NSA spies Merkel

Here a short comment on the NSA spying abroad together with a restatement of the purpose of this blog. With the posts I want to do two things:
1) point to the parallels between the development in the present phase of the Western civilization and the corresponding phase of earlier civilizations,
2) warn to change the course in our case, so that we do not end at the same point as the earlier cases. That is a condition of dictatorship combined with rule from one all-dominating power.

The road towards this condition goes through two processes:

a) decline of the internal political systems leading to ungovernable countries. In earlier civilizations this was solved through dictatorship. If not solved this problem normally leads to subjugation under stronger countries.

The other process towards the universal dictatorship is
b) internationally chaotic conditions with power struggles with or without use of the military force, and terrorism. This is combined with a growth of the power of the leading countries. This process in the earlier cases ended with the rule of just one country.

It is these two processes we should try to handle in other ways to prevent that we end the same place as for example in Rome with a universal emperor.

As said often on the internal level I advocate a moderate strengthening of the executive to control political decline WITHOUT compromising democracy too much.

And the international level? Here too a certain control of certain oppressive states and indeed terrorists may be necessary. But this control should not be carried out by a power like the USA which is a part in global conflicts.

And the control should be limited to what is absolutely necessary.

A control and surveillance of the population and the leaders of friendly countries  like Brazil, Mexico, France and now Germany is completely out of proportion.

On the diagnostic level it shows that the World already has moved too far on the way to the hegemony of a big power. And it shows the arrogant contempt from the USA towards other countries. Even the friendly ones.

The German leader Merkel who was in her younger days surveilled by the Stalinist STASI in the GDR, probably had never thought that the NSA from a friendly democratic ally would continue the surveillance!