broad-based
literary analysis is finally taking questions about morality out of the realm of
speculation. This research consistently shows that fiction does mould us. The more
deeply we are cast under a story’s spell, the more potent its influence. In fact, fiction
seems to be more effective at changing beliefs than nonfiction, which is designed to
persuade through argument and evidence. Studies show that when we read nonfiction,
we read with our shields up. We are critical and sceptical. But when we are absorbed in
a story, we drop our intellectual guard. We are moved emotionally, and this seems to
make us rubbery and easy to shape. But perhaps the most impressive finding is just
how fiction shapes us: mainly for the better, not for the worse. Fiction enhances
our ability to understand other people; it promotes a deep morality that cuts across
religious and political creeds. More peculiarly, fiction’s happy endings seem to warp our
sense of reality. They make us believe in a lie: that the world is more just than it
actually is. But believing that lie has important effects for society — and it may even
help explain why humans tell stories in the first place.

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Monday, May 7, 2012
The New Oligarchy

Woke up at 01.30 to check the French Presidential

results (and the supermoon) – and delighted with
what I saw - on both counts. Only the second soi-
disant socialist President in the 60 years of the
5thFrench Republic.
Although the commentaries all mention the political
and financial constraints in which Hollande will be
operating, I see no mention of how quickly Francois
Mitterand had in 1981 to reverse his radical
strategy in response to speculative pressures. Nor
of the role which Jacques Delors played as his
Finance Minister in those days in capitulating to
such pressures.
Significant that I can’t even find a google
reference to these traumatic events.
Proof again of the pitiful lack of even recent
history our political and financial commentators have.
I alighted a few days ago on a wonderful term about this - neophilia

Drove at midday to Brasov in order to book myself a plane to Glasgow ( I refuse to put
my credit card details online) and found a great one-way deal for only 190 euros which
gives me the flexibility on return date which I had wanted. Had a notion to buy a
lightweight netbook to take with me – but a bit put off by the small keyboard still
costing 300 euros - and decided to deny myself ( and my readers!!) the pleasure of
instantaneous web access for the last 2weeks of the month.
Found a powerful article on the current inequities by an arch-conservative – Frederic
Mount (who was, for a time, Head of Margaret Thatcher's Policy Unit. By virtue of its
source, the argument (and book - "The New Few" - of which it is effectively a
summary) should have a larger impact on the apolitical citizen than similar points made
by a leftist -
Wealth is not trickling down to anywhere near the bottom. The rowing boats are stuck
on the mud. Many of the worst off are sinking into a demoralised and detached
underclass, just as the top earners are congealing into a super-class who hardly belong
to the society which they flit through. What is so dispiriting is that the gap appears to
be widening all the time, regardless of whether we are going through a boom or a slump,
and certainly regardless of which party is in power. As a result, we begin to sense that
we are living in a dislocated society. It's much the same story with the other
disquieting trend that we cannot help noticing: the trend towards centralisation.
Power in Britain used to be spread around in a rather casual fashion that had grown up
over the years. We rather looked down on continental countries such as France, which
had inherited a highly centralised state from Napoleon and Louis XIV. General de Gaulle

144
once said that centralisation was the one thing that France would never be able to get
rid of. But now the roles are reversed. While many other European nations, not least
the French, have been busily decentralising their arrangements, power in Britain has
drained away from private individuals and local communities up to central boards and
bureaucracies and government agencies and ministries. Central control is our orthodoxy,
in private and public sector alike. And for the men and women at the centre, the
salaries and bonuses go zooming up, for hospital administrators and university vice-
chancellors and the director-general of the BBC and the head of the Post Office just
as fast as they have for bank chiefs, retail tycoons and the bosses of privatised
utilities.
Again, we lament the change without having much clue about its causes. Why in one area
of life after another has centralisation become the default solution, the irresistible
option? What or who is driving this apparently inexorable trend? How come local
government was so effortlessly stripped of its old powers? Why have political parties
become hollowed-out shells, relegated to impotence and contemptuous manipulation by
their leaders? Is it possible that centralisation and inequality are related, that the one
trend enables the other, and that both are facets and consequences of oligarchy? Is it
possible that, as well as sheltering the oligarchs of other nations, we have been
hatching our own? It is oligarchy – the rule of the few – that appears to be the common
denominator of the system. So perhaps we need to ask what are the factors that make
oligarchy possible. Certainly you can blame Margaret Thatcher for the careless
liberation of financial services in the big bang of 1986, but then you must also blame Bill
Clinton for making exactly the same mistake in 1999. The roots of our shared illusions
lie deeper and further back in modern history. After all, George Orwell said in 1946
that "for quite 50 years past the general drift has almost certainly been towards
oligarchy." He detected then "the ever-increasing concentration of industrial and
financial power and the diminishing importance of the individual capitalist or
shareholder". In their classic, The Modern Corporation and Private Property , published
in the depths of the Great Depression, Berle and Means pointed out that the powers of
shareholders to control runaway executives had already become an illusion. The
concentration of power had brought forth "princes of industry", or as Tom Wolfe called
them half a century later, "masters of the universe". The princes dazzled us. We lost
our bearings.
Worse still, we lost the will to defend our institutions. Two centuries ago, Adam Smith
warned us about the dangers of merchants conspiring together and of ownerless
corporations. The trouble is not that our policy-makers had read too much Adam Smith,
but too little. So they let corporate governance go slack, and believed everything the
bankers told them. For our part, we watched the big political parties wither away with
indifference if not pleasure – who needed those gangs of outdated obsessives? We let
local government, so unglamorous, so drearily provincial, fall under the total control of
Whitehall. We watched Parliament decay into near-irrelevance – or rather we didn't
watch, for BBC Parliament was reserved for the anoraks and the bedridden. And now at
last, at a cripplingly slow pace, we might be waking up to what we have allowed to
happen.

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 I remember making myself very unpopular in the mid 1980s at a political rally
in Liverpoolwarning the protestors against the Thatcher attack on local government
that we would never get popular support as long as we, on our part, continued to allow
the salaries of senior local government officials to escalate.
Now – almost 30 years on – some municipal Chief Executives get paid more than the
Prime Minister!

And, for those waiting breathlessly. here is the latest version of my booklet on
Bulgarian Realist painting

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

In Praise of Fault Lines

I used to boast that the border of Transylvania ran

through my back garden since Arges county to the south
belongs to Wallachia and Brasov County toTransylvania -
two of the original countries before the creation of
Romania, with Wallachia being a (fairly autonomous) part
of the Ottoman Empire and Transylvania part of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Thanks to the Brasov City website, I now realise that I
sit on an even more important dividing line – that
of Samuel Huntington’s (in)famous fault line between
western and the eastern civilization.
I don’t visit Brasov as often as I should, given that it is
only 40 spectacular kilometres’ drive from the mountain
house. I am too caught up in the delights of the house -
its library, music and scenery; and in reading and blogging. But, to my shame, perform all
too little of the hard practical work carried out by my old neighbours – although I have
just helped Viciu secure some of the fence with a heavy mallet. He tells me another
Amazon packet has arrived – so this post must be finished before I am seduced by its
latest offerings!
Normal post always gets here; it’s the DHL delivery (which Amazon occasionally chooses
for no apparent reason) which I fear since they don’t have the flexibility to deal with
my absence. The good old post system is part of the community network and knows to
deliver all packages to my old neighbours down the hill. DHL aren’t and don’t – and the
package is returned in my absence par avion to whence it came. This local knowledge is
what James Scott called “metis” in his famous book Seeing Like a State. It is a
counterweight to the type of technical or theoretical knowledge held by bureaucrats
and scientists. Most such practical knowledge held by those in the field cannot be
reduced to simple formulae and rules - and much of it remains implicit.

The heart of Brasov is a medieval Saxon town – slowly (oh so slowly) being restored. In
the 14th century Brasov became one of the most economical and political strongholds in

146
the Southeast of Europe and, in the 16th century, also a cultural centre. Johannes
Honterus, a great German humanist, worked most of the time in Brasov; and Deaconu
Coresi printed the first Romanian book in Brasov.
When I first visited the town in 1991 (in an ambulance since I was a WHO
representative then), I heard German spoken in the street; and could buy 2 German
language newspapers. My lodgings overlooked the huge and famous Black Church (with
its ancient hanging kilims) – so called because of the soot which coated it after the fire
of April 1689 which destroyed most houses and killed 3,000 inhabitants.
Most of the German-speakers left Transylvania in the early 1990s – as a result of
increased German government financial blandishments (which had existed even in
Ceaucescu’s time). Spacious, sturdy and superbly maintained houses fell subsequently
into disrepair – not least because they were quickly occupied by gypsies.
Compared with Bulgaria, Romanian citizens and leaders do not seem to respect the past
and tradition. They have bought the American dream – and it is the purchase and
consumption of material products. Old houses are left to rot – or their old features and
charm destroyed in modernisation.
I was, therefore, glad to see in the Carteresti bookshop in the heart of
old Brasov (itself in a sensitively restored old house) a great book on the restoration of
old Romanian houses. The link shows many of the pictures in the book.
For some reason, being on the edge of cultures appeals to me. I was, a few years back,
vaguely interested in buying somewhere at the corner of Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey.
And here I am on this significant faultline. Perhaps it's all due to my Greenock
upbringing - still then a significant shipbuilding town. I lived in the church manse in the
town's munificent Victorian West End - but had most of my being, both as a schoolboy
and politician, in the town's east end (except for my cricket and rugby!). I didn't belong
to either west or east - but I understood both. And I seem to have developed a niche in
encouraging and helping different cultures (whether of class, professional group, party
or country) to come together and talk!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Opening our eyes and minds

I’ve been quiet because I’ve been reading

two books which, in different ways, expose
the fragility of the world around us; and
the theories and images so many people use
to sustain their belief that, ultimately, the
world is a benign place which can be
controlled to ensure the continuation of the
way of life portrayed in advertisements.
The first was The Long Descent – a user’s
guide to the end of the industrial
world which appeared in 2008. The book
positions itself in the tradition of the 1972
Club of Rome's "Limits to Growth" and

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argues that the window of opportunity we had then to take action is closed; that. as fossil fuel
production dwindles, the Industrial Age will gradually unravel, leaving humanity where it was
about 200 years ago. The "gradual" part is one of the author’s distinctive arguments. As supplies
contract, he argues, we'll scale back. Prices then go down, and we begin to use more...resources
run low and prices spike...so we scale back again, over and over until we are finally, hundreds of
years from now, de-Industrialized. We will then rebuild society in a sustainable fashion. As he
rightly observes
Most people in the developed world have never had to feed, clothe, house, or protect themselves
with their own hands, and have only the vaguest notions about how to do so. They rely for every
necessity of life on the industrial economy. Even the most basic requirements of life are tied to
the industrial system; how many people nowadays can light a fire without matches or a butane
lighter from some distant factory? The skills necessary to get by in a non-industrial society,
skills that were still common knowledge a century ago, have been all but lost throughout the
developed world.This disastrous situation results from the modern obsession with progress.
When a new technology is introduced, the older technology it replaces ends up in the trash heap.
Since new technologies almost always demand more resources, use more energy, and include more
complexity than their older equivalents, each step on the path of progress has made people more
dependent on the industrial system and more vulnerable to its collapse.
You can see him presenting his ideas here (don't be put off by his appearance - his arguments
are more sound than any in the mainstream) and read his weekly essays on his blog. One of his
posts has an interesting reading list. The book complements Orlov's which I wrote about last
September here and here.
I remember, forty years ago, being impressed with EJ Mishan's powerful attack on the worship
of "growth" which seemed to have become Europe's new religion - The Costs of Economic
growth (1967). The books's emphasis was on the social costs of wealth. Then came the
environmental critique - the damage we were doing to ecological balance - with a lot of talk about
(but little support for) "renewables". Latterly have come the peak-oil arguments which, at last,
are recognised and clearly speak more loudly than the first two sets of arguments. The new wave
of books such as Greer and Orlov basically argue that it is now too late for political action (as
well as being unrealistic to expect it); that "renewables" have been over-hyped; and that we need
to prepare individually and at a local level for a new type of living.

The second book was McMafia – crime without frontiers which destroys the illusion
that anyone may have had that the mob, triad and Mafia-type operations are a
thing of the past. It demonstrates that they are stronger than ever and traces the
modern spread of transnational crime to the combination of the break-up of the Soviet
Union and Eastern bloc in the late Eighties and early Nineties and the simultaneous
deregulation of global markets. The link I have given above is a 20 minute presentation
Misha Glenny (an expert on the Balkans) gave in 2009 about the book. There are longer
presentations here andhere
One review explained the background succinctly -
The Soviet bloc incubated such favourable conditions for the development of criminal
motivation and expertise. In Bulgaria, for example, the secret service played a key role
in arms and drugs smuggling during the communist period. According to Glenny, 80 per
cent of western Europe's heroin went through the sticky hands of the Bulgarian DS
(equivalent of the KGB). At the same time, the communist system created a management
class steeped in corrupt practices. When communism fell, there were suddenly
thousands of unemployed cops and spooks in Bulgaria with first-hand experience of

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international crime. And there were also a great many wrestlers and weightlifters,
pumped-up on state-issued steroids, who would make for ideal muscle in the protection
rackets that quickly sprung up. Drugs, prostitution, car theft, money laundering and
extortion followed on an industrial scale.
The book starts with 2 assassinations – one in a London suburb in 1994 of an innocent
woman, the other in central Sofia in 2003 of a gang boss, Ilya Pavlov, one of many
characters profiled in the book, revealing the intertwining of crime, government and
security in a growing number of countries. Another review explains
- a former wrestler who married the daughter of a high-ranking secret police officer,
Pavlov began his career as a small-time thug. In the 1990s, the combination of a
collapsing state, unregulated markets, and lawlessness created enormous opportunities,
which he exploited with entrepreneurial zest and murderous violence. Misha Glenny
explains that in less than a decade, Pavlov had created a conglomerate that spanned
many sectors (extortion, prostitution, smuggling, drug trafficking, car theft, and money
laundering) and many countries, including the United States, where his subsidiary
Multigroup U.S. owned two casinos in Paraguay, then the Latin American epicentre of
the illicit trades (since displaced by Venezuela). By describing the thousands of
mourners who attended Pavlov's funeral in 2003, Glenny conveys how deeply entangled
his criminal enterprise was with Bulgaria's power elite. Everyone who mattered in
business, politics, government, trade unions, sports, religion, the media, or the military
seemed to be there.
Neal Ascherson’s review brings out well one of Glenny’s underlying points - “Mobs,
mafias and global rackets are often performing useful and occasionally vital social
functions that no other institution – governments, legal systems, the police, the
economy itself – is capable of providing”.
The state had almost given up law enforcement, and organised crime stepped into the
gap. In Russia, criminal outfits like the mighty Solntsevo Brotherhood, led by the ex-
wrestler Mikhailov, not only provided bodyguards but also took on the enforcement of
commercial contracts.In the courtyard of Steam Baths Number Four, on Astashkina
Street in Odessa, there are two marble plaques with bunches of flowers laid on the
ground beneath them. The first is engraved with the image of a man in his mid-forties,
sporting cropped hair and looking sleek in a suit over a T-shirt; the second has on it a
poem written by his closest friends after he, Viktor Kulivar ‘Karabas’, was felled on this
spot by 19 bullets from an unknown assassin’s semi-automatic: ‘The sacred clay holds the
remains/Of Viktor Pavlovich, our dear Karabas’.Karabas was gunned down in 1997. He
and his mob had taken over the port city of Odessa as law and order disintegrated in
the wake of theSoviet Union’s collapse. One might call his reign a comprehensive
protection racket. But, looked at in another way, Karabas became the only reliable
source of authority and social discipline. He arbitrated the city’s commercial disputes
(10 per cent of net profits was his price); he kept the drug peddlers to one area
of Odessa, and prevented the horrific people-smuggling in the harbour district from
infecting the rest of the town. Using a bare minimum of thuggery, he kept the peace.
Karabas seldom carried a gun. Everyone looked up to him, and levels of violence stayed
lower in Odessa than in other Russian and Ukrainian cities. His murderers were probably
Chechens hired to break Odessa’s grip on the local oil industry, a grip coveted by

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Ukraine’s then president, Leonid Kuchma, who ‘during his ten years in power . . . presided
over the total criminalisation of the Ukrainian government and civil service’.
Glenny is particularly strong on the bizarre economic liberalisation that took place
under Boris Yeltsin and which produced the bloody reign of the oligarchs in the early
Nineties. All price restrictions were removed by government, except those of Russia's
natural resources: oil, gas, diamonds and metals. Overnight, a vast number of Russians
were impoverished, while a tiny minority was able to buy up vital commodities at up to
40 times less than their global market price. 'This process of enrichment,' Glenny
writes, 'was quite simply the grandest larceny in history and stands no historical
comparison.' In turn the oligarchs required protection, and jailbirds and former KGB
agents alike moved into the lucrative if deadly business of the 'kryshy' protection
rackets, or 'armed entrepreneurs'.
Nowadays, Glenny quotes a US official as saying, a Russian businessman is as likely to be
a member of the intelligence services as a criminal cartel, and quite possibly to be part
of both.
The effects of the Russian organised crime boom have been experienced as far afield
as Tel Aviv and New York, and all parts of Europe (although Nigeria, Japan, Colombia
and China and others all have their distinctive mobs). In this reading, the East is little
more than an opportunistic supplier to the West's insatiable demand. 'Organised crime
is such a rewarding industry,' writes Glenny scathingly, ' ... because ordinary Western
Europeans spend an ever burgeoning amount of their spare time and money sleeping with
prostitutes; smoking untaxed cigarettes; sticking €50 notes up their noses; employing
illegal untaxed immigrant labour on subsistence wages; admiring ivory and sitting on
teak; or purchasing the liver and kidneys of the desperately poor in the developing
world.'

The painting is by Zlatyu Boiadjiev (1903-1976) - often known as the Bulgarian Breughel

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Don't believe a word you read!
An important article in Transitions Online about the politicisation of the Romanian
media by Marius Dragomir
- A week after the old government collapsed, the new one put the squeeze on the public
service broadcaster, TVR. The station’s governors voted 3 May to sack the director of
editorial production and programming, Dan Radu. The move was made at the request of
Claudiu Branzan, a member of the governing council nominated by the Social Democrats,
who said Radu should go because programming changes he advocated were bringing down
TVR’s ratings.TVR journalists told me Branzan’s move was in retaliation for the refusal
of General Director Alexandru Lazescu to hire the Social Democrats’ candidate as head
of information and sports programming.The attack is nothing new in the post-1990
history of the public service broadcaster. Run by a politically appointed council, TVR has
seen managers come and go during changes in power, and over the years its
independence and fairness have been seriously questioned. The main problem for TVR is
not the performance of a certain employee. The public broadcaster and the media in

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general are neck-deep in a serious politicization crisis. For years, independent voices
pushed for new laws to bar each new crop of politicians from sticking their fingers into
TVR management. But parliament dropped the matter in 2005 without any action. Newly
elected Prime Minister Victor Ponta pledged that his government wouldn’t sack TVR’s
staff on political grounds. But that is exactly what is happening. Many signs of things to
come are in the air. Days after taking over, the new government picked Andrei
Zaharescu as its spokesman. Zaharescu is a news anchor at Antena 1, one of the biggest
private stations in Romania and part of a media group controlled indirectly by Dan
Voiculescu, a politician-businessman who supports the new government.
At the local level, smaller broadcasters are underfunded and remain under the thumb of
city halls and politicians.With three elections – local, national, and presidential – coming
up in early June, the use of media as a proxy for political fights is likely to take
unexpected turns.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Looking Back
I will be on the road for the rest of the month and have only intermittent access to the
internet. So please use this break as an opportunity to look at some of the 600 posts on
the blog. Most relate to perennial issues rather than to the transient subjects which
newspapers and many blogs waste their (and our) time with. For example, quite a few of
the posts in May last year were concerned with issues of public administration praxis.
One post excerpted from a very useful, critical assessment of international university
league tables; another mused about a European network of schools of public
administration; and perhaps the most interesting asked some critical questions
about what public admin scholars were actually up to these days.

As someone who had high hopes in my youth for social science, this issue of the role and
contribution of social science work remains a fascinating subject for me. Queen
Elisabeth of Britain is not the only one to have wondered why the economists had not
seen the global financial crisis coming. There has been a running debate about the value
of academic work in at least some places. And American politicians have recently
focused their weapons on political science.
Political arguments for “relevance” in education are always dangerous. The results are to
be seen in the horrific growth in mindless courses in business studies which teach only
obedience to the received wisdom. Education should endow powers of critical
assessment. And professors should (and often do) practice this themselves – but not at
the costs (as so often happens) of inculcating a suspicion of if not outright cynicism of
the world of action. Oh that the spirit of C Wright Mills were alive still in the hallowed
halls of academia!
Here are three examples I’ve come across recently of good academic practice – one
which shows the important contribution of one of the guys behind the Limits to Growth
publications; another which subjects “knowledge management” to critical

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analysis (following my own remarks on the subject in February); and a recent spate of
books on “debt”.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

A visit to Scotland

Just returned from my first visit to

Scotland for 7 years. Scotland is a small
country but in my 11 days I saw four
very different aspects. An important
wedding – that of my youngest
daughter! - took me south to
rural Dumfries county for the initial
three days. I stayed in a glorious
mansion with a roaring log-fire (needed
for the cold) just outside Ecclefechan
village – home to Thomas Carlyle whose
commentary on the French Revolution
lives on.
For the wedding I hired (fom Annan town) the full kilt regalia – complete with sgian dbu
(dagger) tucked in my right sock!
Of course there are a lot of myths associated with tartan – in which the writer Walter
Scott played a significant part – although it is true that its wearing was banned by the
English for 40 years after the 1745 uprising. But I do enjoy wearing it (now mainly when
entertaining guests) and did indeed buy a new one later in Glasgow.

Wigtown is Scotland’s only booktown – and led me to undertake my first tour

of Gallowaywhich hugs the Solway and River Clyde Estuaries and which is highly
agricultural. Such well-kept farms and grass – and such large animals! And such narrow
roads. Serendipidy pulled me off the road at Gatehouse on Fleet – where I discovered
precisely the sort of second-hand bookshop I was looking for – Anwoth Books located in
a superbly-restored old mill. Two of the five books I emerged with were by a forgotten
writer from my home town –George Blake - whose novels are based in the shipbuilding
town of Garvel (Greenock) in the 1930s and 1940s. Both books covered topics close to
my heart.
My “Late Harvest” was a first edition (1938) from Collins with a suitable elegant old
book cover and glorious font (Fontana – “a new typeface designed for the exclusive use
of the House of Collins”. The book starts with evocative passages about the handover of
a church by a retiring minister to a serious young cleric - just at the time my own
father was taking up his new charge in that same town.
The subject of the second book is the return of an engineer in the late 1930s to Garvel
after several deacdes in the Far East to take up retirement (as he had hoped) in a small
town on the other side of the river – the arches which are in the title - The Five
Arches – refer to the stages of life.
Both books are written in a style we find difficult these days - with people and scenes

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painted in a detail we seldom now encounter. Evidence perhaps of the effect of
television?
For those interested in Britain's second-hand bookshops (one of the few things I miss
about the country) a very useful website can be found here.
Two days then followed for me in that same Greenock area – but fast forward 70 years
to a town which has known very hard times now for some 30 years with the almost
complete disappearance of the shipbuilding industry. IBM has had a presence
in Greenock since 1951 and seemed to offer some hope as shipbuilding collapsed. But the
labour force there no longer build PCs (IBM sold that division out to Lenovo of China a
few years ago); is now reduced to 2,000; and work now only in an international call
centre. Official unemployment is just over 10% - but in reality much higher as people
give up trying for jobs. The only booming places are the huge Tesco hypermarket and
the Amazon distribution centre.
I am always depressed when I visit the town centre – bodies and behaviour tell a grim
story of hopelessness. And so different from the spirit I felt in the East End of
Glasgow a few days later – which has, however, the same history of insecure jobs, low
wages, industrial decline and recent property regeneration.
I was staying in Dennistoun and had the chance to explore, for the first
time, Glasgow’s East End which has
been experiencing massive physical
change over the past 3 decades.
Now it is positively exhilarating to
see the greenery - where there was
once smoky industry – and the
superb red sandstone public
buildings of the Victorian era – with
glorious carvings - now cleaned of
their grime.

In between times I had a day

touring in my favourite place -
Cowal and Kintyre - starting with the lovely ferry trip to Dunoon. Once the location of
the US Polaris nuclear missile base, it is one of several towns and villages now
threatened with terminal decline.

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Sunday, June 3, 2012
About small nations

Readers may have been surprised

that the previous post on my Scottish
visit did not mention the prospect of
independence for that country –
after all the official start to the 2
year debate (more hopefully
“discussion”) on that subject was
made during my visit.
Perhaps as an ex-pat of 22 years’
standing who no longer is entitled to
vote, I feel it inappropriate to
comment. But no, it is more a matter
of my own vacillation on the matter. I have – over the piece – blown hot and cold on the
issue.
In the late 1970s, when there was a referendum on the issue, I campaigned actively
against the notion of a Scottish Parliament (believing it a slippery slope to
independence) but, in the privacy of the polling both, found myself voting yes! Although
a majority of those voting did favour a change, it was not a majority of those entitled
to vote and the status quo prevailed at the time. But, as the Thatcherism which was so
consistently rejected by Scotland, began to bite there too in the late 1980s, I strongly
supported the constitutional campaign which got underway then for a measure of
independence - which the Scottish Parliament and Executive has given the country since
1999.
In the 1950s we mocked the notion of a country of 5 million people being independent
butNorway and many EU members now demonstrate its feasibility – let alone
desirability. I have worked in many of these countries recently –
Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan,Latvia. And I was fascinated a few days ago by
an article After the Velvet Divorce by Martin Simecka which spoke about the linguistic
aspects of the two countries which were united until the late 1990s -
The two languages, indistinguishable to a foreigner, represent two independent entities
in my brain. Czech, historically more ancient and rich, is aggressive and domineering,
words seem to rush to the lips of their own accord and listening to Czechs speak you
feel they are literally revelling in their language and don't know when to stop. This is a
feeling I am intimately familiar with: even if you lack any ideas, Czech allows you to
spout meaningless nonsense or lies, and still give the impression of speaking wisely and
truthfully – that's how enthralling Czech is. It has the enormous advantage of a
formalized division between so-called common (colloquial) and standard Czech, both
versions of which are acceptable in writing, if necessary. The richness of the Czech
language, however, is sometimes more of an obstacle than an advantage, and does not
make it any easier in and of itself to understand national identity. Havel was right when

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he bitterly remarked that "talk of Czech national identity often doesn't go beyond
mere chatter".
Perhaps one of the reasons why Czechoslovakia had to split was the fact that the
Slovaks felt humiliated by the verbal dominance of Czech politicians, who spoke
seemingly rationally but in reality misused their language to suppress the budding
Slovak longing for equal rights. Even Havel, one of the few people capable of moulding
the Czech language into a most beautiful shape, took far too long to understand the
urgency of this Slovak longing. Slovak is soft and melodious and you can tell Slovak
women by their voices, which are higher and more delicate. It is humble yet it doesn't
let itself be violated. Of course, you can lie and talk nonsense in Slovak, too, but thanks
to the sobriety of the language you are soon found out and your words turn into
embarrassing drivel. Lacking a written colloquial form like Czech, Slovak imposes
discipline and accuracy on the speaker.
Unlike the Czechs the Slovaks can now elect their mayors (as well as the country's
President) by direct vote, which has curtailed the excessive power of the political
parties; the country has been more profoundly decentralized; and the prosecutor's
office has been separated from the executive (the Prosecutor General is elected by
parliament, whereas in the Czech Republic he is appointed by the government).
In the fight against corruption Slovakia puts greater emphasis on transparency: all
state contracts with private companies have to be published on the Internet and for
the past ten years anonymous firms have been banned from trading their stocks. In
the Czech Republic most companies that are awarded state tenders still have
undisclosed owners, many of whom are undoubtedly politicians.

In Slovakia the fight against the grey economy has even managed to override the
traditionally more relaxed attitude to money mentioned above. In a Czech pub, a waiter
will typically add up your bill on a scrap of paper and you have to rely on his maths skills.
On the other hand, even in the remotest corner ofSlovakia, if you order a beer you will
receive a proper receipt from an electronic cash register. The Slovaks introduced these
registers ten years ago as part of the fight against tax evasion, while the Czechs still
keep making excuses, claiming this form of oversight is too expensive.
It was understandable that, in the immediate post-war period, people were suspicious of
anything which smacked of nationalism. Times have changed. Some time ago I
resurrected an important book by Lepold Kohr -
Two insights I found particularly relevant – one which he produces as one of the reasons
for the intense cultural productivity of the small state – “in a large state, we are forced
to live in tightly specialised compartments since populous societies not only make large-
scale specialisation possible – but necessary. As a result, our life’s experience is
confined to a narrow segment whose borders we almost never cross, but within which we
become great single-purpose experts”... “A small state offers the opportunity for
everybody to experience everything simply by looking out of the window" – whereas a
large state has to employ a legion of soi-disant experts to define its problems and
produce “solutions”. The other striking comment he makes is – “the chief blessing of a
small-state system is ...its gift of a freedom which hardly ever registers if it is
pronounced.....freedom from issues....ninety percent of our intellectual miseries are due

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to the fact that almost everything in our life has become an ism, an issue... our life’s
efforts seem to be committed exclusively to the task of discovering where we stand in
some battle raging about some abstract issue... The blessing of a small state returns us
from the misty sombreness of an existence in which we are nothing but ghostly shadows
of meaningless issues to the reality which we can only find in our neighbours and
neighbourhoods”
Most people would probably see this as utopian – and yet its argument is ruthless. As he
puts it at one stage in the argument – “many will object to the power or size theory on
the ground that it is based on an unduly pessimistic interpretation of man. They will
claim that, far from being seduced by power, we are generally and predominantly
animated by the ideals of decency, justice, magnanimity etc This is true, but only
because most of the time we do not possess the critical power enabling us to get away
with indecency”.Kohr’s main challenge, however, is to the principle of specialisation and
you will find in chapter 6 – “The Efficiency of the Small”. There he is merciless in his
critique of the “wealth” of the “modern” world – daring to suggest that most of is
useless and counter-productive and that people were happier in medieval times! “The
more powerful a society becomes, the more of its increasing product – instead of
increasing individual consumption – is devoured by the task of coping with the problems
caused by the rise of its very size and power”
This is the bible for both new management and the “slow-food” movement! The writing
sparkles – and includes a good joke about a planner who, having died, is allowed to try to
organise the time people spend in Heaven into more rational chunks of activity, fails and
sent to help organise Hell. “I’m here to organise Hell”, he announces to Satan – who
laughs and explains that “organisation IS hell”.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Scotland as fortress against neo-liberalism?

Neal Ascherson is one of Scotland's

few intellectual journalists and
visited Greenock last year during the
by-election there whose results
seemed to halt what had been the
powerful onward march of the
dominant nationalist party there. His
subsequent article in the London
Review of Books started with an
evocative description of the social
changes there and the developed
some useful insights into the
country's politics -
In my first spell there, the great estuary of the Clyde was lined for mile after mile with
clanging, sparking shipyards, and every shop-sign in West Blackhall Street read ‘SCWS’
– Scottish Co-Operative Wholesale Society. When I returned nearly 50 years later, the

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yards had vanished. There were a few charity shops, an Asda; in grey housing schemes
up the hillside, a shrunken population waited quietly for the council to repair broken
doors and fences. The young, it was said, traded heroin if they needed cash for clothes
and clubbing. The young with the energy to get out of their beds, that is. Greenock is
struggling into recovery now. It is a place built for outward vision and hope, a big
theatre in which tier on tier of streets look out across the estuary to the mountains.
Not only James Watt, but many painters, novelists and poets began here. After utter
collapse, small citizens’ groups are trying to rub the old town back to life, to restore
hope: a new theatre, the restoration of the huge ropeworks factory, a protest (why use
cobbles imported from China, in a landscape of good Scottish stone?).
Apart from independence, the Scottish nationalists and the Labour party whom they
have supplanted want much the same things. After all, one way to describe what’s going
on in Scotland is that a fortress is being thrown up to keep out the worst of the
privatising, state-slashing, neoliberal tide: a northern redoubt to preserve and
modernise what’s left of British social democracy and the postwar consensus. But
coalition would have been unthinkable. Too long spent in tribal hatred. And real
differences. Labour in Scotland has a hundred-year history of sacrifice, comradeship
and struggle. The SNP has never been socialist, and came late to social democracy. The
paint on its social credentials is still drying. Salmond was a banker, but his minority
government sat helplessly as Scotland’s banks and its main building society went the way
of Iceland and Ireland. (It’s an unwelcome truth that Scotland escaped the same
devastation only because it was inside the United Kingdom, and Gordon Brown rescued
its finances.)The fundamental perception of British socialism, and Scottish socialism
especially, is about wasted lives, the strangled destinies of ordinary people. Last
summer, I went to Jimmy Reid’s funeral in Govan. Billy Connolly, once an apprentice in
the same shipyard, told a story about going for walks with Reid in Glasgow. ‘He’d point to
a tower block and say: “Behind that window is a guy who could win Formula One. And
behind that one there’s a winner of the round-the-world yacht race. And behind the
next one … And none of them will ever get the chance to sit at the wheel of a racing car
or in the cockpit of a yacht.”’ Does the SNP see its fellow human beings that way? It
certainly sees the nation clearly: it has all the angry confidence, the impatience to get
down to the heavy lifting, the bright-morning optimism Labour has lost. But how about
the compassion?
Jimmy Reid began in the Communist Party, moved to Labour but ended up in the SNP.
Latterly, whichever party he was in, he was fond of saying that ‘the rat race is for rats.’
Alex Salmond might prefer Scotland to win the race first and waste the rats
afterwards. But at the funeral he announced that Reid’s words, and the speech that
contained them, would be reprinted and distributed to every schoolchild in Scotland.
After he said this, Salmond looked up from his text and added, almost to himself:
‘What’s the point of being first minister if you can’t do things?’
And Govan OldChurch slowly began to rumble with applause, hands beaten by shipyard
workers, bankers, ministers of the kirk, women and men of all the parties including
Tories, soldiers on leave, families in black who had come from the isles. On this they
agreed: in Jimmy Reid’s name, they wanted this man to do things. Now he can.

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The photograph is taken from Customshouse Quay and looks toward what used to be the
site of the shipyards.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

what is Europe for?
The USE – United States of Europe – is back. For the eurozone, at least. Such "political
union", surrendering fundamental powers to Brussels has always been several steps too
far for the French to consider. But Berlin is signalling that if it is to carry the can for
what it sees as the failures of others in this global crisis, there will need to be
incremental but major integrationist moves towards a banking, fiscal, and ultimately
political union in the eurozone.
It is a divisive and contested notion which Merkel did not always favour. In the heat of
the crisis, however, she now appears to see no alternative. The next three weeks will
bring frantic activity to this end as a quartet of senior EU fixers race from capital to
capital sounding out the scope of the possible. Herman Van Rompuy, president of the
European council, Mario Draghi, head of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude
Juncker, Luxembourg leader and longstanding head of the eurogroup of single currency
countries, and José Manuel Barroso, chief of the European commission, are to deliver a
eurozone integration plan to an EU summit on 28-29 June. All four are committed
European federalists.
The Guardian 5 June 2012

This is a rare blog (for me) about the European Union. It tries initially to “fix” the
mainstream British attitude to what was once “The Common Market” but which, a couple
of decades ago, underwent a name change and resurrected ambitions.
Unusually for a Brit, I try to be objective – since I have always been favourably
disposed to things European. This was, actually, one of the reasons I felt unable to go
forward in 1983 as a Labour candidate for my hometown to the British Parliament.
Neither Tony Blair nor Gordon Brown (in the same year) had any such dilemmas in
fighting for election with a manifesto which threatened British withdrawal.
The blog is written in response not only to this news item - but also to a reread
yesterday of the powerful overview of the European scene (and of its core academic
writing) contained in Perry Anderson’s The New Old World. One of the many fascinating
insights the book contains is that the intellectual framework for most of the tens of
thousands of academics whose full-time professional occupation is European studies
is…..American political science. Rather dryly, Anderson quotes (on page 80) Alfred
Cobban’s definition of this branch of learning 50 years ago – a device “for avoiding that
dangerous subject (politics) without achieving science”

The fixation of the European political class on Federalism has been a constant source of
puzzlement to even the most highly educated and pro-European Brits. Of course we
understood the initial post-war drive to ensure there could be no more bloody conflicts
between Europeans; we were reasonably convinced in the 1980s by the arguments about
the potential a European system had to mitigate the power of the multinationals
(although the sad reality has been that the multinationals have become a powerful but

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hidden part of the European constitution); and we recognised the powerful role which
prospective EU membership had played in creating and grounding the legal, political and
commercial institutions and processes of ex-communist countries.
But otherwise, we are not convinced by the relentless drive toward homogeneity; nor of
the results from all the time and money spent on closed bureaucratic meetings and
summits. Winston Churchill’s comment on the latter “Jaw-jaw is better than war-war” no
longer packs the punch it once did. Brits are, of course, famous for being an awkward
squad. In European circles we are always ready to puncture overblown rhetoric -
although, sadly, New Labour brought its own brand of opaque Newspeak to negotiations.
De Gaulle’s dismissive image of the UK being “a nation of shop-keepers” and of bean
counters is sustained by the overriding defence of the British political class of the
privileges of the London financial elite; of the country’s 1990s rebate; and by its
zealous compliance with European regulations.
Other countries take a more relaxed attitude to their European obligations, appearing
good Europeans at the negotiation stage but less so in their failure to implement.
Membership of what became the European Union was always for us a matter of
economic calculation rather than political commitment.
And the calculations continue – alongside growing anxiety about the transfer of powers
to a complex and opaque system of bargaining (amongst officials and lobbyists) and
questionable judicial judgements in other countries. The previous generation of British
politicians seemed to value democracy more than the present lot. After all they had
fought a war for it!

We have always been wary of the Eurocrats – and

I was shocked during my (short) experience of
working in Brussels in the mid 1990s by the
privileges and their curious combination of
indolence and arrogance. European structures are
modelled on the French system which, in the
post-war period, has been governed for the most
part by civil servants – with citizens being
reduced to the role of protestors.
In the 1980s it was still possible to believe that
the EU might build on the European social model
(which owed nothing to the European Commission).
Delors, after all, was still imbued with the values
of most of the founders of the “European
project” but, since then, theCommission officials
and policies have become infected with neo-
liberalism – a disease which most new member countries have also brought to the
European political table since 2004.
It has always been obvious that "the European project" had no place for the citizen -
talk of the "democratic deficit" was so much eyewash (and the German push for greater
powers for the European Parliament just a guilt reflex).
But the scales have only now fallen from people's eyes as they saw the ease with which

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the European Union powers displaced the elected rulers of Italy and Greece.....

Since writing this, I've come across an extensive overview of current British attitudes
to the EU - which reveals the full scale of the British alienation from Europe.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Good old political economy

Yanis Varoufakis’ recently published The Global Minotaur – America, the true origins of
the financial crisis and the future of the world economy arrived here in the mountains a
few days ago and has provoked a lot of thoughts.
First about the light which such a political economic
(and historical) approach throws on the matter –
first the “global plan” of an honourable American
elite which had experienced the financial breakdown
of 1929 and the savagery of the 2nd World War and
were determined to create the conditions to ensure
it never happened again. Most of us (think we) know
about the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference and its
institutions and the Marshall Plan. Not so well-known
is the (behind-the-scenes) American role in
establishing the Coal and Steel Community (leading
to the EU); and in setting Japan on its path to post-
war success.
And, until I read this book, I had, frankly, not really
understood the significance of the 1971 American
decision to break the dollar link with gold. As the Far East has supplanted the US and
Europe as the productive powerhouse, the American deficit (and capital inflow) has
mounted to stratospheric proportions – thereby creating the conditions for new and
toxic financial mechanisms. At the heart of Varoufakis’ writing (including his incisive
blog) is the danger of a common currency (whether at global or european level) without
a recycling mechanism. There are quite a few summaries and interviews in the internet
about the book – eg this one from Naked Capitalism -
Philip Pilkington: In your book The Global Minotaur: America, The True Origins of the
Financial Crisis and the Future of the World Economy you lay out the case that this
ongoing economic crisis has very deep roots. You claim that while many popular accounts
– from greed run rampant to regulatory capture – do explain certain features of the
current crisis, they do not deal with the real underlying issue, which is the way in which
the current global economy is structured. Could you briefly explain why these popular
accounts come up short?
Yanis Varoufakis: It is true that, in the decades preceding the Crash of 2008, greed
had become the new creed; that banks and hedge funds were bending the regulatory
authorities to their iron will; that financiers believed their own rhetoric and were, thus,
convinced that their financial products represented ‘riskless risk’. However, this roll call

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of pre-2008 era’s phenomena leaves us with the nagging feeling that we are missing
something important; that, all these separate truths were mere symptoms, rather than
causes, of the juggernaut that was speeding headlong to the 2008 Crash. Greed has
been around since time immemorial. Bankers have always tried to bend the rules.
Financiers were on the lookout for new forms of deceptive debt since the time of the
Pharaohs. Why did the post-1971 era allow greed to dominate and the financial sector
to dictate its terms and conditions on the rest of the global social economy? My book
begins with an intention to home in on the deeper cause behind all these distinct but
intertwined phenomena.

PP: What, then, do you find the roots of the crisis to be?
YV: They are to be found in the main ingredients of the second post-war phase that
began in 1971 and the way in which these ‘ingredients’ created a major growth drive
based on what Paul Volcker had described, shortly after becoming the President of the
Federal Reserve, as the ‘controlled disintegration of the world economy’.
It all began when postwar US hegemony could no longer be based on America’s deft
recycling of its surpluses to Europe and Asia. Why couldn’t it? Because its surpluses, by
the end of the 1960s, had turned into deficits; the famous twin deficits (budget and
balance of trade deficits). Around 1971, US authorities were drawn to an audacious
strategic move: instead of tackling the nation’s burgeoning twin deficits, America’s top
policy makers decided to do the opposite: to boost deficits. And who would pay for
them? The rest of the world! How? By means of a permanent transfer of capital that
rushed ceaselessly across the two great oceans to finance America’s twin deficits.
The twin deficits of the US economy, thus, operated for decades like a giant vacuum
cleaner, absorbing other people’s surplus goods and capital. While that ‘arrangement’
was the embodiment of the grossest imbalance imaginable at a planetary scale (recall
Paul Volcker’s apt expression), nonetheless, it did give rise to something resembling
global balance; an international system of rapidly accelerating asymmetrical financial
and trade flows capable of putting on a semblance of stability and steady growth.
Powered by America’s twin deficits, the world’s leading surplus economies
(e.g.Germany, Japan and, later, China) kept churning out the goods
while Americaabsorbed them. Almost 70% of the profits made globally by these
countries were then transferred back to the United States, in the form of capital flows
to Wall Street. And what did Wall Street do with it? It turned these capital inflows
into direct investments, shares, new financial instruments, new and old forms of loans
etc.
It is through this prism that we can contextualise the rise of financialisation, the
triumph of greed, the retreat of regulators, the domination of the Anglo-Celtic growth
model; all these phenomena that typified the era suddenly appear as mere by-products
of the massive capital flows necessary to feed the twin deficits of the United States.

PP: You seem to locate the turning point here at the moment when Richard Nixon took
the US off the gold standard and dissolved the Bretton Woods system. Why is this to
be seen as the turning point? What effect did de-pegging the dollar to gold have?
YV: It was a symbolic moment; the official announcement that the Global Plan of the

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New Dealers was dead and buried. At the same time it was a highly pragmatic move. For,
unlike our European leaders today, who have spectacularly failed to see the writing on
the wall (i.e. that the euro-system, as designed in the 1990s, has no future in the post-
2008 world), the Nixon administration had the sense to recognise immediately that a
Global Plan was history. Why? Because it was predicated upon the simple idea that the
world economy would be governed by (a) fixed exchange rates, and (b) a Global Surplus
Recycling Mechanism (GSRM) to be administered by Washington and which would be
recycling to Europe and Asia the surpluses of the United States.
What Nixon and his administration recognised was that, once the US had become a
deficit country, this GSRM could no longer function as designed. Paul Volcker had
identified with immense clarity America’s new, stark choice: either it would have to
shrink its economic and geopolitical reach (by adopting austerity measures for the
purpose of reigning in the US trade deficit) or it would seek to maintain, indeed to
expand, its hegemony by expanding its deficits and, at once, creating the circumstances
that would allow the United States to remain the West’s Surplus Recycler, only this
time it would be recycling the surpluses of the rest of the world (Germany, Japan, the
oil producing states and, later, China).
The grand declaration of 15th August 1971, by President Nixon, and the message that
US Treasury Secretary John Connally was soon to deliver to European leaders (“It’s our
currency but it is your problem.”) was not an admission of failure. Rather, it was the
foreshadowing of a new era of US hegemony, based on the reversal of trade and capital
surpluses. It is for this reason that I think the Nixon declaration symbolises an
important moment in postwar capitalist history.

Immediately after reading the book, I turned to Howard Davies' earlier (2010)
book The Financial Crisis; who is to blame? which looked (briefly) at 39 different
explanations of the global crisis. Astonishingly - although that book's opening pages
mention (positively) the 1980 Brandt Commission's call for reform of the monetary
system and other critiques of growth and neo-liberalism, they are then put to one side
with the comment that "those arguments go beyond the scope of this book"!!! Of course
root-and-branch critiques are more difficult to translate into the instantaneous and
headline-grabbing policy-making political elites now seem to require. But for someone of
Davies' calibre to dismiss proper analysis in this way is quite shocking - and tells us so
much about the "commentariat" on whom we depend for our understanding.
There is, perhaps, a lot to be said for elite, behind-the-scenes manoeuvring!! Except
that all elites have their snouts in the swill.
The Global Minotaur makes us think about the different ways we try to make sense of
the world; how seldom we change our thinking; and what it takes to make us do that. It
will be interesting to see how seriously his analysis is taken by other economists or
whether (as I suspect) he will be written off as a .....Greek....bearing intellectual gifts....

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Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Getting under the skin

As regular readers will know, I am a fan of non-

fiction books which focus on a place, person,
movement or era and help us – by the power of the
writing – to get “under the skin” of events. There
has been a (rather bitter) controversy in certain
American literary circles about whether “literary
journalism” is an appropriate term of this genre.
There is apparently a website for International
Association for Literary Journalism Studies which
tells us that for the purposes of scholarly
delineation, our definition of literary journalism is
‘journalism as literature’ rather than ‘journalism
about literature.’ One of the (rather smug)
contenders in the controversy – who has written
several books about the issue – offers a more
detailed definition
Typically, literary journalism involves immersion reporting (sometimes for a year or
longer), the active presence of the author’s voice in the narrative, and it uses the tools
long associated only with fiction, such as elaborate structures, characterization, and
even symbolism, but with the added requirement of accuracy. Literary journalism often
deals with ordinary people rather than celebrities or politicians. Such long-form
narratives stand in contrast to the relatively hurried forms of standard journalism. I
use the term to describe the work of Edmund Wilson, James Agee, Martha Gellhorn,
Joan Didion, Tom Wolfe.
Sad but typical that all examples are (North) American. He might have included writers
such as Norman Lewis; Neal Ascherson; William Dalrymple; Arundhati Roy; Geert
Mak; or the rather neglected Dervla Murphy.
But the term does seem a bit ambiguous if not contradictory – “journalistic” implies
articles (rather than books) and is a put-down term - and “literary” a rather pretentious
one. And who decides whether a work deserves either (or both) of these epithets? VS
Naipaul won the Nobel prize for literature; wrote a powerful book about Islam Among
the Believerswhich has all the features of literary journalism – but Naipaul is neither a
journalist and only rarely writes articles. And there are many academics who write
superb prose-works aimed at the general public eg Simon Schama.
Apparently the more general term is “creative non-fiction” – which I think is more
appropriate.

Coincidentally, I have been reading two books which illustrate, I think, the range and
power of such a genre. Geert Mak’s An Island in Time – the biography of a village;
and Rachel Polonsky’s Molotov’s Magic Lantern – a journey in Russian History

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Mak IS a journalist (Dutch) – but has written wonderful books about Europe; and
Amsterdam.
For An Island in Time he spent a year in a rural part of The Netherlands he had known
in his childhood. Let one of the reviewers give you a sense of the book -
The lure of education, of easy money, of city life and hedonism affected the children of
Jorwert, just as it did those of the French mountain youngsters or those in the Spanish
plains. Schools struggled and then closed. Shops followed them. Churches remained the
focus, but in protestant northern Europe they didn't have the hold they had in the
catholic south – which isn't to say the whole Jorwert didn't put aside their personal
faiths the day the church tower collapsed and set about figuring out how to rebuild
it! Mak examines all of the issues in true journalistic fashion, supporting his arguments
with academic study and local example. It is the local anecdotes, however, that bring
the book truly to life and make it worth reading. It really is about Peet who died among
the cabbages with his leek bucket beside him. It is about the annual play that
commandeers the solicitor's garden… and it is about that same solicitor ensuring that
property changes into the right hands when it comes on the market. The real people
that make the place what it is.
It is about the stories people tell. Reading "An Island in Time" is very much like sitting
at your father's or grandfather's knee and hearing tales of how it used to be. Those
tales survive in villages, because villages are really just overgrown families. Word of
mouth is passed on and down the line.Like families, villages are hotbeds of dissent and
squabble. When planning decisions come up, battle lines are drawn and comments made
in the resultant public meetings will determine outcomes of totally unrelated events for
years to come. Some things are never forgiven. Small things, usually. The wrong
things.Being 'one of them' enables Mak to enter into the lives of the people of Jorwert.
They trust him with their stories. Does he betray that trust? I don't think so. His take
is a very sympathetic one. He rarely takes sides, and clearly understands the natures of
the pressures and problems. He made me love the place, and its people. He made me
care about the fact that their way of life is being lost and that, no matter how many
city folk decide to downsize and go back to the land, no matter how genuinely they try
to enter into village life, they will never truly succeed – because their motivations have
entirely shifted by virtue of their urbanisation.
Polonsky, on the other hand, is an academic who lived in the Nineties in an apartment
block still referred to by Muscovites as “the Party Archive” from its years as a resting
place for Communist Party officials. Her discovery of the annotated books of a high-
level Soviet apparachtnik set her off on a literary journey which she captures in the
beautifully-writtenMolotov’s Magic Lantern. The best of its reviews puts it like this -
On the floor above hers lay Vyacheslav Molotov’s old flat, with his Stalin-era furniture
and the remains of his book collection, annotated and catalogued by the owner in violet
ink. It turns out that the loathsome Molotov – who signed off more names for execution
during the purges than Stalin, and of whom Stalin remarked (rather wittily): “If
Molotov did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him” – was a passionate book
collector, who read poetry and whose favourite writer was Chekhov.There is a
dispiriting theme in Polonsky’s book, of cultivated, well-read people who commit terrible
crimes: the Nazi collaborator and possible war criminal Boris Filistinsky who later, under

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the name Filippov, had a long and respected career as a poet and editor at an American
university. What is one to make of these characters, who love the humanities, and
epitomise inhumanity?Also in Molotov’s apartment is a magic lantern, for which Polonsky
finds an apposite quotation from Anna Akhmatova: “Memory is structured so that, like a
projector, it illuminates discrete moments, leaving unconquerable darkness all around.”
Molotov has a terrifying capacity to forget. When questioned in later life about those
whose lives he signed away, sometimes thousands in a day, he is vague: “I can’t
remember… I think he got mixed up with the Right-wingers… What does it matter?”
Much of contemporary Russia seems happy to collude with this amnesia. Yet this book
celebrates those few who refuse to forget, and whose efforts illuminate even the
darkest moments of the past.
As Polonsky travels in widening circles away from Moscow, down to Taganrogin the
south, Arkhangelsk and Murmansk in the north, she encounters the dark side of Russian
history. The image of a “Lend-Lease” American bulldozer shovelling frozen corpses into
a Gulag grave has huge power; and the great chronicler of the Gulag, Varlam Shalamov,
observes Moscow ringed by towerblocks “like watchtowers, guarding the prisoners”, and
draws the sombre conclusion that “the watchtower of the Gulag zone was the
architectural symbol – the principal idea – of his time”.
Much of Molotov’s Magic Lantern can be read as an ode to books and reading. The 19th-
century philosopher and librarian Fyodorov believed that “to study meant not to
reproach and not to praise, but to restore life” – both to subjects and to readers. In
Soviet times many were sustained by study, finding inventive ways to discuss forbidden
preoccupations. Shalamov describes the hunger for books which is almost as unbearable
as the pains of starvation. “There is no sweeter thing,” he said, “than the sight of an
unread book.” Later he transformed his suffering into crystalline prose, quite as adept
as Chekhov’s. One wishes that Molotov had been forced to read it, although no doubt he
would have responded with his usual mulishness: “1937 was necessary.” Polonsky’s
interests are eclectic, ranging from obscure 19th-century poets to contemporary
propaganda pamphlets. The latter she fillets with dry wit: unpleasant publications
sponsored by the FSB (KGB in new guise) which spell out Russia’s primal supremacy, and
the Roerich Movement’s New Age prophecies, “rich in pseudoscience”, which warn of
danger from Europe, “noting in passing that the sun sets in the west and scenes of the
Apocalypse appear on the western walls of Russian churches”. Contemporary politics
does not really interest her, but by sifting through the layers of irrationality and
prejudice in Russian culture she achieves a more profound understanding of
Putin’s Russia than many other foreign observers.

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Thursday, June 14, 2012
village tradition and solidarity

Last Saturday I found myself, as an agnostic, in an initially embarrassing situation –

being invited (as I thought) to lunch at a village neighbour’s house and landing at a
religious ceremony marking 6 months since the death of a grandparent. The penny (and
my heart) dropped as I approached the house and saw the older village women in black
dresses and headscarves sitting in a row
at table. Fortunately the men were in
more informal attire - and one of the
grand-daughters even in a long, colourful
and sexy skirt. And, when the young
priest realised who I was, he was very
friendly and understanding. Even so, I
found the half-hour chanting and reading
difficult – particularly when people
crossed themselves (something which
causes my Protestant and agnostic hands
to freeze whenever I attempt an
anthropological pretence). And I beat a fast retreat from the room when a couple of
women dropped on their knees under the priest’s embroidered scarf right in front of
me - and started kissing it.
In between times, however, I was appreciating the way members of the Orthodox
Church do celebrate the dead with these rituals at intermittent dates from the death.
I’ve mentioned before how bad we Brits are at this. The scale, however, of the
subsequent food and drink was a bit excessive – and hardly conducive to proper
commemoration (no toasts). Ditto the differentiation between the men and the women –
the latter not only sitting separately but also acting as the servants while the men got
loud.

The main subject of their conversation at table was the local elections taking place the
next day – the last week or so has been highly amusing with long-overdue road repairs
being undertaken all over the place including the potholed track (more like a dried-out
river bed) which connects our village to the main road. Here perhaps is a measure of
elite attitudes in different countries – the political class everywhere engages in such
vote-buying but here they seem to assume that people’s memories are so short that
they have to carry out such public works in the days (not months) before the election
itself?

One of the important themes in Geert Mak’s biography of a village (see yesterday’s
post) is the encroachment of the outside world on tradition and solidarity – initially
through roads; then labour-saving devices; money replacing mutuality; then television;
european legal requirements for livestock; and, finally, urbanites buying and/or building
houses in the village. Other books also cover this theme - eg Blacker's Along the

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Enchanted Way(Transylvania 2009); Alastair McIntosh's Soil and Soul (Scotland) 2001;
Gerald Brenan’s South of Granada (1957); Robin Jenkins' Road to Alto - an account of
peasants, capitalists and the soil in the mountains of southern Portugal (1979). Alto in
Portugal was a self-sufficient economy, with a stable, sustainable agricultural pattern
practiced for centuries. There were no major disparities, and people helped each other
during the occasional drought. The community didn’t need many external inputs.
This utopia could have gone on forever, but for the coming of a six-kilometre tarred
road. The farmers moved to cash crops and the cash economy; soon, the village was not
producing enough food for itself and became dependent on external seeds, fertilisers,
finance. The middlemen gained the most from this conversion.
The old socio-economic structure, where everyone had their place and nothing much
ever changed, no longer exists. In its place there is a system in which any land becomes
increasingly seen as a potential source of profit. The old stability and predictability has
gone forever, to be replaced by the competitiveness and the mentality of a gold rush.
All because of six kilometres of tarred road
The pace of change has been slower in this village where I stay; few outsiders like me -
although my old neighbour pointed out yesterday (as we were returning with 4 hens he
had bought in a nearby town of Rasnov) a house which a Frenchman is apparently
restoring.

The photo which heads this post is of the embellished track at the bottom of my
garden which now allows me to take my car there.
My acceptance in the village is helped, I’m sure, by my friendship with old Viciu; and by
the fact that I live without ostentation (having kept the traditional features of the
house – and driving a 15 year-old locally-produced car!!) But you have to get used to a lot
of questions – about where you are going; what you are doing; how much things cost you
– and comments about your sneezing and nocturnal movements! That’s why I laughed out
loud at certain sections of Mak's book which cover these exactly similar features –
“people usually proffered unasked explanations for any action that was out of the
ordinary, for anything that could appear not quite normal. You explained why you were
walking round behind your neighbour’s meadow – “it’s more out of the wind there”

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Sunday, June 17, 2012
Labour

The scything season is getting underway – bit

later than usual (I think) because of the spell of
cold and wet weather last month. And there is
nothing like an hour’s work with a scythe from
07.00 with the sun not yet burning your back –
followed by a scrub down on the veranda with
water from a traditional bowl and pitcher. Right
now (at 08.00) the mercury is measuring 35
degrees on the veranda but, as it is Sunday, I
have a powerful excuse for not working!
Earlier this year, I confessed my failure, as a
leftist politician in Scotland, to engage properly
with trade unions. I was an early example of the
breed whose social science training led it
arrogantly to assume that they (and their
officials) had become a brake on progress. One
of the books in the latest Amazon package to
arrive this week – Paul Mason’s Live Working or Die Fighting - is a powerful and exciting
coverage of key events in labour history. As business correspondent for BBC's
Newsnight (and the author of subsequent Meltdown) Mason is in a great position to use
his knowledge of contemporary capitalism, and the working class it is creating, and
marry it with his knowledge of labour history.
Each chapter begins with a sketch of the conditions suffered by a group of workers
subjected to the rule of globalised capital in the modern world. This leads us into the
description of a moment from the creation of the unions, the annals of the left or a
fleeting revolutionary upheaval shedding light on present problems.
‘[This] history needs to be rediscovered because two sets of people stand in dire need
of knowing more about it: first, the activists who have flooded the streets in Seattle,
Genoa and beyond to protest against globalisation; second, the workers in the new
factories, mines and waterfronts created by globalisation in the developing world,
whose attempts to build a labour movement are at an early stage. They need to
know…that what they are doing has been done before…Above all they need to know that
the movement was once a vital force: a counterculture in which people lived their lives
and the main source of eduction for men and women condemned to live short, bleak lives
and dream of impossible futures.’ (x)
The various chapters compare mutilated workers in Shenzhen, China, today and the
Battle of Peterloo, Manchester in 1819; silkworkers in Varanasi (Benares), India now and
in the Lyons, France, revolt of 1831; the casual labourers of a Lagos slum in 2005 and
the Paris Commune of 1871; oilworkers in Basra, Iraq in 2006 and the invention of
Mayday in Philadelphiain 1886; and immigrant office cleaners in London’s East End in

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2004, and the Great Dock Strike of unskilled workers in London’s East End in 1889. If
we eventually reach the globalisation of unskilled workers’ unionism in 1889-1912, we are
later confronted by ‘wars between brothers’ amongst miners in Huanuni, Bolivia, today
and German workers’ failures to condemn the war of 1914-18 and to bring about a
revolution at its end. There are several more such stories in this panoramic work, often
expressed in the words of the men and women activists involved.
“Politically, the labour movement has debated strategy in terms of reform versus revolution. Practically, to the
frustration of advocates of both approaches, workers have been prepared to go beyond reform but
settle for less than revolution.’ (xiii)
In his concluding chapter, Mason does go into interpretation, offering an explanation
for the Post-World War Two loss of working-class independence, and incorporation into
two ruling-class projects, one in the West, the other in the East. However:

‘It is very different now. Today the transnational corporation is the primary form of
economic life. In addition, global consumer culture is breaking down all that was local,
insular and closed in working-class communities. There is, for the first time, a truly
global working class. But it has not yet had its 1889 moment,’ (page 280)

Monday, June 18, 2012

Transylvanian Trilogy
There are not many books available in the English language
about this part of the world – Olivia Manning’s The Balkan
Trilogy is perhaps the best known - covering the period just
before and then during the Second World War.
Over the course of the last ten years, however, mostly
through word-of-mouth recommendations, another trilogy The
Writing on the Wall, originally published in Hungary between 1934 and 1940, has come
available in English (thanks to a translation by his daughter) and bids to be considered
as one of the finest works of the 20th century. The first volume, unfortunately, is out
of print but I have just finished the second; and the final volume They were divided will
arrive shortly here at my Transylvanian mountain redoubt.
The author was Count Miklos Banffy who had a huge ancestral estate in Transylvania,
but was also a politician in the Austro-Hungarian empire and after WW I he
became Hungary's Foreign Minister. The central character in the trilogy is Count Balint
Abady, and we follow his story through the ten years leading up to the outbreak of WW
I. Abady is a voice of reason in the Austro-Hungarian government as the empire dithers
and bickers its way into the dustbin of history. But politics is only one facet in this
vastly entertaining trilogy. Banffy is a great storyteller, and he stuffs the novels with
colourful, vibrant characters. There are frustrated, doomed lovers, dissolute
aristocrats, scheming estate overseerers, gypsies, a barking mad count, and a couple of
dozen other memorable characters – most living their lives just up the road from the
Brasov area (where I live) in and around what is now Cluj but is identified in the book by
its Hungarian name Kolozsvar. Add in duels, hunts, balls and sundry intrigues and you
have 1,500 or so pages of addictive reading. Banffy wants to tell the often bitter truth
about the world he knew and he wants to do it in the most vivacious way possible. The

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second volume is called They Were Found Wanting and one reviewer caught the mood
well
This book is the saddest, most gracefully told, subtly portentous book I've read in
years, and it's only the second book in the trilogy. First off, the writing is anything but
bathetic. It is poetic where poetry is summoned by circumstance and, likewise, quotidian
when needs be. It is altogether unbelievably exquisite in the execution. The subject
matter has two mirroring themes, constantly playing off against each other, the
political obliviousness of aristocratic Hungary as it hurries unwittingly towards WWI,
and, more shatteringly poignant to this reader, the slow, inexorable crumbling of the
doomed love between Count Balint Abady and the married Adrienne. Here, for example,
is the description of Abady's enchantment with the estate woodland, his love for which
is only enhanced by his love for Adrienne:"Everywhere there were only these three
colours, silver, grey, and vivid green: and the more that Balint gazed around him the
more improbable and ethereal did the forest seem until it was only those strands near
at hand, which moved gently in the soft breeze, that seemed real while everything
further off, the pale lilac shaded into violet, was like clouds of vapour in slight
perpetual movement as if swaying to the rhythm of some unheard music."
After WW II, Banffy, like a character in a tragic novel, ended up reduced to a landless
nobody with a meaningless title in communist Hungary. His Transylvanian home Banffy
Castle at Bontida village was destroyed by retreating Germans in vengeance for his role
in Romania changing sides in the second world war. He died in 1950. But the good news is
that, under The Transylvanian Trust, the castle has been restored and is now a training
centre for craft skills.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Bucharest gets more like Budapest

Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta has been

accused in a highly respectable international
scientific journal – Nature (based in London) -
of copying large sections of his 2003 PhD
thesis in law from previous publications,
without proper reference. A third PM
resignation in 4 months could result.
Ponta, leader of the Romanian Social
Democratic Party, took office as prime
minister only last month, replacing a Prime
Minister who had only been in power for 3
months following protests against austerity
measures.
Ponta’s defence so far has consisted of denial;
saying that Law Doctorates require a lot of

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pasting and source-referencing (but this is true of all doctorates); that he may have
failed to observe the correct referencing system; that the doctorate is worthless to
him and that he will be happy to resign it.

The allegations are also raising fresh doubts about the government’s ability to tackle
corruption in the higher-education system. Education and Research Minister Prof. Ioan
Mang was forced to resign for plagiarism last month on accusations of plagiarising in 8
articles; this is still under investigation by The National Committee of Ethics in
Research. And Laura Codruta Kovesi, Romania's 39 year-old Head Prosecutor, and close
to President Basescu, is also accused of having plagiarized her PhD thesis.
Government measures to make the country’s struggling science and education system
more competitive and transparent were proposed recently, but the plans met ferocious
opposition from large parts of the academic establishment, and were substantially
relaxed by the current government.
Ponta obtained his PhD from the University of Bucharest while acting as Secretary of
State in the government of an earlier prime minister, Adrian Năstase — who was also
his PhD supervisor; faces 7 charges of corruption; and who was sentenced recently to a
2 year jail sentence

These are the bare facts – but the case is not straightforward -
 Ponta was undoubtedly one of the few Romanian experts in his field
(international penal code)
 by virtue of that fact, hardly had the time then to undertake serious research
work on top of his other commitments (eg State Sec)
 It is almost 10 years ago that Ponta was awarded his PhD. Why is the accusation
surfacing only now?
 The thesis was published as a book in 2010 – with the foreward written by one of
the people from whom Ponta is accused of plagiarising
 there is a possibility that the person plagiarised was in fact also plagiarising!
 Nature is a highly respected international scientific journal (started in 1869)
which does not normally go for political “scoops”. An article about standards in
Romanian Academia would have been highly appropriate after the resignation of
the Education Minister (and the widespread concerns about the purchase here of
Degrees) but no such article was written – instead a rather superficial and
biased scoop about the Prime Minister. Why and who pointed the journal to the
issue?
 The Romanian President (Basescu) is a hyperactive paranoid who had Ponti
foisted on him. It is highly plausible that he is behind the story seeing the
possibility of killing three birds with one stone – getting rid of Ponta; smearing
the social democrats just before the upcoming parliamentary elections; and
bringing the reform of the higher education issue back on the agenda.
 A respected foreign scientific journal was chosen simple because the local media
are simply no longer trusted here.

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Comments on the article have been extensive (more than 100) and give a good insight
into life and attitudes here in Romania. Everyone has an opinion – only a couple of the
comments suggest that more evidence is needed and most involving complex rants.

My own view, for what it is worth, is that –

 Ponta is undoubtedly guilty of plagiarism – the casual nature of his comments
demonstrate the mentality of the political class here. The article in question
says - Members of Romania’s post-communist elite — including many politicians —
have been eager to acquire academic credentials. In the view of some critics, a
number of private and public universities in the country are consequently
degenerating into ‘degree mills’ that care little about the quality or novelty of
the knowledge that they produce, and which are a breeding ground for academic
plagiarism.
 The higher education system is indeed deeply corrupted
 "Nature" should indeed be ashamed of the way they have dealt with the issue –
the story should have been a more substantive one (and perhaps after the
results of the National Committee of Ethics in Research investigation) with
Ponta merely being an example. Now the issue is completely politicised
 In his few weeks in power, however, Ponta has shown the same control
tendencies as his counterpart in Hungary, Victor Orban. Two days after the
Education Minister resigned, the National Committee of Ethics in Research was
fired for 'incompetence' reasons. The new Ethics Committee has been accused
of being composed mainly of personnel closely related to the prominent SDP
member and former Minister Prof. Ecaterina Andronescu. And his government
has just politicised the highly respected Romanian Institute of Culture by
transferring it from the Presidency to the Senate.
This last move is bad enough - but it is the way in which it was done that really stinks -
an emergency ordinance! It's a major story in itself which you can read more about
here.

Paul Dragos Aligica, a Romanian political scientist

at George Mason University inArlington, Virginia sums it up -
“One could almost feel pity for all these guys who have power and money, and who are
now craving intellectual recognition. Unfortunately these incidents just add to the
disrepute of Romanian academic standards and create extra pressure that real
Romanian scholars and scientists will now have to fight against.”

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Friday, June 22, 2012
Understanding Germany

First - on the eve of the German-

Greek football match - have a look
at this side-splitting Monty Python
clip of a German-Greece football
match - whose members consist
almost entirely of .....philosophers!!
Who do you read when you want to
get under the skin of a country – and
don’t have the opportunity to go and
live there? In the 1960s we had
Alistair Cooke for the USAand Luigi
Barzini for the Italians; in the 1970s Richard Cobb and John Ardagh for France;
in the 1980s Theodor Zeldin for France, John Ardagh for Germany - and Eric Newby
and Norman Lewis for the rest of the globe!
France and Italy have become popular tourist destinations for the reading classes since
then and created the market for a lot of books – most of the slightly mocking sort
about rural life pioneered by Peter Mayle (Ginsborg's 1990 History of Contemporary
Italy; society and politics 1943-1980; The Dark Heart of Italy by Tobias Jones;
and The Pursuit of Italyby David Gilmour are honourable exceptions).

But HOW do you best get under the skin is perhaps an even more important question.
 Through historical recitations?
 Through literary and cultural explorations?
 Through textbooks on political systems?
 Or perhaps by a combination of these – eg the superb Peter Robb’s
"Midnight in Sicily"(which focussed on politics, the mafia and food); or "Molotov’s
Magic Lantern"on which I commented recently?

Despite the role and significance of Germany over the past century and in present
times, any visitor to that country who wanted a good briefing had a stark choice – heavy
academic histories or the Rough Guide. Until, that is, 2010 when Simon Winder
producedGermania – a personal history of Germans Ancient and Modern
I referred to it at the end of a blog last year but did not find it an easy book to
persevere with – by virtue of its idiosyncratic approach. I’ve now been able to read it
properly – and find it quite excellent. I’ve drawn on some of the Amazon reviews to give
a sense of its key features.
It’s the history of Germany in the broadest sense of that name - starting with the
residue of the Roman Empire and ending with the founding of the Third Empire in 1933
when the author can't bear to continue. It encompasses cities
from Brussels to Gdansk to Milan and all the way down the Danube, allowing the author
to potter around old castles and cathedrals to his heart's content.A higgledy-piggledy

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mixture of more or less independent duchies, principalities and bishoprics coalesced
slowly into modern states (plural - Winder uses Germania for Austria and Germany, and
doesn't hesitate to visit other countries nearby). History as folly, incompetence and
grudge; the author dismisses his own work as anecdotal facetiousness but it's far
better than that. A flavour - "a slice through any given month in Germany's history
turns up a staggering array of rulers: a discredited soldier, a pious archbishop, a sickly
boy and his throne-grabbing regent, and a half-demented miser obsessed with alchemy".
This book is a travelogue (in the Bryson style) fused with a cultural and political history
of Germany. If you're looking for only one or the other, you will be disappointed. But if
you just want to find out about Germany, and are ready to accept a few idiosyncrasies
of style along the way, you'll love this book.
Some themes stand out particularly well:
 The role the earliest centuries and the Middle Ages play in the imagination of
the Germans in all sorts of ways; and how much medieval architecture remains
in Germany
 Why the Holy Roman Emperors, with no proper capital before 1533 when Vienna
was declared the capital city of the Habsburgs, never managed to overcome the
extraordinary fragmentation of Germany in the way in which the English and the French
managed it many centuries earlier. There are delightful vignettes of the courts of tiny
principalities, often presided over by dotty or self-indulgent rulers. Due to the
frequent absence of primogeniture, many of them had hyphenated names, like
Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg which provided the wife for Edward VII:
the more hyphenated, the tinier they were.
 How weak Prussia was between the end of the reign of Frederick the Great in
1786 and Bismarck's Danish War of 1864. Winder asserts that "Frederick's actions
DID NOT LEAD (his italics) to Bismarck's empire." Winder doesn't think much
of Frederick's achievements,but admires Maria Theresa and her "adorable", "fun"
husband, the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I.
 And after all the tomes that have been written about the Prussian - later
German - armies, it is interesting to see Winder rather debunking their achievements
"outside the delusive little seven year period [covering the Danish, Austrian and French
wars between 1864 and 1871]". He also debunks the German navy. He lays into some
conventional views about the run-up to and course of the First World War with a zest
reminiscent of A.J.P.Taylor. He makes a case for saying that Germany between 1871 and
1914 was militarily less aggressive than Russia, Britain, France or Italy during the same
period. He sees the French as the main trouble-makers in Europe from Louis XIV
onwards. But then he had decided from the start that his book would "bale out" in 1933.
(He does not completely manage that: reference to the Nazi period are dotted
throughout the book.) He told us at the beginning that he wanted us to look at pre-1933
Germany free from the hostile mind-set which has been created by the two World
Wars, and which had been quite absent from Britain for almost the whole of the 19th
century. For him there was no German "Sonderweg": for him "Germany in 1914 had been
a normal country, espousing much of the same racism, military posturing, and taste for
ugly public buildings that bedevilled the rest of the Continent."

174
This is more of an impressionist account, though, like an impressionist painting,
consisting of many brilliant and highly coloured individual brush strokes. It is basically,
but not always chronological; and it is interspersed with digressions and bits of
autobiography which increase in length as the book proceeds. Winder is having fun:
"fun" used as an adjective occurs frequently in the book, which is light-hearted, often
hilarious, discursive, never short of an opinion and indeed sometimes opinionated and
over-the-top: he calls Weber's book on the Protestant Ethic "famously idiotic";
Napoleon III is rebuked for his "sheer childishness"; the word "mad" occurs with a
somewhat maddening frequency; he describes the successor states of the Habsburg
Empire as "a mass of poisonous micro-states". It is also quite serious, in many ways
insightful, cultured, affectionate but also critical, and fantastically knowledgeable.
The book certainly has made me (and others- it has 100 reviews on the Amazon
site) think. It has more than 100 bibliographical references and, significantly, half are
literary or cultural.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

European public space

I’m European in perhaps a rather perverse sense – that I love the differences between
the countries which make it up. Given the scale of EU activities (let alone EC
programmes – such as Erasmus)
which bring together officials,
academics, students across national
boundaries, you would have thought
there would have been a market for
journals and books to help ease the
cross-cultural dialogues taking place.
But I’ve mentioned several times on
this blog (for
examplehere; here; and here) how
few titles there are (at least in the
English language) dedicated to
deepen mutual understanding of each
other’s cultures and ways of doing
things.
I referred in the last post some of the British books which try to do this. And it would
be an interesting exercise for a national of each EU member state to make a
similar list of material available in their respective language!! I would exclude from
those lists the conventional country histories which are written by the various country
specialists at Universities – largely on the ground that they are not written for the
purpose I have mentioned.
Of course, there are the pop books which reduce it all to tongue-in-cheek stereotypes –
for example We, The Europeans - or the Xenophobe series. Some of this stuff can
actually be quite insightful – for example, this good expose of the phrases we Brits use;

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what our European partners generally understand them; and what they really mean by
them
At the opposite extreme, are those who try to understand cultures using comparative
sociology for example Geert Hofstede and Frans Trompenaars. Richard D Lewis’s When
Cultures Collide – leading across Cultures (1996) is perhaps the most readable
treatment.

In my days, we had the magazine Encounter (Der Monat in Germany) which gave me
stimulating articles by renowned French, German and Italian writers, for example, but
was then discovered to have been funded by the CIA. Where its equivalent these
days? Le Monde Diplomatique and Lettre International perhaps - except there is, sadly,
no English version of the latter - and only a short version in English of the former
(whose language is, in any event, a bit opaque)
In 2004 Carl Fredrikkson wrote an article about the need for a proper European public
space where ideas were exchanged across national boundaries and Jan-Werner Muller
returned to the issue earlier this year with an important article entitled The Failure of
European Intellectuals? in which he argued that
Up until the 1930s at least, there existed a genuine European Republic of Letters, in
which writers and philosophers engaged with each other easily across national borders –
and in which they also explained other national cultures to their readers. And, in a
somewhat different vein, it continued, at least for a while, after the Second World
War, when the imperative of reconciliation loomed large. Figures like Alfred Grosser
and Joseph Rovan explained the French and the Germans to each other. These weren't
just glorified apologists for national quirks, or mediators who would quietly disappear
when rapprochement was complete: they had standing in their own right. But,
effectively, they did perform the role of sophisticated culturaltranslators and political
mediators.And now? One might be forgiven for thinking that the
more Europe integrates politically, legally and economically, the more provincial and
inward-looking its individual nation-states become culturally. Easyjet and the Eurovision
song contest are not a substitute for aRepublic of Letters, where intellectuals have a
genuine feel for at least two or three different European cultures. Of course, there
are exceptions: Eurozinehttp://www.eurozine.com/ is one of the major websites where
Europeans can learn about the debates taking place in other countries (and, not least,
about how intellectuals in other countries perceive their neighbours).There is no
panacea, as far as creating a genuinely European public sphere is concerned. One can
only hope that individuals will become more curious, more willing to see the rewards in
the work of translation and mediation. It might seem all very humdrum – but it is
actually an urgent task, not only, but especially at this critical juncture. To take an
obvious example: Germans (and other "northerners") need to understand the history of
the Greek civil war, the ways the Greek state was used to pacify a deeply polarized
society, and the way European money served to create a middle class which helped
parties stay in power, but also diminished the dangers of renewed social conflict (none
of this is an excuse for corruption and a generally dysfunctional state – tout
comprendre ce n'est pas tout pardonner). Conversely, it would be helpful if observers
outside Germany got a grip on the particular strand of liberal economics that has been

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animating policy-making in both Bonn and Berlin for a long time: that strange thing
called Ordoliberalismus, whose representatives conceived of themselves as the real
"neoliberals" – liberals who had learnt the lessons of the Great Depression and the rise
of dictatorships in the twentieth-century, and who precisely did not want to equate
liberalism with laissez-faire. For them, soi-disant neoliberals like Ludwig von Mises were
simply "paleoliberals" who remained stuck in nineteenth-century orthodoxies about self-
correcting markets. The German neoliberals, on the other hand, wanted a strong state
able and willing not only to provide a framework for markets and society, but also to
intervene in the former for the sake of ensuring competition and "discipline". Again, an
understanding of such ideas is not the same as accepting them (with Ordoliberalismus,
in particular, there are good reasons to be suspicious of its illiberal, perhaps even
authoritarian side). The point is that a more productive and sophisticated debate cannot
ignore the profoundly different national starting points for thinking about politics (and
economics, of course). In that sense, what I have called clarifiers and the mutual
explicators of national traditions need to work together.
Perry Anderson is one of the few Anglo-Saxons with such knowledge and skills.
Mullerhimself is a great example

The painting is a recent one by a good Bulgarian friend of mine - Yassen Gollev

Monday, June 25, 2012

The Deserts of Transition?
For all the talk of European Commission transparency, it’s none too easy to get useful
information about the projects on which its various Structural Funds and Operational
Programmes spend so many thousands of millions of euros.
Nor, incidentally, have I seen anyone look at the role which such funding has played in
the socio-economic development of this Region. A lot of money is spent on consultants
evaluating the projects but their availability seems to be very restricted. And those
who write these evaluations have no interest in biting the hand that feeds them – so no
fundamental critique will emerge from that quarter.
I might expect journalists and academics to tackle such basic questions – except that
they too have their reasons for not wanting to upset a gravy-train.
I have lived in central Europe for much of the past 20 years – and don’t need to worry
about offending the powerful interests in the EC. So let me clearly say what I think
about the contribution of Structural Funds
It has helped into place the systemic corruption here – not least by adding to the
incentives to pull the wrong sort of people into the political systems.
I doubt that a credible case can be made for its economic contribution.
Bulgaria and Romania have been able to spend less than 10% of the monies allocated to
them.

That’s a pretty dismal picture – and a poor reflection on European journalism that no
journalist seems to have posed, let alone explored, the question of what it has all really
achieved for these countries. The opportunity was there in the past 2 years while the

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whole future of the Structural Funds was being reviewed – I rather belatedly woke up
to this(rather inward if not incestuous) discussion at the end of January

All this is by way of a preface to praise for one report which I stumbled across last
week - Narratives for Europe from the European Cultural Foundation. Don’t be put off
by the “deconstructionist” verbosity at the beginning – this was an interesting venture
using EC funding to link up ordinary people in a lot of peripheral areas of Europe
whether at weddings, playing music or in the final stages of their life in remote villages.
We are not looking to collect either official discourses or isolated individual stories. We
are trying to identify common ground and shared representations, yes, but it is also
about identifying diverging perspectives, conflicting desires, grey zones: the questions
and even doubts expressed by people in Europe of all generations and backgrounds,
particularly those engaged in arts and culture
Coincidentally, The Economist also published this picture of life in North East Bulgaria -
whose poverty I saw for myself this time last year.

But the media I was reading hadn’t told me about the fascinating and sophisticated
protests in Zagreb (Croatia) in the first half of the year
In February, March, and April 2011 up to ten thousand people assembled every other
evening in Zagreb, and up to a couple thousand assembled in other cities. Besides a
rhetorical shift (a strong anti-capitalist discourse unheard of either in
independent Croatia or elsewhere in the Balkans), the crucial point was the rejection of
leaders, which gave citizens an opportunity to decide on the direction and the form of
their protests. The “Indian revolution,” previously limited to public squares, soon turned
into long marches through Zagreb. It was a clear example of how “invited spaces of
citizenship,” designed as such by state structures and police for “kettled” expression of
discontent, were superseded by “invented spaces of citizenship,” in which citizens
themselves opened new ways and venues for their subversive actions, and questioned
legality in the name of the legitimacy of their demands. This was not a classic, static
protest anymore and, unlike the famous Belgrade walks in 1996–97, the Zagreb ones
were neither aimed only at the government as such, nor only at the ruling party and its
boss(es). They acquired a strong anti-systemic critique, exemplified by the fact that
protesters were regularly “visiting” the nodal political, social, and economic points of
contemporary Croatia (political parties, banks, government offices, unions, privatization
fund, television and media outlets, etc.). The flags of the ruling conservative Croatian
Democratic Union, the Social Democratic Party (seen as not opposing the neo-liberal
reforms), and even the European Union (seen as complicit in the elite’s wrongdoings)
were burned. The protesters even “visited” the residences of the ruling party
politicians, which signalled a widespread belief that their newly acquired wealth was
nothing more than legalized robbery.And this is precisely the novelty of these protests.
It is not yet another “colour revolution” of the kind the Western media and academia
are usually so enthusiastic about (but who are otherwise not interested in following how
the “waves of democratization” often do little more than replace one autocrat with
another, more cooperative one). The U.S.-sponsored colour revolutions never put into
question the political or economic system as such, although they did respond to a

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genuine demand in these societies to get rid of the authoritarian and corrupt elites that
had mostly formed in the 1990s. The Croatian example shows that for the first time
protests are not driven by anti-government rhetoric per se, but instead are based on
true anti-regime sentiment. Not only the state but the whole apparatus on which the
current oligarchy is based is put into question by (albeit chaotically) self-organized
citizens. No colour is needed to mark this kind of revolution which obviously cannot hope
for any external help or international media coverage. It did the only thing the
dispossessed can do: marched through their cities. The emergence and nature of these
Croatian protests invites us also to rethink the categories used to explain the social,
political, and economic situation in the Balkans and elsewhere in post-socialist Eastern
Europe.
In the general bemoaning of the small number of people who seem to be aware of (let
alone sympathetic to) their European neighbours (now or in the past) let me salute and
help shine a light on the writings of Clive James whose Cultural Amnesia is a unique and
amazing set of vignettes of European.

Friday, June 29, 2012

Romanian wine and history

Decided to leave my laptop behind this

week as I toured one ofRomania’s less-well
known areas which just happens to have a
lot of vineyards. Located in the
Carpathian foothills
betweenPloiesti and Buzau - with
thevillage of Pietroase as the main centre
of production of very good quality stuff. I
remember from the early 1990s the
narrow bottles with the etiquette of the
old gold vase unearthed from the village –
an etiquette which, unfortunately was
filched by a new company (Bachus).
A significant proportion of the village households make their own wine for sale at the
door – so we had fun knocking doors to try to find the appropriate door; and wine. By
late June, of course, the best stuff is no longer available – but we were lucky to find
the last few litres of a great Merlot in one village – and a superb (sweet) Tamaioasa in
another. And that was before we visited the cellars of Pietroase’s vinicular research
institute from which I emerged with 10 litres of demi-sec Riesling and also of merlot
(sec).

And then a detour via the winevillage of Urlati to visit the fascinating home of polymath
-Nicolae Iorga (1871-1940) - in Valenii de Munte.
Iorga’s life gives a profound insight into the Romania of these times. He

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 was an historian, politician, literary
critic, memoirist, poet and playwright.
Co-founder (in 1910) of the Democratic
Nationalist Party (PND), he served as a
member of Parliament, its President and
Senate, cabinet minister and briefly
(1931–32) as Prime Minister. A child
prodigy and polyglot, Iorga produced an
unusually large body of scholarly works,
consecrating his international reputation
as
a medievalist, Byzantinist, Latinist, Slavist, art historian and philosopher of history.
Holding teaching positions at the Universities of Bucharest and Paris and several other
academic institutions, Iorga was founder of the International Congress of Byzantine
Studies and the Institute of South-East European Studies (ISSEE). His activity also
included the transformation of Vălenii de Munte town into a cultural and academic
center.
In parallel with his scientific contributions, Nicolae Iorga was a prominent right of
centre activist, whose political theory
bridged conservatism,nationalism and agrarianism. From Marxist beginnings, he
switched sides and became a maverick disciple of the Junimea movement. Iorga later
became a leadership figure at Sămănătorul, the influential literary magazine
with populist leanings, and militated within the Cultural League for the Unity of All
Romanians, founding vocally conservative publications such as Neamul Românesc, Drum
Drept, Cuget Clar and Floarea Darurilor. His support for the cause of ethnic
Romanians in Austria-Hungary made him a prominent figure in the pro-Entente camp by
the time of WW1, and ensured him a special political role during the interwar existence
of Greater Romania. Initiator of large-scale campaigns to defend Romanian culture in
front of perceived threats, Iorga sparked most controversy with
his antisemitic rhetoric, and was for long an associate of the far right ideologue A. C.
Cuza. He was an adversary of the dominant National Liberals, later involved with the
opposition Romanian National Party.Late in his life, Iorga opposed the
radically fascist Iron Guard, and, after much oscillation, came to endorse its
rival King Carol II. Involved in a personal dispute with the Guard's leader Corneliu Zelea
Codreanu, and indirectly contributing to his killing, Iorga was also a prominent figure in
Carol'scorporatist and authoritarian party, the National Renaissance Front. He
remained an independent voice of opposition after the Guard inaugurated its
own National Legionary dictatorship, but was ultimately assassinated by a Guardist..

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Monday, July 2, 2012
Milk Festival
Yesterday was Sirnea's mid-summer festival - traditionally a competition to choose the
best milker of cows. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.......

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Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Koestler

I’m spending a fair amount in the past

these days. Not my own but of
historical figures – eg the incredible
group assembled by Peter Watson
in his German Genius; Miklos Banffy’s
novels and diaries about life and
events in Translyvania andAustro-
Hungary in the first few decades of
the 20th century (I have just received
his diaries); and some portraits of
Berlin in the 1920s (by Otto Friedrich
and Count Harry Kessler).
One thing it brings home is the exceptional nature of the normality in which I grew up
and lived (the last 50 years). Now we face the turmoil which was normal for central
Europeans in the first half of the twentieth century and have, I suspect, become so
spoiled as to be unable to cope with what the future holds.

One man perhaps embodies (by his life and open writings) that older generation - and
that is Arthur Koestler (born in Hungary in 1905 and died in London in 1983). I have just
finished his remarkable biography Koestler – the indispensable intellectual by Michael
Scammel. This is a masterly account and analysis of the life of a brilliant polymath, a
deep and restless thinker, first, about the political and ethical problems of his time,
and, later, about the place of humanity in the universe. He was an ex-Hungarian, an ex-
Communist, an ex-Zionist. He was exuberantly "continental", a cosmopolitan, frequently

182
moving homes from one country and even one continent to another; a journalist, a
campaigner against capital punishment, a hectoring controversialist, a political novelist,
a voluminous autobiographer. He was usually (but not always) selfish, financially
generous, arrogant but self-critical, introspective, neurotic, a manic-depressive,
mercurial, sparkling, hot-tempered and uninhibited in behaviour, competitive, both
repellent and charismatic

His writing made a powerful impact on me in the late 1950s and early 1960s. His book
against hanging is one of these rare books (like Zola’s) which changed public policy (it
certainly convinced me). And his essay on why we laugh was, for me, the first example
of popular science.

Koestler rose from the lowest rung of the journalism profession, to a threadbare
starving novelist, and finally to a man of distinction and of letters. While still in his 20s,
he was appointed to a senior position in the prestigious Ullstein publishing company - but
was sacked in 1932 just after he joined the communist party.
He migrated to Israel, became a Zionist and lived briefly in a Kibbutz. But later, as he
did with Communism (after Stalin's "Show trials"), gave them both up. He was
imprisoned by Franco in Spain, the Vichy French in France, barely escaped being caught
by the Gestapo there, and served eight months in a British internment camp as a
suspected communist agent and alien. He caroused with Albert Camus, Andre Malreaux,
Jean Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway, George Orwell, and Simone de Beauvoir, to name
just a few. He interviewed Albert Einstein and published with Sigmund Freud.
After Stalin's Show trials punctured his utopian ideas about the Communist revolution,
Koestler spent the rest of his life in search of the political and philosophical Holy Grail
of a revolutionary political system that would not yield to the morally bankrupt "means-
ends" calculus of absolute power. And although he never found it, most of his books,
including his magnum opus "Darkness at Noon" were spent in search of a solution to this
and similar overarching philosophical problems. Here is an interesting article written
about his writing by one of his many friends - George Orwell which is, of course, as
fresh today as then.

Koestler's intellect range over such a wide range of subjects, that today, being able to
do so, would never be though of. He was equally facile in discussing Quantum Physics,
Political Science, Psychology or art and Anthropology. It is the depth and breadth of his
knowledge that makes Koestler seem like the last of the Twentieth Century Intellectual
Renaissance men.
His autobiographical writings (eg The Invisible Writing) probably give the most
powerful insights into the first part of the 20th century - but, suddenly, in the mid
1950s, he put politics behind him and turned to science and para-science. You feel that
he had lived such an incredible life by the time he turned 50 that he needed to reinvent
himself.

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Thursday, July 5, 2012
Romania's real tragedy

What passes in this country for political

discussion has an increasingly paranoiac
tone. I have found that venom between
political personalities and groups
generally reflects (a) an absence of
significant policy differences between
political parties and (b) their being "on
the make" and committed to personal
enrichment rather than (even the
pretence of) the public good.
The result is those who lose elections are
envious of every day the opposite lot has its snout in the trough (as distinct from
theirs). Thus it has been with the two parties in America (the recent differences have
been cultural rather than policy) - which are simply conduits for the cash which is
needed in that country for candidates to stand.
Romanian political parties are opportunistic devices; they come and they go – and those
elected often change their allegiance when they see the way voter opinion is going.
Europe too easily assumed that Romania had an operational democracy!

Citizens in Romania face rising prices and falling wages – but the political class has no
time for such issues. For several weeks, all its efforts and time has been spent on
power games. But parliamentary elections come in a few months. The people will not
forget. We can expect the extreme parties – such as they are - to garner votes.
There seems a total absence of any independent voice of reason in this situation. Senior
civil servants and those on a whole variety of state bodies are servants of the party
which appointed them. Those who have been sacked in the past few days were the
political appointments of “the other lot” – not the independent souls we imagine. Many
of those in civil society (who signed the letters to Europe) have attachments. It is very
difficult to survive without them. The media is part of the power struggle. And
Universities are corrupted. And so it goes on. This is a systemic problem – not just the
case of a crazy Prime Minister (or President) – and needs a systemic solution.
Romania has an incredible number of bright people – more intellectuals than any other
country I know. At the moment they seem struck dumb. And, sadly, they are all highly
competitive if not arrogant – and don’t seem capable of making alliances with one
another to help pull the country out of its downward spiral. That’s the real tragedy!

If in fact there is a referendum later this month which asks citizens whether their
President should be impeached, voters actually should be encouraged to score out the
word “Basescu” on the ballot paper and replace it with “politicians”. That is the simplest
way to tell them to start focusing on public problems and opportunities rather than on
their own.

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In the meantime, someone needs to start a discussion about the qualities Romania needs
in its politicians and what sort of mechanism is needed to start recruiting and sustaining
a new breed of serious people (on lower salaries and benefits) with some integrity.

7 July
Is the Rule of Law under attack in Romania??

A couple of weeks ago, my blogpost heading read thatBucharest was becoming more like
Budapest - in the insidious and
autocratic way the new prime Minister
(Ponta) was removing possible sources
of challenge to his authority. This
trend has now become positively
unconstitutional - with, for example,
procedures being altered overnight to
allow the President to be impeached
on a simple majority of citizens
actually voting (rather than a majority
of those entitled to vote) - and the
Constitutional Court no longer being
allowed to comment on parliamentary decisions. Parliament is now being invited to
impeach the President - with a referendum scheduled on the matter for later this
month (Basescu has already survived one such attempt a few years back).
On the face of it, this is the replacement of politics by thuggery on a scale we haven't
really seen since the 1930s.
However, there is another point of view - that President Basescu's egotistical
hyperactivity is preventing government; that institutions such as the Constitutional
Court are still inhabited with a mixture of "place-men" (placed to do the bidding of
those who placed them) and of old-Communists who are available to the highest bidder;
and that, with the summer holiday almost upon us emergency decisions are needed to
get rid of the President and allow some government.......It was, I am told, Basescu
himself who changed the law to require a Presidential impeachment to have the support
of 50% of citizens entitled to vote.
Another expat living in Romanian has done the "devil's advocate" bit much better than
me.
So far we seen only a few people on the streets - compared with the numbers in the
early months of the year (it's 40 degrees anyway) - but at least some prestigious
organisations have been active in their protests. The following letter describing the
most recent attacks has been sent to the Secretary General of the European
Commission, Ms. Catherine Day

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Bucharest, July 3rd , 2012
Civil society warning: the rule of law under unprecedented attack in Romania

Dear Mr President
Dear Commissioners
This is the third warning in less than two months, issued by a list of reputable Romanian
civil society organizations, since the current Socialist-Liberal ruling coalition took
power. The drift towards a non-democratic regime has continued, with serious steps
taken in the last few days which will potentially affect the independence of institutions
and the separation of powers.
 There were open threats to dismiss and replace the judges of theConstitutional
Court, which by Constitution are irremovable during their term of office, coming from
the top government officials (the Prime Minister, the Minister of Justice). On July
3rd all the judges of the Constitutional Court have signed an open letter and sent a
protest to the Venice Commission, signaling the political pressures on the institution.
 The ruling coalition has dismissed the independent Ombudsman during the
parliament plenary of July 3rd , without due cause. The Ombudsman is the only
Romanian institution entitled to challenge the emergency ordinances of the Government
before the Constitutional Court. Presumably, it is by emergency decree that the
dismissal of the Constitutional Court judges before the end of their mandates will take
place. Though by law the Ombudsman may be replaced only if s/he breaches the
Constitution or the laws, the speedy proceedings used in the present case show that no
consideration was given to the legal requirements. The Ombudsman is an essential
institution in any rule of law country.
 In the notorious case of the ex-prime minister Adrian Nastase, who was
convicted to two years in jail for corruption, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr. Rus,
unusually called Mr Nastase after the verdict to negotiate with him the terms of the
imprisonment. Political pressure was put on the police and the medical authorities in the
hospital were Mr Nastase was taken after his failed suicide attempt, to extend his stay
in the emergency hospital for about a week, with no medical reason, as the court has
established subsequently. The prosecutors have started criminal investigations against
three police officers and one doctor (who happens to be a former Socialist senator and
under criminal investigation for corruption himself). The Minister of Justice called upon
the Superior Council of Magistracy, the guarantor of the independence of justice, to
refrain from taking position against the threats of Social-Liberal politicians to the
judges and prosecutors. Fortunately, the Superior Council of Magistracy took a firm
position against all interferences in the justice system.
 The Prime Minister acted against the Constitutional Court decision which stated
clearly that the prerogatives of external representation of Romania belongs to the
President, not to the Prime Minister. This equals contempt of the constitutional court
which in itself undermines the basis of democracy and the separation of powers.
 The Official Gazette was shifted also by emergency ordinance, from Parliament
to Government’s control, for the first time in Romania’s modern history. It cannot be a
coincidence that among the first acts published in the Official Gazzette was the

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resignation of Mr. Voiculescu (one of the leaders of the ruling coalition) from the
Senate, so that the High Court lost competence to judge upon his criminal file regarding
graft allegations. The Government is known for its appetite for speedy legislation, when
all acts enter in effect upon publication. This is why the legislator intended to put the
Official Gazzette under the Parliament as a form of control between powers. Since the
change, the relevant documents are published overnight in the Official Gazzette.
 Two members of the Parliament from the ruling coalition were declared by final
court decision as incompatible with their mandate, because of conflicts of interests. In
spite of this, they refuse to step down. Their colleagues from the Standing Legal
Committee of the parliament seem to protect them, without offering any plausible
explanation.
 On top of all, Mr Crin Antonescu, senator, president of the National Liberal
Party and co-president of the ruling coalition, has declared publicly on July 2nd that all
institutions that are “blocking the coalition from ruling”, and in particular the
Constitutional Court, must be changed.
These are serious threats against the underlining elements of a rule of law state.
Therefore we, Romanian civil society organizations, ask the European Commission to
strongly urge the Romanian government and ruling coalition to stop their current actions
against the rule of law and separation of powers.
We emphasize that the EU institutions have vigorously reacted previously, in the case
ofHungary. We believe similar actions are necessary in our case. One such action would
be to consider starting infringement procedures against Romania, based on the Charter
of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47.
We also want express our strong belief that the Mechanism for Cooperation and
Verification (MCV) should continue, as an effective instrument for preserving
democracy inRomania.

Group for Social Dialogue (GDS); Expert Forum

(EFOR); Freedom House,Romania; Romanian Center for European Policy
(CRPE); Romanian Helsinki Committee (APADOR-CH); ActiveWatch – Media Monitoring
Agency (MMA); Romanian Independent Journalists’ Association (AZIR); Center for
Independent Journalism (CJI); Center for NGO Assistance (CENTRAS);
and Resource Center for Public Participation (CeRe)

One thing is for sure, Ponta (the PM) doe not seem to understand that, in the
absence of a coherent statement to the external world about his actions, we are
bound to believe that he is undermining the rule of law.
The outside world does not properly understand the extent to which Romanian
institutions which, in the old member states, are bastions of freedom are here
sinecures occupied by placemen. For example who can respect a body which, asked
to judge the constitutionality of a 25% cut in the salaries of public servants, ruled
that it was legal - apart, that is, from itself!!

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Saturday, July 7, 2012
The wider context of Rule of Law

Those interested in the latest developments of the

serious Romanian crisis now unfolding (with the
President now out of office until a referendum on 27
July decides his fate) are best briefed here. And it's
good to see Der Spiegel producing a good article onhow
the situation is being viewed in Germany.
All I know is that none of the hot air being expended
makes a damn bit of difference to the people who live
in villages such as mine here in Brasov County.
Everyone still has their couple of cows, pigs and a
dozen hens - and ensures that the hay is collected.
True I have water from the municipal system - but
most of my old neighbours draw their water from a
natural source they themselves tapped 40 years ago -
and need the state system only for the delivery of
their mail; the small primary school and a badly
maintained road.
And the EC has been a disaster here - trying to kill the systems on which they live and
subsidising the disastrous carbuncle of a guest house being completed on the hill
opposite - an eyesore which will simply take money from the older people who offer
charming b and b (cazare) experiences in their old houses.

Those who think that such declines in political systems

are to be found only in the East should read the latest
UK Democratic Audit.

And those who want a wider view of trends in Rule of

Law might listen to the latest UK Reith
Lectures which, this year, are being delivered by the
globally-renowned, right-wing historian Niall Ferguson
- supposedly on this theme. I've listened to the
first and a bit ofthe second but, so far, can't find
much about rule of law. It seems rather to be about
 the extent to which governments have broken
with the contract (I didn't know we had) with future
generations
 the scale of indebtedness (Japan and UK in
particular)
 the importance of institutions

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I'm hoping it sparks a debate. I’m no fan of Niall Ferguson but he did make an
important point when he suggested that there should be an additional criterion used in
policy impact assessments – effect on future generations. This was part of his larger
argument about how governments have in the past decade shoved a lot of debt on
future generations – the British Private Finance Initiative (PFI) is just the most visible
example (with 300 billion pounds being the latest estimate of what the final bill will be.
Talk about a Faustian pact!

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Legacies - personal and collective

I woke this morning with thoughts of a website

devoted to vignettes of those who had lived (or
were living) “worthy lives”. The adjective
perhaps misleads – it has a condescending note
to it. But the “good life” which seemed initially
the better phrase to denote the subject of my
thoughts seems to hold such meanings
as sybaritism; self-sufficiency and ecological
sensitivity; orChristmas cracker lists.
Legacy is a word to conjure with. At one level,
it has promise of future riches; at another level
it is about accounting for our past actions. One
of the most powerful mental exercises is
imagining you are at your own funeral and
anticipating what people will say about you.
Then exploring what changes you should and can
make in your life to be more like the person you would like to be (remembered as).
I’ve been re-watching the West Wing television series and was particularly taken with
the episode entitled 365 days. After a heart attack, Jed Bartlett’s Chief of Staff has
returned to the White House just before the final year of the President’s second
term. He sits watching the President’s previous State of the Union addresses, then
brings the staff together and says
We’ve been here 7 years. Done some things we’re proud of; things we’re less pleased
about…It may be time for us to take our own temperature, an internal inventory…What’s
done. What’s undone. What’s done that we’d like to undo or do over.
Even as Leo McGarry speaks, people are being called out of the meeting to deal with
various crises. When they return he reminds them of how much power they have to
change lives, writes the numbers 365 on the whiteboard to emphasise how few
days/little time is left – and asks them what they would actually like to achieve in this
time. The relief is palpable – people’s cynicism disappears and ideas come thick and
fast.

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Not only crises but routine and the need for survival make it difficult to give much
thought to the question of whether our impact (both as an individual and as a group
member) on other people is as positive as it might be.
I’m at the stage of my life when such questions matter. And find it sad that we seem to
need to wait for someone’s death before we really appreciate them. And that, even
then, we don’t seem able to celebrate them and their values properly. Twenty years
after my father’s death I still can’t decide how his memory (and values) can best be
served. And I now have this ridiculous idea that my various papers and scribbles (let
alone strivings) might be worth preserving in some sort of way – only as an example, I
hurry to add, of one 20th century man’s attempt to make sense of the life he was given.
I have been lucky with the level and breadth of work opportunities I've had (both
in UK and abroad); was given a love of reading and culture; and am keen to share. These
are the distinctive aspects of my life.
And there must be many thousands of people who are generous in their assessments of
people and keen to share. Why don’t we connect more? The media give so many bad role
models. Isn't it about time we fought back?
That's why I woke up thinking about a website celebrating the lives of those
(particularly the less famous) who make other peoples' lives worth living........

By the way, the link I've given to West Wing is a Clive James piece which must be read
simply as an example of how to bring the English language alive. I have pulled from my
shelves his Cultural Amnesia - notes on the margin of my time (2007) which must be one
of the all-time great books, celebrating people we simply didn't know existed.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Time for international action on Romania

A lot of us have been despairing

recently about democracy - but the current
crisis in Romania reminds us why millions of
people have been willing to die for it.
Basically it is about those in power not
being able to ride roughshod (with
jackboots) over opposing voices. It is about
a default position which forces those with
power to at least think twice - if not
actually engage in dialogue - before they
try to take drastic actions. The default position is created by constitutional (or semi-
constitutional) institutional structures which you respect and change only through
dialogue and consensus.
I asked recently why the independent voices of Romania seemed so silent in its present
crisis of democracy. This morning, the country’s most distinguished intellectual Andrei
Plesu published a powerful article in der Spiegel. A university professor under dictator

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Nicolae Ceausesucu, Plesu was banished to a small village and barred from teaching in
the 1980s for associating with dissidents. After the fall of communism, he served as
minister of culture and, from 1997 to 1999, as foreign minister (for the Christian
democrats). He was, briefly, an adviser to Basescu at the start of the President's rule -
but resigned after only a few months under circumstances which have never been
properly explained. He was also a leading figure in the Romanian Cultural Institute
whose sudden transfer to government control was one of the early moves in this
escalating power sweep. So he is not a completely Olympian figure - but he is most
certainly not someone who would take a party position. His commitments are, first and
foremost, to principles of freedom of expression and rule of law. His piece includes the
following -
In a suicidal declaration, the current prime minister, Dr. Victor Ponta, claims that he
devotes "75 percent of the time in government meetings to political turf warfare." For
weeks, he has been confronted with accusations that he plagiarized extensively when
writing his doctoral thesis. Yet his behaviour leads us to conclude that he doesn't know
what constitutes plagiarism. He believes that he can copy 85 pages from another work
with impunity, and without identifying the text as a quotation. When the commission
that was appointed to investigate the charges of plagiarism confirmed the suspicion, it
was summarily dismissed.
Meanwhile, the prime minister travels to the EU summit in Brussels even though he
lacks the mandate to represent Romania. In doing so, he ignores a ruling by the
constitutional court that it was the president who should have gone to Brussels instead.
And what happened next? The powers of the constitutional court were drastically
curtailed.
Half-baked amendments are bulldozed through the parliament and institutional powers
are restricted, established procedure is ignored without any plausible explanation being
provided. The management of the national archive (which had been tasked with securing
access to documents relating to the communist dictatorship) is dismissed as are the
boards of the government-run television station and the institute for investigation of
political crimes before 1989. The same fate befalls the ombudsman, who represents
Romanian citizens in complaints against government entities, as well as the chairmen of
both chambers of parliament.An atmosphere of amazement and uncertainty prevails
in Romania. Two Nobel Prize winners, Herta Müller and Tomas Tranströmer, many
foreign institutions, the ambassador of the United States in Bucharest, the European
Justice Commissioner, leading European politicians such as German Chancellor Angela
Merkel, countless Romanian artists and intellectuals, various institutions of civil society
and youth organizations are protesting against current developments -- because it has
clearly begun spinning out of control.
Who wants to live in a country like this? For my part, I feel burdened by the
atmosphere created by the Romanian government. I want to be able to do my work, and
I have no special demands. All I want is a minimum level of normalcy that makes it
possible for me to bring my projects and my life to a successful conclusion.In essence,
this is also the responsibility of governments. They should make it possible for the
people in their country to go about their business in peace, and under humane
conditions. But for some time now, I have been waking up every morning to witness the

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disconcerting signs of social decay.And now, for the first time in 40 years, I am not
eager to return "home" from Berlin.

For what some local papers are saying, see here and here. This is the second article this
week in Der Spiegel about the situation. The first is here.
And here is an excellent post from another expat here which adopts the useful "devil's
advocate" approach on the situation ie starting from the position that the President has
indeed been overstepping his role and setting out -
 what a more reasonable strategy would have been
 the incredibly stupid mistakes which this Prime Minister has made
As someone who has been a Labour activist for 50 years (!), what I now want to know is
what the Socialist International is going to do with these cretins. I'm apparently not
able to contact them directly so have written to David Martin, Scotland's most senior
MEP and an old political colleague to find out what action (if any) is being considered
against the PSD who form the main party in the current unholy alliance of liberals,
conservatives and socialists.
Incidentally, if ever you needed proof of how much the Romanian political class is out
for its own interests, the composition of this alliance is it!
A decade or so ago, the EC sanctioned Austria (for 7 months) for daring to take the
far-right Freedom Party into a coalition. What is happening here is ten times worse. The
basic principle of the European Union is supposed to be its commitment to democratic
principles. Standing by while they are thrown on the bonfire would be the final nail in
the EU coffin.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

A pantomime which requires a boycott

With just over 2 weeks to the

referendum on the future of the
Romanian President, there is utter
confusion on the rules which will
decide its outcome. Simple majority
of those voting (as parliament
decided last week); majority of
those entitled to vote (as it has been
for a few years); or a requirement
that a valid vote requires at least
50% turnout (the condition placed
yesterday by theConstitutional
Court. The ULR government has promised to hold an emergency session of Parliament to
enact the latter condition and end the constitutional crisis which currently exists. And
that was enough to call off the American Ambassador’s criticisms. Although Basescu is
very unpopular (with only about 15% public support), this might just be enough to save

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him – since a lot of people are on holiday in late July (although they are able to vote
anywhere in Romania).
However, this being Romania, people could interpret the situation in very different
ways. As one of my compatriot’s blogposts puts it
Some of today's papers say Victor Ponta will not respect the ruling, others are unclear.
All is confusion. In theory we could have Mr. Băsescu losing the referendum with a
turnout of below 50%, he and the Constitutional Court claiming he is president and the
temporary incumbent claiming he is acting president - a situation like the Anti-Popes
who waged war on one another in the Middle Ages or the three false Dimitris who
bedevilled Polish history or the various people who claimed to be Louis XVII.
Basescu is actually hinting at a boycott - "people should not be part of this dishonesty"
- but the above scenario would bring the country to its knees. In a previous post I
myself suggested that voters should spoil their papers - this perhaps remains the best
option. People do need to vote to ensure this nonsense is ended - and, if a significant
number of the votes were disqualified because of a "plague on the political class"
scrawl, this would at least send a message that voter patience is wearing thin. Bear in
mind that November sees parliamentary elections - and there is a far-right party
waiting in the wings which could make all this look like a minor tiff!
At least it seems that the European Parliament people are taking a hard line with the
Romanian government – the chairman of the European Parliament has spoken out; and
the leader of the conservative group (EPP) actually refused to meet with Ponta on the
latter's visit to Brussels. And others are ostracising Ponta - as this highly symbolic
picture shows

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Taking distance

I can see that some of my recent readers are

more interested in painting than politics – and
that my blog masthead does clearly state that,
unlike most blogs, this one doesn’t “give instant
opinions on current events”.
So let me explain why, in the past week, I have
been commenting on the ongoing crisis in this
country where I have residence and a mountain
home.
Simply that I decided in 2007 – after 8 years in
Central Asia – that it was time to return to
Central/Eastern Europe and to see -
 how its governance system was developing
– ie both the administrative system which has
been the focus of my work in various countries
over the past 20 years and the wider political
system

193
 what lessons this held for the various tools international bodies have been
trying to develop over this period for other “transition” countries eg in “neighbourhood
countries”
I was lucky on my return from Central Asia in that, within a few months, I became Team
Leader of a project in Bulgaria focused on training local actors in the implementation of
the European Acquis. It proved to be a challenging reinsertion to Europe – not least
because of the combination of Bulgarian and Italian cultures (the latter being the main
contractor). But I survived – and enjoyed the experience – and Bulgaria. That allowed
me to refine the critique I had been working up for some time about EC Technical
Assistance.
My next project in 2009 was a not dissimilar one in Romania – but I could sustain the
controlling and internecine Romanian bureaucratic culture for only a month before I
resigned in disgust and protest. I was happy to have another Bulgarian project for the
past 18 months and to divide my time between Sofia and the house in the Carpathian
mountains as I pursued more of a cultural agenda.
Frankly the political antics in both countries didn’t interest me – a political animal if
ever there was one as I had given 20 years of my life to regional politics in Scotland.
But both countries have been pursuing a neo-liberal agenda – whatever their political
rhetoric and labels may occasionally say. And, having spent some time with younger
political aspirants in the mid 1990s in Romania, it was very clear they were being
groomed (by American advisers) simply in the skills of political marketing – not of policy
substance. Here is one of the best takes on the situation.

One technical question I now have is the extent to which the semi-Presidential system
ofRomania is now contributing to the Romanian problems. They are a highly
argumentative race – and such a system is doomed to impasse (let alone highly emotional
conflict) in the absence of a powerful leader (such as Iliescu) who can informally control
everything – despite the minimal powers the role actually gives. Basescu managed (with a
sick psyche) to do this for some years but, in the end, political forces and public
patience just ran out.
What, I wonder, are the implications for the country’s future constitutional
settlement?
Sadly the country lacks the civil society to organise the sort of constitutional
processScotland developed in the 1980s and 1990s.
I’m driving tomorrow to the heat of Bucharest – and then on to Sofia for a week.
Bulgaria is now performing much more positively than Romania - reflected in its financial
ratings.

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Hypocritical Europe?

Today's previous post tried simply to describe the

latest developments here in Romania. This second
post today reflects conversations with local people
and is a comment.
European input to Romania’s ongoing political crisis is
a delicate matter. It can all too easily become
counter-productive. There are many educated
Romanians - and they are highly intelligent, proud and
touchy – and can quickly spot apparent
inconsistencies if not hypocrisies in comments
from Brusselsand Berlin. For example -
 Italy and Greece have been hotbeds of corruption, blatant disregard of rule of
law and conflicts of interest for decades - and yet Europe took action only recently
when its own financial stability was threatened.
 Romania’s (suspended) President has been overstepping his role for several
years, acting unconstitutionally on several occasions and yet Europe said nothing. This
week’s judgement of the Constitutional Court apparently agreed that Basescu has been
usurping the Prime Minister's role - although most newspaper reports focus only on
their agreement that due procedures were observed.
People with no axe to grind in the present stand-off are asking why Romania is
being picked on in this way. A lot of people believe that Europe is so hostile
toRomania that it is looking for a reason to kick them out.
Europe therefore needs to tread carefully – and spell out clearly the basis for its
concerns. Officially, Romania obtained membership of the European Union in 2007 only
because it was judged to have satisfied certain basic conditions – ie of being a
functioning democracy and market economy. Any sign that the rule of law is not being
respected is a more worrying signal in a new state than an old member state – since such
things take time to bed down. In that sense all member states are not equal (Can one
take seriously a Constitutional Court which has taken three different positions in 3
years about the rules for a referendum to impeach the President???). Why else is
Romania subject to these 6 monthly tests???
A year ago I drew attention to an important distinction a Czech discussant made -
between democracy understood as institutions and democracy understood as culture.
It’s been much easier to create a democratic regime, a democratic system as a set of
institutions and procedures and mechanism, than to create democracy as a kind of
culture – that is, an environment in which people are actually democrats
My old neighbour will be voting for the impeachment – most old villagers follow the
socialist party line. But he does not appreciate constitutional niceties – for example,
removing the next in line for the Presidency a few days before the removal of the
President may not be unconstitutional in the strict sense - but it is in fact a profound
undermining of the essence of constitutionality. If the beef is with Basescu's
behaviour, then why not accept the next in line - also a PDL member? Removing him

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before he could take up the interim position demonstrates the attack is a wider political
one - concerned to pack all institutions with yea-sayers. That's a coup d'etat! I'm
surprised more commentators have not focussed on that.
Independent analysts such as Tom Gallagher and Alina Mungiu-Pippidi have spelled out in
many papers and books over the years just how deviant the political class is here (Tom's
latest in his 2009 book Romania and the European Union - how the weak vanquished the
strong; Alina's in her chapter in the 2009 book Democracy’s plight in the European
Neighbourhood).
The issue is how Europe explains to the Romanian voters that they are still under
assessment - without driving them into the arms of the ultra nationalists???
So far, I've had no response from my brief letter to David Martin MEP. And the
European Parliament seems to be splitting on political lines - with the Head of the
Socialists and also of the Liberals siding with Ponta
The painting is one of Belgian painter's - James Ensor

Good cop, bad cop

We seem to have a good cop, bad cop

routine going on here in Romania –
with the Romanian PM (Ponta) being
sweetness and light to Europe; whilst
the guy who was positioned first as
Senate leader and then, a week later,
appointed by virtue of that position
as interim President of the country
taking a tougher line.
After talks in Brussels on Thursday
with, European commission president
Jose Manuel Barroso said
thatRomania's government "must respect the full independence of the judiciary,
restore the powers of the Constitutional Court and ensure that its decisions are
observed".
According to his press spokesman he also gave Ponta a list of steps he must take to
restore confidence in his government's commitment to EU standards of the rule of law
including -
 repealing recent decisions curbing the powers of the constitutional court to
check new or amended laws;
 stopping the politically selective use of the official journal, in which legislation
has to be published in order to take effect; and
 ensuring the appointment of an Ombudsman who has the support of all political
parties
But Romania’s interim president Crin Antonescu (National Liberal party), giving his first
press conference yesterday in that role said: "The president of Romania, even the
interim president, doesn't take orders... from anyone except parliament and the
Romanian people." (someone needs to brief this guy about the implications of being a

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member of the European Union!!). Antonescu denied reports Barroso had given Ponta a
"to-do list".
"The 10 or 11 commandments from Barroso don't exist, because we have no such
document and because it would represent an unacceptable and unimaginable overreach
of the European Commission's powers, which someone with as much experience and
prestige as Mr Barroso would not have done." (He may be correct that no document
exists but hasn’t he been following the developments in Hungary - some of whose
government decisions have been referred by the European Commission to theEuropean
Court of Justice )
There is actually some confusion about what actions Barroso actually set out. According
to today's Hotnews.ro these are the requests which Ponta has promised to respond to -

 No head of the National Anti-Corruption Department be designated or no new

prosecutor-general named during the interim Presidency of Antonescu
 No pardon be issued during the interim Presidency of Antonescu - a hint at the
homes of former PM Adrian Nastase, the current PM's mentor Victor Ponta, who was
recently convicted in the case Corruption
 no Minister should hold office who has received a sentence regarding their
personal integrity (don't ask me what this is). Deputies who have final decisions of
incompatibility and conflict of interests must resign also (as in the case of MPs Sergiu
Andon and Florin Pislaru)
 The People's Lawyer (Ombudsman) must be a person who has the support of all
political parties
 The Powers of the Constitutional Court recently revoked must all be returned
and the emergency Ordinance annulled
 The rules to validated the referendum to impeach the president must be re-
established,
 the Official Gazette no longer must be used for the "selective" official
publication of Decisions
Coincidentally the European Commission next week will issue its regular report on the
so-called Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, which follows progress in combating
corruption and organised crime.
And the president of one of Europe's top bodies on constitutional and human will next
week head up a fact-finding mission to Romania. Jean-Claude Mignon, the president of
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, or PACE, will be in Bucharest on
July 18 and 19, the assembly said in a statement Friday. PACE pushes for improved
human and democratic rights across its 47 member states and in other nations. Mignon
is set to meet with Ponta, Basescu, the president of the constitutional court and other
officials.

And it will be next week before Parliament meets to decide how to reconcile their
decision to change the referendum rules (simple majority of those voting decides) with

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the Constitutional Court's (new) requirement that an outcome will require a turnout of
50% plus one (very difficult to achieve with such an outdated electoral register)

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Firm action from the EC
With the Danube and mid Balkan towns having hit 42 degrees on Sunday, we edged
nervously out of the Bucharest suburbs at 07.30 Monday. But the forecasts had
assured us of more acceptable temperatures - and the drive to Sofia was in fact a
delight. The Bulgarian roads from Russe to Sofia are like the old RN French roads –
narrow but straight – and offer very relaxed conditions (if you know where to watch for
the cops).
And Sofia welcomed us six hours later with a great rose wine and meal. Who can ask for
more?
Every day since dawns coolly – with the narrow streets and trees offering great cycling
conditions until mid afternoon when we disappear into the Rodina Hotel pool and
exercises.

In our absence the EC has acted, as Tom Gallagher argues here, with commendable
firmness toward its wayward child and issued yesterday an appropriate judgement,
thetechnical detail of which can be seen here

The Romanian President will still lose the 29 July vote – and it is highly unlikely that the
complex package of nationalistic outrage (“we obey only Romanians”) and admissions of
guilt and remorse by the Prime Minister and acting President will in fact translate into
anything significant thereafter.
Most of the western commentators have taken Basescu’s side – mainly because of the
sheer crudity and stupidity of the tactics used in the Ponta power grab
(Iliescu, Nastaseand even Basescu were so much more clever). Basescu is credited by
Westerners with being the real reformer and certainly is the one person who has
pursued judicial reform with real zeal. But to those who excuse Basescu’s breaches of
constitutionality (he ruled for several years, for example, on emergency ordinances
while having a parliamentary majority) I simply reply that I have still to see an article
(in English) which can convince me (judicial reform apart) that he has in the past 8
years actually been pursuing a coherent reform agenda.
He seems to me just a bull in a china shop – who loves the sound of his own bellow.
A leftist website gives, amazingly, a more objective perspective.
And an article in Der Spiegel gives some useful background on the political party set-up
-
Ponta's three-party alliance, called the Social Liberal Union, is populated by a worrying
number of prominent politicians and businesspeople who are suspected of corruption,
abuse of office or crime. Interim President Antonescu's National Liberal Party, for
example, provides a political home to the oil magnate and billionaire Dinu Patriciu, who
has successfully withstood years of investigations into allegedly corrupt privatization
deals. Head of the insignificant Conservative Party, Dan Voiculescu, is a former
Securitate employee who was instrumental in helping ex-Romanian dictator Nicolae

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Ceausescu acquire hard currency. Now one of the richest people in the country, he owns
the influential television broadcasters Antena1 and Antena3.
And then there is the Social Democratic Party (PSD) of Prime Minister Victor Ponta.
The party has its origins in the days following the toppling of Ceausescu in December
1989. It rapidly became a collection of former Securitate and communist party elites
and is seen by many in Romania as the ultimate symbol of a corrupt oligarchy.
Ponta's political mentor, former Prime Minister and PSD head Adrian Nastase, for
example, is an icon of political corruption. On June 20, he was sentenced to two years
behind bars for illegal campaign and party financing practices. It was the first time in
two decades that a politician of his caliber was sent to jail. In an attempt to avoid jail
time, Nastase last month acted out an elaborate suicide attempt -- which merely
delayed his sentence by a few days. He is now in jail.
A 'Duplicitous Scoundrel'Nastase's sentencing, however, was the ultimate warning shot
fired across the bow of Romania's corrupt elite. If someone at the level of Nastase can
be thrown in jail, then it can happen to anybody. Indeed, observers believe that his
sentencing is the primary motivation for the power struggle currently engaged in by
Ponta and Basescu. "They are doing all they can to resist an independent judiciary," says
the lawyer Laura Stefan. "They would rather that Romania was in a kind of gray area
outside of the European Union."

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

State Capture

I returned from Sofia last Thursday (with many

litres of white Bulgarian wine) and am now back in
the mountains – silent witness to the latest
events of the pantomime which passes for
politics here in Romania.
Only 46 percent of voters apparently cast their
ballots in Sunday’s referendum called after the
Romanian parliament suspended Basescu in early
July on accusations that he had overstepped his
power. Given the outdated nature of the
electoral register, this is an astonishingly high
percentage for such a contentious, quickly-called
and inconveniently-timed referendum and
suggest to me the ballot-stuffing of which this
government has proved itself highly capable.
88 percent of those who did bother to vote favoured Basescu's ejection, but the
president had asked his followers to boycott the referendum.
On Monday, just hours after the country's Central Election Bureau announced that
voter turnout had not been sufficient to make results of the referendum valid, Basescu
went on the attack. Those who "organized this failed coup," he said, "should be held
responsible before the state institutions."

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Prime Minister Victor Ponta promptly responded by demanding that the president
resign. "He will probably stay in the presidential palace, will have cars, villas and some
profiteers around him who will continue to advise and praise him," Ponta said on Monday.
"But for the Romanian people he stopped being a leader last night."

The Romanian Academic Society is one of the few bodies in this country which tries to
offer analysis rather than emotional diatribes – and I missed its typically balanced
paperwhich puts the recent antics in the detailed context of legislative and political
events and court decisions in Romania over the past 2-3 years. The paper draws
attention to the scale of parliamentarian cross-dressing (MPs changing parties during
the course of a parliament) and argues that
the reason for this bitter fighting and the high political migration in Romania is one and
the same: the high stakes of state capture in an environment with major corruption
opportunities.
The paper even-handedly points to the corruption of Basescu colleagues which has been
unearthed recently – undermining the argument that this has been, in the phrase of one
German newspaper, a case of white knights versus black knights
A system in which the suspended President’s daughter; acting President’s wife and
Prime Minister’s wife are all (from different parties) Members of the European
Parliament indicates just what a self-serving political class we have here. Another RAS
commentary gives more detail on the political aspects of the RomanianConstitutional
Court.

And a Transition Online article puts the Romanian judicial situation in the wider context
of Central Europe.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Novels and music

Have been indulging myself in past week – eg

reading three John le Carre novels in quick
succession – A Small Town
inGermany (1968); The Second Pilgrim(1991);
and The Looking Glass War (1965). His
portrayal of Embassy life in the first two is
cutting; and the dialogues on the compromises
such people make rise occasionally to
Shakespearean levels. Corporate power looms
large in the middle book – and the conclusions
of all three books, unusually for such thrillers,
give idealists little hope. I’ve come late to le
Carre and am hooked. He is a great wordsmith;
crafts great atmosphere; and, by virtue of his
focus on moral dilemmas, can reasonably claim

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to be one of the great political novelists.
Pity he can’t be persuaded to write a novel based on Romanian political realities!
Presumably someone will soon write a novel focused on the recent work of prosecutors
here which, having put one ex-Prime Minister and a Minister of Agriculture into prison,
nowhave another ex-Minister and current MEP in their sights

A great Romanian pianist died at the weekend – at the tragically young age of 33 -
Mihaela Ursuleasa
She represented Romania’s great cultural tradition whose musical side was celebrated
recently in a Sarah in Romania post
Not just the well-known Enescu but composers such as Porumbescu
(here andhere); Martian Neagra, Dinicu and Constantinescu to mention a handful. And
these are just some of the composers! Then throw in the performers eg The Balinescu
quartet eg their wine’s so good and their Life and Death. Hopefully you can hear the
YouTube music - for the moment I have no sound!

What a pity that their political class has dragged the country's reputation down!

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Fighting for freedom

Some courageous and stirring words from the three

members of the feminist punk band Pussy
Riot currently being tried inRussia for their brief
(and uninvited)performance in a Moscow Cathedral and
who delivered closing arguments on Wednesday in a
case seen as a key test of the Russian president's
desire to crackdown on dissent. Let me reproduce the
story almost in full -
"This is a trial of the whole government system
of Russia, which so likes to show its harshness toward
the individual, its indifference to his honour and
dignity," Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, one of the trio
on trial said in an impassioned statement. "If this
political system throws itself against three girls … it
shows this political system is afraid of truth."
The judge set 17 August as the day she would deliver
a verdict against the women, charged with hooliganism motivated by religious hatred
following an anti-Putin performance in a Moscow cathedral.
Prosecutors have asked for a three-year sentence, arguing that the women sought to
insult all of Russian Orthodoxy and denying they were carrying out a political protest.
"Even though we are behind bars, we are freer than those people," Tolokonnikova said,
looking at the prosecution from inside the glass cage where she and her two bandmates,
Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich, have spent the nine-day trial. "We can say
what we want, while they can only say what political censorship allows."I am not scared

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of you," Alyokhina (24) told the court. "I'm not scared of lies and fiction, or the badly
formed deception that is the verdict of this so-called court. Because my words will live,
thanks to openness. When thousands of people will read and watch this, this freedom
will grow with every caring person who listens to us in this country." Each woman ended
her closing statement to loud applause from the Russian journalists sitting in the
courtroom.
There are some aspects of this case I don't like - their performance was childishly
offensive in its location and content; and the western media (and Madonna) fail to
explore the question of how such pranks would have been treated in the west. But the
fact remains that the cosying up of the Russian Orthodox church to Putin is sickening;
noone else seemed to have the guts to challenge it; and the girls' words are inspiring.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

A European Tour

An absolutely brilliant travel blog which I’ve missed for the

past couple of years as Merlin and Rebecca have traipsed
around Europe – spending a couple of weeks in each country
and posting superb photos of places and food, with recipes
thrown in. They have only 6 of their 50 countries left to
visit (if, that is you count UK as one – it is really 4). They
were in Romania in June and have nice posts about the wooden churches of
Maramures; a communist prison; and Romania’s national drink Tuica

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Rule of Law

In commenting on the Pussy Riot “witchtrial”

in Moscow, I broke my general rule not to
comment on ongoing events. My blood boiled,
however, as I read the live coverage
yesterday of the judge’s justification of the
two-year sentence she inflicted on the
band’s young members for theirbrief act of
defiance in a Moscow church earlier this
year. “Conspiracy driven by hatred of
religion” indeed! Judges (and priests) in so
many of the countries in which I have lived
in the past 22 years are so illiterate and
craven that they probably cannot even begin
to understand the meaning of civil
disobedience (see the late 1990s book - Why

202
Angels Fall).

Amidst all the rhetoric in the past 2 decades about democracy one thing is clear.
Without the semblance of “rule of law” it is meaningless. That means a system in which
the judiciary owes no favours to the political executive. And Russia and China have made
it clear that such a system is not for them. I was, two years ago, tempted to China to
head up a project which purported to advise the authorities on how to bring such a
system into existence (along with lots of other fashionable things such as performance
management). After 6 weeks I could see what a nonsense it was – and got out.

The only bright light here in Romania is the independent spirit being shown by
prosecutors and judges – one of the probable reasons for the high-handed actions being
taken by the new Prime Minister. Hopefully the genie will not go back in the bottle.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, European governments tear up what was left of “rule of
law”. The UK, for example, is tearing up the Vienna Convention of 1961 which has allowed
people to take refuge in foreign Embassies. This is an excerpt from an ex-British
Ambassador’s post on the matter -
The UK government has decided – after immense pressure from the Obama
administration – to enter the Ecuadorean Embassy and seize Julian Assange. This will
be, beyond any argument, a blatant breach of the Vienna Convention of 1961, to which
the UK is one of the original parties and which encodes the centuries – arguably
millennia – of practice which have enabled diplomatic relations to function. The Vienna
Convention is the most subscribed single international treaty in the world.
The provisions of the Vienna Convention on the status of diplomatic premises are
expressed in deliberately absolute terms. There is no modification or qualification
elsewhere in the treaty.

Article 22 -
1.The premises of the mission shall be inviolable. The agents of the receiving State may
not enter them, except with the consent of the head of the mission.
2.The receiving State is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect
the premises of the mission against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any
disturbance of the peace of the mission or impairment of its dignity.
3.The premises of the mission, their furnishings and other property thereon and the
means of transport of the mission shall be immune from search, requisition, attachment
or execution.
Not even the Chinese government tried to enter the US Embassy to arrest the Chinese
dissident Chen Guangchen. Even during the decades of the Cold War, defectors or
dissidents were never seized from each other’s embassies. This terrible breach of
international law will result in British Embassies being subject to raids and harassment
worldwide.The British Government bases its argument on domestic British legislation.
But the domestic legislation of a country cannot counter its obligations in international
law, unless it chooses to withdraw from them. If the government does not wish to follow

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the obligations imposed on it by the Vienna Convention, it has the right to resile from it
– which would leave British diplomats with no protection worldwide.

Monday, August 20, 2012

tourists in Brasov

First two weeks of August overcast and

cool – but the cloudless blue skies now
encircle the Carpathian mountain
ranges again. Saturday we acted
as Brasov tourists – catching the
funicular up the mountain which (a bit
like Sofia) towers over the city; and
then taking an open-air bus for a city
trip. Well worth the 7 euros the
afternoon cost (3 for the first; 1 for
second; and 3 for parking). Clocked an
excellent wine shop en route – offering well-presented wines from various parts of the
country – and finished the day with a moving organ and soprano performance at
Ghimbav’s fortified church. I’m not a great fan of classical solo singing but Cristina
Radu’s voice had me spell-bound. Next Saturday evening sees the last of the Musica
Barcensis performances at the most easterly of the fortified Saxon churches - in
Rasnov. Brasov has about ten such fortified churches within a short distance - four of
them in our neighbourhood.

A visit to the Carturesti bookshop netted Sach Sitwell’s 1938 Romanian Journey whose
intro could have been written yesterday (apart from the references to the royal family)
For Roumania is still unspoilt. Perhaps there is no other country in Europe of which this
is true to the same extent. More than this, under good rule, it has limitless possibilities
from its untired human stock, who have come safely through the nineteenth century in
their pristine state (ie without industrialisation). Let us hope that there will never be a
town in Roumania with a million inhabitants. Bucarest must be getting near that mark.
For there is always misery in very large towns; and the good fortune of Roumania lies in
its mountains and its plains. And this must bring us back, once more, to our general
contention. What is permanent and unforgettable in Roumania is the great plain of
Transylvania, the woods of Oltenia, the swamps of the Danube Delta, the valleys of the
Neamt, painted Sucevita and Voronet, and the wooden houses and gay costumes seen
upon its roads. That is the permanent Roumania; while the modern Roumania of factories
and model flats is only its amelioration into twentieth century conditions of civilization.
We prefer the old. And it is that which will last, tempered by the new.
an attractive book on the secluded (and old-world) Bukovina region by one of the
country’s best-known photographers (Florin Andreescu) was also bought; and some
autobiographical musings by Norman Manea who got out of Romania in the 1980s and has
an interesting foreward to this 2000 book Romania since 1989

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3 DVDs of the magnificent old Romanian conductor Celibidache – playing Bruckner with
whom he was great friends - completed the purchases. It's said that noone understood
his music better.
Posted by nomadron at 4:28 PM No comments: Links to this post

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Julian Assange - leaking in America and Sweden

The Assange story becomes more and

more convoluted – with sex and
lies making it difficult to focus on the
real issues. So, in the true spirit of this
blog, let’s step back; get the story line;
and then try to identify the issues.
Most recent writing on Assange focuses
either on the sexual issues; on his wider
political mission; or the diplomatic
complications of his most recent refuge
in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. We need to pull all the issues together.
This post sets out some basic facts. The next one will focus on the ideological and
political context in Sweden which has created such a maelstrom from an act which, in all
countries other than Sweden it seems, would be regarded as a private misdemeanour.
 Wikileaks was founded in 2006 by Assange "to bring important news and
information to the public... One of our most important activities is to publish original
source material alongside our news stories so readers and historians alike can see
evidence of the truth." Another of the organisation's goals is to ensure that
whistleblowers and journalists are not jailed for emailing sensitive or classified
documents. An online "drop box" was designed to "provide an innovative, secure and
anonymous way for sources to leak information to our journalists."
 It has nothing to do with Wikipedia
 Wikileaks’s main data bases are in Sweden.
 in early 2010 Wikileaks began releasing cables which had been sent by 274 of
the US consulates, embassies, and missions around the world. Dated between December
1966 and February 2010, the cables contain the diplomats' assessment of host
countries and their officials. According to WikiLeaks, the 251,287 cables
making Cablegate the world's largest release of classified material.
 The first document, the so-called Reykjavik 13 cable, was released by WikiLeaks
on 18 February 2010, and was followed by the release of State Department profiles of
Icelandic politicians a month later.
 WikiLeaks starts negotiations with media partners in Europe and the United
States to publish the rest of the cables in redacted (edited) form, removing the names
of sources and others in vulnerable positions.

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 April 2010. Julian Assange visits Sweden to discuss an offer of protective co-
operation from the Pirate Party, a political movement devoted to maximum freedom on
the Internet. After only a brief existence, the upstart party had surprisingly won a
place in the European Union Parliament, and had suggested that WikiLeaks would be
safer from repressive measures if it were sponsored by a parliamentary party. It is just
weeks after WikiLeaks astounded the world and severely damaged the image of
the United States by issuing “Collateral Murder”, a military video documenting an
appalling war crime by the seemingly inhuman crew of a U.S. helicopter gun ship in Iraq.
 In August 2010 Assange visited Sweden to formalise the deal with the Pilot
Party. During this visit he spoke at a Conference arranged by the Social
Democrats and had sex with two women one of whom was an SD supporter and who
subsequently used a police friend to check what power they had to force Assange
to take a medical test (since unprotected sex apparently took place). The main
instigator is horrified when the police say they will charge Assange with rape – and
refuses to sign the interview sheet. A warrant for his arrest for rape is issued
(but rescinded within a day by a higher authority on the basis that there is no
case to answer) An SD politician fighting a difficult election gets the case opened
up a few days later and leaks to the press (He has a legal partnership with an ex-
Minister who allowed American rendition). Assange waits in Sweden for 5 weeks
for clarification; is told there are no charges against him; leaves the country on
27 September. That same day a warrant is issued for his arrest.
 On 28 November 2010, the first 220 cables were published by El
País (Spain), Der Spiegel (Germany),Le Monde (France), The Guardian (United Kingdom)
and The New York Times (United States). WikiLeaks had planned to release the rest
over several months, and as of 11 January 2011, 2,017 had been published.
 The US government reacted angrily to these disclosures – and a Grand Jury is
apparently in existence collecting information (with FBI help) for a prosecution.
 On 30 November 2010 Swedish Prosecutor Ny (the third to be involved in the
case) issues a European Arrest Warrant for Assange and authorises an Interpol Red
Notice concerning him. This is reserved for terrorists – but even Gaddafi was given
only an Orange notice
 Assange uses every legal means to resist extradition to Sweden – fearing that
their close cooperation with the USA will lead to his extradition to the USA where he
has become a hate figure – with some politicians openly calling for his assassination.
 he spent almost 500 days in "protective custody" while fighting the case with
the English legal system (this means with friends with an electronic tag on his ankle)
 when he finally lost the battle to be extradited to Sweden, he sought refuge in
the Ecuadorian Embassy in London
Although I'm a fan of Scandinavian systems, the Swedish bureaucrats were exposed a
decade ago for their eugenics programme which compulsorily sterilised more than
60,000 women from the 1940s through to the 1970s. In the late 1980s, I experienced
personally the heavy-handed nature of their police when I tried to enter a night club
with a Swedish Professor and his academic colleagues. More later..............................

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Thursday, August 23, 2012
Open Government as terrorism
I had wanted to say something about the Swedish context of the Assange extradition
process. But two major contributions persuade me to postpone that for the moment and
focus instead on the wider reasons for the demonisation of Assange. First an academic
colloquium on Wikileaks which sets the scene thus -
every allegation that WikiLeaks and Assange have come up against thus far are just
that, allegations. The juridical principle of presumed innocence has been repeatedly
ignored, and the closing of accounts based on a “crime” being committed appears
prejudicial – in the double sense of both prejudice and prior to law.Since the cables
began leaking in November 2010, the violent reaction to WikiLeaks evidenced by the
numerous political pundits that have called for Assange’s assassination or execution, and
the movement within the US to have WikiLeaks designated a “foreign terrorist
organization” (even Assange's London legal adviser has been put on a terrorist watch
list), amount to a profound showing of authoritarianism, thereby signalling the
underlying logic of the state. If you listen to the fear mongering that pervades
conservative media outlets in the US,WikiLeaks is rendered in the national imagination
as a “threat to America”. This notion actually has some resonance of validity if we
consider “America” as a cipher for systemic covert dealings and organised impunity
rooted in an entrenched system of privilege then indeed WikiLeaks represents a threat
as it challenges the parameters of liberalism, the ideology upon which the American
state is founded.
The “Wikigate” scandal thus marks a watershed moment for the future of both
liberalism and the state. Consequently, it also represents an important occasion to think
critically about what this case tells us about the limits of democracy, freedom of
information, transparency, and accountability, and as anarchist critiques have long
suggested, the violence of the state when it cannot control these limits.
And, today, the Guardian has a long piece exploring the reasons for the venom of the
attacks on Assange from the media
The personalized nature of this contempt from self-styled sober journalists often
borders on the creepy. On the very same day WikiLeaks released over 400,000
classified documents showing genuinely horrific facts about massive civilian deaths in
the Iraq war and US complicity in torture by Iraqi forces, the New York Times front-
paged an article purporting to diagnose Assange with a variety of psychological
afflictions and concealed, malicious motives, based on its own pop-psychology
observations and those of Assange's enemies ("erratic and imperious behavior", "a
nearly delusional grandeur", "he is not in his right mind", "pursuing a vendetta against
the United States").
There are several obvious reasons why Assange provokes such unhinged media contempt.
The most obvious among them is competition: the resentment generated by watching
someone outside their profession generate more critical scoops in a year than all other
media outlets combined.
Other causes are more subtle though substantive. Many journalists (and liberals) like to
wear the costume of outsider-insurgent, but are, at their core, devoted

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institutionalists, faithful believers in the goodness of their society's power centres,
and thus resent those (like Assange) who actually and deliberately place themselves
outside of it. By putting his own liberty and security at risk to oppose the world's most
powerful factions, Assange has clearly demonstrated what happens to real adversarial
dissidents and insurgents – they're persecuted, demonized, and threatened, not
befriended by and invited to parties within the halls of imperial power – and he thus
causes many journalists to stand revealed as posers, servants to power, and courtiers.
Those impatient to get a blow-by-blow account of how the Swedish authorities have
handled the Assange case can do not better than read this 57 page briefing put
together by Nordic News Network
And those impatient to get a more detailed analysis of the legal peculiarities should
consult Naomi Wolf’s paper.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Prejudiced Orthodoxes

Although I’m a great lover of classical

music, I was a great Queen fan in the
1980s and have always been very fond of
Dire Straits. It’s only today, however,
that I discovered that Mark Knopfler
was their lead player – and what a
charming man he is.BBC4 put together a
nice tribute (which includes some black
and white footage of Glasgowwhere he
spent his first 6 years before moving
to Newcastle

Sarah in Romania recounts a couple of sad but typical experiences she has had recently
with Orthodox nuns and priests who refused (one very rudely) to allow her to have
prayers offered on her behalf.
As I was leaving the church, a nun was nearby and I asked where the donation box was.
She showed me and asked if I had any names I would like to give her for prayer. I said
that yes, I did, and she then asked me if I was Orthodox. I told her I was Anglican and
her response was that in this case she could not take my names for intercessory prayer.
Rather taken aback, I said that I could not, therefore, give a donation, for it was
incorrect to accept my money and yet refuse to pray for those who needed it,
Orthodox or not. In my own church, anyone is accepted at the altar and although, unless
confirmed, they can not take communion, they can be blessed whatever their faith and
intercessions are for mankind in general.
I left a comment, saying that I was so glad she had blogged about this. My Romanian
partner and I had the same experience in a central Bucharest church a few years back -
and it has left a deep scar on me. My father was a (Church of Scotland) Minister who

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had a "reconciliation" mission for several decades with a German Lutheran church
in North Germany and whose practice (rather than words) taught me the meaning of
love and forgiveness. People should read Victoria Clark's "Why Angels Fall - a journey
through Orthodox Europe from Byzantium to Kosovo" to get a real understanding of the
evil most of these priests represent. As I've asid, my young local priest here in the
village is of the more tolerant sort - I was allowed to make a financial contribution to
the church - and he treated me very kindly when I attended a neighbour's wake.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

A Scottish model?

I don’t talk enough here about my homeland – so I am

glad to devote this post to an important policy issue in
devolved Scotland. Melissa Benn is a name to conjure
with in UK educational circles – her mother, Caroline
Benn, was the most ardent campaigner for some 5
decades for good education for all; her father is the
tireless socialist Tony Benn; and she carries on the
family tradition in her role as a radical educational
journalist. She had a platform at this year’s Edinburgh
Book Festival and has posted a thoughtful piece which
points up some Scottish successes in the educational
field which she considers are not getting the attention
they deserve in England.
The most immediate thing to strike a visitor from the
English educational field is how very different the
atmosphere and assumptions are on this subject north of the border. With its proud
tradition of the "democratic intellect", long history of compulsory education and world-
renowned universities, the Scots seem genuinely to value their school system.
Here one finds very little teacher-bashing and scant reference to market solutions to
social problems. At the Edinburgh event, the overriding concern was how to improve
access by poorer students to higher and further learning and keep universities free,
despite considerable pressure from an unholy alliance of English newspapers and
Scottish conservatives. There is a heartening and robust belief in publicly funded,
publicly accountable high-quality education.
Is this perhaps the very reason we in England hear so little about Scotland's education
system, bar some envious carping at its avoidance of tuition fees? While every
fashionable free-schooler or educational conservative has rushed to bash
underfunded Wales as proof of comprehensive failure, or bemoaned attempts
in Northern Ireland to eliminate its outmoded selective system, there is little
discussion of the evident strengths of the Scottish comprehensive system.
In fact, Scotland has deliberately rejected what (their Education Minister) Russell
accurately labels the Germ (Global Education Reform Movement) approach so beloved of
the coalition, with its commitment to privatisation, competition and deregulation.
He is rightly scathing of the "three initiatives before breakfast" policy-hyperactivity

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of the current English government. At the Edinburgh session he declared himself
"stunned" at recently announced English plans to allow unqualified teachers into
classrooms. Rigorous teacher training is at the heart of the Scottish approach, and
there are plans, modelled upon the Finnish example, to require every teacher to possess
a master's in addition to a first degree.
Scotland publishes no official league tables, although individual schools release their
results. (Even Wales now publishes the results of secondary schools grouped into one of
five bands.) The Scottish government is moving towards greater school self-evaluation
and has, over the past decade, slowly rolled out a progressive "curriculum for
excellence", in stark contrast to our own government's speedily devised, overly
prescriptive and increasingly contested programmes for learning.
And it seems to be working. Results for Scottish highers, a formal examination taken
between 16 and 19, have slowly climbed over the years and are up again in 2012, with no
serious claims of grade inflation. From this year, pilot schemes will be rolled out, with
the ultimate aim of each child learning two languages in addition to their own. And only
last year, the Royal Society praised the high numbers of Scottish students – 49.7% –
who study science to the higher levels, and suggested that the rest of the UK should
emulate Scotland in this regard
Scotland managed to keep its separate educational system even after the Treaty of
Union with England of 1707 - so we have generally been spared the more mad of the
English initiatives. However the development of the comprehensive school was
something which took place in both parts of the kingdom.
The reestablishment in 1999 of the Scottish Parliament and Government has, however,
given the distinctive nature of the Scottish directions in social policy a stronger
legitimacy.
I am not a Scottish nationalist. The issue of Scottish independence was a live one at my
school in the 1950s and, when I became active in local and Regional government in the
1970s and 1980s, the Scottish Nationalist party was always an electoral consideration.
As, however, Conservative MPs were wiped out in Scotland in the 1980s, the legitimacy
of the Thatcher regime was called in question by us all in Scotland (including the
churches and professions) and a long (and consensual) constitutional process produced a
Scottish Parliament and devolved powers for a Scottish Executive in 1999.
New Labour’s policies attracted little respect in Scotland – despite the electoral
support we gave to Bliar and Brown.
And the crude neo-liberalism of the 2010 Lib-Con Coalition has increased the support
for the apparently social-democratic core of the Scottish nationalist leadership.
Hence the astonishing ease with which the Scottish Nationalist Party took power
(despite the proportionate voting system) in 2011. Just look at the lecture delivered in
Londonearlier this year (at the Hugo Young Lecture) by the Government’s First Minister
(Alex Salmond)
The Scottish Government's policies attempt to protect many values which would be
dear to any post-war social democrat in these isles. For example, we have promoted
what we call a living wage - £7.20 an hour. And we have made a conscious decision to
provide certain core universal services, rights or benefits, some of which are no longer
prioritised by political leaders elsewhere – such as free university tuition, free

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prescriptions, free personal care for the elderly and a guarantee of no compulsory
redundancies across the public sector
And looking at the problems of health reform now, I thank the heavens
thatWestminster's writ no longer runs in Scotland on health issues. But the looming
issues of welfare reform exemplify why Scotland needs the powers to make our own
policies to meet our own needs and values.
We do this because we believe that such services benefit the common weal. They
provide a sense of security, well-being and equity within communities. Such a sense of
security is essential to a sense of confidence – and as we have seen over the last three
years, confidence is essential to economic growth.And the social wage also sets out our
offer for people who want to live in Scotland, regardless of their background. We will
provide a secure, stable and inclusive society. And by doing so we will encourage their
talent and ambition. Scotland will be a place where people want to visit, invest, work and
live.
An independent Scotland could be a beacon for progressive opinion south of the border
and further afield – addressing policy challenges in ways which reflect the universal
values of fairness – and are capable of being considered, adapted and implemented
according to the specific circumstances and wishes within the other jurisdictions of
these islands and beyond.
That, I believe, is a far more positive and practical Scottish contribution to progressive
policy than sending a tribute of Labour MPs to Westminster to have the occasional turn
at the Westminster tiller – particularly in the circumstances of the Labour opposition's
policy increasingly converging with that of the coalition on the key issues of the
economy and public spending.
Social democracy seems to be alive and well.......

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Property, theft and municipal strategies

Rural crime, we are told by the radio,

has been increasing so much recently
that new policing methods are being
introduced.
Curious to know what this meant for
our area (one of the local shops
suffered a break-in a couple of
weekends ago), we tried today (at
16.00) to call in at the local police
station (the neighbouring village some
20 minutes drive away) – only to be met

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by a closed door and 3 telephone numbers.
In one sense, “neighbourhood watch” is old hat here as everyone can (and does) see
what is going on elsewhere (that includes my middle of the night pees!!)
Seeing is, however, one thing – the issue for crime detection and prevention is getting
people willing and able to summon help; and for that help to arrive expeditiously.
Romanians are exhorted in national campaigns to use the 955 national number (which
connects to Bucharest) - but I suspect most follow the advice on the police door and
use their local connections. And how quick is the response?
Of course it is only nouvelles arrivees such as me who are vulnerable – not the poor
locals - vulnerable, that is, for the fantasising that goes on about the wealth of
foreigners. Perhaps the best protection would be a few articles and media episodes
about the low-income (or possession) profile of most ex-pats here. Why else would
foreigners buy property here - except that they don't have the means to buy
elsewhere? A Bulgarian magazine did a good article on the profile of the Brits who
bought there big-time a few years back -with many being unable to adjust to the new
life and returning home.
It is the Romanians with the large, ugly villas who have the cars, white goods and
possessions the thieves want.
Yesterday we changed the 2 kitchen windows – replacing the rather shoddy double-
glazing job with state of the art triple Thermopan. I was horrified with how quickly the
guys dismantled each window. It took them less than 5 minutes to prise out the frame
and hop inside!! Fortunately the new system we installed makes it impossible for such
entry. Anyone trying will be blasted to kingdom come!! Other, simpler, barriers have also
been created against those wishing to steal the black and white photographs I treasure
of my childhood!

If local villagers are not worried about break-ins, they should at least be concerned
about water; and here the municipality could and should be doing more about water
conservation. Since water meters were installed a year or so ago, I suspect the ruling
assumption is that the price signal is enough to alter behaviour. But people still need to
know the options - and to be encouraged to use water responsibly. I know how wasteful
I was until I realised how little water I actually needed for cleaning my teeth and
washing....

Friday, August 31, 2012

Climate Change - celebrating the clumsy approach

The UK Royal Society of Arts is an interesting British

institution –
committed to finding innovative practical solutions to
today’s social challenges. Through its ideas, research and
27,000-strong Fellowship it seeks to understand and
enhance human capability so we can close the gap
between today’s reality and people’s hopes for a better

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world.

Its Director’s blogs give a very good sense of what a highly intelligent and engaged
individual in today’s Britain is thinking. Sometimes, for me, it sounds like messages from
Mars! No reflection meant on Matthew Taylor! Just on the environment in which the UK
chattering classes currently operate with its neo-liberal government.

The blogsite of RSA Fellows also offers fascinating insights and I was impressed with
this recent one which was inspired by Professor Mike Hulme’s most recent book – Why
we Disagree about Climate Change - which applies cultural theory and reframing to the
issue. He argues that the very different perspectives and underlying values we all have
make climate change an issue for which we should not be trying to find "a solution". A
question of the best being the enemy of the good. Finding a way through the highly
contested values involves intense dialogue and the acceptance of "clumsy" compromises.
So much that is written about the subject is, quite frankly, hysterical – and the tone
both of the blog and of the book which inspired it are rare examples of how we should
be debating issues.

Climatology/Science
1. Do we really understand how the climate works?(If it’s so much more complex than
the financial system, and we got that badly wrong…)
2. Is climate change happening?(Yes, demonstrably so, but some say ‘climate change’ is
not – i.e. it’s nothing out of the ordinary if we had access to records that went far
enough back. They are almost certainly wrong)
3. Is climate change anthropogenic (man-made)?(Almost certainly, but there are enough
sceptics to allow people to imagine there is a position to be taken here- we are often
asked “Do you believe in climate change”)
4. Is ‘runaway global warming’ likely or not?(How valid/important is the idea of ‘tipping
points’)
5. How many degrees of planetary warming are ‘safe’?(Is the 2 degree limit a political or
scientific judgement?)

Science/Technology
6. Are there any likely scientific breakthroughs that will solve ‘the problem’?
7. Do current intellectual property laws help or hinder the development of carbon
abatement technologies?
8. Will anticipated technological change happen quickly enough to prevent avoidable
harm, or not?
9. Could an ‘energy internet’ meet our energy needs?(Some, e.g. Jeremy Rifkind argue
the key is to make households produce and share energy, not just share it)

Macroeconomics/Modelling
10. Is it viable to stop seeking economic growth in the developed world?(Some say
economic growth is economically imperative, but ecologically impossible)
11. Do we have to assume indefinite economic growth in climate models?(Most climate

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models, e.g. The Stern Review, assume 1.2% growth in perpetuity- this matters because
it implies future generations will be richer, and better able to deal with the worst
effects of climate change)
12. What should the price of carbon be?
13. Is ‘absolute decoupling’ possible?
14. Does/could ‘cap and trade’ work?
15. Can we design a viable carbon market that is ‘functional and fair’?(The
magazine Ephemera recently devoted an issue to this question)Ethics
16. Do natural systems and species have intrinsic value or not?
17. Can we place a quantitative or comparative value on a life?
18. Should/can we value the quality of life of future generations as much as our
own?(This question, the so-called ‘discount value’ appears to be a critical wedge issue
because it can only be a value judgement, with no objective way of settling the question,
but most economic models discount future generations considerably in their models).

Communication/social marketing
19. Is ‘climate change’ the best expression to work with?
20. Is climate change an environmental issue?
21. Is Climate change best framed as a public health issue?

Political
22. Are relatively short democractic electoral cycles part of the problem, or not?
23. Does the developed world have an obligation to allow the developing world to pollute
relatively more to correct for historic exploitation, or not?
24. Do we need more regulation or less?

Worldview
25. Is nothing sacred?(Are there things that don’t have a price, or that if they were
given a price, would be valued even less?)
26. Do attitudes drive behaviour, or is it the other way round?(A biggie, but I was
impressed by this resource as giving some ammunition for an answer)
27. Is the rebound effect serious or not?
28. Should we appeal to economic incentives, or not?
29. Should we work directly with values, or not?

Framing and reframing (and recognion of the importance of cultural values to problem-
solving) goes back a long way. I remember being impressed in the 1960s with the 3
world views suggested by Etzioni in his "Social Problems". Post-modernist thinking,
however, has focussed more and more on the variety of ideological prisms with which we
sense of the world. And yet, the professionals in my field who teach policy development
to the senior civil servants in the Balkans, Near East and Central Asia continue to sell
the rational model of problem solving. I hope to look at this in more detail in the
future.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

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Dangerous politicians

We’re used to reading powerfully-

crafted descriptions of characters in
novels – but, for some reason, this
treatment seems to be rarely applied to
politicians and others in the public eye.
The current issue of London Review of
Books has a short article by David
Bromwich on the Republican Convention
in the USA which contains as lacerating
a picture of a human being as I have
ever read -
His constant demeanour is cocksure; his
face never registers reflection.
Listening to other people is a formality, for Ryan, to be endured before he springs his
answers. And how the answers pour out! There is an attractive, efficient speed in the
way he works, but also a kind of deadness. And the deadness is there in his eyes – the
hard eyes of the self-fulfilled and self-justified, clean of mind and clean of body, a
whole mental mansion trip-wired against invasion by entities seeking pity and bearing
excuses.
Savour that last phrase - a whole mental mansion trip-wired against invasion by entities
seeking pity and bearing excuses. It purports to describe the guy just nominated by
Mitt Romney to be his Vice Presidential running mate. It could be applied to a lot of
young, arrogant professionals I have met in the Balkans!
I don’t want to get into the American Presidential election – save to express my disgust
at the blatant way Republican Governors have been going about the disenfranchisement
of poorer voters by trying to introduce requirement for ID. Apparently, since 2000,
there have been only 10 cases of voter fraud. So it is not an issue – except for those
who want to prevent the supporters of opposing parties from voting. In Britain, the
organisation of election lists and elections is kept out of the politicians’ hands – and
that’s the way it should be

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Sunday, September 2, 2012
A Guide to blogs about Romania

I know of at least three other Brits

who blog from a Romanian base – first
a highly literate Conservative with a
blog entitled A Political Refugee from
the global village. He’s an “Englishman
in love withBucharest’s blowsy
charms” who apparently came to live
here in 1998; works as a “headhunter”;
and blogs regularly. His posts in 2010
are good on various aspects of
Romanian history and the disappearing
charm of Bucharest.
Then there is Dr Peter Fogarty who has apparently been blogging about life here for
the past decade on pictures of romania - and has indeed collected his various comments
together in several books which can be accessed on his site.
The other blogger is Andy Hockley whose blog has the catchy title Csikszreda Musings -
that being the Hungarian name for Miercurea Ciuc – which, to me, always sounds like
“Wednesday beer” (Ciuc being one of the big beers here). He’s been here since 2004
and some of the early entries are good – but, understandably, his blogposts have fallen
off in the last 2 years. His posts about English politics suggest that he too is a
Conservative – if of a more populist type than the Bucharest guy. I can’t quite work out
what he does for a living. A couple of years ago he had a good blog about the Romanian
film Katalin Varga - a film which gives a very good sense of the old village life.
So that's four of us Brits who have chosen to live here in Romania (me at least half of
the year now) - and blog about it. Apart from us three, I know of another 3 Brits who
have settled in Romania - 2 in Brasov (with property and tourist businesses
respectively) and an ex-British Council training guy who has chosen Iasi (which he calls
Romania's cultural capital by virtue of its intellectual heritage).
That's 7 of us - compared with the 7,000 who settled a decade ago in Bulgaria! There
are some French people - generally associated with food and drink (!) - and a French
couple has indeed arrived in our village here and is doing a good job of restoring an old
house faithfully in the old tradition.

An American in Cluj has a blog which used to be called “I’m more Romanian than you” but
now seems to be called, more modestly, on Romania. He’s a more recent arrival; is more
chatty; but has offered various language lessons.
Bucharest Life is a fairly typical, mundane collective ex-pat site which did, however, in
the winter have some good photographs of the snow and of examples of the highly
annoying habit of parking on the pavements.

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There are also a handful of Romanians with great blogs in English about the beauty of
landscape, buildings and art you can find in this country. Guide to Romania is a blog
which gives good detail (and pics) about various famous Romanian buildings and
sites.True Romania was another blog giving useful information about historical
Romanians and sites - operated by a teacher and pupils at Ludus secondary school. Sadly
the blog stopped posting in 2011 – but the archives go back 4 years and offer a great
source.

Historical Houses of Romania is an excellent site maintained by Valentin Mandache –

who has also taken to organising walks around the architectural jewels of Bucharest. It
was one of his posts which pointed me to this interesting piece about the legacies we
can see of one of Bucharest’s modernist architects.

There was a TV journalist here who had great entries about modern art – but his
address now gives me the Artindex auctioneers in Bucharest which has, however,
retained his posts. Look at this great one on the Zambaccian Museum in Bucharest.

Last but certainly not least is an external blogger. Sarah in Romania is actually based
(still I think) in Paris although I understand she's American (??). Her's is the only such
external site I know. Her posts are always instructive and passionate – for example this
recent one on the superb Mogosoira Palace on the outskirts of Bucharest.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Seasonal changes

I’ve been offline for more than a week –

initially because my two-year old HP
laptop crashed and I had to fit up a new
Samsung with all the relevant software,
files and websites.
But the silence is also due to the sheer
amount of work involved preparing the
mountain house to face new rigours and
challenges – leaving little time for
reading and the stimulation that offers.
Not just of winter – but of the rise in
rural break-ins. Last week we strengthened our back door and remounted the old
shutters on the ground-floor windows. Their absence over the past 5 years caused me
no anxiety – but yesterday we talked in Brasov with a home security advisor and are now
installing various facilities – including perhaps a “state of the art” sprinkler system to
give our extensive wooden beams and floors (if not traditional schiza wood roof) some
added protection.

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A digger has also gouged out a parking space from the steep front meadow – for our 15
year-old Daewoo which must shortly give way to a new car. Part of me wants to indulge
myself and go for a good but economical touring car (eg the 3.5 lires per 100
kms Skoda Octavia) – but being seen with that sort of car could create the impression
of a house worth breaking into. My faithful old Daewoo strikes a usefully modest image
in the Balkans! In the meantime I scour the area looking for stones with which to pave
the new space.

The weather has been superb in the past week – with the clouds strung out as I
remember seeing over the Atlantic Ocean on the coast of the West of Scotland; and
quite a strong breeze blowing the trees in front. And the neighbour’s cow was moved
this week from the higher pasture to their immediate garden area. The season visibly
changes – it’s one of the great features of this part of the world that the season’s
changes are still so visible.
Some videos of the area - the villages of Ciocanu and Sirnea; and again Sirnea
a mysterious road trip around the edge of the village; and another strange video by a
developer showing the potential of this beautiful village for post-modern nerds

Sunday, September 16, 2012

exposing the lies
If you are consumed with greed, enjoy a permanent sense of superiority, are
incompetent, suffer from Acute Controlling Syndrome, think ethics are for wimps, or
have never created anything worthwhile in your life, the chances are you hold some kind
of senior position in one of these professions: politics, the media, investment banking,
multinational business, management consultancy, tax accountancy, the Law, or internet
service provision. You are the reason all those pursuits serve your interests rather than
mine. If you have all of those features in your personal make-up, then you are a
seriously big wig, engaged in running the world. You are probably a sociopath, perhaps a
psychopath, and definitely delusional…to the extent that your ideal world is one in which
the small community and the middle classes have been wiped out, and a few very big
bananas have near-monopolies on everything. You are the reason the world is falling
apart. In order to retain your position as an influential idiot dedicated to pauperising
everyone except the elite, you are going to talk bollocks almost all the time. (Trans: US
– horsesh*t, French – conneries, German – Bockmist). You can get away with doing so,
because most of the rest of us are too thick, bored, busy or tired to bother analysing
the bollocks that pour forth from your mouth in a never-ending testicular stream.
Such is the powerful raison-d'etre for A Diary of Deception and Distortion - a very
readable blog dedicated to the deconstruction of bollocks which I am now adding to the
list of links here.

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Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Strategies for living?

“Reading someone like a book” is supposed to denote an

easy penetration of someone’s motives and thinking. But
in fact reading is an interactive process which depends
not only on the reader but on the context and timing. I
find that I get different things from rereading a book.
Two years ago (almost to the day) I enjoyed the wry
humour and scope of Michael Foley’ s The Age of
Absurdity - why modern life makes it hard to be
happy which mocks contemporary anguishes and values
(an early chapter has the great title of “the
righteousness of entitlement”). But rereading it in the last few days showed me a depth
I had missed the first time round.
He criticises the generality of the six convergent values identified by Martin
Seligman (the founder of the positive psychology movement) in his trawl of religions –
justice, humaneness, temperance, wisdom, courage and transcendence.
“Do the classic texts , he asks, not give us more practical strategies for living ?”
“The good news (he tells us on page 68) is that there are indeed such strategies. The
bad news is that all of them are discouraged by contemporary Western culture”.

The "strategies" are personal responsibility; autonomy; detachment; acceptance of

difficulty; understanding; mindfulness; ceaseless striving; and constant awareness of
mortality.
Drawing on philosophy, religion, history, psychology and neuroscience, Foley then
explores the things that modern culture is either rejecting or driving us away from:
 Responsibility – we are entitled to succeed and be happy, so someone/thing else
must be to blame when we are not
 Difficulty – we believe we deserve an easy life, and worship the effortless and
anything that avoids struggle (as Foley points out, this extends even to eating oranges:
sales are falling as peeling them is now seen as too demanding and just so, you know,
yesterday …)
 Understanding – a related point, as understanding requires effort, but where we
once expected decision-making to involve rationality, we moved through emotion to
intuition (usually reliable) and – more worryingly – impulse (usually unreliable), a
tendency that Foley sees as explaining the appeal of fundamentalism (“which sheds the
burden of freedom and eliminates the struggle to establish truth and meaning and all
the anxiety of doubt. There is no solution as satisfactory and reassuring as God.”)
 Detachment – we benefit from concentration, autonomy and privacy, but life
demands immersion, distraction, collaboration and company; by confusing self-esteem
(essentially external and concerned with our image to others) with self-respect
(essentially internal and concerned with our self-image), we further fuel our sense of

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entitlement – and our depression, frustration and rage when we don’t get what we
‘deserve’
 Experience – captivated by the heightened colour, speed, and drama of an edited
on-screen life, our attention span is falling and ‘attention’ (at least in the West) is
something we pay passively rather than actively and mindfully:

From a recent blog discussion, I noted this interesting perspective -

I think we need to address the question with our own actions, the things we do that
make life worth living. Verbs, not nouns. When I think of how I would answer the
question, the following behaviors come to mind:
Creating: Writing, drawing, painting (though I’m not good at it), playing music (though
I’m not especially good at that, either). For others, it might be inventing something,
building a business, coming up with a clever marketing campaign, forming a non-profit.
Relating: It’s not “family” that makes life worth living, I think, but the relationships we
create with members of our family, and the way we maintain and build those
relationships. Same goes for friends, lovers, business partners, students, and everyone
else.
Helping: Being able to lend a hand to people in need – however drastic or trivial that
need may be – strikes me as an important part of life.
Realizing: Making, working towards, and achieving goals, no matter what those goals are.
Playing: Maybe this is a kind of “relating”, but then, play can be a solo affair as well.
Letting go of restraints, imagining new possibilities, testing yourself against others or
against yourself, finding humour and joy.
Growing: Learning new things, improving my knowledge and ability in the things I’ve
already learned.
Those seem like more satisfying answers to me – they strike deeper into what it is I
want for myself, what makes it worthwhile to get up in the morning.

The Guardian is currently trying to give its readers some understanding of the nation
which is now in the driving seat of the "European project" and indeed of our futures -
Germany. I have several times on this blog remarked on how seldom this effort of
understanding our neighbours (their culture and history) is made in British books or
journals - with most of the accessible literature being humorous accounts of setting up
home in rural France or Spain (occasionally Italy). I'm not particularly impressed with
the Guardian series - no mention, for example, of the two recent writers who have tried
to do the country justice (Simon Winder and Peter Watson).
But this article about one region's attitudes to saving and spending is useful.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

All fall down
Think-tanks enjoy a mixed reputation – originating in the USA where, for the most part,
they have become little more than lobbyists for big money and being increasingly seen in
the UK as part of an unrepresentative social elite which exercises too much influence

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over current policy debates and supplies too many of the country’s politicians. Far from
bridging the gap between academia and government, they are often seen in the UK as
undermining democracy. A good (and more objective) paper on the patterns and
traditions in various countries was recently published as part of an exchange with China.
For those, however, like myself in the international consultancy business, British think-
tanks and their reports have been a god-send in the past decade or so. Well-written and
comprehensive in their analyses and data (increasingly comparative), they have allowed
us to pontificate with authority in places such as Baku, Bishkek, Sofia and Tashkent
about the latest experiences with improving public management. Academic texts are so
boring and out-of-date compared with the endless flow of pamphlets from the Think-
Tanks.
Look for example at this 2007 report on Innovations in Government – an international
perspective on civil service reform produced by the Institute for Public Policy Research
– a centrist British think tank. Or this 2009 review of the state of the British Civil
Serviceproduced by the independent British Institute for Government which also
recently published a fascinating case-study of the failure of the UK’s Centre for
Management and Policy Studies 1999-2005 which had been (for about 20 years) the
Civil Service College and which transmogrified after 2005 into the National School of
Government – before itself being abolished this year. The failure of the shortly-lived
CMPS is attributable , in the report, to –
 confusion about the main role of the Centre – policy or management focus
 inappropriate (academic) leadership
 loss of Prime Ministerial interest
 the number of other parallel initiatives
British government has, of course, become notorious for its non-stop
programmatic,policy and institutional changes. New Labour launched a blitzkrieg on the
administrative machine with its Modernising Government programmeof 1999 –
one example of which you can find here.
Right now I’m not sure where you can find the coolest assessment of the lessons from a
decade’s frenetic energy of targets, increased choice, organisational and personnel
change. The Institute of Government is probably the coolest head – but it’s also worth
looking at these notes from last year’s Conference of the “great and good” who make up
the Better Government Initiative.

One thing is clear – political discontent with civil service performance is as great as it
ever was – and in June the UK government announced its reform plan for the civil
service accompanied by a powerpoint presentation. The plan was the subject of a fairly
positive Institute of Government assessment.

And this week the Government has also announced a short study into lessons from other
civil service systems
But the wider public is not so impressed.

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Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Creative contract management - A question to my readers
Puzzle - why is a boring post of 22 February 2011 far and away my most popular
post - not only today (30 hits); this week (124); but of all time (1338)??? That
particular post was a mixed bag -
 referring in its first sentence to Sofia and then giving a link to a great Bulgarian
bed and breakfast book;
 then some comments about another British Government push to marketise if not
privatise basic public services such as health (no mention of which took place in their
manifesto of the year before);
 and, finally, the subject which gave the post its title "creative contract
management" - an initial assessment of the EC's 2009 Backbone Strategy which I had
missed at the time. This was a response to the Court of Auditors' criticisms of how
the EC manages its work in the institution-building field I have been working in as an
independent consultant for the past 20 years. I would like to think that this is what has
attracted - and continues to attract - so many readers to the post. But the post closes
by referring to the follow-up posts the next day (and weeks) on the same subject - and
a mere handful showed interest in these.
It would be great to get some feedback from people about their reasons for reading
this 18-month old post. Was it just the title (originally "creative contract management"
- with its promise of cutting corners); or the reference to Sofia in the first few
words???? I've now amended the title of this post - I was just a bit pissed only 5
people have accessed it - and none commented!! Let's seem how many more hits it now
gets - particularly now that I've given the original post a more boring title??

The sad truth, however, is that it gets the hits simply because it is the top of the
"most popular" list on the right hand side of the blog - and there is no way I can remove
it!!

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Deep writing

I often bemoan the quality of writing

available in journals – dumbed down by
marketing pressures or unreadable from
the perversions of academic
specialisation. A fine exception, I’ve just
noticed, is the New Yorker which uses
academics who can actually write
coherently and gracefully. The current
issue has a long and fascinating piece by
Prof Jill Lepore on the origins in the

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1930s of US political consulting which has removed policy content from politics in that
country. The story starts with a marvellous story of the famous writer Upton Sinclair
standing for the Californian Governorship under the slogan “End poverty in California"
(EPIC) at a time when the Republicans held a total monopoly of power – and how he was
defeated by the lies spun by the world’s first political spinners who simply planted in a
major newspaper each day a phrase from one of his novels as if it was his policy. The
couple behind this went on to run the campaigns against a state health system which
President Truman tried to introduce.
For the latest techniques on political campaigning, see here.

I realise now how ill-informed my comment about the The New Yorker was when I
picked up a copy of Julian Barnes' Letters from London 1990-1995 and
read the Preface which explains the rigour of editing carried out by the TNY which he
experienced personally when for those 5 years he was its London correspondent!
You can also access in the New Yorker a full analysis done by Louis Menand earlier in
the year of the sort of work Mitt Romney actually did for Bain Capital and what this
(and his campaign book) implies about his view of the world and leadership style.
Romney’s program is logical (which doesn’t mean that it’s practical). He believes that if
freedom is to be fostered and preserved around the world the United States needs a
stronger military. For the United States to have a stronger military, it has to grow
economically. For the nation to grow economically, American companies must become
more productive. And, for American companies to become more productive, business has
to be allowed to do business.
This means that Americans have to tolerate, to appreciate, even to encourage what
Romney calls (using a phrase borrowed from Joseph Schumpeter) “creative
destruction.”It’s a strange slogan for a politician to adopt at a time of high
unemployment and economic uncertainty, but Romney invokes it in his book and he uses
it in interviews, because it’s precisely what he means by business. To make the future,
we have to be willing to destroy some of the present. “It takes a leap of faith for
governments to stand aside and allow the creative destruction inherent in a free
economy,” as Romney puts it. We can’t be sentimental. And everything can be thought of
in this way, from the production of microchips to the education of children. If we want
cheaper chips or better schools, we have to be willing to pay the transaction costs. The
unwillingness to do so is what’s holding us back. (A famous saying about omelettes might
come to mind here.)
Who or what stands in the way of restoring American productivity and American
greatness? Romney lists some of the usual suspects, including multiculturalism (a
“fraud”) and “the self-loathing of Western intellectuals” (an odd expression, since all
the Western intellectuals I know think rather well of themselves). But readers of “No
Apology” are likely to come away with the impression that the chief internal enemy the
United States faces today is labor unions. Romney thinks that unions can sometimes
work constructively with management but that, fundamentally, they are protectors of
the status quo. They make it harder for the destroying part to work.This is why Romney
opposed George Bush’s efforts to protect the American steel industry by imposing a
tariff on imports, and it’s why he opposed the Detroit bailout (embarrassingly for him.

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highly successful). Actions like those interfere with the natural business process in the
name of saving American jobs. And it’s why Romney’s well-known infelicities—“I like
being able to fire people,” “For an economy to thrive . . . a lot of people . . . will suffer,”
“Corporations are people,” “I’m not concerned about the very poor”—are not really
gaffes, even in the unfair, out-of-context form in which his opponents circulate them.
They express something true to the way that Romney sees the world.
Romney’s record at Bain Capital holds obvious interest for his political opponents.
Private-equity firms and leveraged buyouts, which is one of the ways Bain pursued its
business, are, after all, pretty much capitalism parading around in its most naked state.
Romney developed his view of the world during his earlier, nine-year experience, with
B.C.G. and Bain & Company, as a management consultant. There are several strains
running through the history of management theory, and which paradigms are dominant,
and at which consulting firms, depends on the economic times and the nature of the
competition. At B.C.G. and Bain & Company between 1975 and 1984, data crunching
seems to have been the main engine of analysis. Virtually everyone agrees that Romney
was extremely good at this, and he operates his political campaigns in the same
way.“He’s not a very notional leader,” Romney’s campaign spokesman told an Iowa
newspaper in 2007. “He is more interested in data, and what the data mean.”
But it’s not just that Romney doesn’t have good political instincts. It’s that he was
trained to distrust instinct altogether. In management consulting, gut feelings are what
you work hard to take out of the equation. That’s the justification for all that
painstaking analysis: the consultant who crunches a mountain of numbers to come up
with an idea that the C.E.O. already has will not get far. It’s the counter-intuitiveness
of the advice that justifies the fee.
It must be difficult being Mitt Romney – with a great progressive father to look up to;
a sickening record of bean-counting and employment destruction (at arms’ length it must
be said); a reasonably progressive record in his 5 years as Governor (although he hardly
spoke to Congressmen) most of which he has had to disavow in the fight for the right-
wing votes of the Republican nomination. I don’t doubt that he is a caring neighbour but
he must be one sick man in his soul.

Let’s return, however, to the issue of good writing – by which I mean the ability to take
a complex issue and make it enjoyable to read about (which I last discussed in mid-
June). Until recently, the New York Review of Books has been my favourite journal –
although theLondon Review of Books has been coming up fast on the inside lane. Take,
for example, this magnificent bit of writing about (of all things) the British experience
of electricity privatisation by the Scottish writer James Meek. Or, in the current issue,
a great piece of sceptical reportage on the recent Republican Convention.

America has some great journals – I discovered Harpers when I was there in the late
1980s and also Wilson’s Quarterly. I like the latter's mission statement -
THE WILSON QUARTERLY is a window on the world of ideas for general readers.
Historical perspective and a commitment to consider all sides are the hallmarks of its
articles on foreign affairs, politics, culture, science, and other subjects.By making new
knowledge accessible to all, it aims to foster more informed public debate.

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I don't like the fact that the current issue is the last print issue - from now on it will
be available only online. I find this tragic - for all the reasons covered in the numerous
articles which attack the notion of the end of books.

America has had some highly original and passionate writers and essayist – not a few of
British origin! Sadly two of them died recently – everyone had heard of Chris Hitchens
but not so many of Alexander Cockburn of whom Robin Blackburn writes eloquently in
the current issue of New Left Review.

And, appropriately, from the superb website, It's about Time - great paintings of
women reading
But pride of place - at the top of this post - is a Turner which has "turned up" (forgive
the pun) after more than 100 years. I like to think this sort of painting inspired
Bulgaria's Alexander Moutafov in the early part of the 20th century

Monday, September 24, 2012

Optimism, realism and scepticism

First, a welcome to my new readers

from the Ukraine – northern
neighbours who, my statistics show,
have been my most faithful readers
over the past week.

I wanted to return to the issue of

what has been learned from all the
reforms which Britain has attempted
in the running of its public services
and machinery of government in the
past 40 years (raised in a recent blogpost) but have been distracted by the glorious
weather which followed the few days of cold and mist.
First snow of the autumn was on the Bucegi mountains opposite on 22 September (see
shot above) but the afternoon sun on the terrace has soon had me stripping off. Today
is the third in a row of such superb weather and makes me even less inclined to pop
down to Bucharest for its current festival of radio orchestra music. Bucharest inspires
very different feelings in me from Sofia – and indeed from some other ex-pats who love
the place.
For me Bucharest is only a stopover for better places – but don’t let me discourage
those who want to taste its “blowsy charms”. The Sarah in Romania blog is one of the
most sympathetic to (if also angry about) the city and marked Bucharest’s birthday with
an appropriate post -
This is not a post to list the hundreds of dreadful, illegal demolitions. It is not a post to
slag off Mayor Oprescu and the architecture commission, nor the Chief Architect of

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Bucharest. I have written many of those and it's neither the time nor the place. I say
only that after 553 years, while everyone else is trying to improve their cities, renovate
rather than rebuild wherever possible, underline the beauty of their architecture and
highlight their history whether it be joyous or tragic and syphon traffic away from the
centre in order to make things so much more pleasant for citizens, Bucharest is
attacked and disfigured by greedy, corrupt, lousy parasites right from the top down to
the very bottom.
Those who move a finger are few and far between. I know they exist, that tiny 10%.
There are associations, NGOs and individuals who care VERY much. But it seems like a
flea up against a tsunami...This was a city where beauty stood on every turn, where
every corner was a photo opportunity and where history, patrimony and heritage
mattered. A city (and a country for that matter) which valued education and promoted
learning, where the university was renowned and the doctors admired. A city (and
country) whose musicians exuded incredible poetry through symphonies and suites and
whose concert halls were filled with names that would wow any 'mélomane'. Yes, times
were hard, of course they were. But, on the whole there was respect and far more pride
than we find today. There was elegance.
Of course, one can still find beauty in Bucharest - that quiet, shy, almost reticent
loveliness that brings a lump to one's throat every time one is confronted with it. You
only have to read further back on this blog (and so many others besides) for examples.
Perhaps, for the visitors as well as for many Bucharest residents, one must be told
where to look - the splendid streets around Dorobanti, the hidden villas behind Unirii,
the oldy-worldiness of Tineretului, the charm of what's left around Cismigiu on all sides,
the elegance of Cotroceni and Icoanei - and that's just for starters. Bucharest
demands to be loved. Few of us actually do. Indeed, there IS beauty.
I have also been rereading some books – eg Smile or Die: How the Relentless Promotion
of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich
Promoting the idea that happiness is within your grasp is in the interests of
corporations trying to bamboozle an overworked and underpaid workforce. It's also
favoured by churches trying to get rich quick off the American dream. Ehrenreich
traces the fad from Calvinist self-control through Christian Science to blatant
assumptions of the holiness of cash. Informing the uneducated and unmedicated that
their plight is all their own fault is followed up by instructions for making anything you
desire – from a new TV screen to a trip to Mexico – "materialise" through mind control.
The censorship of negative opinion combines perfectly with the American policy of each
man for himself in the best of all possible worlds.This is the philosophy that gave us the
smart bomb, the space programme, sub-prime mortgages, plenty of psychopaths and
Sarah Palin. Ehrenreich writes that America is unsurpassed in one area: "the reflexive
capacity for dismissing disturbing news". .
Even right-wing newspapers reviewed the book positively.
Ehrenreich savages the instigator of Positive Psychology and finishes on an important
note about the importance of realism if not scepticism – an important theme in this
blog. I hadn’t until now realised the possible significance of my latest little publication –
on Bulgarian realist painting!

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The USA, as a reassessment of a 1960s classic reminds us, has a long tradition of what
the book's title calls anti-intellectualism -
there arose an ethos, a romantic conviction, that a popular democracy should favor "the
superiority of inborn, intuitive, folkish wisdom over the cultivated, oversophisticated,
and self-interested knowledge of the literati and the well-to-do." Practical experience
mattered more than imaginative thinking, and vital emotion trumped anemic rationality.
"Just as the evangelicals repudiated a learned religion and formally constituted clergy
in favor of the wisdom of the heart and direct access to God, so did advocates of
egalitarian politics propose to dispense with trained leadership in favor of the native
practical sense of the ordinary man with its direct access to truth. This preference for
the wisdom of the common man flowered in the most extreme statements of the
democratic creed, into a kind of militant popular anti-intellectualism."

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

View of another world

Although I blog frequently about Bulgaria and Romania

(between which countries I have been dividing my life in
these last 5 years), I should say more about the other
countries in which I have spent significant time –
Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Kyrgzstan, for example. A New
York Review of Books blogpost and a review in The Nation
of a forgotten Azeri satirical magazine of a century
ago gives me an opportunity to rectify this oversight. To
give an easy introduction to the various actors, I borrow
from the review in the Nation - adding in, where
appropriate, links one of which is to a recent book on the
magazine containing many of the caricatures with powerful
line drawing and colours.
The backstreets of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, have a
certain, winding magic. They house former caravanserai,
once flophouses offered to travellers throughout central Asia, that have today been
polished up into candlelit restaurants. Tall, grey blocks mingle with flourishes of Persian
architecture - a symbol of Baku's straddling geography between Russia and Iran. But
there are dozens of bookshops tucked away in these streets, shelves stacked with first
editions and Soviet periodicals from the city's communist era, which ended in 1991.
It was in one of these booksellers near Maiden Tower that Slavs and Tatars, a
collective of artists and writers, discovered a true bibliophile's dream: editions of one
of the region's most daring yet overlooked satirical publications - Molla Nasreddin.
Stating their sphere of interest as everything east of the former Berlin Wall and west
of the Great Wall of China, Slavs and Tatars make this loosely defined area of Eurasia
their patch. Starting as a reading group that shared translations of books from this
region (what they call "an arcane version of the Oprah Winfrey book club"), they've
since exhibited sculptures and installation work in museums internationally, and been
part of group shows at The Third Line gallery in Dubai.

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"The illustrations drew us to Molla Nasreddin," says Slavs and Tatars. "They're
reminiscent of Honore Daumier or Toulouse Lautrec." Molla Nasreddin was founded in
1906 by editor-in-chief Jalil Mammadguluzadeh and satirist-poet Mirza Sabir, both
proud Azeris yet champions of a "modern" and markedly western system of values. It
espoused this worldview via beautifully wrought yet withering cartoons and editorials
that remain biting today.
Few were spared the editorial wrath: suffocating and outmoded fanatics, meddling
European and Russian imperial powers, the position of women in society at that time and
the hypocritical elite. Education, equality and regional independence, through a lens of
secularism, was Mammadguluzadeh and Sabir's vision for central Asia's future. It was
penned in Azeri Turkish in three different scripts - Arabic, Cyrillic and Latin alphabets
- showing the three forms that the language went through as Azerbaijan passed into
Soviet hands. This made translation into English difficult when Slavs and Tatars set out
to publish a reader in 2011, titled "Molla Nasreddin: The Magazine That Would've,
Could've, Should've". Here's another good review which gives a sense of the treasures
the book holds
The book features their selections from 3,000 illustrations, curated into the different
avenues of critique that the magazine took - such as Education, Colonialism and Women.
One illustration, for instance, shows two Azeri women wrapped from head to toe in
fabric, and pointing in envy at the barred windows of a prison. The caption alongside
reads: "Sister, look how lucky they are: they have windows!"
In another, five beaten-down Azeri men carry bespectacled donkeys on their back;
plumes of smoke rise from long cigarette holders in the mouths of these remarkably
aristocratic looking beasts.
Despite moving offices to and from Georgia and Iran, intermittent bans, and 10 years of
the Soviets increasingly shoving editorial directives down the throats of the magazine's
staff, Molla Nasreddin survived until 1931. Simultaneously, a cloud of obscurity seemed
to settle over a region that, says Slavs and Tatars, had been one of the most
intellectually and politically important places in the past 2,000 years.
"If anybody even takes notice of this region, they think of it as obscure, especially the
more west you go - you talk to people about Kyrgyzstan, and you might as well be talking
about Star Wars," says Slavs and Tatars. "But Baku was producing half of the world's
oil until the first half of the 20th century," noting as well that Azerbaijan was one of
the first countries in which women could vote (well before the UK), and publications
such as Molla Nasreddin demonstrate an intellectual, progressive rigour from this part
of the world that has been so far overlooked.
"That's why we're called Slavs and Tatars and not by our real names: it's not the work
of a group of artists but the work of a region that has many nationalities, and had a
shared heritage at some point. "From the point of view of the West, with this nonsense
that passes as conventional wisdom that the West and Islam are on a collision course;
you have to look at a part of the world where they have long coexisted." Namely,
Eurasia.
The collective say, however, that Molla Nasreddin is also their antithesis in that it took
modernity to mean westernisation. "We don't believe that at all, in fact we believe in
quite the opposite - more of an indigenous or hybridised form of modernity." But they

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still acknowledge its historical significance: "It's a shame that it came down to us as
artists and writers in the early 21st century to rediscover one of the most important
publications of the Muslim world," they continue. "That's testament to how overlooked
this part of the world is.
"Very few people would spend two years of their life working on something they
disagree with, but we are living in an increasingly insular world intellectually - less and
less are we embracing the things that we disagree with."
I’ve been wanting for some time to do a post (if not a booklet!) about beautiful
publications - which bring together layout; font; illustrations; paper quality; binding; and
writing. It's a challenging combination which some cookery books almost manage (with
the exception of font and writing)

Thursday, September 27, 2012

The greatest art form?

Yesterday’s post on the Azeri

satirical journal of the 1920s
reflected my admiration of graphic
arts as a whole - let alone those who
do caricature – which has been
defined as “moral satire – making
some point about the nature of man
rather than a specific individual”. I
would amend that slightly to replace
“rather than” with “as much as” since
some of the most famous caricatures
have savaged individuals. The classic
caricaturists for me
are Goya andDaumier – with the
Germans (Otto Dix, Georg Grosz, Kathe Kollwitz and Max Beckmann) making a powerful
contribution in the early part of the 20th century before the later British caricaturists
such as Gerald Scarfe.

A retired British politician who has such a great passion for political caricatures that he
was instrumental in opening a London museum devoted to the art suggests on this
interesting video on the history of British caricature that “graphic satire is an art form
(the only one) which Britain created” – starting with William Hogarth. In his steps
followedJames Gillray (the work above is his - an ambassador presenting his
"credentials" to the King - more here), George Cruikshank and Max Beerbohm

And, during my researches for this post, I was delighted to find this glorious output
from some Glasgow artists in the 1820s giving incredible insights into the lives of
Glasgow people in those times.

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I had been aware that it was not easy to find books (in English) about this art form
(however defined) or even its best practitioner such as Daumier. A very useful 1980s
article on the genre (the only one I could find on the internet) tells me that it has been
viewed down the ages as inferior. For the life of me I can’t understand why – since its
exaggerations and social scenes are far more inclusive and tell us so much more than
what passed for portrait painting.
A recent exhibition at New York’s Metropolitan Museum reminded us of the greats. For
those who want to know more, here is a two hour video with three presenters. And
there is a great website on Daumier which not only gives all his works but actually
explains the background of each!http://www.daumier-
register.org/werklist.php?showalllitho=1

The Bulgarian tradition of caricaturists is a very strong

one – starting (I think) withAlexander Bozhinov a
hundred years ago and including people such as Ilyia
Beshkov,Marco Behar, Boris Angeloushev and Jules
Pascin whose main efforts were in the pre-war period.
One of my prize possessions is a copy of a 1954
magazine called New Bulgaria with each of its 18 pages
covered with 3-4 amazing pencil caricatures almost
certainly doodled by Bulgaria’ most loved graphic artist
– Ilyia Beshkov.
I was happy to pay 250 euros for the journal – after all
I got 50 sketches for about the same price as the going
rate for one (admittedly larger) caricature of his!

And delightful, comprehensive volumes have been

published (in Bulgarian of course) on the first three of
these individuals – Beshkov and Behar in the pre 1989
period; Angeloushev more recently.
Bulgaria at least honours its graphic artists properly.
Here's one blogger's introduction to eight old Bulgarian illustrators - a more general
word, perhaps, than "caricature", "satire", "comic"........

How artists coped during communist repression is a fascinating subject - some (like
Boris Denev and Nikolai Boiadjiev) refused to toe the official line on painting and almost
stopped painting; many other moved into theatre design and cinema; others had to
emigrate. One of them, Rayko Aleksiev, so annoyed the communists that he was
arrested on their coming to power and died in prison under suspicious circumstances. An
important Gallery is named after him – on Rakorski St. Things eased only in the 1980s
largely due to the influence of PM Zhivkov's daughter who was a great art afficiando!

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Saturday, September 29, 2012
Plutocracy at work

As someone who has fought 20 successful

elections over a 22 year-period - 8 of them
public elections; and 12 internal "political group"
elections for leadership positions, I am now
remarkably indifferent to (if not cynical about)
elections. Particularly American elections whose
"policy-makers" are so much in thrall to
commercial interests - not least because their
(very expensive) campaigns are funded by these
same interests.
Radicals like myself, of course, often run the
danger of underestimating the importance of
voting for "least worst" candidates to avoid the
worst excesses of the rampant neo-liberal
characters who are everywhere these days in
elections. A "what if" approach to history has
become quite popular these days - what if Gore
or McCain had been elected??
A good solid analysis here on the financial and tactical aspects of the current
Presidential elections in the USA shows the extent to which big money thinks it can buy
elections. Two and half billion dollars spent so far by the various campaigns to put one
man in the White House. The article also suggests that the Obama campaign tactics
have been well-researched and successful -
Romney's outside fundraising body or "Super Pac", called Restore Our Future, has no
fewer than 25 billionaires on its list of donors. Sheldon Adelson, a Las Vegas casino
magnate, has alone injected almost $40m into this election cycle in favour of Republican
candidates and may approach $100m before it's done. Emboldened by the two court
rulings in 2010 (Citizens United v Federal Election Commission andSpeechnow.org v
Federal Election Commission) that removed any barriers from the investment of
corporate, union or private money into elections, Adelson and other mega-wealthy
donors will have pumped in close to $500m come November. That in turn will bring the
total cost of putting one man into the White House to a dizzying total of $2.5bn.
"Wealthy donors are injecting money into the electoral process at a level we have never
seen before," said Bob Biersack, who tracks the influence of cash in politics at the
Centre for Responsive Politics. "The danger is that this will swing the balance of power,
effectively disenfranchising the majority of Americans."
Obama has fought off the march of Big Money partly by transmitting a positive
message to voters of who he is and where he stands. His convention was a master-class
in political communications, replete with a lecture from the master himself, Bill Clinton.
With his help, Obama made the case that the continuing hardship felt by many
Americans was not a reflection of his own failed policies, as the Republicans contest,

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but rather a sign that he needs more time to get the job finished. "It will take more
than a few years for us to solve challenges that have built up over decades," he said.
The 2012 election was always going to be about the economy, and it remains Obama's
most vulnerable point. But in this crucial area the Obama re-election campaign has coolly
refused to be cowed by the Republican assault and calmly turned the argument back
against them: the economic meltdown happened on the Republicans' watch; Romney
opposed the bailout of the car manufacturers; though the economy still falters, the
stock exchange is robust; and house prices are beginning to recover. Those arguments
have played well in battlegrounds like Ohio, where Obama's role in having saved the auto
industry resonates among its thousands of car parts and distribution outlets. The state
has a jobless rate of 7.2%, notably below the national average.
Across the country, the anxious electorate appear to have been listening. This week's
Quinnipiac poll records that for the first time since it began following the Obama-
Romney race, the president has come out on top on the economy. Some 51% of likely
voters said that Obama would do a better job on the economy to Romney's 46%.
While Romney and his conservative rivals were slugging it out with each other for the
Republican nomination, the Obama team were quietly working behind the scenes to
define Romney's biography. In a series of attack ads aired remorselessly in the swing
states, they painted him as a rich kid born with a silver spoon in his mouth who had no
affinity with the daily trials of the middle classes, destroyed ordinary people's lives as
head of Bain Capital, and was so arrogant that he wouldn't declare his taxes.
Quinnipiac's Peter Brown, who as a polling analyst sides with neither of the two main
parties, says he has never witnessed such a successful character assassination in a
presidential race. "They have turned Romney into a wealthy, out-of-touch elitist, who is
just not someone the average voter wants to have a beer with."
The cartoon is a James Gillray

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Some contemporary Bulgarian artists
My Bulgarian artist friends are
remarkably patient about my passion for
the work of their dead compatriots.
And I should feel guilty that my
purchases, for the most part, do not
help existing painters survive or nurture
new talent. I say “for the most part”
since my collection does include about
30 contemporary works – mainly realist.
Three artists in particular caught my
eye early on –

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 Juliana Sotirova, an incredibly talented,
productive and versatile young woman from whom I
have bought some 12 paintings. These include a
specially-commissioned one of my father which she
did from a black and white photograph I gave
her. I was stunned with the uncanny likeness when
she revealed it to me.
She has a variety of favourite themes - old houses;
African scenes; still-lives. I will try in future posts
to lead with some of her paintings I love looking
at.

Milcho Kostadinov’s more impressionistic take on

run-down Sofia and Plovdiv buildings charmed me
from the beginning – with their soft greys and

small bursts of colour.

Recently he has moved to boats, nudes and the
sea.

Angela Minkova is the last of the trio whose work

has always attracted me – with its creativity and
humour.

She concentrates on aquarelles (a lot on the

theme of Queen Mary at Balcik) and on fantastic
small sculptures made from a variety of materials
eg bone and feather.

Two
people
in Sofia are responsible for what (little) I
know about the contemporary scene -Yassen
Golev of Konus Gallery (reference in
previous post) and Vihra Pesheva of Astry
Gallery. They are lovely people – full of
passion and integrity. Yassen is also an artist
– a couple of whose works I have already
shown on this blog.
Vihra organises special exhibitions in her
tiny gallery – and it is there I was first
introduced to the work of the trio I have
spoken about above.

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And also where I purchased my first “non-realist” works from two Veliko Tarnovo
artistsNatasha Atanassova

and her partner Nikolai Tiholov.

Both produce such joyful works!

It was also in the Astry Gallery that I met Tony

Todorov who does amazing pieces which are growing on
me. I particularly like the painting 3 minutes 16 seconds
into the video.

And it
was in
Astry
too that
I was

privileged to meet an old giant of Bulgarian

painting Vassil Vulev – in his 80s - and it was three
of his 1980s aquarelles I bought.

Finally I have to confess that this is one of the first

Bulgarian paintings I bought (way back in 2008) - at
the open-air market at Alexander Nevsky Church.
By Violetta Stanoeva. Interesting that it was
symbolic! And with all the appropriate symbols. But
more than a touch of kitsch

How one’s tastes change!

Nature's Bounty - Preparing for winter

I like this time of year – although, in this

part of the world, it does presage grim
months ahead - last winter, my old
neighbours had difficulty opening their
door at one point because of the packed
snow lying against it – and temperatures
fell to minus 30 in the area for a week or
so. Spring, obviously, is a more optimistic

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time of year – despite TS Eliot’s line about “April is the cruellest month”. But my vivid
memories are of late Septembers, as a child, of the long table between my father’s
pulpit and the congregation groaning with vegetables and fruits as the Presbyterian
Church in Scotland celebrated HarvestThanksgiving.

The weather is still balmy here in the mountains but, from my balcony overlooking the
village road, I can see the village prepare for winter – tractors towing carriers full of
cut wood for the stoves; livestock changing their pasture; work on the houses stepping
up a pace to ensure it’s finished before the snow strikes - and stays (for several
months). And patterns in my own work reflect this – arranging at last for the cracked
boiler of the (wood-fired) central heating to be repaired and the system tested for the
winter; today shifting the summer shirts to another section of the wardrobe, bringing
out the winter shirts, washing some and exposing all of them to the warm, strong wind
which sweeps along the balcony.

The link I’ve given to TS Eliot above is a great reading by three very good British
actors (interposed with Eliot himself - very dry) of The Waste Land – not a favourite of
mine. I am, however, very fond of his FourQuartets - giving an excerpt of my favourite
section this time last year. Here is a useful commentary

I'm very happy to show, at the top of the post, my Yassen Golev aquarelle. He is a
friend, the owner of Konus gallery in Sofia and helped me a lot with my booklet on
Bulgarian realist painters. He does great surrealist oils - and these highly detailed still-
life aquarelles.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Admiring Remarkable People

I was once asked who I admired – and

didn’t find it easy to answer. The
dictionary definition (“to regard with
wonder, pleasure or approval”) doesn’t
seem to me to go far enough. For me,
to admire is “to look up to” and has
connotations not only of skill but of
moral courage. I can admire someone’s
eloquence or writings – but not
necessarily the person (not, at least
in the absence of knowing him/her). I
can list some of my “heroes” – people
who shone a light at an important
stage in my development – and whose
work is still worth reading. They
would include George Orwell,

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Reinhardt Niebuhr, EH Carr, RH Tawney, Karl Popper, Ivan Illich……and Tony Crosland
who was the only one whom I was fortunate enough to meet and talk with (briefly) when
he visited my local Labour Party when I was its chairman in the early 1960s - a few
years after he had written the definitive Future of Socialism.
But it was his colleague Hugh Gaitskell whom I really admired for the courage he
showed in the late 1950s – as Leader of the Opposition – in standing up to fight for
what he believed in. I had talked with him at his house in the late 1950s (invited with
other promising young reformers) and was transfixed listening on the radio to his
defiant speech at Labour's 1960 party conference where two unilateralist resolutions
were carried and the official policy document on defence was rejected. Gaitskell
thought these were disastrous decisions and made a passionate speech where he
stressed that he would "fight and fight and fight again to save the party we love". This
was at a time when I was highly ambivalent about the nuclear issue and would shortly
afterwards become an active nuclear disarmer. But I had to admire his courage and
oratory.

I was also lucky enough in those days to have a session fixed up for me in the late 1960s
with Wilfred Brown, head of the Glacier Metal company and the man who, with the help
of Elliott Jaques, oversaw several experimental efforts in empowerment, workplace
democracy, compensation, pricing and organizational design that culminated in the
almost two-decade long efforts (1948-1965) led by Dr. Elliot Jaques. This unique
collaboration between a CEO and a researcher — which Peter Drucker called "the most
extensive study of actual worker behavior in large-scale industry" — resulted in one of
the only true comprehensive systems of management and led to groundbreaking
discoveries and management methods that challenged almost every area of management
and organizational design. For a simplified version of Brown's practice and theory see
here.
Such a combination of leadership with respect for both people and organisational
learning is rare indeed

These memories of remarkable people I’ve met were sparked off by an interview with
Senator Bennie Saunders in the interesting Orion Magazine. He too I met (in the late
1980s) when he was the “democratic socialist” mayor of Burlington, Vermont, USA. I
happened to be in Vermont, knew of him and asked to meet him (as a fellow democratic
socialist politician). He has shown immense guts not only in the various fights he has
taken on with corporate interests in his attempt to represent the ordinary citizen – but
for the simple act of not disguising his basic values.

Perhaps the most remarkable person I ever met was a Romanian - Cornel Coposu – then
(1991) Leader of the newly re-established Christian Democratic Peasant Party who was
condemned in 1947 to spend 15 years in prison for his activities in the National Peasant
Party. After his release, Coposu started work as an unskilled worker on various
construction sites (given his status as a former prisoner, he was denied employment in
any other field), and was subject to surveillance and regular interrogation.[]

236
His wife was also prosecuted in 1950 during a rigged trial and died in 1965 soon after
her release, from an illness contracted in prison. Coposu managed to keep contact with
PNŢ sympathisers, and re-established the party as a clandestine group during the
1980s, while imposing its affiliation to the Christian Democrat International.

I also had brief but one-to-one meetings with two great GermanPresidents - Richard
von Weizsacker and Johannes Rau. Weizsacker was a Christian Democract and President
1984-1994 and West Berlin Mayor 1981-84. Rau was a Social Democrat; President 1999-
2004 and Head of the huge RheinWestphalen Land (Region) from 1978-98. I was lucky
enough to meet both of these men informally and can therefore vouch personally for
the humility they brought to their role. Weizsacker was holidying in Scotland and
popped in quietly to pay his respects to the leader of the Regional Council. As the
(elected) Secretary to the majority party, I had private access to the Leader’s office
and stumbled in on their meeting. Rau I also stumbled across when in a Duisberg hotel
on Council business. He was not then the President – but I recognised him when he came
in with his wife and a couple of assistants, introduced myself ( as a fellow social
democrat); gave him a gift book on my Region which I happened to be carrying and was
rewarded with a chat.

And, finally, there was Tisa von der Schulenburg - Prussian aristocrat, nun and artist in
1920s Berlin who supported her brother in the plot to assassinate Hitler whom I met a
few years before her death (at 97!) – at an exhibition of the sketches she had done in
the 1939s of the Durham miners.
"Tisa" Schulenburg's life was by any standard remarkable. Having grown up among the
Prussian nobility and witnessed the trauma of Germany's defeat in the Great War, she
frequented the salons of Weimar Berlin, shocked her family by marrying a Jewish
divorce in the 1930s, fled Nazi Germany for England, worked as an artist with the
Durham coal miners, and spent her later years in a convent in the Ruhr.
Her experience of the darker moments of the 20th century was reflected in her
sculpture and drawing, in which the subject of human suffering and hardship was a
constant theme - whether in the form of Nazi terror or the back-breaking grind of
manual labour at the coal face.
When she heard that I was a politician from Strathclyde Region - with its mining
traditions in Lanarkshire and Ayrshire - she presented me with a signed portfolio of her
1930s drawings of the NE English miners for onward donation to the Scottish miners.

So what do all these stories tell? All but one of the people I;ve mentioned are dead!
And those I met, I met only for a few minutes - 60 at most. Does this mean we can
admire only from afar? Hopefully not. In a future post I want to say something about
"closer admiration"

The painting is one of Tony Todorov - of whom I spoke yesterday

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Thursday, October 4, 2012

Closer Admiration
Lists of people one admires, of course, say as much about the person making the list as
those on the list – about the qualities
in people we respect and look for in
others if not in ourselves. Authenticity,
generosity, curiousity, passion and
integrity are key values for me -
choosing one’s own path; and being open
to others.

I admire 83-year old Viciu, my

neighbour, for his resilience (tending
to the livestock so cheerily); his
carpenter skills; and his warm
acceptance of me as an eccentric
outsider.

I admire my friend Stefan in Slovakia for the way he has led the renaissance of an old
Hungarian Palace which serves a mixture of a training centre, hotel and art gallery;
given life to the village in which it is located; and for his passion for cultural travel and
collecting artefacts.

I admire my friend Vihra in Sofia for her passionate encouragement of Bulgarian

contemporary artists through the special exhibitions and vernissajs she arranges in her
small gallery – and the beautiful bookmarks which accompany each exhibition.

I can think of quite a lot of “local heroes” I knew in the West of Scotland (not least my
father).
Most belonged to the “old school” who had experienced poverty and the war. It is, I
think, difficult for the materialistic and narcissistic post-war generation to develop real
values.

I spent my formative years (26-50) as a reforming Regional politician (with an academic

base) – so had an unusually wide range of contacts (political, professional, community). I
consorted with senior people of all sorts – civil servants, politicians, journalists,
policemen, social workers…. and felt that most were operating beyond their level of
competence…..
Most people expected me to move on to national politics – but I had looked into the eyes
of so many national politicians and seen so much emptiness. Tam Dalyell was a maverick
Labour politician I admired – you can sense his integrity from the detailed obituary he
wrote here for John Smith, the Scottish politician whose death in 1993 (?) robbed us
of a better Labour PM in 1997

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Amongst the 103 councillors elected to the powerful new Strathclyde Region in 1974
with me, there were many of the time-servers you would expect to find. But the
powers of the new Region had attracted a good calibre of politician - the experienced
leadership of the old counties and a good mix of younger, qualified people (despite the
obvious full-time nature of the job, we were expected to do it for a daily allowance of
about 15 euros. Clearly the only people who could contemplate that were the retired,
the self-employed or those coming from occupations traditionally supportive of civic
service - eg railwaymen or, like myself, educationalists)
With a strong sense of heading into the unknown, a dual leadership was created - with
the public persona (the President and Policy Leader) being someone fairly new to
politics, a Presbyterian Minister (without a church) who had made his name in "urban
ministry" working with the poor. Geoff Shaw inspired great respect - particularly in the
world outside normal politics - and brought a new approach. He was determined to have
more open and less complacent policy-making: particularly with respect to social
inequalities.
Appointed as the Leader of the Majority Group (and therefore holding the patronage
powers) was an older and politically much more experienced man - an ex-miner. Dick
Stewart may not have had the formal education and eloquence of Geoff but he
commanded respect (and fear!) amongst both politicians and officials of the Council for
his ability to get to the heart of any matter and for his honesty. He readily grasped the
key elements in any issue: and would not easily deviate from policy. To persuade him to
change, you had to have very strong arguments or forces on your side - and a great deal
of patience. This made for policy stability: occasionally frustrating but so much more
acceptable than the vacillation and fudge which passes for so much policy-making! Geoff
stood for moral direction: Dick for order.
Both had a deep sense of justice: and utter integrity to their principles. And the new
political structures unusually adopted for this most unusual of local authorities gave
them both an equal share in policy leadership.
The difference in perspectives and styles occasionally caused problems: but both
approaches were very much needed in the early years. Sadly, when 4 years later, the
Convener died, the tensions led to a rethink of the concept: and all power concentrated
in the hands of the Leader.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Taken for a ride - UK rail privatisation
I always try to be fair on this blog – even to Sarah Palin! One subject, however, on
which it is difficult for me to remain objective is the privatisation of the UK railways –
now costing the British taxpayer some three times more (allowing for inflation) than did
state ownership and costing the passenger some 4 times more (and greater
inconvenience) than equivalent travel in the rest of Europe. It is a marvellous case-
study of, variously, policy development (on what evidence was the policy brought in and
discussed?); democratic accountability (who wanted it – and has supported it?); civil
service management(skill preparation) and neo-liberalism.
It was a mad scheme from the start (in 1993) – totally against basic economic theory
(or what remains of it). Rail is a natural monopoly. Services cannot run against one

239
another. So sections of the system are put out for tender by the State for 10-15 year
“franchises”. About 2,000 companies are involved in these contracts and sub-contracts
– with all the bureaucracy (let alone profit-taking) this involves. And that is before we
bring into play the new regulatory systems set up to monitor targets and ensure that
the customers and government were not being “taken for a ride” (excuse the pun) by
the private monopolies. I do not pretend to understand the complex (and ever-changing)
process by which public assets were sold up, franchises awarded and regulatory systems
managed. A 2004 paper by Prof Stephen Glaister seems to give a lot of the detail – if
you have the patience to follow it all.
The last 19 years have seen a lot of problems – train collisions; bankruptcy of RailTrack;
huge rise in complaints – but they are small beer compared with the scandal which has
now erupted over the contract for the West Coast line (London to Glasgow) which has
just been cancelled due to irregularities (so typical for procurement processes). Three
senior civil servants in the Ministry of Transport have been suspended (one intriguingly
an ex-employee of a merchant bank) – and the Government seems to be using this is a
once-in-a lifetime opportunity to shake up the civil service (again).
Even ex-civil servants are playing the government’s game of faulting the civil
servants rather than the crazy system they are forced to play in.

What I have never understood is the reluctance of the Labour Party while in power to
honour the clear and detailed statement it made in 1993 to renationalise – despite the
strength of public opinion against the mess of privatisation and of the intellectual
argument for renationalisation.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Distractions and Choices

Writing – let alone blogging – is a solitary activity.

The thought which (hopefully!) precedes writing
is more of a social process – requiring the
stimulus of discussion or at least reading. But
putting words together requires some protection
from the pressures of everyday living – and the
last week has seen many of these, with various
technical challenges from the central heating
system and my faithful 14 year-old Daewoo Cielo
car.
A great dump of Amazon books and Truffaut
films hasn’t helped the writing – nor the glorious
weather. The books have been a mix of le Carre
novels, Chinese and Scandinavian detective
stories, Mackintosh-Smith travelogues, art books
(Infinite Jest – caricature and satire from

240
 Leonardo to Levineand Simon Schama’s The Power of Art - whose (video) treatment of
Turner you can see here) and a few serious treatises such as David Graeber’s Debt -
the first 5,000 years andWhy we disagree about climate change.

Anyway, back to cars. I am one of these people for whom a car is a facility for getting
me from city a to cottage b with minimum fuss and cost and who, having bought it,
doesn’t want to think about a car again for many years. I was almost 50 before I bought
my first new car – having been well-served initially with an old French Simca; then had a
series of second-hand Volvos before succumbing to my first new car in 1989 – a modest
Fiat Tipo which faithfully took me around Central Europe in the early 1990s from my
Copenhagen base. I've also been lucky with my Daewoo – it’s recognised that the early
models assembled here in the Romanian plant were the best. I also ran a 10-year old
Audi Estate in Kyrgyzstan for a couple of years and was delighted with the experience.
Noting the high level of satisfaction from buyers of Skoda cars (and the fuel
consumption of their diesels) I settled on this brand – but have been a bit put off both
by three things - their prices; the complication of the choice of engine size, fuel and
names; and feedback I have been getting from mechanics about the inferior nature of
some of the materials in the newer models.
I cannot be bothered with all the apparent choices I am presented with. And I am
downright cynical about the claims made - not least about reliability. How come
the marketing international companies do doesn't throw up this basic profile?? I';m
sure I'm not unique...After all Volkswagen (Skoda's parent company) gave us the
Beetle. Where is today's version??? Coincidentally I came across this interesting
article on the issue of consumer power.
Our economic system is based on planned obsolescence. And the four-year guarantees in
this part of the world are apparently not worth the paper they are written on – an
interesting test of European integration.
So I am back to thinking of a 10 year old Audi – except that four-wheel is a better bet
in this part of the world! Choices, choices……

The superb weather continues - although I look forward now to Sofia - a

great exhibition in the Sofia City Gallery celebrating its 60th anniversary; a reopened
National Gallery (which I know about thanks to a private blog - not the official site!; and
a Victoria Gallery auction on 15 November
And, in the meantime, I discovered today this interesting website about the Bulgarian
painter Georgi Zhelezarov (1897-1982) - which gives a nice sense of the national art of
the period.

The painting, however, is a contemporary - Toni Todorov whose exhibition at the Astry
Gallery I also hope to catch.

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Monday, October 22, 2012
Worlds Apart at the Danube

Today I remember a good man who died exactly two years ago. Ion Olteanu was a friend who
devoted much of his life to the youth of the country – encouraging them to get involved in their
localities; to establish youth parliaments in their
towns; and to make contact with their European
counterparts. He was a philosopher by training
and had the dry manner of the Romanian
intellectual – but, unlike that class, had a passion
and real commitment to make Romania a better
place. And transmitted this to the teenagers he
(and his wife) worked with. I saw this vividly at a
couple of the events he was kind enough to ask
me to perform at.
I first met him in the Prime Minister’s offices at
Piata Romanie in the mid-1990s where he was
responsible for the initial attempts to develop a
strategy for working with non-governmental
organisations. I wrote this paper for him. Faced with a reshuffle, he chose to leave the civil
service and move to the hand-to-mouth world of international grants. I wasn’t all that close to
him although we did pop in unannounced from time to time to his flat in the centre of Bucharest
which was, with its mass of files and papers, more like an office – not least with the other
visitors. Last year I dedicated a post on policy-making to him.

Today I devote this post to his memory. It is a post written spontaneously (ie I have no idea
where it will go) on yet another glorious cloudless if nippy morning in the Carpathian mountains –
between the Piatra Craiului and the Bucegi ranges. And written in this lovely old house given a
new life by his friend Daniela over the past 12 years. In her love of the vernacular Romanian
architecture (and efforts to preserve it) she is in a tiny minority here in Romania – despite
the best efforts of Valentin Mandache and Sarah in Romania.

For reasons I don’t yet pretend to understand, Bulgarians seem to value their traditional village
houses much more than Romania – despite (or perhaps because) the socio-economic dereliction
which has overtaken so many Bulgarian settlements. After its “liberation” in 1989 Romania went
for the American dream – with all the “creative destruction” and modernist eyesores that
involves. I was, therefore, delighted to purchase recently a book which showcases some old
restored houses here in Romania
And also pleased to see this post on one town’s architectural heritage by one of my favourite
Romanian bloggers.
The pity is that people don’t seem able to get together to cooperate properly here – the trust
and respect which that requires seem for the moment to have been destroyed in this country.
That’s one of the things which Olteanu was fighting to restore……

Alternating, as I have in the past 5 years, between Bulgaria and Romania has made me
think a lot about cultural differences. Despite sharing the Danube as a border, the citizens of
the two countries have (apart from the summer trips to the Bulgarian part of the Black Sea -

242
which are such good value) little contact and know very little about each other. It hasn’t helped
that the Dobrogea area at the Black Sea has changed hands several times in the past few
centuries – nor that the Bulgarian alphabet is Cyrillic and the Romanians so profoundly Latin
Although Romania attracts far fewer foreign residents (partic Brits) than Bulgaria, it has a fair
number of ex-pat bloggers - perhaps due to its exoticism. One of them talks feelingly in the
online book he has made of his blogs about the country
A Romanian wife’s fury is as legendary as it is short. In the morning, you can have your ear
chewed off – my sins generally rotate around where I leave my shoes in the hall and woe betide
me if by briefcase ever touches the kitchen table! There are constant bumps like this - yet by
evening, she is back to chilled and happy as if we never argued at all.
Romanian girls do seem to work much harder in the home than their British counterparts. My
wife is always scrubbing and cleaning our 1 bedroom apartment (we even took on a maid to
further help!)
You do need, however, to develop a skin like a rhino, as every small mistake you make in life is
blown up into something significant, before floating away again into nothingness
And two books have been produced recently by Brits on the country - William Blacker' s elegant
if controversial Along the Enchanted Way; and Mike Ormsby's more gritty Never Mind the
Balkans, here's Romania. And here's a recent documentary on the country which suggests that
Ceaucescu's baneful influence is still active.

After several years of familiarity with Romania, I suddenly found myself based in Sofia. The
Bulgarians were down-to-earth, modest and….well..bourgeois! Not least in the extent of small
spaces in the centre where old and young alike can set up shop themselves - whether to sell
cigarettes, haircuts, coffee, paintings or clothes. I've commented on thishere; here; here; and
here.

One of the key books on cultural values is Richard D Lewis’s When Cultures Clash – a complete
version of which I have just discovered online. Some of the values he attributes to Bulgarians
(on page 319) are disciplined, sober, pragmatic, cautious, stubborn, good organisers, industrious,
inventive.

The terms he uses for Romanians are – pride in being a Balkan anomaly, opportunism, nepotism,
volatility, self-importance, unpredictability, tendency to blame others, black humour…..
Certainly I know that my Romanian friends get impatient with what they – as tough, direct
speakers – see as the polite hypocrisy of Bulgarians!
I feel an important project could be one focusing on Bulgarian-Romanian relations. The EU is
putting a lot of money into trans-Danube projects – pity that cultural aspects don’t seem to have
been addressed.
I've reached the age when I think how the money I leave behind might be used to further
passions of mine - whether conceptual or sensual. One idea which occurred to me recently was to
leave a small fund which could encourage Bulgarian and Romanian painters/artists to come
together once a year (starting with my village here!)
It would have been great to work with Olteanu on this!
The painting is an Atanas Mihov (1879-1974) - "washing at the Danube" which can be seen at the
Russe Art Gallery

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Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Some good guides for the visitor to Romania

At the beginning of last month I did a roundup of

blogs on/from Romania which are available in
English. I omitted, however, one very significant
one. It may not frequently post – but is always
worth reading since it comes fromCaroline Juler,
the author of the excellent Blue Guide to
Romania – for my money far and away the best
guide to the country.
Juler’s post of 30 August gave very useful
background on how the EU farm policy affects the
country
Romania has millions of small-holdings which are
not considered commercially viable but which
support the people who run them. Calling them
subsistence farmers implies that they are unable
to support themselves in any way, which isn't
necessarily the case. A lot of 'subsistence' farms produce food for the families who
work on them, and in Romania the coldly bureaucratic notion of a subsistence farm is so
alien to the character of a small, working family farm that it's laughable. Romanians
use the term gospodarie, which means home, hearth, the centre of the family, a
spiritual haven, a place where people grow real food rather than the processed muck
that global corporations want everyone to buy, they embody self-reliance and self-
sufficiency, and encompass hundreds of years of tradition and history... If the world
had more gospodarii, we might have less starvation.
Juler’s blog is part of a larger website which encompasses her other interests

Yesterday’s post raised some delicate issues about how foreigners experience modern
Romanians and Bulgarians. I know this leads into some ridiculous generalisations –
country folk are different from urban; young people from old; Transylvanians from
those in the plains; etc etc. But those visiting other countries like to get a handle on
these things – and will then proceed to make up their own minds on the basis of the
places and people they find themselves with.
I was interested to find this (fairly recent) list of books in English which wold be useful
for visitors to Romania
Alan Ogden’s books I have not, sadly, yet read. But several good books don’t figure on
this list -
- The Pallas Guide to Romania edited by John Villiers is more of a cultural and historical
treatment of the country as a whole than a travel guide. As with all Pallas Guides, it has
superb old black and white graphics and photos – and rates in my collection of “beautiful
books”. Cheap copies were easily found in Bucharest’s second-hand bookshops earlier in
the year.

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- Historian Lucian Boia’s Romania can actually be downloaded in full from that link. It’s a
very nicely written history – the only one which is easily available (Keith Hitchins is
more detailed but covers only 1866-1947 and is older)
- Tom Gallagher has written extensively and vigorously about the country’s post-
communist politics. Details of his two books on the subject are in the link – and
his Theft of aNation can be googled here
- Mountains of Romania is a lovely guide for the hill-walker

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Neglect of Bulgaria

I am puzzling over the lack of interest

British writers (of any sort) seem to
have shown in Bulgaria and the larger
interest British writers have taken over
the ages in Romania, whether from
novelists such as Bram Stoker andOlivia
Manning; travellers such asSir Sach
Sitwell, Patrick Leigh-Fermor, Devla
Murphy and William Blacker; or
historians such asRobert Seton-
Watson, Dennis Deletant , Keith
Hitchins and Tom Gallagher (both of whom I referred to yesterday)
Romania has had a much larger and more industrial population than Bulgaria- with a
highly educated and articulate intelligentsia (with strong French connections) making its
mark in the inter-war period in various cultural fields. Unlike Bulgaria, it had been ruled
with a light touch from Constantinople. Bulgaria’s experience of the Ottoman Empire
and Turks was much harsher and its celebration of independence deeper and more
lasting than Romania’s – which has had long reason to be sceptical of its governors, no
matter how Romanian.

Bulgaria has seemed for the past century sleepily rural and romantic as caught in a
marvellous book published in 1931 by the Balkans' correspondent for the Chrstian
Science Monitor RK Markham. His Meet Bulgaria has delighful photos and can be read in
its entirety in the link. And the country looked more to Russia for support – even before
1945 – although many of its painters spent formative time in France, Munich and Italy.
A Concise History of Bulgaria is the only history book I can find – and it’s significant
that the Lonely Planet website could list in 2010 as books worth reading only the 1912
novel Under the Yoke; other novels on the same theme of war with the Turks and books
about gypsies!
The best Guides for me are The Rough Guide to Bulgaria which does contain at page
461-64 of the link a list of English books on Bulgaria (many out of print) as well as a
useful section on the country’s music; I also highly recommend a locally-
produced Bulgaria Tour Guide (Tangra 2006). A heavy, glossy 670 pager with superb

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small illustrations – for only 15 euros. And also this delightful little book which features
some of the amazing small bed and breakfasts in the countryside you can stay at for a
song.
And the only blog I can find in English from or about the country is a young American
teacher's who, in a simple but charming way, describes her experiences (with Sofia
mainly), including a variety of photographs which indeed give a good sense of the
country. It was her blog which alerted me to the reopening of the National Gallery.

Both countries have superb landscapes – and both their peoples are proud. Somehow,
the Bulgarian pride I feel is simpler. Since Winston Churchill’s put-down in the late
1940s of the Leader of the Labour Party – “a modest man – he has a lot to be modest
about”, I hesitate to use that adjective. But that is part of the attraction of the
Bulgarians – they are not pretentious and have not spoiled their country. My tour last
year of the regional municipal galleries showed me positive officials of a sort I rarely
encounter in Romania. Their small country has so many more interesting places to visit
throughout the country – from historic sites and buildings to sea and ski resorts – and
the style and service you get is impressive. Their lack of Romania’s elitist intellectual
tradition is, I think, their saving grace.
The aquarelle is by a not very well known Bulgarian - C Ionchev

Thursday, October 25, 2012

True Confessions

The weather has finally broken here in

the mountains. At 09.00 it is still
gloomy with mist encircling the house
and the neighbours’ houses just eerie
blots. Even the cat chooses to lie abed!
A time for surfing, thinking and
writing….So, for once, let me just
follow the drift of the surfing (amidst
my soup-making – bean, carrot, leek
and celery!).

First I updated, as I usually do, some

recent blogs – not least adding to my recent blog on caricaturists this
magnificent record of every single Honore Daumier print and painting he ever did

The superb blog of a couple who are spending two weeks in about 50 countries and who
have, during October, been in Scandinavia was then accessed. Great on places and
sensual experiences….
And then one of my favourite blogs - glamour granny travels - whose author travels
serendipitously; was until recently based in Turkey (see below); and landed yesterday
(par hazard naturellement) in Genoa.

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An historical overview of FBI Director relations with American Presidents over the past
50 years really brought home again how tenuous that country’s claim to democracy
really is – with parallels with that ofcontemporary Russia

An article about Turkish PM Erdogan reminded me of my love of that country – borne

first of a memorable week-long official visit I made to Istanbul in 1984 or so (courtesy
of OECD) and then of several later trips, not least a motor tour from Bucharest in
summer 2002 of the Aegean. For my first trip, I arrived late at night at Pera Pelas
Hotel - made famous by both Ataturk (whose room is still kept as a museum) and by
Agatha Christie! And woke early in the morning to the specific smells and noises of the
Orient (sadly the smells seem to have vanished in later visits). I was there –with about a
score of other European municipal leaders – to share our experience of governing
metropoles with the Turks. Of course my experience of a declining West of Scotland
economy (of just over 2 million people) seemed to have little of relevance to a chaotic
and expanding metropolis of 10 million people – but who would give up the opportunity,
for example, of being ferried around the Bosphorus in the Istanbul Mayor’s personal
boat? And our institutional arrangements were interesting – with one powerful Region
having 19 autonomous Districts and four Health Boards. I quickly became friendly with a
Turkish journalist who had a personal network with the (still heavily repressed)
democratic Turkish opposition. For a week I led a double life – during the day being part
of the official power system; in the evening meeting dissidents of various sorts.
Because of her contacts and support, Gul was treated like a princess in these latter
places. Inevitably I fell in love with her – the concoction of context and high-boned
beauty was just too heady. On one memorable evening she took me in a taxi across the
great bridge into the Asian side for a romantic dinner in a famous fish restaurant –
where we pledged allegiance after only a few platonic kisses.
Sadly we lost contact – once in Prague a decade later I had a mysterious message which
promised a reunion in that romantic city – but it never happened. So there, dear reader,
you have a rare confession…..heavens…where will this lead??
Like many Brits, I have contemplated living in Turkey – particularly Istanbul – I find
them the most incredibly friendly people. And hope next year to make another long, car
trip there to explore the many exotic parts of the country which Glamorous Granny
writes (and photos) so well.

For those wanting more depth analyses, Perry Anderson’s seminal essay still remains one
of the best, serious introductions - one of several great pieces he has done on modern
states. Those wanting more reading material on the country could look at this list. And
also this one. A decade ago, I came across both the interwar poems of Nazim
Hikmet and the writings of Orhan Pamuk about which I was initially enthusiastic but
have latterly become ambivalent.

Finally a good update on the Scottish situation on which I gave a brief overview of the
past few decades earlier this year.

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Friday, October 26, 2012
Scottish exceptionalism?

I am a Scot – although it’s interesting

that I forgot to include this in the
list of ways I set out in a 2010
blogpost in which I could (and had)
describe myself over the years!
Perhaps this reflects my ambivalence
about nationalism.
Most people are proud of their
nationality – I certainly am – but
some are hesitant. We are told that
Germans, for example, associate more
easily with their Land (Province) than
with the country – although Peter Watson’s recent and encyclopaedic German
Genius sets out in amazing detail what German culture and science have given the world.
At the other end of the scale, the Hungarian arrogance I experienced when I worked
and lived there for a couple of years seemed to be a psychological defence against their
feeling that Hungary had failed in everything it had attempted. Emigre Hungarians,
however, have an amazing record – witness Arthur Koestler, photographic genius Andre
Kertesz, and economist Thomas Balogh.
Romanians, as I said recently, are a proud people – that is not the same thing, I suspect,
as being proud of their nation. Most Romanians I have known are ashamed of how their
nation’s governing elites have behaved over the years - but react violently to external
criticism. They are certainly proud of the contributions which various Romanians have
made to modern life eg the jet engine (Coanda) – although the guy who became Head of
Romania’s Cultural Institute in a recent political coup seems to have made a bit of a fool
of himself in suggesting that Romania invented the…radiator

All this is by way of an introduction to the post I did exactly two years ago on the
Scottish contribution to the world – at least as seen through the eyes of an American
historian, Arthur Herman in his book The Scottish Enlightenment – the Scots invention
of the modern world (200). One of our younger generation of writers summarises the
story nicely
The Knoxian reformation of the 16th century had resulted in 100 years of almost
uninterrupted violence and bloodshed. Three consecutive failed harvests at the end of
the 17th century, against the backdrop of England's imperial growth, set the
circumstances for Scotland's ruling classes to sell out its sovereignty - literally. The
Earl of Roseberry was paid £12,000 from a slush fund operated by the London
government to enable the merger between Scotland and England to take place. But
rather than suffer the expected dilution into insignificance, Scotland became
proportionately the most significant player in the union's empire. And through
innovations in philosophy, education, commerce, engineering, industry, architecture,
town planning, soldiering, administration, medicine and even tourism, the Scots invented

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the modern world of capitalist democracy. The springboard for this was the most
powerful legacy of the Presbyterian revolution: a universal (or near-universal) education
system.
The Presbyterians popularised the notion that political power, though ordained by God,
was vested not in the monarch or even in the clergy, but in the people. Yes, Scottish
Presbyterians could behave like ayatollahs and the Kirk could regularly incite public
executions for spurious blasphemy or witchcraft charges. But one of the last acts of
the Scottish parliament was to establish a school and salaried teacher in every parish.
The effect of this was that by 1750, with an estimated 75% level of literacy, the Scots
were probably the most well-read nation on earth. The dichotomy between authoritarian
repression and liberal inquiry in Scottish society was embodied in Robert Burns. At 16,
the poverty-stricken Ayrshire ploughman was versed in Shakespeare, Alexander Pope,
Locke, the Scottish poets and the French Enlightenment philosophers. The knock-on
effects of the education act were felt in universities and the book trade. By 1790
Edinburgh boasted 16 publishing houses.
I knew about Adam Smith and David Hume (although not properly appreciated the
latter’s arguments eg “reason is – and ought to be – the slave of passions”). I knew about
the openness of Scottish universities in medieval times and their strong links with
continental universities (not least as a final stage of legal education); about the Scots
role in the British Empire (and in exploiting the opium trade); and that most of the
stuff with kilts is actually a Victorian invention. What, however, I hadn’t realised until I
read the book were things such as
The speed with which Scotland apparently changed from a backwater of Iran-like
religious domination and prejudice to playing a leading role in the development of the
“study of mankind”
just what a galaxy of stars there were in Edinburgh and Glasgow between the last 2
Scottish uprisings of 1715 and 1745. Frances Hutcheson I had vaguely heard of – but
not his core argument that “all men of reflection from Socrates have sufficiently
proved that the truest, most constant and lively pleasure, the happiest enjoyment in
life, consists in kind affections to our fellow creatures”.
The role Scots politicians played in liberalising British politics in the 1830 period
How major a role Scots played in the American revolution – and, indeed (on the
downside), in the development of its “revivalist” religious tradition!

Many people feel that Arthur Herman has gone too far in his claims - and there is
a short professional piece here which takes a more balanced view and reminds us that
most Scots (certainly in and around Glasgow) are renowned for a strange sense of
victimhood and inferiority.
Coincidentally, another book with a similar argument has just appeared - Capital of the
Mind - how Edinburgh changed the World

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Saturday, October 27, 2012
Essays and images

Three years ago today my blog paid tribute to the “essay” form of writing.
…. I remember the impact which the essays
of 18/19th century English writers such as
Addison, Francis Bacon and Charles Lamb
made on me at secondary school. “What is
truth, said Jesting Pilot, and would not stay
for an answer”is apparently Bacon – although
I get rather confused that the wonderfully
evocative piece on burning pork is apparently
byCharles Lamb – not Bacon! I start to
google the various names and find a
wonderful website devoted to.....essays - y
compris... Lamb’s on pork. It was, of
course, Michel de Montaigne who started
this art form in the 16th Century in his
castle near Bordeaux– and his "Complete
Works" stands on a shelf above my study
door. As I read Malcolm Gladwell’s essays, I suddenly hear in my mind the tones of
Alaister Cooke - as he read hisLetters from America (for almost 50 years). What an
institution he was! Weaving a spell as he slowly moved from his opening ear-catching
sentences through a charming analysis of part of the American system to a laconic
conclusion. And then I thought of Tom Wolfe – whose 1970 essay “Mau-mauing the flak
catchers” was such a merciless description of the funding culture which grew around
the US War on Poverty. Unfortunately I couldn’t find this essay online – although
(thanks to Wikipedia and New York Magazine) I could download his even more famous
satire of “the radical chic”. If only someone would do a similar satire on EU funding –
someone surely must have!! But it’s beyond a joking matter!
I then went on the say that Wolfe invented the marvellous phrase “shit-detector” – but
I now discover that this was actually Ernest Hemingway’s phrase -
The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shock-proof, shit detector. This
is the writer's radar and all great writers have had it.
When I googled the phrase I discovered this lovely blog by an Australian
ceramicist which, sadly, stopped in 2011. One of my quieter passions has been for
ceramics. But the blog images of the ceramicist are still archived. Nothing, however, can
compare with Barbara’sIt’s About Time daily blog which performs two immense public
services – introduces us to American and European painters (generally of the early
20th century) few of us have ever heard of; and stuns us every day with beauty.
The painting which adorns this post is one of a series on a recent post she gave us about
a Russian painter Natalia Goncharova (1881-1962). Little wonder that her blog has had
more than 2 million hits. Goncharova was a member of the Der Blaue Reiter avant-
garde group from its founding in 1911. Goncharova moved to Paris in 1921 where she

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designed a number of stage sets of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. She became a French
citizen in 1939.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Of conspiracy

"People of the same trade seldom meet

together, even for merriment and
diversion, but the conversation ends in a
conspiracy against the public..."
thus Adam Smith in 1776

The catalyst for this post was today’s

news that a Greek editor has been
arrested (in mid-broadcast) for daring to
publish an official list of tax
evaders which the Head of the IMF (no less!) had given a year ago to a previous Greek
Minister of Finance and which seemed to have disappeared - although it has led to some
suicides. Here's the guy's story in his own words.
I had first come across this story of the Lagardes memory stick earlier this month in
theDiary of Deception and Distortion blog whose admirable mission statement I wrote
about a few weeks back and which I continue to read with a variety of emotions. At one
level I admire the guy’s insights and confidence – but, at another, I have trouble with
the degree of conspiracy his various stories imply.

The internet is full of conspiracy theories relating to such things as 9/11, the Kennedy
assassination, World Government, the Bilderberg Group etc
But I’ve never been a great conspiracy theorist – more a naïve, cock-up man! Not that I
don’t agree the world is full of scheming characters - more so in the last few decades
under the malign influence of the neo-liberalist pandemic of selfishness let loose by
Margaret Thatcher, The World Bank etc.
And neo-liberalism, I need to make clear, has never been a conspiracy – rather an open,
full-fledged (and so far successful) war!

Conspiracies are secret and face two major obstacles – first the lack of malleability of
social and economic forces. Or, as Robert Burns put it much more eloquently in his great
1785 poem To a Mouse,
The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men,
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!
The mess which governments often make of things (and the counter-productivity of
much ambitious policymaking) is, of course, one of the central arguments which neo-
liberalshave used in their (so far) highly successful drive to strip the state of powers
and to hand its functions over to private interests. In passing we should note that their

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theory, of course, does not allow that private organisations (particularly the huge and
unwieldy companies which dominate the markets) might also share these same features
of “goal displacement”, inefficiencies etc. Nor does it recognise the additional costs for
the public services now being taken over of (a) the huge “transaction costs” in parcelling
rail, health and educational services into the manageable pieces required for
contracting; (b) the additional managerial costs and profits the new private companies
need; (c) the costs of the regulatory framework which has to be put in place to ensure
various standards are met; and (d) the continued financial underwriting by the taxpayer
when things (as they generally do and have!!) go wrong.

My apologies for this (rare) rant – but I am just so angry about how an intellectually
fatuous and vacuous argument about government inefficiency has held sway for so long.
The reality is that all human organisation is complex and difficult – regardless of
whether it is private or public. Public perceptions are different largely because private
enterprise has been able to buy itself a good press – both directly and indirectly
(funding of a variety of intellectual activities)

I said there were two limits on the conspiratorial scheming of elites. The second, I
would suggest, is simple lack of trust – honour amongst thieves. People are more
cooperative than ever imagined by economists – but not the elites (see Al Mant’s
marvellous (but typically out-of-print) book on Leaders We Deserve). Three years ago I
blogged about the positive aspect of trust and cooperation on which so many post-war
governance systems operated (and some Scandinavian) still do) but which the neo-
liberals have done their damnest to destroy. An excellent detailed history is here for
those who want to know.
And the damage it has done to those who a few decades saw themselves as guardians of
public integrity is vividly shown in this story of greed and hypocrisy.

But one form of conspiracy I’ve always viewed as a "very real and present threat" as, I
think, they now say – the conspiracy of silence which the Jimmy Savile story now
running in Britain exemplifies very strongly. One of serial child molestation over several
decades by a TV star which apparently most senior people in the media knew about but
few complained of - partly because values were different from now; and partly because
of calculated fear...

A year ago today, I had a post about the development of training systems in this part of
the world.
Finally a couple of examples of how great the art blog - It's about Time - is. Two recent
posts about the English painter Stanley Spencer here and here

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Tuesday, October 30, 2012
winter arrives in the village

A few flakes of snow drifted gently down

at 08.00 and the village (1,300 metres
high) now lies with a thick covering.....and
winter preparations are not quite
complete.
This is my neighbour in the early
afternoon preparing to recycle his cow
manure on his fields.

My house is in the immediate background.

It's remarkably warm in the house with

its solid rock base - although the car doors are already frozen.

I spent a wet Saturday afternoon happily

watching England’s most beloved and best
performer/writer in action – namely Stephen
Fry. The 50 Not Out video gives an excellent
sense of Fry’s various roles over the past 4
decades – and why the British public (with
very few exceptions) love him so much. I
certainly do.
I would be interested to know how well his
dry wit carries across cultural divides. I will
never forget the incomprehending reaction
of an Italian friend to a short clip I showed
of the wild Scots comic – Billy Connelly. And
it wasn’t so much a question of the West of
Scotland accent as the subject matter,
perspective and delivery!
Fry’s acclaimed role as the butler Jeeves in the televised series of the PG
Wodehouse novels about the relationship between a butler and a “toff” in the 1920s
might, similarly, seem a bit restricted in its appeal – delightful as it certainly is to a
British audience.
His solo performance for more than hour at Sydney Royal Opera House is simply
stunning – his intelligence and goodness come across so strongly even in front of such a
large audience.
His Amsterdam talk to a more typical small group is even more touching. Anyone who
encourages reading and a love of words - let alone self-deprecation - is a hero in my
terms.

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He has been a prolific writer of essays from an early age – and has been very frank
about aspects of his life which most people would rather hide. It took some time for his
“manic-depressive” condition to be properly recognised – and his TV documentary on
the secret life of a manic depressive must have helped a lot of people who suffer from
this condition. He has even written a book about the writing of poetry.

Talking of good and fair writing, the extended New Yorker editorial of Obama is a good
exemplar.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Jules Pascin - man of the world from the Danube

Last year, while I was compiling my list of almost 150

20th century Bulgarian painters whose work appealed to me, I
would occasionally come across the name Jules Pascin –
associated with (for me) unimpressive sketches being
auctioned locally.

Slowly I learned there was more to the man – and that he

had in fact spent little time in Bulgaria (even schooled for 6
years in Vienna) and was more famous in France and America
for his paintings of women. Barbara’sIt’s About Time blog
gives a great series of these -which have, for me, more than
a touch of Egon Schiele to them.
I have unashamedly stolen most of the text which follows
from her blogpost about him - for which many thanks!

There’s a great catalogue of his works on paper here which

gives a detailed chronology. And also here.

He was born in Vidin in 1885 on the Danube as Julius

Mordecai Pincas of well-off Italian-Serbian & Spanish-Jewish parents who moved first to Russe (my
Bulgarian sources tell me) and then Bucharest, Romania. He was educated in Vienna from age 10-15,
returning in 1901 to Bucharest, where his family had settled, working briefly in the office of his father's
grain-merchandizing business.

He was, however, becoming passionately interested in drawing, for which he showed precocious talent. His
early talent drew the attention of the famous Bulgarian caricaturist Alexander Bozhinov.
At the age of 16, he became the lover of a woman who ran a brothel in Bucharest; and was allowed to draw
the residents.In 1902 he went back to Vienna to study
painting and, in 1903, he moved to Munich, where he
attended the art school run by Moritz Heymann. Some of
his drawings appeared in the renowned German satirical
journal Simplicissimus when he was only 19 when he got a
contract with them and met Georg Grosz.

After Pascin moved to Paris in 1905, he changed his name

to spare his family who were apparently ashamed of his
dissolute life-style and became a central figure in the
social & cultural life of the cafes & studios of
Montparnasse – meeting in 1906 his future wife Hermine
David (also a painter). He lived in the United States from

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1914 to 1920 where he taught at the Telfair Academy in Savannah, Georgia, associated with the Telfair Art
Museum. Pascin married Hermine David at City Hall in New York City and become a citizen of the United
States.
He & Hermine painted in New York City as well as in Miami, New Orleans, & Cuba.
Returning to Paris in 1920, he continued to compose paintings of delicately toned, thinly painted, but
poetically bitter & ironic studies of women - including his wife, his mistress, & some prostitute
acquaintances.
Although Pascin's watercolours, oils, and drawings were generally well received, a series of unfavourable
reviews in 1930 left him severely depressed. Suffering from depression & alcoholism, he committed suicide
on the eve of a prestigious solo show by slitting his wrists & hanging himself in his studio in Montmartre. On
the wall of that studio, he left a message written in his blood saying good-bye to his love, Cecile "Lucy" Vidil
Krohg. In his will, Pascin left his estate equally to his mistress, Lucy Krohg, & to his wife, Hermine David.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Pork sausages, Marmite and....Romanian politics

One of the many pleasures I’m looking forward when I

(Insallah!) get to Sofia at the weekend is at last
visiting the shop of the guy who has sold me my haggi
in the last few Januaries. Up until now, these small
bags of succulence have been exchanged like quality
drugs on quick encounters on Sofia corners. But Andy’s
foods offers, amongst other British delicacies, pork
sausages and also a strange dark jar with a yeast-
based product (loved and hated equally by the world)
whose name I now always forget – so forgive me as I
use my usual technique of rattling through the
alphabet to trigger off the old memory- that’s it
MARMITE!!
I wonder if Andy has seen this article on this sausage
event in the UK - and whether any of its products will
show up in his Sofia shop?

The painting is a Stanley Spencer - "the sausage shop" - who is vastly underrated by the
British cultural afficiandi.....And I know of it only because of Barbara's It's About Time
site

Here in Bucharest, I can't begin to recount the latest nonsenses - apparently

parliamentarians are now (for the third time!!) contemplating impeaching the President.
This time they seem to have some merit on their side. But this place really has become
Ruritania!!!

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Sunday, November 4, 2012
Artist's studio in Sofia

I left Bucharest in mild fog at 08.00 on

Saturday but, once across the Danube,
Bulgaria welcomed me with blue skies and
a superb display of autumnal colours -
and also a typical culinary experience
from Sylvie, starting with pumpkin soup.
And great help from her two sons in
transferring my belongings to the new
flat.

Being given a foreign friend’s flat is a

great cultural experience - as well as
privilege. By definition there are shared interests – and therefore new books and
objets d’art to explore and appreciate. My new flat here in Sofia is a bit of an artist’s
studio – on the top floor of a 1960s 10 storey building with two huge, heavy rectangular
windows in the slanted roof. And the flat is liberally endowed with paintings, sculptures
and books – with many of the books being on painting. So I am in my element – already
having discovered a beautifully designed book on Bulgarian paintings in the 1920s –
published in 1996 by Ruzha Marinska.
For the last 5 years, my base in Sofia has been in the reasonably fashionable Lajos
Kossuth St just off Xristo Botev. The new flat may only be 10 minutes’ walk from my old
one but it is in the quartier of brutal socialist modernism and post-modern capitalistic
brutalism – with one of the early huge Shopping Malls which are now slowly strangling
the lifeblood of the vibrant Sofia which first attracted me cheek by jowl with the 10
and 20 story blocks of the 1960s. Fortunately I am still within the same easy walking
distance of the swimming and keep-fit facility of Rodina Hotel.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Does it really matter?
I had a premonition Obama wouldn’t make it – the sites which I was accessing wanted
him to win and, I suspect, put a particular spin on the polls. In 2008 three points of
Obama's putative lead in 2008 apparently vanished because people didn't like telling the
pollsters they would be voting against him. And he didn’t have such a lead this time.
Of course, it was all down to swing states – in some of which the Republican power
system has been disenfranchising voters.
Obama seems a decent (if ineffective) guy. Romney also comes across in some ways as
decent but, basically, he has disowned so many of the policy positions he has taken over
the years that I would not know what I was voting for (except for the loony tea-party
stuff his VP brings).
In so many ways the election no longer matters – corporate power rules OK.

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But we all want a good guy there – and we haven’t entirely given up hope on the
community activist I almost met when I was placed in the Chicago mayor’s Office for a
week in 1987 as part of the German Marshall Fellowship.

Three years ago I had a post about making sense of public sector reform and, last
year, I called in the clowns
Finally a great story about a Scottish guy trying to restore a Romanian palace

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Private collections

A mixed experience at the recently re-opened

National Gallery of Art here in Sofia. It had been
closed for refurbishment for almost a year (still
is according to its website) and, frankly, is worse
than it was before – with one major room still
under repair and a small and inferior exhibition of
the Bulgarian classics. Only the first few paintings
by Mitov, Murkvichka and Vesin stood out from
the collection.
Sadly they also have a really stupid display of
contemporary “art” taking up some of the
restricted space. Hardly surprisingly, they could
offer me no book on their permanent collection –
although I was able to buy a very nicely presented
book about Alexander Bozhinovwhich the Gallery
had produced in 1999. It's amazing the number of
such books about its artists which Bulgaria has produced over the years. I've built up a
nice little library collection!
The saving grace was the superb temporary exhibition they have of Hungarian works
from the Gabor Kovacs collection

Gábor Kovács has been purchasing

works of art for fifteen years, with
the intention of creating a collection
that offers a worthy representation of
the history of modern Hungarian
painting. Covering the period from the
early 18th century to the present, the
collection is comprised of more than
250 masterpieces.
The collection offers an almost
complete account of the development
that began with the Romantic and
Realistic landscape representations of

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the 19th century, continued with the plein air painting of the Nagybánya school (now
Baie Mare in Romania) and ended with the ”isms” of the first decades of the 20th
century. Continuously enlarged, the Gábor Kovács Collection is one of the most
prestigious private art collections in Hungary.
János Vaszary was one artist who caught my eye.
This is the first time I have seen an exhibition of a private collector – and follows hard
on my spotting a stunning new book in the Humanitas bookshop in Bucharest about
Romanian art collectors. It was in Romanian – but profusely illustrated and showing that
we are not alone in our walls being crammed with paintings. In trying to find reference
to it online, I came across this interesting site about private art collections in central
Europe which contains this useful entry on Bulgaria’s first collectors

Two more paintings were added to my own

collection yesterday – another Nikolai
Tiholov

and a small Toni Todorov from Vihra’s

current exhibition of that artist.
That brings my collection of Bulgarian
paintings to about 120 – 100 of them by
known artists, the others anonymous

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Thursday, November 8, 2012
The 1944 communist takeover of Bulgaria

It was a throwaway phrase in the

introduction to the superb Alexander
Bozhinov book which I picked up earlier in
the week which alerted me “Stoyan Venev
pled for him before the People’s Court”.
So even this Bulgarian trailblazer of
satire (67 years of age when the
communists swept into power in
September 1944) was caught in the net of
deranged and murderous suspicion (by
virtue apparently of his foreign travels
and bourgeois life-style) and condemned to a year in prison. He was lucky – compared to the fate
of thousands of his compatriots!
As I was compiling my little book on Bulgarian Realist painters of the 20th Century I had noticed
that many had had to emigrate in the immediate aftermath of the communist takeover – whether
from painting (into cinema or theatre design) or from the country altogether. And that some who
remained in the country (like Nikola Boiadjiev and Boris Denev) were totally banned from any
artistic endeavour. But I had not understood just how savage the communist takeover in Bulgaria
was in 1944 – by far and away the worst in the Soviet bloc.
Forgive the length of this post - but we owe it to those killed in such circumstances to remember
them - particularly when the nature of their demise is known by so few outside the country. A
recent issue of the Vagabond journal has the clearest statement
The killings of opponents of the Soviet system started as early as 9 September 1944, the very day the
Communists seized power in Bulgaria.
Nobody knows how many Bulgarians lost their lives in the first weeks of the "people's democracy," their
only crime being their political opinion or their social position. However, the number of victims of the so-
called People's Court, which was created to give legitimacy to the murder of politicians, artists, writers and
even physicians considered "dangerous" to the new regime, is well documented. From December 1944 to
April 1945 the court issued 9,550 verdicts, with 2,680 death sentences and 1,921 life terms. To understand
why the Bulgarian Communists were a lot more cruel than anyone else in Europe at the time one needs to go
no further than the numbers: the Nuremberg Trials against top Nazis issued just 17 death sentences.
If you are looking for a single day when the Bulgarian political class was decimated with one blow, you get 1
February 1945. On that day the People's Court sentenced to death 67 MPs and 22 ministers who had held
office between 1940 and 1944, including the former prime ministers Dobri Bozhilov and Ivan Bagryanov.
Also killed were the regents Prince Kiril, Bogdan Filov and General Nikola Mihov, nine secretaries to the
palace, publishers and journalists of national newspapers, and 47 generals and senior military. They were
shot dead on the same day, beside an unused pit left on the outskirts of the Sofia Central Cemetery after
the Allied air-strikes in the winter of 1943-1944, and were buried on the spot. The mass grave was left
unmarked and several years later was turned into an ordinary burial ground. In 1995, in lot 124 of the
cemetery, a monument to the victims of 1 February 1945 was finally erected. The following year the
Supreme Court posthumously repealed the death sentences.
The victims of the People's Court are just a fraction of the number of Bulgarians who suffered various
forms of repression during Communism. Between 1944 and 1989 thousands of opponents of the regime were
detained, interned or denied education or work advancement. The reasons for the repression were many
and varied: accusations ‒ usually bogus ‒ of espionage and plotting against the Communist state, or opposing
the forced collectivisation of agricultural land, or disagreeing with the Bulgarianisation policies toward the

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country's Muslims. Telling political jokes, wearing mini-skirts, having a "bourgeois" past or the "wrong"
relatives could all land you in a labour camp. So could listening to Elvis Presley music. The total number of
those repressed between 1944 and 1990 is estimated at about 300,000.
And a website devoted to the communist takeovers and rule in Central Europe is even more specific
The date of the communist coup – 9 September 1944 – was a signal for revenge and the start of blood-
drenched Bacchanalia on the territory of the entire country. The victims of the class wrath were not only
politicians, businessmen, lawyers, civil servants, police and army officers. The self-proclaimed “people’s
revengers” attacked the Bulgarian intellectuals with the same zealousness: teachers, priests, journalists,
writers, editors, artists, professors, lecturers and all kinds of people of the pen, of culture and of the
spirit perished without trial or sentence in the cities, little towns and villages. It would be logical to ask
ourselves why was the country’s cultural elite branded and persecuted as the most dangerous “enemy of the
people”?
The indictment produced by the Sixth Panel of the so-called “People’s Tribunal” attached the following
qualifications to the cultural elite: “career-seeking intelligentsia that had lost its touch with the people”,
“public evil that needs to be cut out so that it would not contaminate the public organism”, “mercenaries of
the pen and of speech”, “instigators and collaborationists” of the persons responsible for the national
catastrophe, etc. The answer is very well known: propped on the bayonets of the occupiers, the communist
upper crust followed the example of the Bolshevik revolution of 1917-1921. Without choosing its means, it
showed determination to deprive the nation of the voice of free speech, and – as it proclaimed itself – “to
cut the democratic values from the public organism”, to obliterate the notions of democracy, freedom and
fatherland from public space, the carrier of these notions being the patriotic intelligentsia.
Thinking people are a barrier before any dictatorship, therefore the first task of usurpers is terror and
genocide on a mass scale against the intellectual class.
Outstanding representatives of Bulgarian culture perished without trial or sentence in the first wave of
the red terror: Danail Krapchev – journalist, writer and editor of the Zora [Dawn] newspaper, Yordan Badev
– literary critic, Nencho Iliev-Sirius – writer, Konstantin Gindev – talented young poet, Boris Roumenov –
satirist, Professor Lyubomir Vladikin, Rayko Alexiev – humorist, satirist and cartoonist, publisher of
the Shtourets [Cricket] newspaper, beaten to death in prison.
A second large group of writers, journalists, scholars, artists and intellectuals were thrown into the Central
Prison in Sofia and were given sentences of different length, combined with confiscations and fines. Among
them were the writers Zmey Goryanin, Fani Popova, Yordan Stoubel, Dimiter Simidov, Georgi Kanazirski,
Boris Makovski, the cartoonists Konstantin Kamenov, Alexander Bozhinov and Alexander Dobrinov, the
journalists Hristo Bruzitsov, Krustyo Velyanov, Atanas Damyanov and Stefan Damyanov, Stefan Tanev,
Matey Bonchev-Brushlyan, Dr. Peter Djidrov, Dimiter Gavriyski, who wrote for the leading daily papers in
Bulgaria: Zora, Utro, Dvenvik, Slovo, etc., as well as dozens of other eminent figures in the sphere of
culture. That group also included Professor Stefan Konsoulov, Professor Georgi P. Genov, the literary
historian Professor Mihail Arnaoudov, Minister of Education in Bagryanov’s government for two months.
Their life in prison is colourfully described in the miraculously preserved notes of Zmey Goryanin,
"Sketches and Stories". Even when they were at such a critical moment in their lives and their endurance
was put to the test, these internationally famous scholars succeeded in preserving their dignified behaviour
and continued to live with their science and with their ideas. Their example has proven that only a man of
the spirit is capable of bringing light, sensibility and nobility during times of sinister arbitrariness and
social cataclysms, that only man’s creative genius has the strength of withstanding the sinister downfalls of
history.
A part of the intellectuals who passed through the cells of the State Security and of the Central Prison
were dispatched without trial or sentence directly to concentration camps that had been established under
a special law and were given the name of labour-correctional communities: Bogdanov Dol, Koutsiyan,
Rossitsa, Sveti Vrach, Belene, Doupnitsa, etc., where the writers Dimiter Talev, Slavcho Krassinski, Chavdar
Moutafov, Pavel Spassov, Zvezdelin Tsonev and Yordan Vulchev, as well as the artists Alexander Bozhinov,
Alexander Dobrinov and Konstantin Kamenov, were sent. A new phenomenon – political-literary toponymy –
emerged in the geography of the Bulgarian literature. It linked the colourful names of small villages,
localities and small towns in the countryside with the saga of prominent writers and creative artists. The
spiritual elite of Bulgaria were banished to mines and stone quarries, to be replaced in the cultural centres
by aggressive ignorance, marginal individuals and vulgarity. The concentration camps turned into coexisting
spaces accumulating the energies of violence and the suffering, amongst which the freedom-loving spirit of

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the Bulgarian nation waned and died.
New martyrs were added to the prisoners of the first wave shortly after 9 September 1944 in 1946-1947:
together with thousands of opposition figures from the Nikola Petkov Bulgarian Agrarian People’s Union and
the Bulgarian Social-Democratic Party, emblematic names of the legal opposition became victims of terror,
having stood up against the hegemony of the camouflage Fatherland Front: Trifon Kounev and Tsveti Ivanov
– Editors-in-Chief of the newspapers Narodno Zemedelsko Zname [People’s Agrarian Banner] and Svoboden
Narod[Free People], and also writers, journalists, public figures and freedom fighters. Standing at the
crucial historic dividing line, they were condemned to suffer both for their political and moral compromises,
and for their dignified and valiant fight to defend the democratic ideals and the independence of Bulgaria.
Together with political leaders like Nikola Petkov and Krustyu Pastouhov, the writers carried on their
shoulders the heavy cross of their re-enslaved nation and proved that the real artist is ready for self-
sacrifice to defend his national dignity.
During the autumn of 1944, more than 30 thousand peaceful Bulgarian citizens were killed: slaughtered with
axes, bludgeoned to death, shot at point blank, thrown off cliffs into precipices, burned, hanged or buried
alive. The sense of impunity and arbitrariness, encouraged openly or behind the scenes by the leaders of
the ruling Communist Party, notably Georgi Dimitrov, Traycho Kostov, Tsola Dragoycheva and Anton Yugov,
made the public atmosphere fraught with aggressiveness of the reactions and with frenetic hatred. Mass
paranoia, thirst for blood and vindictiveness flared. Frenetic mobs shouting death slogans attacked homes
and offices, lynched, stampeded and clubbed to death innocent people in the streets merely because a
finger had been pointed at them as “enemies of the people.” That was not a nationwide revolution, nor an
uprising, nor a civil war, because there were no two fighting armed groups, as in 1923 during the insurgence.
That was a political slaughterhouse. Life and the individual had lost their value, humanity was trampled and
forgotten in the gigantic social and geopolitical collision. After World War II, when Bulgaria did not have
even one casualty at the frontline, instead of peace and a spirit of constructivism on the basis of the
protected status quo, the country was involved in a catastrophic psychological situation of self-
extermination and moral genocide. The land of Bulgaria was covered with thousands of secret graves, its
tolerant people were desecrated by fratricide and were stained with the blood of its own worthiest and
most talented sons. The mass act of insanity reveals how it is possible with the mechanisms of ideology and
politics to bring to extremes the mentality of the community so as to be directed in the service of party,
power and imperialist goals. The unabated wartime aggression of the masses was easy to manipulate and to
transform into political revenge-seeking by ideological profiteers and central offices of the party. The
normal behavioural thresholds of the extremist individual were deliberately undermined in the direction of
regression and barbarianisation so as to serve hidden power goals. And again, literature anticipated, caught
and depicted the shadows of horror, fear and death in the spiritual space of Bulgaria. The writer Yana
Yazova, a contemporary and witness of the events, recreated both concrete events and the frenzied
rhythm of historical time, revealing its paranoid symbols and states. In her political and psychological novel
"War", which was published in 2001, i.e., 25 years after her death and 55 years after the actual events,
Yana Yazova documented the social, political and existential psychological motivations of terror and hatred,
depicting the traumatically distorted mentality and the images of the “revengers” susceptible to
manipulation, as well as the sufferings of the defenceless victims.

Bulgaria had apparently about 100 concentration camps in the post-war period to deal
with its various “dissidents” – in most cases those whose dress or joke sense was not
acceptable.
Voices from the Gulag – life and death in communist Bulgaria(1999) looks in harrowing
detail at this.
The photograph of bombed Sofia in 1944 is one of a series

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Sunday, November 11, 2012
Learning more

I’m not the only one casting my mind

back to the murderous behaviour
from which this part of the world has
suffered in the past century as
Empires came unstuck and national
fervour gripped men’s minds. Eastern
Approachesand Open Education both
have postings on the Balkan Wars of a
hundred years ago.
These (and other) wars were, of
course, an important focus for many
Bulgarian painters some of whom were official war artists.
My booklet on Bulgarian Realist painters was very much a first draft – I felt if I waited
for the missing information on various painters, nothing would ever be produced. And
it’s only now that I’m back in Sofia that I can think properly about its distribution – so
far it has been sent only to the Sofia galleries, to Regional municipal galleries and to EC
Embassies in Sofia. With encouraging responses (apart from the Embassies!) It’s a
useful calling card to show how serious I am! Now I need to approach the big Hotels –
and the National Gallery who (amazingly) don’t really have anything for the foreign
visitor.
And, slowly I can update the entries both on artists and galleries. Yesterday was a good
example. The Inter Nos Gallery (sadly its website no longer seems active) is just at
the junction of Bvds Levski and Ignatieff (just round the corner from where
Alexander Bozhinov built his house in Nikolai Pavlovich St) and has I think the best
collection of the Bulgarian Realist painters in the country.
This wasn’t obvious to me on my first few visits – and I got to feeling guilty about
visiting more since I haven’t so far bought anything.
But when Dr Stephanov saw my booklet, he opened up and I discovered some great
paintings – and promises of more since (like many other Sofia galleryists) they have
more stuff stored away in inaccessible places than on display.
So, for example, one painter whose name was known to me - Constantine
Mikrenski (1921-1999) – suddenly started to look very interesting (eg the one at the top
of this post). My entry about him in the book is no more than his date of birth and
death.
Why is it that I want to know more about the (dead) painters I like? Technically, it
adds little to my appreciation - perhaps its intimations of mortality?

There are a lot of articles (and books) predicting the disappearance of the book. New
Criterion has published an article with a very elegant (and passionate) defence of the

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book (and elegy to the death of second-hand bookshops) which I thoroughly
recommend
Once, staying overnight at an airport hotel in Los Angeles, I found myself without a
book. How this happened I can no longer recall; it was most unusual, for by far the most
useful lesson that life has taught me, and one that I almost always heed, is never to go
anywhere without a book. (In Africa, I have found that reading a book is an excellent
way of overcoming officials’ obstructionism. They obstruct in order to extract a bribe
to remove the obstruction; but once they see you settled down for the long term, as it
were, with a fat book, Moby-Dick, say, they eventually recognize defeat. Indeed, I owe
it to African officialdom that I have read Moby-Dick; I might otherwise never have got
through it.)Reduced in my Los Angeles room to a choice between television and the
yellow pages—no doubt now also on the verge of extinction—I chose the yellow pages,
and there discovered just how unusual my obsession with books was. I looked up
bookstores, and found no more than half a page. Teeth-whitening dentists, on the other
hand, who promised a completely renewed existence to their clients, a confident smile
being the secret of success, and success of happiness, took up more than twenty pages.
Not poets, then, but teeth-whitening dentists, are now the unacknowledged
legislators of the world.
Now sipping a superb new Bulgarian Chardonnay - Ethno - produced in the village of
Sungurlare inland from Burgas on the Black Sea.

Monday, November 12, 2012

The Personalities of Private Galleries

In the increasingly homogenised world in which we

sadly now exist, second-hand bookshops and private
art galleries are the last bastions of originality,
discovery and ambiance.
My booklet on Bulgarian Realist painters lists 16
private galleries here in Sofia – focussing on those
which sell the more classic painters of the last
century. Almost by definition, there’s not much room
to move around in such galleries – most of the
paintings are in piles against the wall or in storerooms.
They have a great atmosphere – compared with the
more clinical aspect of some contemporary galleries.
The Inter Nos Gallery – which I mentioned yesterday
– is a perfect example of that atmosphere.

Valerie Filipov is an interesting example of a dealer

who used to have such an Aladdin’s Cave but now operates in the more clinical setting
ofThe Impression Art Gallery, 11 Vasil Levski Bvd which holds special exhibitions of
contemporary artists. Trouble with this approach is that it takes less than 5 minutes to
see the display! I vastly preferred the serendipity of his previous Cave!

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Last week I said hello to Biliana Djingova who opened the
A and B gallery last year at 45, Tsar Assen St for special
exhibitions of contemporaries - and was very taken
with Maria Bogdanova, a few of whose works are
showing (see above) - as are her husband’s. A wonderful
balance of precision, colour and humour. Bulgaria is lucky
at the moment in having a few artists (eg Angela
Minkova, Natasha Atanassova, Nikolai Tiholov) who have
this combination. This is a Tiholov of mine

And yesterday I visited the small Loran Gallery and

discovered a painter from the early part of last century
- Petko Zadgorski (1902-1974).
The Gallery had marked his birthday with a recent
exhibition of his work. They also carried on their nice
tradition of publishing a catalogue to go with the exhibition and have quite a few of his
paintings for sale on their well-organised website.

Zadgorski was born in Sliven but spent most of his life at Burgas where he developed
his love of the sea – as you can see
from this example of his painting. And
the Burgas Municipal Gallery (one of
the few I have so far not been able to
visit) has a nice little outline of his
work

The Loran Gallery seems to be the best

organised of all the private galleries I
know – frequent special exhibitions,
catalogues to promote the artists, a
good reserve of paintings for sale,
active website……Of course The
Victoria Gallery, as Sofia’s only auction
house, has a great website and
catalogue for each of its auctions (there’s one on Thursday) when more than 200
artefacts are usually for sale.

Regular readers will know I am a great fan of Astry Gallery here in Sofia whose
ownerVihra Pesheva singlehandedly seeks out and promotes living artists – young and old
– with frequent special exhibitions and materials. But the reason Astry Gallery scores is
that so much is crammed into such a small space; that Vihra shares her enthusiasm so
readily; and I never feel I am imposing….. This is what I said last year about the Gallery
-

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Astry Gallery (under Vihra's tutelage) is unique for me amongst the Sofia galleries in
encouraging contemporary Bulgarian painting. Two things are unique - first the
frequency of the special exhibitions; but mainly that Vihra follows her passion (not
fashion). I am not an art professional - but Vihra has a real art of creating an
atmosphere in which people like me can explore. I have been to a couple of other
exhibition openings here and they were, sadly, full of what I call "pseuds" - people who
talked loudly (mostly Embassy people) and had little interest in the paintings (except
perhaps their investment value). Vihra and her Astry Gallery attract real people who
share her passion and curiousity. It is always a joy to pop in there - and talk to her,
visitors, artists, other collectors and her father.
And that is also the case with Yassen Gollevi of Konus Gallery who is in his own right a
serious painter and teacher at the Art Academy.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Some scepticism about European Capital of Culture
Sofia is one of the few remaining major European Cities not so far to have served its
year as European City (since 1999 “Capital”) of Culture - although it seems that this
might happen in 2019 since it has been decided that Bulgaria will host then. 10 cities are
bidding for the designation – with Sofia’s strong bid having stiff competition from
Plovdiv’s and other well-placed cities such as Varna, Burgas and Veliko Tarnovo.

Glasgow was one of Europe’s first cities to have this title (in 1990) and I was a leading
Regional politician during the previous 15 years of regeneration efforts which
culminated in this award. – when I had the great pleasure of a private lunch with Melina
Mercouri who, when Greek Minister of Culture, invented the concept. The “Glasgow
model” is still talked about in positive terms. See, for example, two slide presentations
which compare the Glasgow and Liverpool (2008) experiences here and here

It is all too easy for municipal leaders to get excited about the prestige of a European
award – particularly when its economic impact lies so far in the future by which time it
is highly unlikely the leaders will still be around. A note of scepticism is needed. The
European Union is very clever with these designations which carry (directly at any rate)
very little European funding. Over the 25 years of experience, the average cost of the
scheme has been 35 million euros – and only 2% of this has been covered by EC
funding!The cost has, of course, ranged from 5-6 million euros of the Bergen and Prague
years (2000) to no less than 232 million for Thessalonika’s year in the spotlight (1997)
And 99% of the funding of the latter was public. I’ve taken the figures from page 70 of
the detailedPalmer report for the EC on the impact of the concept (Palmer, it should be
noted was the Director of the Glasgow 1990 project – now with his own International
Cultural Consultancy company)

So the question for the Bulgarian government and city leaders is how much should they
put up – with what sort of hopes for its impact?

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At a time of great austerity, are realistic calculations being made for the running costs
of new infrastructure being proposed?
Most European cities are having difficulties paying the wage and other running costs of
existing libraries and swimming pools – let alone having the budget for increased
staffing. Maribor (Slovenia) is just finishing its European City of Culture spell – and
is already experiencing this problem - with cultural groups being set against one another
as a result - and Istanbul(2010) also experienced serious problems

The Glasgow authorities made their own positive assessment of impact – 17 years
laterand the EC has also published its own (positive) spin on the whole experience

But there is another side to the story – which was set out in 2004 in a useful
assessment of the Glasgow experience. It did not mince its words
In the narratives deployed by those who advocate city marketing and re-imagining,
cities such as Glasgow are all too frequently reified and presented as homogeneous
locales of common interests. But ‘Glasgow’ does not ‘do’ things, it is not an agent and it is
not ‘Glasgow’ that ‘wins’ or ‘loses’, or that is undergoing a ‘renewal’, but particular (and if
recent evidence is anything to go by, fewer) groups of its citizens living in particular
parts of the City. The type of strategy adopted in Glasgow – ‘the Glasgow model’ – has
contributed to the worsening levels of poverty and deprivation and to the deepening
inequalities that characterise the City today. It has done this primarily by constructing
Glasgow’s future – and the future for tens of thousands of Glaswegians – as a low paid,
workforce grateful from the breadcrumbs from the tables of the entrepreneurs and
investors upon which so much effort is spent in attracting and cosseting – and by
marginalising and ruling out any alternative strategy based upon large scale public
sector investment in sustainable and socially necessary facilities and services. While
wishing to avoid any romanticisation of manufacturing employment, it is nonetheless
notable that this now accounts for less than 10% of employment in the City (source:
OECD, 2002, p. 46).
There appears to have been little effort to secure quality manufacturing employment of
a type that might be attractive to many of those out of work and which might offer
full-time, sustainable work of a better quality than that on offer in the ‘cappucino’
economy that is now such a pervasive feature of the city centre.
The paper quotes from a critical 1990 article
. . the Year of Culture has more to do with power politics than culture. It has more to
do with millionaire developers than art . . . In 1990, willy-nilly, everything is
surrendered, once you join in the enterprise, for above all 1990 makes an unequivocal
statement on behalf of corporate wealth.
So that in 1990 it is more a question of art sponsoring big business, promoting the new
tourist drive and giving aid and comfort to a shallow ethos of yuppie greed. And for all
this of course the people of Glasgow will be made to foot the bill. (McLay, 1990, p. 87)
Lessons - and key elements in any successful approach
If there is one lesson from the 25 years’ experience, it is that the process needs, from
the outset, to involve all possible local groups – whether performing, musical, artistic,
media, literary, tourist, community, ethnographic, archeological, vinocultural (!!) etc.....

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It is impossible to get a consensus amongst such groups –whether at strategic or
implementations levels. But the effort has to be made – to build up the trust that is
needed to have a sustainable and successful result. Key words, therefore, I would
urge on those involved would be trust, transparency, inclusiveness, learning (from
others), realism and modesty (in spending commitments), scepticism (of a lot of the
material and claims made on the subject)

Given my various posts on Sofia and its artistic attractions, I obviously feel that Sofia
would be a worthy city. for this accolade - not least because so many of its residents
seem insufficiently aware of its attractions. The reason the designation was so
important to Glasgow (when it was made in 1986 or so) was that it altered the
perception of the city - both for outsiders and residents. Sofia needs such a boost -
and seems already to be going about it in the right way . And I like the contributions
which some citizens are already beginning to make to the discussion about what it
should be for - in this series on provocateur of the month

I am, it should be noted, no great fan of mega-efforts such as Olympics. And I would
also advise those involved to spend time looking at the experience not only of the many
other cities who have so far been the recipient of this award but of other big events.
There are some good overviews (with extensive links) available here; here; and here.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Privatisation exposed!

Time was when Chile (under General Pinochet)

was the test-bed of how far right-wingers could
go in destroying a society and country. Now it’s
become the turn of England – with its successive
neo-liberal Governments pushing privatisation as
far as it can go. Not just railway and health
services – but now even policing. Thank God for
Scottish Devolution which has spared my country
from this madness – although, sadly, not the rail
privatisation nonsenses which I blogged about a
month ago.
"Railways now cost the British taxpayer some
three times more (allowing for inflation) than did
state ownership and costing the passenger some
4 times more (and greater inconvenience) than
equivalent travel in the rest of Europe. It is a marvellous case-study of, variously, policy
development (on what evidence was the policy brought in and discussed?); democratic
accountability (who wanted it – and has supported it?); civil service management (skill
preparation) and neo-liberalism.
It was a mad scheme from the start (in 1993) – totally against basic economic theory
(or what remains of it). Rail is a natural monopoly. Services cannot run against one

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another. So sections of the system are put out for tender by the State for 10-15 year
“franchises”. About 2,000 companies are involved in these contracts and sub-contracts
– with all the bureaucracy (let alone profit-taking) this involves. And that is before we
bring into play the new regulatory systems set up to monitor targets and ensure that
the customers and government were not being “taken for a ride” (excuse the pun) by
the private monopolies. I do not pretend to understand the complex (and ever-changing)
process by which public assets were sold up, franchises awarded and regulatory systems
managed. A 2004 paper by Prof Stephen Glaister seems to give a lot of the detail – if
you have the patience to follow it all.
The last 13 years have seen a lot of problems – train collisions; bankruptcy of RailTrack;
huge rise in complaints – but they are small beer compared with the scandal which has
now erupted over the contract for the West Coast line (London to Glasgow) which has
just been cancelled due to irregularities (so typical for procurement processes)"
Yesterday saw elections in England and Wales for Police Commissioners. Apparently one
of the big issues is the extent to which police services should be privatised. Have a look
at this article which recounts the criminal record of one of the biggest private
contractors in this particular game.
Another recent article reminds us of another financial scamwhich has saddled the
British public with debts of more than 50 billion pounds.
The biggest privatisation disaster was undoubtedly the Private Finance Initiative (PFI),
originally unveiled by John Major’s government but massively expanded under New
Labour. Under PFI, private contractors pay for construction costs, leasing the finished
project to the public sector for up to 30 years. The attraction was a financial con: PFI
contracts take borrowing off the Government’s public sector balance sheet. They are
expensive, not least because of the costly lawyers and consultants involved in the
contracts, and because borrowing is twice as expensive for the private sector as it is
for the Government.
The long-term cost to the public purse is shocking. Not long after the last election, it
was reported that the NHS would end up paying £65bn to private contractors for
hospital building, even though completion cost just £11.3bn. Back in May, the House of
Commons Public Accounts Committee found that “the current model of PFI is
unsustainable”, because the contracting process was so expensive, and the risk was
transferred to the public sector even as investors enjoyed high returns - 22 NHS
trusts reportedly face bankruptcy after being saddled with PFI debts.
As the recent failure of G4S to provide security at the Olympics underlined, the
“private is best” dogma is kaput. But the era of failed free-market fundamentalism will
not end unless Labour rejects its own history of privatisation. A break with the past is
not just necessary - it would be popular, too.
And even some right-wing commentators are starting to wake up to the power of the
corporate interests at work behind the privatisation drive
Treating hospitals as businesses…. has only got hospitals into trouble as they struggle to
transform themselves into commercial enterprises, more interested in their profit
margins than in their patients. It is a recipe for disaster to expect hospitals to behave
like fast-food chains or clothing stores. Hospitals should be focusing every shred of
their attention on improving their services for patients, here, in this country. Hospitals

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are not businesses; they are places that are funded by us, for us, when we become
unwell.
Like the grubby men in string vests and gold sovereign rings who sit outside brothels
beckoning gullible tourists, the Government is now attempting to pimp out the NHS to
foreigners…..
It’s not the NHS as a product that is revolutionary and worthy of export, it’s the NHS
as a concept. The main appeal of the NHS to people around the world is the fact that it
is a cheap, effective and equitable way of delivering healthcare. It is the notion of a
system that is free at the point of delivery, regardless of ability to pay, that makes it
valuable. The great irony of all this is that if we wanted to export the real ethos of the
NHS, as opposed to what might be represented by some bland, meaningless logo, then
we would be going around encouraging foreign governments to reject market principles
and develop a socialised model of healthcare. And this isn’t going to happen.
The reason why the NHS has not been replicated around the world is that attempts to
introduce socialised medical models are strangled by corporate interest. Emerging,
proto-capitalist economies are rich pickings for the multinationals that are already
lining up to take over running their health systems. The idea that the NHS might
become one of the circling vultures ready to swoop in before a fair, cheap model of
healthcare delivery can be established makes me feel ashamed.
A Scottish writer has given us one of the clearest and most powerful critiques of the
consequences of bringing the market and private contractors into health services
And the superb John Harris has done a typical video on how some citizens are fighting
back against the attempt of one Council to privatiseall its services

Sunday, November 18, 2012

The vocabulary of wines

This will be a short post since I am heading

out to Part II of a marathon wine-tasting
which I alighted upon by accident as I was
out cycling yesterday and saw large banners
with images of wine bottles hanging from the
building of the Central Military Club. Divino
was organised for the first time last year by
the leading wine magazine, called DiVino. Now
comes the second edition. Wineries can
participate only if invited, therefore quality
is ensured. If you want to learn besides
tasting, you can sit in any of the masterclasses or lectures. Bulgarian grape varieties, pearls of
Burgundy and many other topics satisfy your thirst for knowledge. If you look hard enough you
should see me somewhere in the picture.
It was a glorious way to spend a couple of hours and taste wines I didn’t know about – complete
with a little notebook they give you when you pay your 12 levs with all the wines thoughtfully
listed (in English no less). There are apparently about 200 wines available – and my notes suggest
that I tasted almost 50 of them. Needless to say I have no real memory of this – but if I am to
do the event justice I will have to swill and spit a good few of the remaining 150!!

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It was nice talking with the various people on the stalls – and also a couple of sommelliers. I was
stuck for words to describe the taste – and am basically looking for value for money – stunning
taste which does not pall as you drink it for a good price. It is, obviously, the season for wines -
so hardly surprising to find a good articles here on the lexicon of wines.

Another good example of why Sofia is a great place to live!

Monday, November 19, 2012

Bulgarian Wine - as Culture
Well I certainly learned a lot more about Bulgarian
wines over the weekend – both in the biblical sense
(experience) and intellectually. Particularly about the
more pricey wines I would never normally buy. You can
such great quality here for 2/3 euros a litre that I
would never pay more than 8 euros a bottle! I discover
(through a great little book "Catalogue of Bulgarian
Wines 2013" (available for 15 levs probably at branches
of Casavino here) that there are at least 97
independent wineries in this small country – each with
several brand names with its own range of wines. And
250 of them were available for tasting over the
weekend (as this was the elite, this suggest that there
are more than 500 different wines in the country!)
I was more disciplined yesterday, perfecting the swill
and spit – and, even then, physically not able to taste
too many reds because of the semi-revulsion my body
has developed to them. One exception was a fascinating
anti-oxidant red wine – Alfa Vita – which adds a strong medical tone to its marketing. It
certainly was smooth and tasty. The CEO I spoke to (also the driving force behind the local
Academy for Wine) was kind enough to give me a bottle in exchange for a copy of my booklet on
Bulgarian realist painters! And advised me to drink 50 ml or so for breakfast!! At 5 euros a
bottle, it’s just what the doctor ordered!
One of my goals yesterday was to savour the Roses on offer – I have never been a great fan of
these but, as my taste for reds has declined, so the few Roses I have come across have become
more interesting. And there is a great choice here!
Two stalls left the greatest impression - Villa Yustina (established only in 2006 and located in a
village in the Rhodopes foothills near Plovdiv) by virtue of the enthusiastic and helpful approach
of their sales guy Vencislav Lyubenov. And the stall of the well known Katarzyna Estate (located
on the Greek/Turkish border) - by virtue of it being the only one whose staff (women) were
encouraging feedback from their customers.
The wine fair was so popular the second day that it was almost impossible to move from stall to
stall!
As each visitor left, they were presented with free copies of the (massive glossy) DiVine
magazine which sponsored the fair. Intriguingly the cover picture is of champagne bottles in a
picture frame – is this a case of the wineries bidding to be included in the European Capital of
Culture?

There is a serious argument to be made for eating and wine drinking as a serious cultural pursuit
– perhaps the Divine magazine should consider having a few pages on Bulgarian painting (and

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other cultural material) in each of its future issues? Interestingly there was a good place
on Kurnigradska St (almost at the corner with Vitosha) which offered a heady mix of paintings,
wines, books and musical performance. It is now not more - not at least at that address -
although a new little gallery has opened in Tsar Samuil St (off Solunska) which mixes wines and
aquarelles!!
The aquarelle is - of course - an......Ilyia Beshkov - from the superb 1950s book I bought from
Alexander....

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

wine as medicine

November seems to be the period for

testing the Sofia medical systems – this
time last year I blogged about an
experience withthe excellent Military
Hospital here which resulted in a diagnosis
of excessive uric acid and a savage diet for
a month with no wine.
I’ve been suffering for some time from
some degeneration of the knee tissue –
result probably of rowing, jogging, tennis
and badminton over the past 50 years (did I
tell you I trained with the Azeri youth
badminton team a decade ago??!!). It was in Baku I had my first treatment of the knee with
electrodes (20 years earlier I had a guy with a hypnotic medallion massage the knee briefly and
cure a pain which physiotherapists had not been able to shift.
Since I came off a Kyrgyzstan mountain/hill climb in 2006 the knees have been weak and no one
has been able to give me a decent diagnosis – let alone treatment (despite MRS etc) In April,
however, a Sofia specialist ran some doppler and other tests and reckoned it was linked to some
spinal weakness – so here I am now having some excellent physiotherapy in the Military Hospital.
The Doctor who supervises the treatment gave me on Monday the most thorough and
professional examination which I have received in a decade – and has me now undergoing a 10 day
course of magnetic, electric and manual treatment. And in a section of the hospital whose walls
are adorned with paintings (for sale). Great idea! So hats off to the Bulgarians – not least
because we exchange tips about Bulgarian wine as it proceeds. Pavel Banyia is the place I had
been advised to go for the best Spa experience (in the heart of the country) but it was fully
booked. Her advice was Hisar - for both the thermal waters and wine (StareSel).

Speaking of which – as I walked back from the Hospital (aided by my antique vanity cane – which
is great for smacking badly-parked cars!) I discovered another of the charming regional wine
shops which are scattered around Sofia. So far I have come across shops selling Vidin; Magura;
Karnovat wines and today I passed I tiny shop which had a huge advertisement about
Belogradchik wines (like the first 2 in the North-East). I had driven through the village
(Borovitsa) last year but not stopped and decided this time therefore (blindtaste) to buy 2
litres of a Chardonnay/Sauvignon Blanc mix – for less than 5 euros. Back home, the taste was
impeccable!!
And a lovely little wine shop with quality wines at reasonable prices has opened at the Russian
monument on the corner of Makedonski and Skobelev Bvds (although its situated in the latter,

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its address is the former!). It's the initiative of a young man - and is typical of the attitude and
spirit here. It's love of wine which has driven him - not big business connections. I wouldn't find
this in Bucharest.
I'm also glad to see that one of the Bulgarian wineries - Light Castle - is supporting Astry
Gallery –

Monday, November 26, 2012

The disease of managerialism

One of the reasons I blog is that I see

myself very much as “a child of my
times”; someone who felt in the early
1960s the power of what economics,
sociology and managerialism had to
offer the world and therefore
switched his university studies from
French and German to economics and
politics; someone who got into
positions of power and influence in
government and advanced the mission
of managerialism; who now sees not
just the mistakes this new belief system have led us into but the unforgiveable hubris
and arrogance of the new rationalists of the mid 20th century; and who wants to warn
the younger generation of the Faustian bargain our generation struck.
My post a year ago today looked back on the grip social sciences took on our minds in
the 1960s.
For the past 4 years or so the discipline of economics has been under severe attack –
but somehow its more powerful sibling (managerialism) has managed to evade critical
popular attention. A year ago today I picked out one book which spilled the beans on the
new religion. Its title was A very short,fairly interesting and reasonably cheap book
about studying organisations which I view as far more explosive than The Communist
Manifesto. I did my best to give a summary -
 "imagine a world where the thing which dominated it (God; the Party) was written
about in one of three ways. One was like a bible, very heavy and orthodox. The second
was amusing and readable but didn’t tell you anything you couldn’t think for yourself.
The third seemed to say some things you wouldn’t think yourself and suggested flaws in
the Bible but you couldn’t understand it because it was so obscurely written. Such is the
literature of organisations - in which we live our lives and yet are served by only
Textbooks; pop management; and unreadable scholarly books or articles".
 Writers on organisations belong to one of two schools – those who believe "there
exists an observable, objective organisational reality which exists independent of
organisation theory (OT). The task of OT is to uncover this reality and discover the
laws by which it operates – and perhaps then to predict if not control future events.
They tend to favour quantitative research. These are the positivists. Then there is a
second camp which denies this scientific view – they might be called constructivists or

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relativists since, for them, organisational reality is constructed by people in
organisations and by organisation theory”.
 The history of organisation theory you find in textbooks generally starts with
the concept of "bureaucracy” as defined by Weber and with that of "scientific
management” as set out by FW Taylor - both of whom were active in a 25 year period
from the late 1880s to the end of the first world war, one as a (legal) academic in
Prussia, the other as an engineer and early consultant in American steel mills in
Pennsylvania.
 Weber was curious about the various motives there have been over history and
societies for obedience. Why exactly have we accepted the authority of those with
power? His answer gave us a typology of authority we still use today – "traditional",
"charismatic" and what he called "rational-legal” which he saw developing in his time. A
system of (fair) rules which made arbitrary (privileging) behaviour difficult. But this
was an "ideal type” (ie a model) – not necessarily a precise description or prescription.
Indeed studies from the mid 1950s showed just how much informal power there was in
bureacracies.
 Taylor worked in an industry where it was normal for workers to organise their
own work; and where owners tended to be Presbyterean and workers catholic
immigrants. Taylor reckoned there was a lot of slacking going on – and applied a
"scientific” approach to devise standards and measures of performance (time and
motion) as well as "scientific” selection of workers and a strict separation of workers
and managers.
 This caused strong reactions not only amongst workers but from many owners
and only survived thanks to the production needs of the First World War
 The "evacuation of meaning” from work was intensified by Fordism.
 the "human resource” approach to management which followed was not the
fundamental break which the textbooks portray but rather a cleverer legitimisation of
management power – as was the cultural management (and TQM) of the latter part of
the 20th century.
 Although managers call the shots, their organisational fashions always fail –
because of unintended effects
 Business schools do not produce better managers – but rather breed
legitimisation; self-confidence; a shared world-view and a common (mystifying) language
 One quote perhaps captures the author's (Chris Grey's) argument -
For all the talk about new paradigms, contemporary organisation theory and
management method remain remarkably unchanged from their classical roots….because
the underlying philosophy of instrumental rationality and control remains firmly in the
ascendant
In the 1970s we had people like Ivan Illich and Paolo Freire exposing the emptiness of
the doctrines which sustained the power of education and health systems. We now
desperately need people like this to help us tear apart the arbitrary assumptions which
sustain the legitimacy of the new priests of technocracy. Daniel Dorling's recent

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book Injustice - why social inequality persists is exceptional because he tries to
identify and then challenge the belief systems which sustain our present inequities.
There are hundreds of thousands of academics receiving public money to teach and
research so-called social "sciences" in universities and public institutions. The vast
majority of them, whether they realise it or not, have been part of a large brain-
washing exercise. A few of them only have broken ranks - not just the economists I
have mentioned but those (generally American) sociologists who, for a few years, have
been advocating what they call "public sociologies". Michael Burrawoy has been one of
the main protagonists. Noone, however, should be under any illusions about the
difficulties of making an intellectual challenge on this field of management and
organisation studies in which so many brains, reputations and careers are now
entrenched

In the same month last year I also traced the history of the critique of economic
growth and consumerism.

Finally this important article on Social housing in Scotland which show how even one of
the last bastions of social democracy has been infected by the neo-liberalist disease.

The painting is, of course, an Honore Daumier - The Mountebank Musicians

Thursday, November 29, 2012

What hope for democracy?

The castration of democracy by corporate power

has been a recurring theme in my blogs – and I
did on one occasion even suggest that the lack of
fundamental policy differences between
parties made us little different from Communist
China
And this time 2 years ago I gave a link to a
book, The Climate Change Challenge and the
Failure of Democracy by David Shearman, without
appreciating that its critique of liberal
democracy and its apparent inability to challenge
corporate interests has the authors arguing in
considerable detail for a more authoritarian
system of government. Naturally the book has
been useful to those denying climate change –
allowing them to claim that climate change is a
plot by fascist big government.
M Greer ( as a "peak oil" writer) seems to have been one of the few to subject the
book’s argument to a more serious analysis

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It’s worth glancing back over the last decade or so to get a sense of the way this book
fits into the broader process by which climate change activism ran off the rails. In
2001, despite fierce opposition from business interests and right-wing parties
generally, it was very much in the ascendant, and some form of regulation of carbon
emissions looked like a done deal. Opposition from the White House and well-funded
think tanks notwithstanding, the movement to limit CO2 emissions could have become
the sort of juggernaut that extracted the Endangered Species Act and a flurry of
other environmental legislation from another conservative Republican administration
thirty years earlier. That it did not was, I think, the result primarily of three factors.
The first was the astonishing political naivete of the climate change movement. Most of
the leading figures in the climate change movement are used to the very different
culture of scientific debate and simply have no notion how to address the very
different needs of public debate in society that does not share their values.
This latter point leads to the second primary factor in the failure of the climate change
movement, which is the extent that it attempted to rely on the prestige of institutional
science at a time when that prestige has undergone a drastic decline. The public has
become all too aware that the expert opinion of distinguished scientists has become a
commodity, bought and sold for a price that these days isn’t always discreetly disguised
as grant money or the like. The public has also been repeatedly shown that the public
scientific consensus of one decade is fairly often the discarded theory of the next.
When you grow up constantly hearing from medical authorities that cholesterol is bad
for you and polyunsaturated fats are good for you, and then suddenly he medical
authorities are saying that polyunsaturated fats are bad for you and some kinds of
cholesterol are good, a certain degree of blind faith in the pronouncements of
scientists goes out the window.
The mental whiplash caused by sudden changes in scientific opinion, each one announced
to the public in terms much less tentative than it generally deserves, has played a
larger role in hamstringing climate change activism than most of its supporters may find
it comfortable to admit.
I’ve come to think that a third factor has played at least as important a role in gutting
the climate change movement. This is the pervasive mismatch between the lifestyles
that the leadership of that movement have been advocating for everyone else and the
lifestyle that they themselves have led. When Al Gore, after having been called out on
this point, was reduced to insisting that his sprawling mansion has a lower carbon
footprint than other homes on the same grandiose scale, he exposed a fault line that
runs straight through climate change activism.
I long ago lost track of the number of times I’ve heard people in one or another corner
of the activist scene throw up their hands in despair and describe the task of
organizing people to seek some form of change or other as being like trying to herd
cats. In point of fact, herding cats is one of the easiest things in the world. All you have
to do is go to the place you want the cats to go, carrying with you a can of tuna and a
can opener. The moment the cats smell the fragrance of the tuna, they’ll come at a run,
and you’ll have your herd exactly where you want them. Now of course that strategy
assumes two things. It assumes that you’re willing to go to the place you want the cats
to go, and it also assumes that you have something to offer them when they get there.

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That sums up what has been one of the most critical problems with the climate change
movement: it has been calling on the world to accept a lifestyle that the movement’s
own leaders have shown no willingness to adopt themselves, and thus have been in no
position to model for the benefit of others. That’s left the movement wide open to
accusations that it means its policies to apply only to other people – accusations that
have not exactly been quelled by the efforts of various countries, the US very much
included, to push as much of the burden of carbon reduction as possible onto their
political and economic rivals. I trust I don’t have to spell out how such suspicions will be
amplified by Shearman’s cheerleading for exactly the sort of authoritarian politics in
which some people’s carbon footprint would inevitably be more equal than others’.
For a wide-ranging discussion of the relationship of democracy to climate change see
here.
And Stephen Holmes - the political scientists who focuses on post-communism - has
written a very thoughtful piece on the reasons for the current disillusionment with
democracy. It is quite remarkable to find an American writing in these terms -

To understand why citizens today, throughout the world, cannot easily control
politicians by democratic means, we need to look at the way in which various extra-
electoral forms of dependency of politicians on citizens have recently been eroded. To
oversimplify, we can say that the citizen-voter has leverage over ruling groups only
when he or she is also a citizen-soldier, a citizen-worker, and a citizen-consumer. The
few are willing to share power and wealth with the many only when the many voluntarily
cooperate with the few in their war-making and profit-making. When volunteer armies
with high-tech weapons replace citizen levies, one of the main motives for elite interest
in public welfare is substantially weakened. The flooding of the labour market by a low-
cost Chinese workforce has also reduced the interest of the American and European
capitalist class in the health and education of American and European workers. Taken
together, the disappearance of the citizen-soldier and the diminished status and clout
of the citizen-worker have considerably reduced the leverage which the citizen-voter
can bring to bear on society's top decision-makers. This erosion has become a total
destruction in the case of Russia, where the hydrocarbon bonanza (sold to foreigners)
has liberated the ruling elite from citizen-consumers as well.

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Friday, November 30, 2012
Why is public management so boring?

In the last three years I have apparently written

almost 700 posts. The right-hand column indicates
the most popular posts – alternately of past 7 or 30
days (less often of all time).
I wish I understood what this tells me about the
interests and (internet) behaviour of my readers. And
I get frustrated that what I consider good posts are
rarely rated in these statistics. Democratic
Discontents and A Citizen’s Bible are two good (and
linked) examples. In the first (long) post two years
ago I argued that, despite the number of publications
on different aspects of British politics (many
academic), there were extraordinarily few studies
which actually dealt with the question of how well (or
badly) the country is actually governed. I identified
four such critical works - most written some years
ago.
The second post (a year ago) was on similar lines but focused this time on the literature
of public administration (or management) as its now called. There, of course, is revealed
part of the problem - the compartmentalisation of knowledge and the amount of
academic scribbling around narrow issues written not for the general public but to
embellish academic reputations and careers.
For a proper understanding of how (well or badly) a government system is working you
need to look at politicians AND officials and their interaction. Of course, you need to
do more - you need to look at the interactions with the wider world - not least
commercial and financial.
For those of you who haven't read my second post on the need for a rethink of the
public management discipline, here it is again in full -
As both mainstream economics and psychology are undergoing major challenge and
rethinks, it is time that the scholastic discipline of public management had this sort of
overhaul and public examination.
The only popular book on the subject I can think of was Reinventing Government (1991)
by David Osbourne and Ted Gaebler – which was, however, American and did not
attempt an overview of the topic but rather proselytised for neo-liberalism.
Economics and psychology, of course, are subjects dear to the heart of everyone – and
economists and psychologists figures of both power and ridicule. Poor old public
administration and its experts are hardly in the same league! Not only does noone listen
to them – the scholars are embarrassed to be caught even writing for a bureaucratic or
political audience.
And yet the last two decades have seen ministries and governments everywhere embark
on major upheavals of administrative and policy systems – the very stuff of public
administration. But the role of the scholars has (unlike the 2 other disciplines) been

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simply to observe, calibrate and comment. No theory has been developed by scholars
equivalent to the power of the "market”, "competitive equilibrium” or "the unconscious”
– unless, that is, you count Weber’s "rational-legal bureaucracy” (1890s) or Robert
Michels "iron law of oligarchy” (1911). Somehow Lindblom's "disjointed incrementalism"
of the 1960s never caught on as a public phrase!
Those behind the marketising prescriptions of New Public Management (NPM) were not
from the public admin stable – but rather from Public Choice Economics and from the
OECD – and the role of PA scholars has been map its rise and apparent fall and
(occasionally) to deflate its pretensions. At its best, this type of commentary and
analysis is very useful – few have surpassed Chris Hood’s masterly dissection of NPM 20
years ago. This set out for the first time the basic features of (and arguments for) the
disparate elements which had characterised the apparently ad-hoc series of measures
seen in the previous 15 years in the UK, New Zealand and Australia – and then suggests
that the underlying values of NPM (what he calls the sigma value of efficiency) are
simply one of three clusters of administrative values – the other two being concerned
with rectitude (theta value) and resilience (lamda value). Table 2 of the paper sets this
out in more detail.
The trick (as with life) is to get the appropriate balance between these three. Any
attempt to favour one at the expense of the others (NPM) will lead inevitably to
reaction and is therefore unstable.
This emphasis on the importance of balance was the focus of a very good (but
neglected) paper which Henry Mintzberg published in 2000 (which I’ve mentioned
before on the blog) about the Management of Government which starts with the
assertion that it was not capitalism which won in 1989 but "the balanced model” ie a
system in which there was some sort of balance between the power of commerce, the
state and the citizen. Patently the balance has swung too far in the intervening 20
years!
Incidentally I see from Mintzbergs (rather disappointing) website that he is working on
a book on this theme with the title Rebalancing Society; radical renewal beyond Smith
and Marx. Mintzberg is a very sane voice in a mad world – ás is obvious from this article
on managing quietly and his ten musings on management.
Hood elaborates on these three sets of values in the book he published at the same
time with Michael Jackson - Administrative Argument (sadly out of print) - when he set
out 99 (conflicting) proverbs used in organisational change.
In 2007, Russell Ackoff, the US strategic management guru, published a more folksy
variant of this proverbs approach – The F Laws of management a short version of which
can be read here. We desperately need this sort of approach applied to the "reformitis”
which has afflicted bureaucrats and politicians in the past 20 years.
One of the few claims I feel able to make with confidence about myself is that I am
well-read (see the (admittedly out-of-date annotated bibliography for change agents on
my website). But I know of no book written for the concerned citizen which gives a
realistic sense BOTH of the forces which constrain political action AND of the
possibilities of creating a more decent society.
A book is needed which –
• Is written for the general public

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* is not associated with discredited political parties (which, by definition, sell their
souls)
• Sets out the thinking which has dominated government practices of the past 20 years;
where it has come from; and what results it has had (already well done in academia see
the Pal paper on the role of the OECD in marketing the privatisation of government)
• Gives case studies – not of the academic sort but more fire in the belly stuff which
comes, for example, from the pen of Kenneth Roy in the great crusading Emag he edits
and eg the tale which should be shouted from the rooftops of the collusion of so many
public figures with the activities of the cowboys who run privatised companies which are
trying to muscle in on (and make profit from) public services.
Perhaps I should try to produce such a book? Various authors have already put in place
some of the building blocks – eg Peter du Gay ("Come back bureaucracy"); Chris Pollitt
(in The Essential Public Manager); some of the work on public value by Mark Moore and
others; even Geoff Mulgan's Good and Bad Power (which, sadly, I found impossible to
finish.
The painting is by Stanley Spencer

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Press Liberties

The UK prides itself on its liberties – with freedom

of speech and of the press being at the top of the
list. But whose liberties have these really been? A
few billionaires own most of the newspapers and
journals - and famous figures (and governments)
have been able to get judicial judgements muzzling
coverage of certain issues which would be
embarrassing to them. But when – thanks to the
perseverance of a few people associated with The
Guardian newspaper – the scale of phone-tapping by
journalists of tabloids (the gutter press) was
revealed (as well as questionable police behaviour),
the government felt obliged to take the route all
governments under pressure take – set up a
commission of inquiry. In this case a judicial one.
Lord Justice Leveson was asked to investigate and
report on the 'culture, practices and ethics of the press'. For 17 months a variety of
people (editors, journalists, police, politicians, those affected by press hounding) have
appeared as witnesses - in public and under oath - and told their stories.
Such inquiries are a very British thing – it is a sign of firm action but gives the
government a breathing space. And the issue can also be defused by writing the terms
of reference in ways which exclude dangerous territory and/or by careful appointment
of the chairman and members of the inquiry. By the time an inquiry issues its report,
the issue may be forgotten. But in this case the public nature of the inquiry – with
active television coverage – ensured that the issue remained a riveting one for the

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public – “did they or didn’t they (lie)??”
The Leveson report on press behaviour and ethics in the UK has just been issued. It’s a
good (if long) read (a short version is here) and recommends that the present self-
regulatory system of the press which has so patently failed be replaced by one with
real teeth to enforce better practices. The judge is quite savage in his comments about
the numerous opportunities editors and owners have been given to clean up their act.
This, after all, is the seventh report on the subject in 70 years – one a decade! But the
Government is resisting the idea of a statutory body with powers of fining. And some
reputable people agree with him - Peter Preston, Simon Jenkins and Craig Murray.
Murray’s post is perhaps the most interesting of the three contributions since he
argues that Leveson was answering the wrong question -
British mainstream politicians are still more repulsive and self-seeking than the British
mainstream media, and state regulation of the media, however modulated, is not good.
But Leveson was answering the wrong question.
The real problem is the ownership structure of UK mainstream media. Newspapers and
broadcasters function as the propaganda tool of vast and intertwined corporate
interests, shaping public opinion to the benefit of those corporate interests and
ensuring popular support for politicians prepared to be complicit with those interests.
The only answer to this is to break up the corporate structure of the UK mainstream
media. The legislative framework to do this is not difficult. What needs to be changed
are the criteria. I would propose something like this; no organisation, state or private,
should be allowed effective control of more than 20% of the national or regional
newspaper market or the television market, or more than 15% of those combined
markets.
The extraordinary thing is that Leveson specifically states that plurality issues do fall
within his terms of reference, and that he must address them. He then completely fails
to address them. At pages 29-30 of the executive summary of his report, he
acknowledges that the current situation is unsatisfactory but makes no
recommendations for change, only urging “Greater transparency on decision making on
mergers”.
Leveson has provided us with the distraction of an argument about a regulatory body to
look primarily at invasion of privacy abuse. The important factor for Leveson is not what
Cameron or Clegg think of that idea. It is what Murdoch and the media corporations
think of it, and the truth is that they could live with it, after huffing and puffing,
because it would have zero effect on their financial bottom line.
But what Leveson has totally failed to do – and doubtless never had the slightest
intention of doing – was anything that hurts the corporate financial interests. Leveson’s
failure seriously to address the question of media ownership and its use in the nexus of
commercial and political interests is itself an appalling act of establishment collusion.
Very successfully so – in all the “debate” going on about the regulatory body, the media
ownership question has completely vanished. Brilliant.
And this post gives some good examples of how the British press is no longer reporting
the news
.....The fiasco of hypocrisy played out between Brussels, Berlin and Athens during 2009-
11 soon stopped being a story about unbridled banking corruption, Greeks being groomed

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to lie about debt by Wall Street, and cynical bondholders buying debt purely in the hope
of triggering default insurance. Within weeks it turned into Greek Crisis Live, endless
meetings, men inside cars being driven about, new dawns being proclaimed, and complete
bollocks about Greece being on the road to recovery.
About thirteen months ago, a tale of insanity about braindead German austerity
economics and dodgy arms deals with Greeks quietly shifted scenes, and became Will
Greece Be Kicked Out of the eurozone. Briefly six months ago, reality surfaced in the
shape of respected debt dealers and economists saying Greek debt was unrepayable,
and it was an obscenity to pauperise innocent Greek citizens while the bad guys got off
scot-free. But within days that was pushed offstage in favour of yet more shuttle
diplomacy, more all-night meetings in Brussels, more calls for Greece to face its
responsibilities, north European politicians with their own unassailable debt mountains
calling for yet more austerity, and a fantasy Fiskalunion being depicted as the Promised
Land.
Today, the EU story is very obviously one about the eurozone being doomed, France
being hopelessly exposed to Greek debt, Germany et al being hopelessly exposed to
Spanish debt, the entire zone’s economy heading for the sewers, Greek politics
becoming extreme, and the need for a total rethink on political Union between European
nations.
But for the UK press, it has become a surreal saga about David Cameron ‘getting tough’
with Brussels, and his Party Rightists being jolly delighted about that. The media has
been gone over with a fine tooth-comb by Justice Leveson in recent months. This bloke
has now produced a 2,000 page report – does it really take that amount of verbiage to
deal with the issues to hand? – but nowhere in his conclusions does it say that unelected
media proprietors avoiding UK taxes wield enormous and unaccountable power to
pervert the course of justice, policy, Cabinet responsibility, civic ethics, and our police
forces............
Andrew Rawnsley is an astute observer of the processes of (rather than commentator
on the substance of) British politics and put the reaction to the report in a very
appropriate perspective -
Imagine we were talking about a 16-month, £5m, government-commissioned inquiry into
abuses perpetrated by doctors or lawyers or members of the armed forces. Imagine
that this inquiry had catalogued repeated illegality, systematic breaches of the
profession's codes, the corruption of public officials, the compromising of political
integrity and outrageous misconduct that had maimed innocent lives. Imagine that the
report had arrived at the verdict that, while this profession mostly "serves the country
well", significant elements of it were "exercising unaccountable power".
Imagine the prime minister who had set up that inquiry then responded that it was all
very interesting, with much in it to commend, but he was going to park this report on
the same dusty shelf that already groans with seven previous inquiries and allow this
disgraced bunch one more chance to regulate themselves. We know what would be
happening now. The newspapers would be monstering the prime minister as the most
feeble creature ever to darken the door of Number 10. But since this is about the
newspapers themselves, David Cameron has received some of the most adulatory
headlines of his seven years as Tory leader. "Cam backs a free press," cheers

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the Mirror, for once in full agreement with the Daily Mail, which salutes as "Cameron
leads the fight for liberty", and the Daily Telegraph, which hails "Cameron's Stand For
Freedom" and the Sun, which stands to "applaud David Cameron's courage in resisting
Lord Leveson". The prime minister's staffers are chuckling that he has generated some
of his most glowing headlines by rejecting the cornerstone recommendation of his own
inquiry.
If you can briefly suspend your cynicism about the whole thing and block your ears to
the sound and fury that has accompanied the publication of Leveson, you'll see a fairly
broad consensus about what needs to be done. Across the political parties and in much
of the press there is considerable agreement that the report's principles are generally
sound and many of the proposed remedies are sensible. The stark division is over
whether it needs law – "statutory underpinning" in the rather hideous jargon – to put
those principles into practice. As the Deputy Prime Minister rightly observed to MPs, it
is an argument about "means" rather than "ends". The battle is no less fierce for that.
And no less infected with some base motivation, among both politicians and the press,
about what best serves their interests.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

You are where you live

A Samuel Pepys - (or Marcel Proust -) type entry today.
Thanks to a couple of recent moves in my accommodation I’m seeing another side of Sofia. At
the weekend I moved a little but further from the centre – trying to keep the rental low since
I’m here only for a few months (if that) but would ideally like to keep somewhere to have as a
base for my things and for the occasional visit. But I’ve been spoiled in the places I;ve had and
just cannot adjust to the soullessness of these cheaper rented places.
The young woman showing me the various flats told me the impact I had made when I said I
needed bookshelves – “no one reads here” she exclaimed “but it does make people respect you!”
And the lack of reading certainly shows in the absence, in any of the flats I looked at, of reading
lights. I just don’t understand how people can live in places with only overhead lights! And what is
advertised as “furnished” often means little more than kitchen facilities (often with
dishwasher!), a bed, table and chairs. No cooking utensils, bedsheets, lamps or radio. Fortunately
I travel with cooking stuff, don’t need television and had bought a couple of antique carpets for
the bare floors – but unfortunately I need storage space for bikes and car parking facilities not
too far away.
So I’ve had to settle (for 300 euros a month) for a rather tawdry and shoddy new build-flat –
largely on the basis that it seemed reasonably clean and had the space for my wheels! But I’m
not sure how long I can put up with the place.
I also have a hateful heating system (hot air being blown through air conditioners) simple
because the central heating here in Sofia I so expensive. A monopoly supplier has forced more
and more people to disconnect – driving the prices for those who remain even higher. So it is
much cheaper to have electric heating which you control – particularly if you’re living there
intermittently.
I continue to enjoy walking (and cycling) around Sofia – even in the snow and ice which have
graced the streets this week – the small shops and galleries (and cheap and pleasant eating and
drinking) invite so (the Elephant second-hand Bookshop with English books has relocated into

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larger premises in the centre and opens today!) But the cosy small flats in Bucharest and Ploeisti
are definitely beginning to beckon.
Trouble is that I would have to dump the bikes (no storeage or cycling conditions up there) and
also some of the paintings! Choices!

I was hoping to add to my little library on Bulgarian art by a visit to the underground second-
hand bookshop at the University last week. It did indeed have quite a range of 1960s-1990s
books on particular artists – but at extortionate prices for battered and nondescript things of
less than 100 pages. The average price was 30 euros. What Bulgarian can afford such prices?
But, just 5 minutes (and hidden) away in a courtyard at Vassil Levski 87, there is a small second-
hand bookshop which offers a not dissimilar range at a quarter of those prices. I got a couple of
nice little books on the satirist -Stoyan Venev - and the shaper of Bulgarian painting - Jaroslav
Vesin

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Disaster facing Romania

A very tragic situation developing for

Romania after Sunday’s parliamentary
elections there – with the unholy alliance
of ex-communists and liberals (???!!)
getting 60% of a very low vote (40%) and
the party associated with the much-hated
and paranoid President Basescu getting
only 16%. An Economist article puts the
situation very bluntly -
According to the Constitution, Mr Basescu
has the right to appoint the next prime
minister, following consultations with the
party that gained the majority of votes.
(Art 103 of the constitutions says "The
President of Romania nominates one
candidate for the function of Prime
Minister, after consulting with the party that has an absolute majority in the
Parliament, or if one does not exist from one of the parties present in the parliament".)
The ruling alliance stated they want Mr Ponta to continue as prime minister for another
four years( – but they are a coalition not a party). Basescu has repeatedly indicated
that even if the ruling alliance gains a majority of votes, he will not nominate Mr Ponta.
Last week, Mr Basescu said he will appoint a prime minister who is pro-European,
respects the Constitution and the rule of law and doesn’t have any hidden details on his
resume that could make him an easy target for blackmail. Mr Ponta does not appear to
fit the bill. The European Union has strongly criticised his government last summer
following the cabinet’s attempts to take control of the judiciary and other public
institutions. Mr Ponta was also accused of plagiarising his PhD thesis and lying in his CV.
He denied all the allegations.

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One of the commentators in the subsequent discussion thread spells out what lies ahead
-
Due to a friendly (and highly controversial) Constitutional Court ruling, the
interpretation that the president operates under is that he can choose whoever he
likes. But it’s clear that the spirit of the law, and of his constitutional role as a neutral
arbiter are ignored. He is supposed to consult with the parties and assess which party's
candidate has the best chance at forming a parliamentary majority. For the president
to name whom he wish is aberrant and un-democratic. Why even consult with the parties
if he can nominate whoever he wants? If we want to be technical, the president could
even dissolve the parliament after two failed attempts at forming the government
based on his nominations. This would mean that Basescu, based on this literal
interpretation of the law, could repeated dissolve parliament and force new elections
until the parliament (and thus the people) succumbed to his will and backed his nominee.
But alas, let's say the President is within his legal right to nominate as he alone chooses.
Is this moral? Is this something that is in line with trans-Atlantic values? Are the
people of Romania to be held hostage under the guise of respecting the Rule of Law
where on the other hand democratic principles are being trampled? And I'm not even
mentioning the issue of legitimacy. 7.6 million Romanians voted this past Sunday. 7.3
million voted for Basescu to be impeached in July. Reflect on this...these numbers are
staggering!
However at the end of the day, Basescu has no leverage. If the president wants to be
technical in his political fight then so can his opposition. If he doesn't nominate Ponta,
the parliament will suspend Basescu again and the interim President will appoint Ponta.
Another crisis, lost time, lost money, but ultimately the will of the people will prevail.
Poor Romanians! They face another impeachment of the President; attempts (as in
Hungary) to make the Constitutional Court subject to corrupt parliamentarians and all
other sorts of constitutional changes if the minority Hungarian party enters the
coalition. What is left of Rule of Law is collapsing. And this is the country I'm driving
back to in a few days (snow permitting!!)

Two years this time I had a post listing some of my favourite reading of all time.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Balkan bites and Russian robberies

I’ve not been in the mood for blogging

since a Russian theft, a Bulgarian dog-
bite and a Bulgarian eviction last week.
Early Wednesday morning a Russian
stole into one of the (Russian) sleeping
wagons - which are the only ones now to
ply between Bucharest and Sofia (the
great old German rolling stock of
Bulgarian and Romanian railways have
been progressively taken off since

284
2009) – and stole money from my sleeping partner who was coming for a visit. She woke
while he was replacing the purse! With the help of a Bulgarian next door she
immediately phoned emergency services - and saw police enter the neighbouring
carriage at Pleven station.
I was initially impressed with the squad of 5 transport police who were waiting for the
train as it arrived on Wednesday morning and corralled all the passengers – the
Bulgarians are fed up with the frequency and scale of the theft on this line. But she
then spent 6 hours at the police station making statements; waiting while the Russians
(who had locked themselves in their compartment and came out only when ordered by
their Embassy) were being interrogated; and then trying to select the offender from a
line-up.
That was Wednesday.
Thursday morning I was moving some paintings from the old to the new apartment and was bitten
by a stray dog just outside the new place. Fortunately I had a physiotherapy appointment at the
Military Hospital an hour later and was therefore able to have an immediate swab and anti-rabies
injection. Apparently everyone gets bitten here – Bucharest (despite Brigitte Bardot’s antics)
seems to have been able to get the stray dog problem under control by a programme of
sterilisation. Here in Sofia there is only talk – no action.
That was Thursday.
Friday morning came a phone call from my new landlady who had entered my flat without warning
or permission and found the cat who adopted us last summer. I had told the Agency to inform
her – but they failed. “No cats” she now says – a soulless, cold and noisy flat and wild dogs have
already alienated me and we reach an amicable agreement to part. By the next evening I was
ensconced in a much more amenable old flat in the heart of old Sofia (Khan Khrum St) for 270
euros a month!

The painting is "Patriots" by the powerful Sottish painter - Peter Howson - who has
done a series of harrowing paintings from his experience of the Balkan Wars.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Francophiles, Turkophobes.... and a Kipling poem

The Elephant (second-hand English)

bookshop has now at last reopened in
its more central location in Shishman
St, Sofia. The books are more
accessible – although still a few piled
high. I emerged last week clutching 5 –
one of which was Julian Barnes’
collection of essays on France -
Nothing to Declare. He really is a
superb writer!
You don't read Barnes to be transported into imaginary realms, or to encounter the
struggle and pathos of humanity. You read him, rather, for that superior tone and for
his voice; in many ways, his novels are all voice - amused, languorous, insouciant and arch.

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You read him for his hauteur, his gift of cultivated digression and for his riffs and
anecdotes. Above all, you read him as an essayist, one of our best.
Nowadays, any newspaper columnist who can sustain an argument of more than 1,000
words is recognised as an essayist, but the popularity of the column or 'piece' is no
more than an example of the cheap popularisation of the essay in a degraded culture. Dr
Johnson called the essay an 'irregular, undigested piece'. That is right. The column is
too regular, too finished; it's an easily digested piece. But the essay, as perfected by
Montaigne, Charles Lamb and EB White, strives for literary permanence. It concerns
the search for a personal voice, of the kind that animates the most successful
offerings in Barnes's new book of essays about France.
Barnes first visited France in the summer of 1959. He was 13, on holiday with his
parents, and was enchanted; he has been returning, at irregular intervals, ever since.
France, it seems, is the idealised Other against which he measures all other countries,
including England, and finds them, by contrast, a perplexing disappointment. He accepts
many of the stereotypes about the French: that they are Cassanovan in sex and
Machiavellian in politics; that they are 'relaxed about pleasure' and treat the arts 'as
central to life, rather than some add-on, like a set of alloy wheels'.
Here you can actually read the opening essay - and judge for yourself.

Books about Turkey never fail to fascinate me and Tim Kelsey’s Dervish – travels to
modern Turkey (1996) was another book in my package. Most books I’ve read on the
country are balanced if not positive – but
in vain will the reader search for passages on the splendors of ancient Ephesus,
Cappadocia's fairytale landscape, pristine Mediterranean beaches, colorful bazaars or
amusing anecdotes about friendly locals. Instead the author of “Dervish” paints an
almost dystopian portrait of a country that, just a decade-and-a-half ago, appeared so
full of contradictions that social, political and economic meltdown lay just around the
corner.
It is, however, a gripping read - focusing on the marginal underside of Turkey - with
chapters on transvestites and the minorities struggling for survival in the troubled
south-east. It's all a good reminder of how far Turkey has travelled in the past decade.
For those wanting a more rounded picture of the country, Hugh Pope recommends his
best 5 reads on Turkey

The Sofia-Bucharest drive is one of the most civilised I know – and I know my central
European roads! In 1991 I was based in Copenhagen and drove a lot to and from places
such as Gdansk (when the first election campaign was underway); Berlin (in which I had
an employer in 1992); Prague (where I worked and lived from 1991-93); Budapest
(Miskolc and Nyíregyháza 1993-95); Bratislava (and Nitra 1996); and Bucharest.
Friday gave a superb, relaxed drive (despite the heavy snow of the previous days) –
initially over the Balkans – arriving Bucharest at 4pm. And Saturday’s visit to the
Humanitas and Carterescu bookshops bagged another 5 books – including a lovely poetry
compendium (with CD) The Great Modern Poets ed by Michael Schmidt which contained
this amazing 1917 critique of ruling elites written by a man usually associated with
Victorian Imperialism – Rudolph Kipling

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Our dead shall not return to us while Day and Night divide--
Never while the bars of sunset hold.
But the idle-minded overlings who quibbled while they died,
Shall they thrust for high employments as of old?

Shall we only threaten and be angry for an hour:

When the storm is ended shall we find
How softly but how swiftly they have sidled back to power
By the favour and contrivance of their kind?

Even while they soothe us, while they promise large amends,
Even while they make a show of fear,
Do they call upon their debtors, and take counsel with their
friends,
To conform and re-establish each career?

Their lives cannot repay us--their death could not undo--

The shame that they have laid upon our race.
But the slothfulness that wasted and the arrogance that slew,
Shell we leave it unabated in its place?
I'm surprised this poem has not been dogging Tony Bliar as he is followed around by
those wanting to have him prosecuted for war crimes for the death of so many people in
the Iraq invasion and occupation. The poem was written in the aftermath of the British
invasion a hundred years ago of...Mesopotamia

Monday, December 24, 2012

Romanian Realists of the early 20th Century

I’ve been a bit sniffy about the

Romanian painting tradition. Compared
with the Bulgarian it is certainly less
accessible and more elitist – which is a
reflection of socio-economic realities
here. But it did have some real Masters
in the late 19th Century - starting with
the classicist Theodor Aman(1831-91);
the renowned impressionist Nicolae
Grigorescu(1838-1907); and his friend,
the tragically short-lived Ion
Andreescu (1850-82)

The key realist painters who grew up in

their shadow in the last part of the 19th century number about ten – with many having
passed through the Munich Art Academy which was such an influence on the Bulgarians.

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Few are well known outside Romania (apart from Luchian) and they cost about ten times
their Bulgarian counterparts. For each painter I give a video link.
Nicolae Vermont (1866-1932) had great landscapes; Stefan Luchian (1868-1917) is
better known for his still-lives.

Then three of my favourites - Stefan

Popescu (1872-1948) a great
colourist (the river scene here) who has
many North African landscapes;

Camil Ressu (1880-1962) with

wonderful peasant scenes; and Jean
Alexandru Steriadi(1881-1956) with a
lot of inspiration from the Black Sea
(the painting at the top is boats at
Braila).

Iosif Iser (1881-1958) was a very colourful artist - who gave us great figurative work
...of racetracks and Ottoman figures.

Nicolae Tonitsa (1886-1940) is well-known for his portraits - and the curious dark eyes
of many of his figures.

Samuel Muntzner (1884-1959) is also a favourite - with river or sea generally present in
his paintings.

Ciucurencu, Alexandru (1903-1977) had more time under the socialist regime than the
others and has another video here

A general video on Romanian painting seems to confirm my belief that the worthwhile
painters were born in the latter part of the 19th Century - and that would include the
painters from the Nagybany school most of whom were technically Hungarian.
And another article indicates that my own preferences are fairly similar to more
professional judgements

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Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Two more realist Romanian painters of the early 20th century

Two painters were missing from

yesterday’s list of important Romanian
painters of the early 20th ;Century – one
deliberately, the other because I was not
aware of his significance.

I have never been particularly impressed

with Theodor Pallady (1871-1956) but his
name should be included in any such list.
Pallady was born in Iaşi, but at a young
age, his family sent him to Dresden,
where he studied engineering at the
Dresden University of Technology between 1887 and 1889. At the same time, he
studied art and was encouraged to go to Paris where he enrolled in the Academy of Fine
Arts (Académie des Beaux-Arts). In 1892, he worked in the studio of Gustave Moreau,
where he had as colleagues Henri Matisse, Georges Rouault, and Albert Marquet.
In 1904, Pallady returned to Romania but maintained close connections with Paris, where
he continued to hold many personal exhibitions, up until World War II. He also
exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1924, 1940 and 1942. A good website gives some of
his paintings.

Stefan Dimitrescu (1886-1933) is a new one for me – and most impressive. Most of
Dimitrescu's paintings take inspiration mainly from the life of simple folk, and especially
from that of Romanian peasants and miners; they attempt to portray Romanian
traditions and way of life, drawing on his encounters with both Byzantine art and the
work of Paul Cézanne.

Part of his art (between 1926 and

1933) was inspired by his travels
to Dobruja, and have been considered
to be the most accomplished synthesis
between his craft as a draftsman and
his art as a painter.
Born in Moldova into a modest family,
he completed his primary and
secondary studies in his hometown. In
1902, deciding to follow his passion for
music, he left for Iasi, where he took
cello classes at the Iaşi Conservatory.
In summer of 1903, Dimitrescu
entered the National School of Fine
Arts in the city, studying in the same class as Nicolae Tonitza. After graduation,

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Dimitrescu painted murals for Orthodox churches in Bacău County. Between 1912 and
1913, he studied in Paris, at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, during which time he
was attracted to impressionism
Drafted into the army at the start of the Romanian Campaign of World War I,
Dimitrescu was profoundly touched by the experience, and began painting tragic pieces
that documented the misery brought by the conflict. Like his friend Tonitza, he began
exploring social themes, such as the effects of bombardments.
In 1917, along with the painters Camil Ressu, Iosif Iser, Marius Bunescu, he founded
the Art of Romania association in their Iaşi refuge. In 1926, Dimitrescu, with Oscar
Han, Francisc Şirato, and Nicolae Tonitza, established Grupul celor patru ("The Group
of Four").
He became a teacher at the Iaşi National School of Fine Arts in 1927, and, during the
next year, he was named its headmaster (a position he held until his death). Towards
the end of his life, Dimitrescu began expanding his palette to cover more somber colors,
while exploring compositions in which the background was stripped of details and usually
of a dominant white.
Some of his paintings can be seen on this website.

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Saturday, December 29, 2012
Generalising about Art

What do wine and paintings have in common?

It’s very difficult to write about each! They
impact on our senses (palate and nose; eye
and brain respectively). Hardly surprising
therefore that writing about art and wine
produces a lot of nonsense – with adjective
heaped upon hyperbolic adjective in an effort
to justify the writer’s arbitrary opinions.
Books about these subjects, of course, are
often very beautiful – but the text rarely
keeps pace.
Since I began my serious collecting of
Bulgarian realist painters, I’ve bought a fair
number of books about art generally and
about specific artists (even about collectors and dealers) but have to confess that I have
learned very little. The three books on realist painting, for example, taught me only one thing –
that the term is a slippery one!
My recent posts on Romanian realist painters of the early part of the 20 th century were inspired
by 7-8 little second-hand books from the 1970s and 1980s about individual artists which I
picked up in Bucharest recently. Charming books – thick paper, great fonts and mounted
reproductions (modelled, it seems to me, on the great little Skira books of the 1950s and 1960s)
– much easier to read than the 900 pages of Paul Johnson’s Art; a new history which I did
however thoroughly enjoy.
Simon Schama’s "The Power of Art" may also be a bit unwieldy in its 450 page coffee-table style
but does adopt the same useful focus on individual painters rather than style or eras –
Caravaggio, Bellini, Rembrandt, David, Turner, Van Gough and Picasso. And there is a nice blog
which gives good detail on the background to individual paintings - eg some of Van Gogh's
For me, however, the most insightful stuff on painting remains the small book written in the
1970s by John Berger – Ways of Seeing. The link gives the full text. Although I did come across
in a Sofia friend's flat a beautiful book about painting in 1920s Bulgaria which struck me as a
great way to approach painting - capturing in one country how various painters relate to one
another and the changing trends.

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My viewings in the last few years of Bulgarian and Romanian art have led me wonder about the
extent to which is it possible to generalise about a nation’s painting style. My little booklet on
Bulgarian Realists ("Getting to know the Bulgarians through their paintings") gives brief notes
about 140 Bulgarian painters – most of whom were born in the last decade the 19th century and
before the First World War; I have not been able to
find anything striking in Romania from the same
period. The 10 great Romanian artists I mentioned in
the last two posts were born some 30 years earlier
(between the 1860s and 1880s) but seem to have
been the last of their line. When Bulgarian
landscapes and colours were blooming in their art,
their Romanian colleagues were producing (for me)
dark and insipid stuff.

If I am right, what is the reason? Romania was, of

course, the larger country with a significant
bourgeois class and attachments to French culture –
Bulgaria more rural with freedom from heavy
Ottoman rule going back less than two generations
(the Romanian liberation was less significant for
them because of the considerable autonomy they
had won within the Ottoman Empire). The Bulgarian
celebration (in their art of the early 20th century) of their land and peoples perhaps reflected a
pride and spirit absent in the more cynical and worldly Romanian bourgeois?
And the paintings in the Bulgarian Orthodox Churches are so much more colourful (indeed
sensuous) than in the dull and serious Romanians.
The first painting of Rila Monastery is by Mario Zhekov - the second (in my collection) by an
unknown

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