Jan Šinágl angažovaný občan, nezávislý publicista

We don't live in an Orwellian world, we live in a Mills world. A 19th century British philosopher predicted the totalitarianism of social networking - Mental and moral powers, like our muscles, are only improved by regular use - Anything that destroys uniqueness is despotism, whatever name it takes on - Smothering millions in the semi-demented repetition of hollowed-out slogans - We end up in crystal clear air, but as unfree monkeys. And nobody here wants that.

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"The university is not a club. It's not a political lobby. It's not a religious seminary. It exists to seek and tell the truth, whatever it takes, and whoever it may piss off. Without the freedom to explore controversial or 'offensive' ideas, universities are nothing... Freedom of speech for only one side is no freedom of speech at all."

Groupthink by Mill

Against the tyranny of society - elsewhere he calls it the tyranny of the majority - Mill contrasts the originality of the individual, which he sees as an outgrowth of a sense of freedom. If every person feels free, the whole society will be free. And a free society necessarily produces higher results than an unfree one that does not allow its most promising individuals to excel. Mill is not denying the influence of his mentor Jeremy Bentham, who argued that only those actions that lead the greatest number of individuals to the greatest happiness are moral.

Mill's ethics, however, is much deeper and descends to the psychological level of each individual. For him, the ability to "make choices" is most important for the moral development of each of us. His biggest problem with the mob mentality - Orwell would probably use Irving Janis's term groupthink today - is that it suppresses this very skill in people, making them de facto monkeys imitating each other. To use a gendered label on Instagram just because it is now being done would probably be condemned by Mill primarily on the basis that it has not grown out of the mental development of the individual in question, but has been imprinted on them by the crowd who "think for them".

AVAST branded by the Brussels Morning newspaper (on my PC), as "fraudulent"? System hypersensitivity from the "bad" days? It's the facts that matter. JŠ

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Belgium (Brussels Morning newspaper), MEPs have voiced concern that the “slow progress” of an investigation into the so-called Qatargate scandal. They say that, seven months on from the affair “some of the grandiose promises for ethics and transparency reforms seem to be falling short.” The  European parliament’s president, Roberta Metsola, warned colleagues that the institution and European democracy at large are “under attack.” She also pledged an internal investigation and reforms to ensure transparency. There have been two “important” developments in Parliament this week – a vote on changes to Parliament’s own rules and another on a Commission proposal for an EU ethics body.

Since the Qatargate scandal came to light, some MEPs have called for root and branch reform to, in their words, “fix the Parliament’s rotten culture of revolving doors, opaque practices, and lack of oversight.” In efforts to improve transparency at the Parliament, the Left grouping of MEPs in the assembly has persistently called for a ban on side jobs for MEPs. They state that MEPs “already receive a generous allowance. When MEPs have side jobs, their interests become inextricably linked to corporations or associations they work for, to the detriment of their constituents.”

Some members are said to earn up to €8,000 per month on top of their allowance.

"I urge you not to support those who promise to solve everything for you. Such people just want you to shut up, listen and keep up."

Václav Havel

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From the Polish TV programme Śledczym okiem (Watching Eye): Some members of the investigative commission have Kremlin connections. Established 10.3.2022 - 58 MEPs, including 3 permanent members of the investigative committee, voted against declaring Russia a "state sponsor of terrorism" on 25.11.2022 - AFD plays a key role in Russian disinformation pages against EU countries - Christine Anderson, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 13.3. "The exclusion of Russian athletes from international competitions is racism" - Italian MEP Andrea Cozzollino, who also sat on the Pegasus investigation committee, also voted against declaring Russia a state sponsor of terrorism. He left the committee after a corruption and espionage scandal broke in the EP involving Eva Kalliova, who allegedly bribed Qatari and Moroccan interests - Belgian investigators who accused him of corruption found that Cozzollino had accepted at least €600,000 from Moroccan intelligence officials.

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Korruption auf höchster Ebene der EU: Geheimtreffen in Suite 412