30 junho 2008

Justice Holmes


After stating in tonight's Prós-e-Contras that the Portuguese people are ignorant, if not stupid, our former PC colleague José Manuel Moreira is now quoting Keynes, Justice Holmes, Nobel prize-winner James Buchanan, and citing at least four schools of economic thought: the Austrian school, the Monetarist school, The Public Choice school and the Keynesian school.
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One hour later: a participant, a biotech entrepreneur, says that the debate so far has been sterile. (What would you expect from a Portuguese public debate?) He adds that we have two frontiers: one is Spain, the other is the sea. Thus, we need airports. He rejects the Sines investment project because that is a Marcello Caetano's project. He criticizes JMM distinction between a Gasoline-powered social democratic party (PS) and a Diesel-powered social democratic party (PSD, the emphasis is on the D) .
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Reminder: the debate is about "Strategies for the Crisis". Minister Pinho says Portugal is a leader in the energy sector. Former President Clinton said so three weeks ago. And an American Secretary of State was in Portugal last week to sign a protocol on energy issues. There have been five summits on this theme between Portugal and Spain over the last three years.
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PSD's MP Jorge Costa says that the government has adopted the formula: "Compre agora e pague depois". He adds that there are some areas, like health, where instead of having the simplex we have the complex.
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Back to JMM. Excessive consensus is corporativistic. If a man loves a woman it is not good that 350 other people love the same woman (I do agree: I hate competition on this issue). The industry of the poor is the most important industry for governments. Do people prefer a welfare state or a welfare society? (An awful question for ignorant, if not stupid people to answer). He quotes economist Albert O. Hirschman. He also quotes his friend Architect Fernando Anhas who loves "ser bem enganado" .
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João Ferreira do Amaral talks: I think he is an excellent economist.
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I wonder what Justice Oliver Wendel Holmes, a great liberal in the British tradition, with his appreciation for competition, would think about that issue raised by JMM, namely competition for our own woman (in Brazilian they say "à mulhé dá genti"). I really believe a monopoly is much better on this issue.
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I like this gentleman who, with big gestures, is now talking about food and wine. He says we have the best fish in the World. (Sure, it is much better than the British fish-and-chips). He talks about Portuguese cheese and enchidos. Fátima introduces the issue of ASAE. As a good Portuguese, he hesitates a little bit: it is not good to criticize the authority in public (it seems obvious to me, though, that in private he hates ASAE). He talks now about NASA and Mac Donald's. He concludes that ASAE's laws must be reviewed (He really hates ASAE but in public is soft on it).
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PSD's MP Jorge Costa is the participant in the debate who talks about everything, regardless of his knowlegde. He talks now about "polis turísticos" and "qualificação profissional".
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Minister Pinho: Tourism has never been as good in the country. Three years ago it was a disgrace. He talks about "rasgar do zero" new touristical areas. Government has signed a protocol with the best school of tourism in the World (Lausanne). It will be a revolution.
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JMM to Minister Pinho: How do you explain the Alcochete Airport? JMM prefers Portela plus One. Fátima stops him: there has been too much talk about the Lisbon Airport in the program. JMM decides to talk about bombing and rent controls as means to destroy a city. Minister Pinho never answers his question.
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The biotech entrepreneur talks now about the examples of Ireland, Puerto Rico and Singapore. He says we must attract companies like Yahoo, Microsoft, Google. Fátima stops him before he reaches Oceania.
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Fátima to a financial consultant in the audience: How can we get out of the fossa? He mentions the example of Ireland, the need to plan for an horizon of twenty years, as well as the need for the Portuguese people to get out of state's dependence. (In other words, he is calling for a miracle).
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Jorge Costa: Public investment is no answer to the present economic situation. More transparency is needed. He talks about Ota. A selection of projects and policies is needed. The Irish model has no TGV. (Did you know that?)
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Minister Pinho: Too bad people are still taking about Ota and the TGV. All of us want the same. Fátima says that we don't want to pay the calotes of energy companies. Minister Pinho emphasizes he will keep his strategy (he never said what that strategy is all about). He respects JMM's question (but does not answer it). He talks about the truck-drivers' strike and states categorically that Portugal solved it much better than Spain and three weeks faster. (Portugal is in great shape, if we listen to Minister Pinho: in energy, in tourism and in solving truck-drivers' strikes).
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Now, what do you conclude about the Strategies for the crisis? Hint: specializing the country in solving truck-drivers' strikes all around the World?

a sombra de viena

Ao invés do que possa pensar-se, a actual situação de impasse da União Europeia só contribuirá para o aumento da opacidade das suas instituições e para a diminuição do princípio democrático do seu funcionamento. Na verdade, a inexistência de um texto uniformizador do seu direito, que, é bom não esquecer, diariamente se nos aplica sem necessidade de recepção jurídica nacional, aumentará a discricionaridade da burocracia e das decisões governamentais conciliares. Por outro lado, o impasse sobre as regras de funcionamento da Europa a 27 (que é o que verdadeiramente está em causa) irá reforçar o protagonismo dos grandes países em detrimento dos pequenos. Em suma, regras claras e objectivas numa organização supranacional só podem beneficiar os pequenos países. Regras difusas e pouco claras prejudicam os pequenos. Aqueles que festejaram o referendo irlandês como uma vitória da democracia sobre a burocracia podem, por isso, guardar os foguetes. Como nunca no passado recente, a sombra do velho Congresso de Viena paira sobre a Europa.

pega de caras

O Francesco Alberoni é um autor que gosto muito de ler, mesmo quando não subscrevo os seus pontos de vista. O artigo que citei no post anterior, publicado num diário de economia, alerta-nos para a possibilidade de perdermos a noção da realidade se não nos apercebermos das mudanças sociais.
Ora é certo que atravessamos um período de grandes mudanças e, na minha opinião, é também certo que não estamos a reagir adequadamente. Pior ainda, os nossos líderes ou não têm consciência do que se está a passar ou fazem de conta, o que na prática vem dar ao mesmo. Os problemas, porém, não desaparecem e eventualmente agravam-se podendo criar situações de grande “vulnerabilidade do Estado", para usar uma expressão do primeiro-ministro.
O pessimismo dos portugueses, por outro lado, convive mal com a falta de realismo e portanto esta é mais uma razão para que se desafiem os problemas de frente. A nossa cultura prefere as pegas de caras às de cernelha.

standing alone


I stated in a previous post my belief that Catholic culture is set to rise vis-a-vis Protestant culture in coming decades and centuries. My belief is based on the fact that Catholicism seems to me much more rational than Protestantism.

At the root of Protestantism is the vindication to eliminate priests as intermediaries between men and God. The more I think about this the more it seems to me sheer irrationality. Have you imagined yourself on Judgement Day standing alone before God explaining all the sins you committed on earth, without the help of a friendly advocate, that is, of a priest?

storm


Financial storm, says Barclays. The Bank for International Settlements is not optimistic either.

realidade








Não ter noção da realidade é não perceber como a sociedade em que vivemos se está a modificar, não perceber os outros, imaginar inimigos e perigos inexistentes e ignorar os perigos reais. Significa envolver-se em coisas que não são possíveis e não fazer as que são úteis ou necessárias.
E mais à frente...
Os pessimistas fazem parte daqueles que se adaptam com dificuldade, pois apenas vêem os aspectos negativos dos seus semelhantes e sentem-se rodeados de perigos. Depois, há também aqueles que não se conseguem identificar com os outros e que têm logo tendência para julgar e condenar. Ninguém pode compreender o próximo se não se identificar com ele.
Artigo de Francesco Alberoni, hoje no DE. Os portugueses adaptam-se com muita dificuldade à realidade e o nosso pessimismo não ajuda nada!

the serial-slanderer

I start out from two of my previous conclusions. First, the weakest spot in Protestant culture is the private realm of life whereas the weakest spot in Catholic culture is the public realm of life. Second, the worst enemy of a Protestant society is the serial-killer whereas the worst enemy of a Catholic society is the serial-slanderer.

Enemies do attack from the weakest spot of their targets. Thus serial-killers do attack from the private realm of Protestant societies whereas serial-slanderers do attack from the public realm of Catholic societies.

Serials killers are a phenomenon typical of Protestant societies and their profile has largely been studied. They attack from the private realm of society and are often loners. In public, they seem to be perfectly normal good people, sometimes devoted workers, fathers and believers. They plan and execute their acts, often for years in a row, before unsuspecting people of their closed circles, such as work-colleagues, party members, schoolmates, fellow church-goers, intimate friends, even wives and husbands - and this shows how weak are personal bonds in Protestant societies.

Serial-slanderers are a phenomenon typical of Catholic societies, even though their profile has not been studied, in part because Catholic societies are not as propense to study as Protestant societies. They attack from the public realm of society and are often people with an extensive network of social relations. In private, they seem to be perfectly normal, good people, sometimes devoted workers, fathers and believers. They plan and execute their acts, often for years in a row, from their public positions and often using public means such as newspapers and other public intitutions, justice and tax institutions being particularly effective at that - and all this shows how weak public bonds are in Catholic societies.

Nietszche understood perfectly who were the serial-slanderers par excellence when Catholic religion had an absolute, compreehensive, all-encompassing role in Western societies. In his Antichrist he wrote: "Enquanto o padre, esse negador, caluniador e envenenedor da vida por profissão for aceite como uma variedade de homem superior, não poderá haver resposta à pergunta: o que é a verdade? A verdade já foi posta de cabeça para baixo quando o advogado do nada foi confundido com o representante da verdade".

This was at a time when Church and priests had access to a lot of information on people's lives. They do not anymore, certainly not on a large scale. The only institution today with an extensive access to information on people's lives is the state. And those who control the state are not priests, but politicians and bureaucrats. It is from these two classes of people that the serial-slanderers of modern, Catholic societies come from. (If in doubt, see here).

29 junho 2008

the serial-killer

Lately I have been contrasting Protestant culture with Catholic culture. I stressed the emphasis that Protestants put on actions and the emphasis that Catholics put on words. I also introduced a distinction between the public and the private realms of life. Protestants are at their best in the public realm of life, such as in matters involving economic and political institutions and lawfulness, whereas Catholics tend to excel in matters pertaining to the private realm of life, such as food, family, sex and personal relations.

I would like now to ask the following question: what is the absolute worst of each of these two cultures? Before answering the question, let me stress that the worst of each culture must be found where each one of them puts its respective emphasis - action in the case of Protestant culture, words in the case of Catholic culture.

Thus, the worst of Protestant culture, with the emphasis it places on action, must be found among the class of people I would call serial-doers. Conversely, the worst of Catholic culture with its emphasis on words, must be found among the class of people I would call serial-talkers.
Trying to be more specific, I must now look in Protestant culture for the worst sub-class of people among serial-doers, and in Catholic culture for the worst sub-class of people among the class of serial-talkers. It is not difficult to find them. In Protestant culture it is the sub-class of serial-killers, in Catholic culture the sub-class of serial-slanderers. They represent the worst in each of their cultures, and are largely unknown to the other culture. Indeed, the serial-killer is as much unknown to Catholic culture as the serial-slanderer is unknown to Protestant culture.

What if?



The headline of this weekend's O Sol newspaper is revealing of the state of the Portuguese justice and tax systems. What if the man had not been eliminated in the quarter-finals and had won the Euro-2008?

did not


"Assim, podemos concluir em relação ao Arroja que ou estamos diante do maior génio do nosso século ou somente diante de mais um impostor. Eu me inclino para a segunda hipótese (...)".
(Bonifácio, commenting on this post)

I would not dismiss the first possibility so easily. First, because what is here said about Arroja is exactly the same that people said about Christ in His lifetime. Second, because both men were outsiders and concerned with truth. Third, because there is a subtle coincidence between these two men in the number of letters in their names: Jesus (Pedro) Christ (Arroja). Fourth, because one of these two men bears the names of both the father (José) and the successor (Pedro) of the other. The real big difference between them is that Christ did not wear glasses.

Catholic Spain


Tonight I'll be a fan of Catholic Spain. She will win over Protestant Germany. It is easier to say it now, but if you believe me, may I say that I have been predicting from the beginning that Spain would win the Euro-2008. And from the moment Portugal was put out of the tournment, I became an engaged Spanish fan.
I believe Catholic culture is strongly on the rise as measured against Protestant culture. For the first time in my life I had some significant hope that the Portuguese could make it in the Euro-2008. They had a very talented group of players, most of them with international experience, one of them the best in the World. This was a very important factor for Portugal. Had the majority of them only played in Portugal, and they would have lacked self-confidence and personality as they would have been subjected in their own country to the permanent, demoralizing bad-mouthing that is typical of their culture. This is what in the past tended to produce Portugal's well known tremideiras in international competition. Above the talent, international experience and self-confidence of the players, towered the unquestionable authority of couch Scolari. This was a very strong combination indeed - the stronger I can remember since 1966 with the likes of Manuel da Luz Afonso, Otto Glória and Eusébio.
Some of these arguments apply to Spain with added emphasis. First, Aragones with his age and experience is the perfect authority for this Catholic-country team. Spain would have never made it to the finals with a couch the age of Germany's. Second, the Spanish team includes many talented players as well. Third, the Spanish League is one of the most competitive and international, if not the best, of all European Leagues. Add to this the fact that I am strongly persuaded that Catholic culture is on the rise against Protestant culture, and you will understand why I believe that tonight Spain will easily beat Germany.

the rational thing


-Have you seen the rumours of Bush converting to Catholicism?, I asked Joaquim over lunch.

-Sure. Actually, it is the rational thing for him to do, and only at the end of his mandate, like Blair, Joaquim said.

-How come, rational?, I asked

-Because, unlike their Protestant churches, the Catholic Church is the only one which has an authority on earth who, on behalf of God, can pardon them for their crimes, namely in Iraq. Otherwise, they would have to do the pardoning for themselves!, Joaquim explained.

Insha'Allah

Portugal não está preparado para o multiculturalismo. Se dúvidas houvesse bastaria ver a forma como os órgãos de comunicação social trataram o incidente de tiros que foram disparados, em Portimão, após um jantar do PS Algarve, em que participou o primeiro-ministro.
A imprensa é unânime em falar de premeditação e de intimidação, como se o Governo de Portugal se deixasse intimidar com esta facilidade. Ora não ocorreu a ninguém que a salva de tiros poderia ter sido apenas uma manifestação de regozijo por parte de grupos de imigrantes islâmicos que estivessem a comemorar a passagem de Sócrates pelo Califado de Al-Andalus (الأندلس).
Trata-se de uma perspectiva neo-colonial do homem branco que quer impor a sua visão burguesa do mundo. Se aceitarmos o multiculturalismo temos de estar preparados para receber as altas figuras do Estado a tiro, com toda a naturalidade. Aliás, as próprias altas figuras do Estado devem também disparar, ocasionalmente, alguns tiros para o ar, para agradecer o júbilo da populaça.
Talvez já no próximo 5 de Outubro, o primeiro-ministro possa dar um sinal destes novos tempo disparando uma salva de tiros de G3, da janela dos Paços do Concelho. Insha'Allah!

A constituição administrativa


Terminal verborrhea is such a widespread disease among Portuguese jurists and we have got so much used to it that we often take as being free from the disease people who are actually infected with it, though in a milder degree.

Consider the following statement by Professor Vital Moreira (1):

"se existe um ramo do direito público com uma presença significativa na Constituição esse é - a par do direito penal - o direito administrativo. A 'constituição administrativa' é o direito constitucional administrativo, ou o direito administrativo constitucional. É nela que se encontram as bases do direito administrativo. Sendo direito constitucional formal (e também material) as normas constitucionais administrativas são direito administrativo material".

All this could have been said in the following few words:

"O direito administrativo possui - a par do direito penal - uma presença significativa na Constituição. A 'constituição administrativa' está na própria Constituição".

I have just used one third of the words (21 against 61) to express the same ideas. So, what are the other two-thirds of words doing there?

Some are there just to confuse the readers and to convey a false sense of profoundity of thought on the part of the author: "A 'constituição administrativa' é o direito constitucional administrativo, ou o direito administrativo constitucional". Having thought about the important difference between "direito constitucional administrativo" and "direito administrativo constitucional" the author actually found none, and thus he uses both expressions as equivalents.

Others are there just to restate the obvious: "É nela que se encontram as bases do direito administrativo". Others, still, are there to take confusionism to the extreme: "Sendo direito constitucional formal (e também material) as normas constitucionais administrativas são direito administrativo material". Note how a key part of the sentence - '(e também material)' -, a part without which it would be sheer nonsense is put in parenthesis and thus given less weight.

(1) Quoted in Diogo Freitas do Amaral, Curso de Direito Administativo, vol II, Coimbra: Almedina, 2006, pp. 31-2), from V. Vital Moreira, Constituição e Direito Administrativo (A Constituição Administrativa Portuguesa), in AB UNO AD OMNES. 75 Anos da Coimbra Editora, Coimbra, 1998, p. 1142.

reached a point


I believe that Law studies in Portugal suffer exactly from the same ills as Theology in the sixteenth century. Theologians wrote in Latin and they usually suffered from terminal verborrhea, a huge disproportion between the number of words and the number of ideas in their discourses, if there were any ideas at all. Their sole purpose was to use words to masquerade reality so as to mislead the population in order to keep their jobs, their reputations and their privileges. They lost all contact with the idea of God, as modern Portuguese jurists have lost all contact with the idea of Justice. In the sixteenth century the Church paid it dearly with the Reformation. We are paying it with the catastrophe in our system of justice. We have reached a point where judges are being beaten in their own courtrooms.

Thought: verborrhea


In this country, the greatest public sickness of all is verborrhea.

génio



"As manifestações do génio jurídico de um povo (...) são múltiplas e as pistas a seguir para captar tal originalidade comportam, assim, diversos trajectos.
A hipótese de um espírito jurídico nacional português, inserido no contexto de um génio jurídico hispânico ou ibérico (...) foi-nos sugerida por diversíssimas fontes (...)"
(Paulo Ferreira da Cunha, Direito Constitucional Aplicado, op. cit., p. 150)

Brassens



"Obviamente, todas estas questões [sobre a guerra cultural] nos reconduzirão ao próprio conceito de guerra. Porque as guerras das ideias matam, não há dúvida, como diria Brassens...".
(Paulo Ferreira da Cunha, Direito Constitucional Aplicado, op. cit., p. 364)

28 junho 2008

eating the croissant


"Aprendemos na Internet que o produto de pastelaria chamado croissant não é francês - como o brioche mitificado, diz-se, por Maria Antonieta - mas austríaco: comer o croissant é um acto de canibalismo mítico, que celebra a vitória sobre os turcos (...). Também na Áustria uma fundação que tinha como objecto o apoio às vítimas dos Turcos, não havendo mais guerras contra a Turquia, terá obrigado a imaginação jurídica a uma redefinição doutrinal do 'Turco' como todo o inimigo da Áustria. (...)".
(Paulo Ferreira da Cunha, Direito Constitucional Aplicado, op. cit., p. 369)

Pedimos desculpa


"A televisão portuguesa tinha, nos seus primeiros anos, uma 'mira' para os casos de avaria - nesse tempo relativamente frequente. Era de fundo negro, nada atractiva, simplicíssima, e dizia apenas: 'Pedimos desculpa por esta interrupção, o programa segue dentro de momentos'".
(Paulo Ferreira da Cunha, Direito Constitucional Aplicado, op. cit., p. 39)

As óperas


3. Ambiguidade de oclusão e abertura. O exemplo do Direito

"(...)
A lista de juristas literatos é um rol imenso. Mesmo poetas, o que é mais de estranhar. (...)

Artistas plásticos também os há, e não poucos. (...)
(...)
Para o arguto filósofo das ciências (...) Michel Serres, o Direito precede a Geometria.

Para o teórico da Literatura e Semiótica Roland Barthes, teria sido por questões jurídicas que surgiu a Retórica na Antiguidade.

A álgebra ter-se-ia inspirado, para as suas incógnitas, nos casos práticos académicos romanos: passando a serem formalizadas como x, y e z, as personagens hipotéticas que davam pelo nome de Caius, Titius e Sempronius

Já se comparou o direito à 'medicina da cultura' e as metáforas médicas são relativamente frequentes em certo tipo de escritos jurídicos: etiologia, patologia, prognose, terapêutica, prevenção e cura, etc. (...)

No direito político se vêem grandes influências teológicas: a separação do poder em três poderes lembra o dogma da Santíssima Trindade (...)
(...)
Quanto às relações entre o Direito e as Ciências Sociais elas são profundas, mais evidentes até para os profanos que outras actividades (...)
(...)
Até a música tem servido de forma ilustrativa do direito: o Bolero de Ravel parece ser exemplificação da teoria da pirâmide normativa de Hans Kelsen (...)
(...)
As óperas estão cheias de questões jurídicas, bem como o cinema, o teatro e a literatura (...)"
(Paulo Ferreira da Cunha, Direito Constitucional Aplicado, op. cit., pp. 51-54)

ngonga

Comecei a ler um livro muito interessante do Martin Page, o autor de “The First Global Village” (agora traduzido), intitulado The Company Savage. O Martin Page é um antropólogo que passou longos anos em África a estudar as sociedades tribais e que, neste livro, aplica os seus conhecimentos de tribalismo à análise das organizações empresariais.
Esta abordagem interessa-me imenso. Há muitos anos que leio tudo o que posso sobre o comportamento humano nas sociedades primitivas e procuro sempre tirar ilações que me ajudem a compreender o nosso comportamento actual. A nossa espécie, com 150 a 200.000 anos, só se civilizou nos últimos 5 a 10.000 anos e portanto mantemos muitos comportamentos “do antigamente”.
Eis um exemplo tirado do livro do Martin Page. Nos campus das grandes multinacionais, o gabinete do CEO localiza-se quase sempre no edifício mais alto, localizado no perímetro oriental, para receber o efeito do sol nascente. Exactamente a localização do “palácio real” nas tribos africanas.

Cruelas à solta



Capítulo IX
Democracia nas Organizações

"Em todas as empresas se sabe que a motivação dos trabalhadores é essencial para os seus bons resultados (...)
(...)
O filme O Diabo veste Prada não nos disse pessoalmente nada em quase nada. Sofremos - devemos confessá-lo - para o ver até ao fim. Mas numa coisa teve imenso interesse: pela figura de Miranda Pristley, a editora de uma grande revista de moda (já era a Cruela Devil do filme dos dálmatas) e a sua relação comn as suas secretárias e tutti quanti .

Trata-se de um desses dragões obcecados pelo trabalho (...)
(...)
Paradoxalmente, demasiadas pessoas destas pontificam e comandam, mesmo num mundo democrático, ao nível das superestruturas (...)

Temos de ter cuidado , colectivamente, com as pessoas e os valores que celebramos. (...)
(...)
O risco de uma tirania subtil dos capatazes é efectivo. E quando, como Miranda, reclamarem o impossível de um funcionário, como (no caso) o original manuscrito do novo romance inédito de Harry Potter, que fazer? Com o mercado a funcionar, haveria que fazer engolir essa ordem à tirana e bater-lhe com a porta na cara. Mas, e se o mercado só tem Cruelas à solta? Aí o Estado tem que intervir, promovendo a democracia empresarial e das organizações em geral (...)
A dignidade dos trabalhadores - todos - é também a dignidade de uma comunidade. (...)"
(Paulo Ferreira de Cunha, Direito Constitucional Aplicado, op. cit., pp. 106-8)

27 junho 2008

prece democrática



Capítulo II
Copiar a Constituição:Ritual Democrático e Exercício da Cidadania (39)
.
"Não é vergonha nenhuma para um constitucionalista reconhecer que lida com Mitos. (...)

A Constituição (...) é feita da carne dos mitos (...).

Enquanto os líderes messiânicos e os xamãs clânicos são figuras mitológicas que bebem a sua aura nas pulsões irracionais, a Constituição é como que a versão apolínea do mito, o seu lado racionalizador (...)

O mito é um texto ritual. E o que é a Constituição senão um texto ritual moderno, fundado na racionalidade, mas cumprindo as mesmas funções legítimas e fundantes dos mitos antropologicamente estudados? Assim, como texto ritual, a Constituição bem pode (e julgamos que deve) ser celebrada, entronizada, em liturgia de Liberdade, em recitação, em reescrita, em cópia dos seus 'modelos'.

E é de reescrita que se trata. Não apenas reescrita democrática, mas reescrita em cópia ritual. (...).

Ora a cópia da Constituição, por forma manuscrita e pela mão de muitos, é um trabalho ritual, que bem pode ser comparado a uma prece democrática (...)

Ao virem copiar os artigos da nossa Constittuição, os cidadãos leram-na e interiorizaram mais os seus artigos. Fui pessoalmente dos mais felizes, porque me calhou em sorte precisamente um dos que mais me diz: o do Direito de Resistência

Oxalá frutifique destes cidadãos o exemplo. (...)"

"(39) Prefácio de um volume da Constituição da República Portuguesa manuscrito a várias mãos"

(Paulo Ferreira da Cunha, Direito Constitucional Aplicado, op. cit., pp. 81-82)

good inflation

Há dias expressei aqui a opinião de que a inflação actual, na UE, tinha características bastante diferentes das da crise de 60/70. Dizia:
Se é possível aplicar este termo, a inflação actual é virtuosa, porque resulta de uma escassez real. Afecta o nível de vida de todos, é um facto, mas é um facto que não podemos alterar. Combatê-la com medidas monetárias compromete a única via que temos para reagir ao aumento dos preços que é investir, aumentar a produtividade e criar mais valor.
Curiosamente, alguns economistas no Japão estão precisamente a alertar para este facto:
Japan comes face to face with good and bad inflation
In most of the world, concerns about inflation are gradually overriding fears of falling growth. But in Japan, which has lived with deflation for more than a decade, anxiety about rising prices, at least among professional economists, is muted.
Ler aqui a notícia integral.

This man is ...


A couple of days ago I was at a bookstore in the city of Porto, where I live. I was looking at the Law section, which I always check in search for some personal enjoyment. By sheer chance I opened a book by Professor Paulo Ferreira da Cunha, which I have been quoting below. According to the back cover of the book: "Neste livro, Paulo Ferreira da Cunha - prestigiado Catedrático da Faculdade de Direito da Universidade do Porto - aprofunda o conhecimento do Direito Constitucional, especificamente dos principais direitos necessários ao uso da cidadania (...)."

As I opened the book, I noticed the author's taste for literary style; I noticed also the big words, some of which instantly hit a chord on me, such as diuturnamente, contemporaneidade, post-moderno and modernidade. I saw the numerous quotations and the extensive bibliographies at the end of each chapter, some of the books quoted in German. Among Portuguese authors cited, António Manuel Hespanha figured proeminently.

Very much impressed by such a display of knowledge, I searched for some original ideas of the author himself. I could find a few, such as this, this and this. And they seemed to me quite impressive as well. How could I have missed the possibilitity of God revealing Himself to mankind through traffic accidents? How could I have never thought of the role of taxi-drivers in spreading racism and xenophobia? How could I have failed to notice the influence of Felipão and questionable penalty kicks on the common fate of the Portuguese people?
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I decided to buy the book, a whole wealth of knowledge and style with the great added benefit of all being packed in a manual of Constitutional Law. As I was driving back home, I stopped at a red light. Then in sheer shock I exclaimed to myself: "Oh my God! This man is Modernista, the blog commentator!" .

na blogsfera

"Do que mais se tem visto na comunicação social e na blogsfera são missionários do novo evangelho anarco-capitalista: crescem como cogumelos articulistas que se pretendem liberais (outros, mais subtis, passam apenas por economistas ou comentadores assépticos) mas cujo único fito é demolirem os direitos sociais, a Segurança Social, e, no limite, o próprio Estado, para que triunfe o deus-mercado, isto é, a selva do salve-se quem puder".
(Paulo Ferreira da Cunha, Direito Constitucional Aplicado, op. cit., p. 138)

Os taxistas



"É criminoso fomentar uma perspectiva racista: ao arrepio dos factos e torcendo as interpretações. Quando, numa notícia, se diz 'um indivíduo de raça negra' fez isto ou aquilo de perverso, é todo o negro que sofre. O mesmo resulta quando se afirma terem prevaricado 'um indivíduo imigrante de Leste', ou 'um brasileiro', ou 'um ucraniano', ou 'um angolano'.
Os estereótipos propagam-se. Os taxistas (que tanto estimamos, aliás), são uma dessas vias, além dos tradicionais meios de comunicação".
(Paulo Ferreira da Cunha, Direito Constitucional Aplicado, op. cit., p. 185).

só com grandes penalidades



"Portugal tem coisas excelentes. A melhor não é sequer o clima ou a paisagem: é a nossa capacidade de criticar e de sonhar ao mesmo tempo... Viu-se no Mundial de Futebol de 2006.
Se temos um Scolari a galvanizar-nos (como miticamente tivemos um Infante Dom Henrique) conseguimos grandes coisas, e só nos levam a palma com grandes penalidades, de que, aliás, muitos duvidam - atentos e críticos. Felipão é um mágico da comunicação e da liderança. Falta-nos gente assim: quem lidere motivando, sem se tornar cara de pau, bacoco, tiranete".
(Paulo Ferreira da Cunha, Direito Constitucional Aplicado, op. cit., p. 177)

Entre as maiores


"Capítulo III
Cidadania e Civilidade

Entre as maiores provas da existência de Deus, ou da Ordem cósmica está o facto de, com tão má condução automóvel, não termos muito mais desastres.
Os acidentes estropiam, mutilam, matam ... e decerto os vigilantes do universo que nos assistem preocupam-se e intervêm... Entrepondo-se milagrosamente no último segundo, para evitar choques de outro modo inevitáveis (...)".
(Paulo Ferreira da Cunha, Direito Constitucional Aplicado, op. cit., p. 169)

géneros literários


"(...) hoje cada vez mais necessita o estudante de se familiarizar com os vários géneros literários da doutrina jurídica: desde a clássica linguagem do manual, naturalmente, à do artigo doutrinal e do texto de opinião, à da arguição de provas, do prefácio, da nota de leitura ou recensão crítica, do comentário a legislação ou jurisprudência, etc., etc. E o prático de Direito ou o honnête homme que busca cultivar-se certamente não enjeitarão também a necessária contribuição pós-moderna não só da prevalência dos textos como da multiplicidade dos estilos."
(Paulo Ferreira da Cunha, Direito Constitucional Aplicado, Lisboa: Quid Juris, 2007, p. 13)

Thoughts: truth



In this country if you believe you have found the truth, keep it for yourself. Don't tell anybody. If you do, they will finish with you.

Ruína


"Quem não consegue reabilitar as casas deve vendê-las", Eduardo Cabrita, Secretário de Estado da Administração Local em entrevista ao Jornal de Negócios de hoje.


Até que enfim que alguém afirma o óbvio. Se fosse eu, acrescentaria que o Estado, em vez de obrigar à venda, poderia alternativamente introduzir um imposto qualquer que taxasse agressivamente os proprietários de imóveis em ruína. Ao ponto de os conduzir à inevitável venda. Porque a manutenção de edifícios ou moradias nestas condições tem vários inconvenientes. Primeiro, atrai fenómenos de delinquência. Segundo, desvaloriza os restantes imóveis localizados na sua proximidade. Terceiro, polui a estética urbanística.

Nunc Est Bibendum

Se queremos descentralizar o ensino, pelo menos respeitemos as vocações naturais dos lugares, de modo a criar sinergias que permitam uma melhor partilha de experiências e saberes (que tal o meu eduquez?).
Rabo de Peixe: Instituto Superior de Ciências do Mar e das Pescas. Tradução sugerida – Fish’s Ass Institute for Marine Sciences.
Baixa da Banheira: Faculdade de Engenharia Hidráulica. Tradução – Lower Bathtub School of Engineering at University of Moita.
Venda das Raparigas: Instituto de Relações Públicas e Assistência Social. Tradução – Girl’s Market Institute of Public Relations and Social Work.
Aceitam-se sugestões!

Kodak

Quando George Eastman necessitou de um nome para a sua empresa de material fotográfico procurou uma designação curta, com uma boa sonoridade e que não pudesse ser confundida com qualquer outra coisa. A escolha foi KODAK, uma marca inconfundível e que vale milhões.
Os critérios do Sr. Eastman parecem simples, mas só se for por terem um toque de génio. São critérios que ainda hoje são válidos e que têm funcionado para muitas novas empresas. Estou a pensar na Google, na Yahoo, na Skype ou na Apple.
Se repararmos, quase todas estas palavras têm cinco letras; 4 ou 6 já não dá bem o mesmo resultado. A sonoridade é sexy e a nossa capacidade de memorização para estes nomes é grande.
O mesmo se passa com as cidades. Paris, Berlin, London, mas também Roma ou Madrid. Porto e Lisboa também são nomes atractivos e fáceis de pronunciar noutras línguas. A designação Oporto, ao gosto dos bifes, é bonita e Lisbon também soa bem.
Todas as instituições adoptam características das cidades e dos países onde se localizam e as universidades não são nenhuma excepção. Quando estava nos EUA gostava de dizer que tinha estudado na Universidade de Lisboa (University of Lisbon). A maior parte das pessoas reconheciam a marca Lisboa que obviamente tinha uma mais-valia.
As universidades estão muito atentas às suas marcas e ainda recentemente, no R.U., duas escolas superiores saíram da University of London, em parte porque as suas marcas eram mais fortes e atraíam mais clientes. Passou-se com a UCL e com o Imperial College.
Não deixo de ficar surpreendido, pelos comentários aos meus posts anteriores (aqui e aqui) que, em Portugal, se pense que estes aspectos não são importantes. Isto diz muito sobre as nossas universidades.

thoughts: seeking truth


In this country if you want to seek the truth do not ask your fellow-citizens for help or guidance. If you are seeking truth at all, there is only one way left to you: seeking it by yourself alone.

Thoughts: hate



In this country you shall never be hated for what you are, for what you do, for your race, for the colour of your skin or for your nationality. If you are going to be hated at all, you shall be hated for what you think.

26 junho 2008

I think Joaquim is quite right


Power struggles are the present malady of Portuguese institutions both public and private and they are paralyzing them and the country. This is a direct consequence of democratization of university education. Of all the great mistakes of Portuguese public policy over the last thirty years the democratization of higher learning is probably the worst of all.

Calling it a mistake is an exaggeration. It is part of the process of blind immitation of Protestant institutions that has been taking place in the country during the same period and for which we are dearly paying now. "Knowledge of truth" is something that is supposedly available to all in the Protestant tradition. In the Catholic tradition it is reserved to a few. Thus a Catholic country's university system is at its best when it is elitist and at its worst when it is democratic.

In the Protestant tradition truth is available to all men and is found out by the common people. It is a duty of the common people to bring it to all those who have missed it. In the Catholic tradition truth can only be reached by a few, those who seek truth. Thus, in the Protestant tradition education should be brought to all the people, whereas in the Catholic tradition education is a privilege reserved for those who seek to be educated.

Thus, I think Joaquim is quite right in the debate that is taking place in the posts below. Universities should not be brought to the people in Santa Marta de Penaguião or wherever else. It is the interested people who should seek the Universities wherever they are, and they are usually located at the traditional centres of knowledge which, in Portugal, means Lisbon, Coimbra and Porto.

Not only Portuguese universities should be few in number and located in the major traditional centres of knowledge. They should be highly selective as well, making university learning only available to the very best students, regardless of birth, family name or economic condition. For if you make higher education available to all, namely to those who are recognizably under the top, sooner or later each one of them will feel that he can be a bishop, if not a pope, in his own parochy. This will destroy all institutions in a Catholic society.

Universidade










Diz-me onde estudaste e dir-te-ei quem és...

big apple

Numa grande cidade o ensino universitário é melhor. Há muitos factores que contribuem para isso, como aspectos demográficos, económicos e culturais, a tal ponto evidentes que não justificam grandes argumentos.
No meu post anterior, contudo, eu não me referia a estes aspectos, se bem que extremamente importantes. Eu referia-me à necessidade de polir os estudantes universitários para que estes não continuem uns tonhos, apenas interessados no álcool e nas comezainas.

A dispersão de institutos superiores e de pólos universitários por aldeias, com nomes tão rústicos que não se conseguem pronunciar em qualquer outra língua, atrofia o desenvolvimento cultural dos estudantes e destrói-lhes as carreiras. Hoje em dia, vemos isto claramente a acontecer.

O exemplo mais flagrante é o de muitos professores que vêm das berças e que, quando não conseguem colocação no ensino, são totalmente incapazes de vislumbrar qualquer utilidade para os conhecimentos que adquiriram. Na minha opinião isto tem muito menos possibilidade de acontecer quando o ensino universitário decorre numa grande cidade.

25 junho 2008

Protestant Economics



I would like in this post first, to restate my thesis of the previous post now free of any technical jargon; second, to elaborate on it. And the thesis is that when faced with competition and the risk of bankruptcy entrepreneurs in Protestant countries race in the first place for their brains to invent new products and new techniques of production in order to survive; in Catholic countries they race for government in order to protect them.

Examples in Portugal abound even if we decide to choose them only from the last few months: the BCP crisis; the truck-drivers strike with taxi-drivers, fishermen, farmers following in their steps; teachers have been protected for years: the number of students has been falling year after year but most teachers keep their government-paid jobs. We could go on endlessly.

Let me go back, though, to the industry portrayed in my previous post. In a Protestant country the industry adjusts in the long run by creating new products and lowering the price of existing ones; in a Catholic country neither new products are created nor the price of existing ones is reduced as the industry is protected by the government.

Let me go a step farther and open the frontiers of both countries allowing competition between them for the same product or industry. As the Protestant country has lower prices and new product varieties whereas the Catholic country has higher prices and the old varieties only, it should be clear that most firms will go bankrupt in the Catholic country.

This is the process that has been going on in Portugal over the last several years hitting traditional industries exposed to international competition and located largely in the northern part of the country. Free trade and globalisation in Catholic countries are synonymous with bankruptcy and unemployment. These are economies that require some degree of protectionism if they are to survive and prosper. I know this is in contradiction with conventional Economics, but one should not lose sight of the fact that conventional Economics is actually Protestant Economics.

society foots the bill


I have been arguing that institutions represent cultural adjustments to specific circumstances faced by societies, so that an institution that works well in a particular cultural environment does not necessarily work well in a different environment. Democracy is a case in point. This is a peculiar Protestant institution which is not fit for a Catholic society.

I now turn to another typically Protestant institution, free market competition (or capitalism) to show how different are the effects it produces in a Protestant environment as compared to a Catholic environment. I consider the perfectly competitive model of economists with the standard assumptions of many sellers and many buyers, a homogeneous product, no barriers to entry or exit the industry, no information and transaction costs, etc. I assume further that the typical firm is in a position of long-run equilibrium (point a in the exhibit above).
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In this position the typical entrepreneur is just earning normal profits, that is the minimum required to keep him in this business. This is a very risky position, as any slight reduction in price or increase in costs will put him out of business. He has thus a strong incentive to move out of this position, and he can do this only through innovation. He can innovate on some product feature increasing demand and making it less elastic (1); or he can innovate on technology reducing the costs of production (2). It is in this sense that the free market has often been called a discovery process as it continuously produces incentives for innovation and discovery.
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The process of innovation, however, requires a cultural environment where people are capable of independent thinking, and a society which is tolerant to error and failure and receives with enthusiasm innovation and discovery. This is the Protestant society. Thus, an entrepreneur who discovers a new, cheaper, production technique lowers his costs of production and earns short-term economic profits. In the long-run his competitors will follow suit and the industry will end up in a new position of long-run equilibrium at a lower price. The process of competition is beneficial to the innovator himself and to the whole of society.
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I consider now the adjustment process in a Catholic society. This is a conservative society. People are not used to think for themselves. Innovation - as I argued in a previous post -, never comes from the private sector; it always comes from authority - that is, government. How are the entrepreneurs going to react when faced with that risky situation of long-run-equilibrium where they just earn normal profits? Certainly not through technological or product innovation. How then? Their most likely reaction is to get together and ask the government to impose some barriers to entry in the industry. The competitive market has just been converted into a corporative market. As demand grows over time and supply is restricted by preventing new firms to enter the industry, the new long-run equilibrium will be set at a higher price than the current market price. Producers have been protected from competition, society as a whole foots the bill.
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(1) In technical jargon, demand for the firm (D) shifts from its current horizontal position to a downward slopping position intersecting the original demand curve to the right of point a.
(2) The Average Total Cost (ATC) and Marginal Cost (MC) curves shift downwards.

the siesta

The British are getting smart. They are trying to import one of the healthiest institutions of Catholic countries - the siesta. Unfortunately I do not think they will succeed at it. Their culture is too much action-prone and the siesta is exactly the opposite of action.
I find this paragraph cute: "But is it good for UK business? Research shows that humans are hit with an energy lull in the early afternoon (...)" , as it seems to suggest that there is no life outside of science. How could our ancestors have developed the institution of the siesta without those impressive findings of modern scientific research?

copies of each other

Joaquim argues in this post that with the exception of Lisbon, Porto and possibly Coimbra all government universities and their dependencies should be closed in the country. I quite agree.

The reason is that in a country of Catholic culture like Portugal where homogeneity of thought is the distinctive characteristic all universities teach roughly the same thing in each field and with the same methods. If this were a large country, distance could be a consideration to spread universities which look like copies of each other throughout the territory. However, this is a small country. Three government universities seem to me more than enough.

As for large private universities, the tendency over the next several years is for them to go bankrupt one by one, and some have already done so. The reason is that they offer exactly the same product as government universities, though at a higher price. The only non-goverment university that has something different to offer is the Catholic university which, accordingly, will be the only one surviving in the long-run together with small, highly specialized, private Institutes.

Disoriented and pessimistic


Let me consider two societies, one purely Catholic the other purely Protestant, everything else being equal. In the Catholic society is the authority who tells the people what to think. Once this is done, each man is left free to act for himself within broadly defined limits. This is what gives the Catholic society its distinctly orthodoxy of thought and liberalism of action.

The opposite holds true in the Protestant society. In this society each man is left free to think, he is actually required to think. Authority is then called upon through the process of democratic public opinion and government to tell the people how to act. This is what gives Protestant society its distinctly liberalism of thought and orthodoxy of action.

Which of these societies will do better, i.e, which of them will progress the most? This depends on how the authority of the Catholic society compares with the average man of the Protestant society who ultimately determines public opinion. If the authority of the Catholic society is made up of superior, above-average men the Catholic society will do better; the opposite holds true if the authority is made up of inferior, below-average men. The Catholic society is at its best when it is run by an elite, that is, by men who are close to the truth.

The average man of the Catholic society is a poor thinker and a great doer whereas the average man of the Protestant society is in comparison a great thinker and a poor doer. One needs guidance on how to think, the other needs guidance on how to act. Aristocracy is the political tool of the Catholic society to tell people what to think; it is aristocracy that defines their common thoughts. Democracy is the political tool of the Protestant society to tell people how to act; it is democracy that transforms the immense variety of people's thoughts into common action.

What if we try to impose democracy on the Catholic society? The authority (government) will now be formed by people who are poor thinkers while the rest of the population keeps waiting for guidance from them. Guidance will be poor or misdirected. The country will be led the wrong way. Sure, the authority itself expects help from the population which under democracy is supposed to contribute with its own thinking to define the guidelines. The problem is that the population is not used to think. Sooner or later these people will feel disoriented and pessimistic. Social and economic decline will follow.

populorum progressio

A descentralização do ensino universitário é nociva. Por descentralização, refiro-me à quantidade de escolas, institutos e pólos universitários que abriram por todo o País e que conferem graus académicos do ensino superior.
Pelo tamanho de Portugal parece-me difícil justificar a existência de mais de duas grandes universidades, uma no Porto e outra em Lisboa, e talvez uma amostra em Coimbra para línguas mortas.
Os meus argumentos não são de ordem académica, nem estatística, nem relativos ao mercado de trabalho. O que eu penso é que parte do ensino universitário tem a ver com desempoeirar as mentes dos jovens e torná-los cosmopolitas. Dar-lhes espírito de iniciativa e confiança para as suas actividades futuras.
Ora é evidente que não é possível tornar alguém cosmopolita em Alguidares de Baixo e é por esta simples razão que eu penso que todas as escolas universitárias fora do Porto e de Lisboa deveriam ser encerradas, como digo, com a excepção de “Coimbra A” onde se poderia continuar a ensinar sânscrito, latim e grego.
Caso contrário poderemos formar muitos doutores e engenheiros, mas será sempre uma comandita indigente e azeitada, sem qualquer mobilidade social.

how good


Now, add to this the deterioration of their sexual lives over recent years as they try to imitate Protestant culture, and you will get a sense of how good modernization is.

24 junho 2008

British at action: taking lessons


My mission is expressed in the last paragraph of this post. Catholic people, and Portuguese people in particular, are at their best when they have a sense of mission. I am no exception.

In this crusade of mine, some two weeks ago a new question came to my mind: how does sex life compare in Catholic and Protestant countries? This seems to be an obviously difficult question, as sex is a mostly intimate matter. And a very important one, as sex is a source of great enjoyment in human life.

I started out with the quantitative part of it in this post, followed a few days later by this one. My intuition was telling me that Catholics have more sex than Protestants. Actually, I blamed the recent, drastic fall in Portuguese birth rates mainly on the fact that the Portuguese were having less sex now when compared with the generation of their parents. This was the result of Portugal having been importing Protestant culture over the last twenty years or so.

I was drawing on a distinction that I have introduced myself and which seems to me more and more meaningful, namely that Protestant people privilege freedom of expression whereas Catholic people privilege freedom of action. Based on this distinction I went farther in my last few posts to establish that the quality of sex as well is much better in Catholic than in Protestant countries, specially anglo-saxonic countries as these are the countries we mostly try to imitate in Portugal.

Looking today for some empirical support for my thesis over the internet, I found this.

if they have a target at all

Ângela Dutra de Meneses is a Brazilian journalist and author of the best-seller O Português que nos Pariu. In a December interview with Visão magazine she said: "Quem já fez amor com um português compreende porque é que eles colonizaram meio mundo".

Let's take Ângela's statement at face value and ask rethorically the question: "And what about making love with a British?" (read: Protestant). My thesis is that it is awful in comparison.

Let me now try to argue my thesis. Catholic culture emphasizes words over actions whereas Protestant culture emphasizes actions over words. Thus, when we let Catholic peoples express themselves freely a lot of them just produce words and words and words without ever getting to the point, if they have a point at all. Protestant peoples, on the other hand, when they are left to act freely tend to produce actions and actions and actions without ever getting to the target, if they have a target at all.

Protestants are as likely to produce in the field of action people who are as irrelevant and byzantine as Catholics are able to produce in the field of words. Let me put this point in a different way. It is estimated that the Portuguese use fourty percent more words than the British to express the same thought, if they have a thought at all. My own estimate is that the British perform fourty percent more acts than the Portuguese to reach the same goal, if they reach the goal at all. Or still in another way: sexual life in Protestant countries is about as exciting as attending conferences in Catholic countries.

In the field of action one example of Protestant culture is here. In the field of words, one example of Catholic culture is here. Try to imagine this example of Catholic culture transposed to the field of Protestant sexual life and I believe you will get a good picture of what it looks like - too much irrelevant, byzantine action and never getting to the target, if they have a target at all.

unable to control

The British (read: Protestant) obsession with action contrasts with the Portuguese (read: Catholic) obsession with words. The reason for these obsessions is that Protestants are much more action-restricted than Catholics whereas Catholics are much more words-restricted than Protestants. Put differently, Protestants thrive on word-liberalism whereas Catholics thrive on action-liberalism. (1)

Thus, Protestants, when they act, they are often laughable at it. Catholics, by contrast, are laughable when they talk. The greatest danger in a Catholic society is unrestricted freedom of expression; conversely, the greatest danger in a Protestant society is unrestrict freedom of action.

This is how the British first split from the Catholic Church and how they are now destroying their own Anglican Church. Would you imagine in Portugal a church being created and then being destroyed because of sexual action - first, a king marrying his lover, then two priests getting married? I don't. If we ever in Portugal were to create a new church, splitting from Catholicism, that would be because of words - a tremendous discussion about doctrinal matters that would set people apart. Actually, it would likely be a discussion which, in the end, nobody knew anymore what the Portuguese were talking about.
The rise and fall of the Anglican Church suggests that the British are specially obsessed with action of a sexual nature. More recently, it was also a sexual affair that threatened their monarchy. The British seem as unable to control the destructive social effects of their freedom of action, as the Portuguese seem unable to control the destrutive social effects of their freedom of expression.

(1) see, for example, this: a man going to court and found guilty simply because he put four adults (including himself) and nine kids in a Volvo caravan. In Portugal this man would be o rei da gaiatada.