If Freedom Fail!
If Freedom Fail! Do you feel you are losing control of your ability to make worthwhile choices in your political life? Do you have an uncomfortable feeling that Democracy is failing you? Do you yearn for a truly Democratic system? It matters naught that we have a 'good life' if we have to lose that valued possession - freedom to make choices about how our society functions.
Democracy has been defined in many ways. However, all democratic systems, East or West, merely pay lip service to the true spirit of the word. The word Democrat means as many different things as there are people who claim to be on
The word comes from the Greek, 'demos', the people, and 'kratos', strength, i.e. 'People Power'. The Soviet interpretation was to call the working class 'The People', let them take power from those who held it before, and call the Communist party the 'Party of the People'. The next step was to say, 'You, the People, are now in power and we will wield it for you'. For seventy years the Communist Party steadfastly refused to give freedom of choice back to the people. Hopefully it is now returning to its rightful owners.
The people of East and West Germany said they wanted to reunite. The Great Powers said, 'No!', but they could not stop a people on the move. In South Africa, Nelson Mandela and his people have experienced 'foul thyrldome', and will value freedom all the more. Perhaps Democracy in South Africa will give the white minority a genuine say in running the country. The spirit of Democracy may yet dispel the ghost of apartheid's tyrrany.
In Tienamin Square the Chinese Communist Party used tanks to convince the People they were traitors even to suggest they should have a real say in their own government. In 'Free China', Taiwan, most of the ruling party's Members of Parliament were freely elected, but that was over 40 years ago and they or their children still sit in Taipei, representing constituencies that elected them in Mainland China. Their 40-year-old ideas of government guide the people of Taiwan - an economic tiger, but a democratic dinosaur.
In the USA an elitist group uses the most powerful weapon ever created to control a people - money. 'People' here, means the ordinary people of the United States. The goverment uses the oldest trick of all dictators, fear of attack from outside the country, to win support. Even yet the spectre of an attack by Russia has not disappeared. Democracy stumbles along in tattered rags in that great bulwark of freedom, a bulwark, that is, for all those who choose to govern themselves the way the USA thinks is the right one.
What about Britain, The Mother of Modern Democracy? It held the largest empire in the history of Mankind by sighting along the barrel of a gun. Democracy was for the British people, not the people of the Empire. Hong Kong saw little of democracy in the ninetynine years under empire rule. Even in Britain democracy is a wormy apple. Unless you have connections to the power base in South-east England, you have little control over your government. 'Self government' is a dirty word.
The governments of the USA and Britain are almost as undemocratic as the Soviet or Chinese governments. The People cry out, but are not heard. All these governments want to keep the status quo - to keep real power out of the hands of the People.
Yet the Power of the People is being felt in all parts of the world. The Soviet Empire crumbled and ripped apart in a few short months. Eastern Europe has fallen back into the hands of the people. These peoples have picked up the pieces and have become self-governing, but what kind of Democracy will develop - a Western style, or Communism with a new face?
Concern over the environment has shown how 'people power' can work. Ordinary men, women and children, when they become informed, can bring about the changes they seek. Yet why should they have to battle entrenched power - put there by themselves? Why should people have to put their very freedom at risk in protest, because it is 'illegal' - that cudgel of the autocrat? Where has our 'Democratic' system failed?
If one were to describe politics today in one word, 'confrontational' would come to mind before 'democratic'. Manipulation of an ill-informed, bewildered, voting public is the name of the game. Decisions affecting our lives in the most radical way are planned and taken in secret. The 'opposition' can only shout ineffectively. Majority rules! How can we get out of this political quagmire? Certainly not by giving the opposition a turn in the driving seat. Our political system is like Dr Doolittle's Push-me-pull-me. No matter which way it goes, it looks just the same - and we, the circus-goers, actually pay to see this freakish creature perform! The only way out is to give power back to the People! Unfortunately, with the present-day set up the People would not know what to do with it. A new way of self-government is needed, and it must be Democratic in the true sense of the word
