The Brussels Journal on democracy and the left-Islamic alliance

Two interesting posts up at the invaluable BJ. Here, Paul Belien considers the implications of Eastern European disaffection with democracy, as exemplified by the rioting in Hungary. If politicians lie in democracies, is it because the voters do not want to hear the truth? "The welfare state corrupts the voters, the voters in turn corrupt the politicians, and the politicians corrupt the voters even more by maintaining the welfare state. It is a vicious circle, which can only be broken when the welfare state collapses under its own inherent deficiencies. This will happen as soon as the money runs out with which the Santa Claus state finances the gifts and benefits that its corrupt electorate demands. That moment may be nearer than we think. Belgium, the archetype of the corrupt welfare state, is falling apart . . . "

In Patterns in the Politics of Extremism, George Handlery notes that the left-Islamic alliance now seen in Europe, which is somewhat mystifying to conservative observers, can actually extend even to Islamic countries such as Yemen, where Islamists and Communists recently allied to defeat the government in an election.

Update (9/30): Here is a more in-depth look at the vicissitudes of the Leftist-Islamist relationship, from Fred Halliday of the London School of Economics.