A few years ago, I started adding my comments to news websites using Disqus. I liked the opportunity being able to publicly express my views. Thank you Disqus!

As I did so, it became increasingly clear to me that there was one issue that came up very regularly: the way in which the UK government (and all others it would seem) appears to have little regard for the thoughts, wishes and expectations of the general public and generally presses on with its own private agenda regardless of any undertakings in may have made. This may well be because politicians can only get elected if they are sponsored by hidden interests with enormous funding capability (here is just one example).

Possibly, Britain is not the worst offender. But there is scope for improving the way democracy functions in Britain. It could become an example for the world to follow.

The establishment is embedded with individuals enjoying their power and seeking to extend it, with little accountability. Also, the current system is very vulnerable to entryism, blackmail and bribery. This has resulted in increasing mistrust of the establishment by the general public, leading to destabilization of the country.

The cause

The root of the problem is human nature: given the situation, given the man. All seek power and few can resist corruption for long, especially if they see that it is easy to get away with and plausible pretexts are plentiful. This is basically the message behind Tolkien's the Lord of the Rings.

As Darwin realized (to his own dismay) from his study of nature, every organism individually and collectively is in competition with every other, and in the resulting struggle some will prosper and some will not.

As Marx realized, businesses that are powerful will overcome those that are not and, like the proverbial maggots in a bowl, the big ones will eat the little ones until there is only one left. His solution was for activists to take them over by force. And so it can be seen that the capitalist and communist roads both lead to the same destination: a single group owning and organizing everything.

Power tends to end up being concentrated in the hands of the few. And when this happens, the situation becomes intolerable for the many.

For instance in the case of the French revolution, the starving population became desperate and rose up against the nobles and lawyers in 1789.

For instance, the Roman Empire became so unbearable for the people that they welcomed the arrival of their new Germanic overlords in the 5th Century. This is how Roman writer Salvian described the situation at the time.

A solution

There needs to be a way of ensuring that power does not become increasingly concentrated in the hands of the few.

The solution may lie in reforming the House of Lords.


The House of Lords as it now exists is a mess and ripe for reform This is a big opportunity, and not to be missed, Historically, the House of Lords represented the great landowners, who at least had a real stake in the country. There is no going back to that but we don`t need a second house of elected representatives: that would only give rise to contradictions. Also, elections do not always produce the right sort of people, all too often smarmy gits like Tony Blair. There needs to be contrast, balance. 
It would be better if the House of Lords were filled with stakeholder citizens chosen by lot, and regularly rotated. This would preclude entryism à la Warsi and bribery à la Jack Straw. Nothing should be law except what this assembly overwhelmingly agrees to, a focus group of 1000 actually representing the people.
 This would neatly offset an elected House of Commons consisting of selected skilled administrators in charge of implementing policy set by the new lords, the people.

Let`s start by adding a few chosen-by-lot to the existing House of Lords and progressively building up the numbers. Something like jury service combined with winning the lottery: a say in framing law and policy, a title, pension, legal and fiscal amnesty, for instance (a bit like the current stooges).

Lastly, there is a vital role here for the reigning monarch of the UK: publicly organizing the lotteries to make sure they are fair and free (something like the UK national lottery). All know who they are, and there is much trust in them.

And lastly, if the UK can succeed with this, it could be a model for the rest of the world: end sleaze and tyranny.


Back to Percy's Ponderings