European Examples

Stasis or Stasis*

Democracy often leads to
ochlocracy. (Sad, but it’s true.)
   See, down the ages,
   similar stages
as ancient philosophers knew.

The loans which the banks must extend
to those who can’t not overspend
   will never be paid
   and thus strife is laid:
the Euro is certain to end.

Soon Italy, Portugal, Spain
and Eire’ll go right down the drain;
   though Greece be the first
   she’s not yet the worst,
so riots are fated again. 

Prophecies sometimes may seem
outlandish, far-fetched and extreme;
   let’s hope for the best:
   uncivil unrest
were only a noumenal dream.

Thankfully, however, the European leaders must be grateful for the helpful advice offered by the Australian Prime Minister.  Yesterday, before the latest G20 Summit began in Los Cabos, Mexico, Hon. Julia Gillard kindly and laboriously explained that other countries bedeviled by recession, huge debts, and failed œconomic policies—often exacerbated by the monstrous profligacy of overly generous subsidies to expensive but ineffective “green energy solutions”, predicated on the widespread, credulous acceptance of the pseudo-scientific conjecture of CAGW—ought to follow her government’s egregious example, the “Australian Way”.  Various elected and non-elected officials must be kicking themselves:  “How on Earth did we not think of that,” they must be asking themselves; “We had but to inherit a huge surplus, and rely on mining corporations’ exporting massive amounts of mineral resources to China, and then we too could be contemplating a minuscule surplus next year!”†

*  in ancient Greek, στάσις could mean both stability and, contrariwise, civil strife.

†  I originally posted some of this on Twitter.

UPDATE (a year later):  “contemplating a minuscule surplus” but, of course, not delivering one.