Sunday, August 2, 2020

Democracy sucks. Always has. Always will. There is an alternative.

Democracy is not a fundamental principle:

Democracy is a human concept.  It is a word with many definitions.  But there is none that can ensure a sustainable set of government systems and structures within any nation - or set of nations in a world where the protection of national sovereignty remains supreme to the global protection of universal human rights.

Any governing system engineered by the majority vote of a largely ignorant population will be at best, largely dysfunctional.  And then, inevitably doomed given the evolution of technology and its increasing complexity in an irreversibly interconnected and interdependent world that most human minds are incapable of understanding or accepting.

In a book review of “Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of authoritarianism” By Anne Applebaum (Wpost 7-26-20) https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/the-everyday-decisions-that-undermine-democracy/2020/07/23/691fb72c-c078-11ea-b178-bb7b05b94af1_story.html  Sheri Berman ( Barnard College political science professor) provides a context of the book and her review suggesting we there will always have “the long-standing struggle between democracy and dictatorship.” 

This is true if we hold democracy as our primary guild star for any government architecture.

Why?  Because democracy is inherently flawed as well as fragile in any form.   

Berman concludes “Its survival depends on choices made every day by elites and ordinary people.” The books author, Anne Applebaum writes “There is no road map to a better society…no didactic ideology, no rule book.  All we can do is choose our allies and our friends…..with great care, for only with them, together, is it possible to avoid the temptations of the different forms of authoritarianism.”

Hogwash!  Both the author and reviewer are under the mindspell of the Beltway status quo, the source of pay checks and long term employment.  This status quo persistently ignores the reality that it worships a 400 year old concept called national sovereignty in a modern, irreversibly and increasingly hyper connected and interdependent world.  And believe beyond any rational evidence national sovereignty is the best protector their freedom and security and thus their prosperity and sustainability.  

This largely unexamined illusion is killing us by the hundreds of millions each year in the form of wars, genocides, infectious diseases, terrorism, revolutions, international crimes, pollution, climate extremes, and natural disasters that national borders and independent national policies cannot prevent, fiscally respond to, or effectively prevent.  

Why?  Because ‘independent’ government systems based on the will of their majorities short term interests are incapable of dealing with an irreversible and increasingly interdependent world.    Each ‘majority’ invests endlessly in protecting the illusion that that legally authorized political borders will shield them from both natural global realities and the unprecedently powerful and globally invasive technological systems and structures that humanity has created to boost our individual economic and/or military power.  

A majority of humanity and our leaders have forgotten the fundamental principle that sovereignty resides in individuals, not nations.  And unless ‘we the people’ of this bountiful world enlighten ourselves and our leaders to the fundamental reality that ‘united we stand’ a chance…and, divided we will fall…even fail as a species.   We all share this unbelievably unique planet with one another.  We all have the same basic needs.  And the vast majority has the same desire.  To maximize our freedoms and security.  Thomas Paine projected this in his Common Sense pamphlet over 250 years ago.  Protecting human freedom and security is the only legitimate role of government. 

The great news is that there is a rational and proven alternative to the insanity in believing democracy or dictatorship is our only choices.  It is called “the Rule of Law”.  You will hear this phrase used frequently in defending many actions of our own government.  But rarely does anyone define it or insist on all three of its fundamental elements.   Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy once gave the best definition I’d ever heard.  He was speaking on C-Span to a group of international visitors and was asked “what makes the Rule of Law effective”.  He said it requires three basic elements.  First, the laws need to be made and enforce by a democratic process.  People need to know their voices and votes matter and the laws are applied.   Second, the laws need to be applied equally to everyone.  There needs to be a perception of justice.  Last.  The purpose of the laws must be protective of basic human rights.  If these are ignored, don’t expect stability.   For laws to work best all three elements are needed.   

Our founding father’s offered another fundamental principle in the Declaration of Independence.  The “Laws of Nature”  If we fail to follow these or the laws of “Nature’s God” don’t expect a government to work or to last.  The phrase “Nature’s God” may be rejected by many religion skeptics.  But any rational being will know that the fundamental tenant of every major religion is the golden rule.   There’s a reason for that.  Even lowly animals will react violently if abused. 

Pick your poison!  A democracy, republic, federation, or dictatorship…none last.  Each has and will likely continue to perpetuate injustices (preferring one group over another) or violate fundamental human rights (basic freedoms we all need to survive and thrive). 

It is up to us, we the people’, to insist that any future form of government we seek, must effectively protect ‘liberty and justice for all’.   Not just pledge it.

 

 

 

 

NOUN

1.     a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.

"capitalism and democracy are ascendant in the third world"

synonyms:

representative government · elective government · constitutional government · popular government · self-government · government by the people · autonomy · republic · commonwealth

·         a state governed by a democracy.

"a multiparty democracy"

·         control of an organization or group by the majority of its members.

"the intended extension of industrial democracy"

·         the practice or principles of social equality.

"demands for greater democracy"

synonyms:

independence · self-government · self-determination · self-legislation · self rule · home rule · sovereignty · autonomy · autarky · self-sufficiency · individualism · separation · nonalignment · emancipation · enfranchisement · manumission

 

·  Democracy | Definition of Democracy by Merriam-Webster

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/democracy

Definition of democracy. 1 a : government by the people especially : rule of the majority. b : a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.

·  Democracy | Definition of Democracy at Dictionary.com

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/democracy

Democracy definition, government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a …

·  Democracy - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy

·         Overview

·         Types of governmental democracies

·         Characteristics

·         History

·         Theory

·         Measurement of democracy

·         Non-governmental democracy

·         Justification

Democracy has taken a number of forms, both in theory and practice. Some varieties of democracy provide better representation and more freedom for their citizens than others. However, if any democracy is not structured to prohibit the government from excluding the people from the legislative process, or any branch of government from altering the separation of powers in its favour, then a branch of the system can accumulate too much power and destroy the democracy.

Wikipedia · Text under CC-BY-SA license

·  DEMOCRACY | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/democracy

the belief in freedom and equality between people, or a system of government based on this belief, in which power is either held by elected representatives or directly by the people themselves. politics & government. A democracy is a country in which power is held by elected representatives.

·  Democracy - definition of democracy by The Free Dictionary

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/democracy

1. government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system. 2. a state having such a form of government. 3. a state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy

 


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