Ake - I totally agree with you. What I was trying to say in my slightly ham-fisted way was we need to return to a politics where ideals come before greed.

My worry is we are becoming too like the Americans in our approach: Here 'democracy' means 'capitalism' - the words are virtually interchangeable and to my mind is devaluing the very concept of democracy as a political system. From the posts here we are all aware of the ties between big business and our respective governments; other posts have discussed the shadowy Bilderberg Group, where discussion take place far from the prying eyes of the electorate.

This is why I think the UK should have closer ties with Europe. Although we are often at odds with our continental neighbours we also have far more in common with them than we realise, and as many European countries have made the mistakes of Empire have a unique perspective on the consequences of a belligerent approach to foreign policy and subsequently are far more tolerant societies. The politics of most European countries are totally secular, and with the rise of the religious right in American politics as a counter to the perceived radicalisation if Islam this middle way approach (although I hate to use a term coined by Blair) is needed if we are to maintain a balanced and considered response to the problems facing the world.

My worry is we have already succumbed to the lie of consumerism; at some point in the last decade we crossed the rubicon that means we are all to clingy to our material possessions and home comforts, which makes us sheep-like in our acceptance of the ever-increasing threats on our liberty from our own governments, and that is a truly frightening prospect.