Another day in purgatory

''Damn!'' thought God ''I thought you couldn't make out her face that well in Anal explosion 6''

One day in purgatory

Hey!
Check out the new comic, this isn't what I was on about earlier, that idea has been delayed due to ..ehm.. technical difficulties, kinda.

Anyway this comic is called 'one day in purgatory' I plan to do a few more.

The State

Below are some theses in which, in my eyes, the perfect state is described. Similar to Machiavelli’s 'The Prince', but from a modern point of view. I personally think that, although hard to -if not impossible- to achieve, a State that would act and function like this, should be the best. It's not ethical. There is no left- or right-wing propaganda. It's how it should work.

1. Only those who are interested in (and understand politics) should be allowed to vote.
2. Not by education, but by common sense, interest and understanding should people be allowed to vote.
3. This because among the 'intellectual elite' there is still a large number without any political insight, while the 'lower classes' does contain individuals who have these qualities.
4. People with the required knowledge and understanding of politics are the ones that can make proper decisions and can see the ideologies/proposals of the political parties with proper and careful consideration.
5. People who do not have these qualities are those who can fall victim to demagogy.
6. States governed by demagogs are destined to fall or end in failure, ruining the state to san unpredictable extent.
7. Those who do not obtain the right to vote are able to educate themselves in politicology and gain the required insight in the mechanics of politics. They should also be willing to participate in politics to a certain level. There should be no requirement of education to vote.
8. Democracy will not be replaced by a broad aristocracy, as there will not be a 'governing elite', for every individual can obtain the privilege to vote.
9. In such a system, democracy will function more efficiently and be fairer then even the famous 'fair' democracy of Ancient Athens.
10. All 'items of agenda' of a political party should be reasonable and realistic. Wild prophecies and hollow claims are signs of demagogy and will only lead to inefficient and false governments.
11. Political parties need to have a unique identity. There is no need for dozens of left-wing parties who have only slight differences.
12. If this is the case, those parties should merge and should take care of the slight differences internally.
13. This is because countless of small fractions do not further the interests of the State and will only make the government less efficient.
14. A strong economy should not be sacrificed in the name of a socialist/left-wing government, just because it's part of the ideology, and not because of it's functionality.
15. Nor should basic social security be sacrificed in the name of liberal/right-wing government, just because it's part of the ideology, and not because of it's functionality.
16. Every person has the right to education and social security, but the social security should only guarantee a life that is humane. All costs of a individual's education should be cared for by the State.
17. This is not a gift however. A part has to be paid back to the State.
18. Because when the individual joins the labour market, he should pay a certain amount of money (parallel to his earnings) above his taxes to the state, as part of the loan.
19. The amount of money to be paid back for the education should depend on (A) salary of his current profession, (B) education the individual received. The higher and more costly, the education, the more the individual should pay back.
20. The money does not have to be paid back in a whole. This can be in terms. The terms depend on the years the individual studied and how costly the education was.
21. This is to ensure that the individual has a reasonable standard of living in the period he's paying off this 'government loan'.
22. Primary and Secondary School should be excluded from this system, and should be free and without any cost for all people.
23. Primary and Secondary School is mandatory. People who refuse any serious education beyond that point should not complain about the standard of living they receive from the State, if they remain jobless.
24. Schools carrying a Christian, Muslim, Jewish or any other kind of special signature should be forbidden and should all be public and uniform. Religious identity can be developed at home. This way stricter enforcement of the quality of education could be enforced.
25. People should not starve to death, or not receive proper medical care, so basic social security should be enforced. People are not equal however; those who aggressively pursue monetary wealth through trade or production should not be hindered by the same social security.
26. Those who do not need social security, medical care being the exception, will not receive it.
    
27. The economy should be stable and secure, for only with a stable economy can a strong government govern the State.
28. Therefore, certain compromises should be made when the economy seems to stumble. As long as basic social security remains enforced.
29. The political climate should remain stable, for only with a stable government can a strong economy be maintained.
30. The State's military should be powerful enough to defend its own territory and internal interests, but should never be strong enough or be used to conquer other states.
31. Wars are costly and destructive, and usually don't further the interests of the State.
32. Not only are they costly and destructive, wars will never succeed in keeping the support of the people, and therefore will cause political instability.
33. The military should only serve to maintain the State's interests.
34. Foreign politics should be only furthering the interests of the State.
35. Never should the State be subdued to an 'International Union' of any kind. This only increases the influence of the greater nation, and a powerful nation does not need an international body to influence other nations.
36. Economical Alliances on an international level are encouraged, but only if it serves the interests of the State.
37. Development aid given to Third World Countries should primarily serve to further the interests of the State.
38. If there is nothing to be gained for the State by aiding Third World Countries, the money be spend on development aid should be used internally.
39. The State should only participate in international military peacekeeping missions if it would maintain its political or economical interests.
40. Its foreign economic policies should also, always, further its own economy.
41. Exceptions to thesis 40 should be made as the Laws of the Free Market can sometimes oppose the interest of the State. International and economical relations should not be ruined by a single principle.
42. When the State has a monarchy, its power and influence should be absolutely nil.
43. Nor should it have any influence in politics or economics.
44. Monarchies can, however, add or define the State's identity and history and should therefore remain an active institution.
45. And last, but not least, the State is the embodiment of its people and should therefore always work to further its interest. It should however never contradict some of the theses stated above.

I'd like to thank Bastiaan Steffens and Robert Smit for their intelligent suggestions, thoughts and pointing out the theses that needed clarification. These 45 theses wouldn't have been the same without their help and advice. The ideal State would never have been as ideal without their help.

©2006 Guido van 't Haar

v1.1 - fixed some grammatical errors.

Ping!!

Just posting to post something,
I've had a pretty good idea for a new webcomic. I still need to run it past the guys, but if I can get atleast one of 'em on my side I think we can get it off the ground. More details later.

The only diffirence between this one and the ones you've allready seen from Llama Blog is that this one ISN'T going to suck donkey balls!

Fuck yes. A comiX... kinda

I kinda forgot about this. But hey, I forget about a lot of things.

Here's a comic for you all. It sucks horrible, and the joke is even worse. But.... well fuck you!

Rejoyce, I have returned!

Kill the neighbors, eat your kids. For I have returned!

Oh, and mystery man has aswell. Bet you're pleased to know that! I'll post some Mega-lame vacation pictures soon.

So...

It's been a while since anything happened on this blog.

The main reasons? Lack of interest, things that got in the way, lack of inspiration, Lowlands festival, Bastiaan and the Mysterious Person Who Never Posted A Damn Thing being on holiday in Italy, etc.

Anyway, I suppose I'll write something every once in a while. Starting... The heck I don't know. Soon.

Yeah... Soon.

Seether - One Cold Night review.

You might know these guys, probably from their hit ballad "Broken" with leadsinger's Shaun Morgan's ex-girlfriend Amy Lee (the Evanescence chick). Seether, often dubbed a Nirvana or Staind clone makes a solid statement with their unplugged album "One Cold Night". And that statement is:

"Kurt Cobain and Aaron Lewis, go away. Seether's here. And we rock."

The album opens with a haunting version of "Gasoline", a song which appeared on "Disclaimer I" and "Disclaimer II". The album continues in the same haunting way as it opened. The band often takes the liberty to tinker with some of the songs, as the beautiful opening solo to "Truth" and an absolutely wonderful cover of Pearl Jam's "Immortality".

A pearl of the set has to be the song "Tied My Hands", originally a song from their Saron Gas days, it still sounds really good and keeps the tension and atmosphere.

Absolute heights of "One Cold Night" have to be their performances of "Fine Again" and "Remedy". The former probably being Seether's best song written to date, with the latter (being one of Seether's best rocking songs) sound really good. The acoustic setting gives "Remedy" a sort of melancholic vibe, without losing the anger of it's electric counterpart. "Fine Again" appears to be written for an unplugged concert.

But, unfortunately, there are some, minor, disappointments on the album. "Broken", being the band's greatest hit, was not an absolute neccessity on the album. Although to their credit, it sounds better then the version with Amy Lee. It's still a shame that "Pig" and/or "Fuck It" do not appear on the album, but it seems likely that Shaun tried to refrain himself from screaming.

To conclude: "One Cold Night" is one of the best acoustic albums to be released in recent days. It makes you long back to the times of Alice in Chain's and Nirvana's unplugged releases. I personally also find that Seether finally strips itself from the label of "Nirvana rip-off", although others will most likely disagree.

Final score: 9.0