Does this sound familiar?

[^_^ 5,021]

This was not originally written about the United States, but does it apply?

... the outlook for political change is bleak.

"[The political parties] are good at engaging in polemics, they are good at criticising, but none has been able to present a formula or a framework for addressing socioeconomic problems," he says.

...

"I don't expect [new political players to gain popular support] in the near future, because all the political parties lack ideals and a sense of direction, except in rhetoric.

"The thing I would repeat is my fear that increasingly the ... state system is on a very fast downward slide. If it is not collapsing, it is losing its capacity to function effectively."

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

The Greeks?

Whatever it was, it has gone viral.

Aha! Pakistan. Close.

Edited March 25, 2011 by Some Old Guy

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Yes. Seeking solutions to socioeconomic problems in political parties is universally foolish.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

This was not originally written about the United States, but does it apply?

Not exactly. US has been at "stable chaos level" (a concept most Americans don't understand, and which I won't bother explaining here) for donkeys-years, where Pornistan has been unsucessfully searching for it (though they rejected the shambolic version of democracy the Sub-continent can produce--murdering and indecently burying any possibility of it 1971/03/26--instead going for Robespierre's rather lousy model) since it became independent.

Robespierre: self-appointed Reign-of-terror (1793/09/05-1794/07/27) top-leader of France, responsible for sending 40,000-80,000 French guillotine (fortunately, his misrule was shortened, and he was guillotined as well).