For there to be a true democracy a number of factors have to be achieved:
a. We have to have a good choice of candidates.
b. We have to be informed.
c. There should be no bias.
d. Everybody has to have a vote.
e. Every vote should count.
f. Those elected need to be accountable.
What we have is a sham democracy. We have a two-party system of supposedly representational democracy. We have a binary vote. With our one vote we are presumed to support the entire agenda of the political parties manifesto. The whole system is corrupt. It is run by money and power. We are being manipulated, brainwashed and lied to.
a. We never have a good choice of candidates. It’s a two-horse race. The political parties have vested interests. Good candidates do not get selected. We have a limited choice between the lesser of two evils. Without huge financial backing no other candidate stands a chance. The media provides the exposure required. The media has to be bought. The media backs who they are told to back. Propaganda rules.
b. With a biased media run by the establishment no election is fair. Antiestablishment candidates or parties are tarnished, lied about and misrepresented. They have no chance. He who controls the media controls the people. We are never properly informed on issues, candidates or parties. Our electorate is politically uneducated.
c. The media is biased. The internet is worst of all. We are fed lies. We are misinformed. Those squealing fake news are the biggest liars.
d. Everyone has a vote. That is a weakness. The stupid, ignorant and most gullible have the same vote as the intelligent, informed and discerning. The stupid, ignorant and most gullible are a majority. This makes it possible for cynical politicians to lie, cheat, promise and blatantly fool the electorate.
e. My vote has never counted. I have always lived in an area that is strongly for one party or another. The only votes that really count are those in swing seats – a small minority. Until we move to proportional representation most votes count for nothing.
f. They are never accountable. They lie, spin and refuse to answer questions. They look for scapegoats and refuse to take the blame for their sleaze, corruption or mistakes. The Tories refuse to appear on any programme that would ask awkward questions or hold them to account.
This is a sham democracy. It fails on all counts.
It needs changing.
It could be made to work – but it is not in the interests of our ‘masters’ to have a functional democracy. They are happy with it as it is!!
Opher – In many ways I agree with much you have written, but I’d like to add: whilst governments remain funded by large donations (dark money) from the private sector – I include Unions as private sector, whilst lobbying of government by those with money to buy access to politicians is permitted, whilst MP’s aren’t obliged to work full-time hours but are allowed to have lucrative second jobs within key industries, whilst there are no robust mechanisms holding politicians to account for abject failure, whilst a complete lack of transparency in government is not rectified, whilst failure upwards, and revolving door promotions are rewarded for incompetence, whilst cabinet members are chosen for loyalty as opposed to experience, competence and ability, whilst governments can disregard manifesto pledges made to the electorate without consequence, whilst law-breaking politicians aren’t fired as a result of legal rulings made against them, whilst we have no codified constitution and no elected head-of-state, whilst standards in public office repeatedly hit new lows (led downwards by unscrupulous scoundrels), whilst the public remain ignorant, misled and lied to by sympathetic bias media, there will never be democracy.
This list is far from complete: just the tip of a vast iceberg. Politics in its current elitist-centric form isn’t democratic or representative of large swathes of the electorate. It works to promote, provide, and profit the needs of a small percentage. It isn’t fit for democratic purpose. U.K politics is a revolting mess, and needs revolution. Drain the entire swamp, start again.
DN
I agree Dewin. The establishment elite are in control of the political system. They don’t want democracy. You have described how they operate.
Can we wrest true democracy from them?
Do we want true democracy? We most probably won’t like what the majority want.
‘Can we wrest democracy from them?’ – Good grief, I bloody hope so Opher, or there will be no end to division, deceit, denial, wrongdoing, obfuscation, and exceptionalism, nor any end to the insidious propensity towards greed, self-aggrandizement, and self-promotion practiced by the political class. The fundamental bases of honour, truth, and integrity, are sorely missing from the heart of self-obsessed, self-serving, elitist-orientated democracy.
A more pertinent question to ask of those taking up public office might be how we mitigate against the intrinsic fallibility of their human natures: there are certainly very few, if any, empathetic, peace-loving, civil-minded, level-headed, unbiased, intelligent, saintly types, with unimpeachable characters to choose from. Perhaps all candidates for elected office should be subject to extensive psychological profiling, and the intrinsically bad apples removed from the running.
Can true democracy exist in reality as anything other than an underachieved idealistic aspiration?
What the majority want? The Tories achieved an 80 seat majority on the back of 43% of the vote. (Only 63% of the electorate voted) Unless 100% of those eligible to vote actually vote, it’s impossible to know what the true consensus of people is. The forthcoming local elections in May are likely to give a better indication of the electorates mood, and suggest at their appetite for change.
Off topic, but on a tangible note, it appears the numbers of rebel Tories disgusted by Big Dog’s Eton-mess and despicable behaviour, are growing. It is rumored the requirement to have 54 letters expressing no confidence in the P.M are amassing more quickly than journalist first thought. The contemptible clown is a liability to grown-up governance. With Sage predicting an early summer wave of Omicron cases, the lying, untrustworthy clown is also a public health hazard in as much that the public are far more likely not to respond well to any required mitigation measures he puts in place. The impact on the NHS would be considerable. The lying, cowardly clown has to go!
DN
I don’t think we can wrest back control. The puppet masters are in control.
It’s probably fortunate that only a minority vote but how anybody outside the top 5% can vote Tory is a mystery. Probably the success of propaganda and brainwashing.
Dewin and Opher, you are both along the right lines. Any decent political system ought to be for the benefit of the people – as individuals, not just as a collective. Government should be for the benefit of the governed; ALL the governed. But it isn’t.
The system we must build to replace democracy needs to be much more flexible towards people of different cultures, tastes and personalities than what we suffer under today. Opher, you are spot on when you say, “We most probably won’t like what the majority want.” So, why can’t we just agree to disagree, and each live our own lives, as long as we don’t objectively harm each other?
I agree with you on the first part Neil but not on your final concluding section. A society requires cohesion and direction in order to develop and survive. In the past this has been created by religion and patriotism. In the modern age we’ve got to find something better.
Opher – ‘In a modern age we’ve got to find something better.’ I’m intrigued. Religion and patriotism both require belief and faith. What cohesive, directive force could you suggest that would unify modern, diverse society in order to develop it?
DN
I think awe, wonder and the protection of this wondrous nature, the amazing web of life! The marvel of the universe – sufficient for me. Require no belief or faith – just awe, wonder and love.
‘Any political system ought to be for the benefit of the people’, ‘for the benefit of the governed’ – I couldn’t agree more Neil. The wealth of a nation lies not in it’s capital but in the heart of the people. That is why GDP is not an accurate indicator of a nation’s true state of overall well-being.
‘So, why can’t we just agree to disagree, and each live our own lives, as long as we don’t objectively harm each other?’ I think John Lennon imagined much the same. Perhaps there will come a time when humankind rises enlightened to fashion a fairer, more tolerant, and wholly inclusive world. Until then, at least in the U.K, with its predominant two party system, we must chose who best represents aspects of our inner voice and vote.
DN
Determining what is the best for the people is not always easy. It certainly isn’t Tory inequality though!
Nor does it come about by limiting candidate selection to a list of loyal drones and sycophants as Labour are doing!
DN
(1) – https://skwawkbox.org/2022/01/20/starmer-promised-members-more-power-over-candidate-selections-so-of-course-hes-taking-it-away/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=starmer-promised-members-more-power-over-candidate-selections-so-of-course-hes-taking-it-away
In a choice between the lesser of two evil……..
It seems to me that one of those is by far the lesser even if they fall well short of what is desired.
Ah, there’s the rub, Opher. The way I see things, the aggregate of people who live in a particular geographical area are not a society. They are only a community, and they cannot be expected to have a “general will,” or – as you rightly point out – to want the same things. The idea that we are all signed up to some “social contract” is, as far as I can make out, a fiction invented by Thomas Hobbes in the 17th century. And the idea that we collectively have a “general will” is a lie invented in the 18th century by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. So, for me, it is both wrong and ridiculous to expect everyone in an area to be a unity and to pull together. Living in civilization should be living in harmony, not in unity.
I am sure that there are a number of things that people could all get behind with enough latitude to encompass most of the outliers. We are mostly agreed on things such as inequality, cruelty,torture,hate and violence.
As I’ve said before, Opher, different people have different ideas of equality – ethical equality, political equality, equality of power, equality of opportunity, equality of outcome, for example. It might not be easy to get agreement on which of these is the “right” one.
To your list of things that we could agree are bad, I’d add (at least): injustice, lies, dishonesty, bad faith and failure to respect human rights.
Equality of worth. Equality of reward.
I like your list Neil.
Add hypocrisy to the list, too.
Goes with the territory doesn’t it??