The Lost Hope of Democracy

[marmar]

from Consortium News:


The Lost Hope of Democracy
October 10, 2014

Western nations are fond of using “democracy promotion” as a justification for interfering in other countries, including overthrowing elected leaders (as in Ukraine). But Western democracies themselves often fall short of democratic values, as John Chuckman explains.

By John Chuckman


I read and heard about Hong Kong’s students putting themselves at risk demonstrating for democracy, and my first instinct was sympathy, sympathy for their passionate idealism, but sympathy in another sense too, for their sad illusions.

I ask myself, and it is not a trivial question, what is it exactly that they believe they fight for? Democracy has become such a totemic word, we all are trained to revere it, unquestioningly, almost the way 16th Century people were expected to behave in the presence of the Host during Communion.

But just where in the West do we see countries who call themselves democracies behaving in democratic ways, indeed where do we see genuine democracies? And if it is such an important concept, why should that be?

In Canada, to start where I live, we have a serious democratic deficit. A Conservative government today, elected to a parliamentary “majority” with about 39 percent of the national vote, behaves for all the world as an authoritarian government in many things at home and abroad. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2014/10/10/the-lost-hope-of-democracy/

[merrily]

1. That we revere democracy is one reason I keep pointing out the US is a republic, not a democracy.

In theory, we finally became democratic about a century ago as far as who is eligible to vote for elected officials (as opposed to about 6% of the population in 1789), but our form of government is a republic.

And, when they effectively take away our voice as to who the candidates should be, I am not sure what to call it.

Got umbrella?

[Dustlawyer]

2. That is because the PTB will be constantly viewing for more power, more money.

When the people start to get lax, the PTB make inroads. We let our media start to BS us, and allow our politicians to be bribed, legally (Pretty stupid on our part huh). They co-opted our Regulatory Agencies, ripped their teeth out, and locked them in a dark closet where they are starved of money.
A healthy Democracy has truth in news, good public education, strong regulations, politicians responsive to the people, and is always vigilant because the voters are knowledgeable and vote in high percentages.

I believe that when Reagan came into office they hatch a plan with a coordinated attack on the areas listed above. The U.S. chamber of Commerce started spending money on state and local elections, including judicial elections. They started buying off the judges and politicians in droves and rewriting the laws to suit the rich and powerful. They bought up the media and started messaging, installing fear and anger and distorting the truth. Journalists became a thing of the past. The ones they couldn't buy of they got rid of and blacklisted (Moyers, Donahue, Rather...). They amped up the revolving doors with the regulatory agencies and gained control of the watch dogs.

I believe the solution would be to organize a resistance who has the sole goal of Publicly Funded Elections (PFE's)! Politicians want to stay in power, so if they see a massive groundswell insisting on PFE's, they will go with the flow. If achieved on a Federal, State, and Local levels, we can then start to dismantle what The PTB have built. Bust up the media and banking conglomerates and require truth in the news. Shut the revolving door and lock it. Outlaw campaign contributions and start arresting the people breaking the law that are in high places. No more people above the law!
We can fix this if enough people are fed up with the status quo! We have to be willing to fight for what we believe in instead of holding our nose and voting for the lesser of two evils. I am ready, are you?