MACON,GA.- Fact : The worlds largest democracies give only short-term assured power to their elected executives and governments: the US President four years; UK five; France five; Germany four years; India five. When elections fail to confirm an existing government, it can result in a ninety-degree shift away from many policies of the outgoing administration. All of this means that short-termism is King of democratic politics and therefore the way we run our lives. It is likely to remain so.Non-democracies are saved in this regard from the discontinuity of elections - but budgets remain and long-term projects have to compete with contemporary ones, often under pressure to improve life for a restive citizenry.These simple truths mean without doubt, that because of the overarching domestic agendas of each of the world's nearly two hundred nations, added to the unbridled capitalism and exploitation in many, the myopia that this causes has become a major contributor to a web of recognizable and because unheeded, growing threats against nothing less than our very species and our home planet. Many of the vital problems that the world faces are not short-term, and consequently are not being addressed. Even when governments realize the importance of these issues they usually take a position based on two key short-term criteria. The 'dividend' effect upon upcoming elections; and on the degree of pressure it would put on current spending plans.
This "How does it play with the voters" approach, means that ultimately, it is the Karl Roves and Alastair Campbells of politics that become the final arbiters to determine all of our destinies.
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