Fixing Democracy - 2009 May

Fixing Democracy

I am somewhat bemused by the misguided current attempts to fix democracy by adjusting the method of selecting individuals to form our governments. Something needs to be fixed all right, but the method of choosing representatives is not the problem.

What’s wrong with democracy in its present form, and given our highly interconnected world, is the disenfranchisement of every individual, outside of the elected few.

While suggesting the STV (Single Transferable Vote) as the fix for our system, proponents are missing the real issue, which is the disconnection of all our individual peoples from the decisions made by our governments.

Democracy was invented to foster government as a vessel for implementation of the public will. Democracy has devolved to a pinnacle system that serves to impose the will and the agenda of temporary kings on the masses.

What we need, is for government to re-engage the individuals of our world in the processes of decision-making. Our citizens are informed, intelligent, and have opinions on every issue. All they need is a return to a methodology of direct say in decision-making.

We have the technology. All we need is for someone, with enough democratic will, to begin the implementation of a system of direct public voting on issues. We can certainly continue to elect individuals to visibly debate the issues for public consideration. But democracy involves the people casting their votes, directly, to implement, or defeat, policy initiatives.

What a scary thought to our current political parties. Give up the power to dictate to the masses whatever agenda is harboured deep within the mind and heart of an individual leader.

Let me just point out a few things that would be different in such a direct voting democracy. Firstly, a provincial government would not illegally tear up labour agreements of long-term employees, lose the legal challenge, but then impose a gag rule in the new contract of those abused workers, who will never recover the legal pay stolen from them, and are not even permitted to complain about the injustice of it all.

The public, with a direct say, would not permit the closing of well-loved seniors facilities contrary to the public will.

The public voting directly would not permit scandalous pay scales for department managers, official handmaids, and friends of the elected. Better that pay be directed to those who actually work in our society.

I’m not even so sure we would be faced with an imposed sewage treatment system, which seems to simply transfer dumping concerns from the ocean onto the land. By all means, we should screen and clean everything chemical out of our discharge, but what’s so wrong about letting nature break down the effluent out there at the bottom of the sea. Scientists seem to think the whole expensive process is for political optics only, and the populace might refuse the entire initiative, given a say.

Most recently, I think it would be a pretty safe bet that we would not have reduced our park availabilities and resources, regardless of purported economic justification. Our citizens realize we need our affordable local parks more than ever when times are tough.

STV, purporting to fix our system, will actually further dis-engage the population, as local representation will be tossed out the window, and representation will become more anonymous and distant.

Majorities will still be created, or not, and the will of the elected will still be imposed on the populace, contrary to the core principles of democracy.

Many will argue that we need, for the sake of political expediency, an elected bunch to make decisions for us. I will disagree. If this system works so well, why are we so desperate to change it. We are always in turmoil over the latest government imposition. The populace does have the collective intelligence to run our world successfully. The Greeks proved it all those years ago when individuals were first permitted to place their votes in a jar.

Please fix democracy, but fix what’s really wrong with democracy. We all want a say in the deciding of things, that’s what we really want. Individual citizens are completely disconnected and meaningless in our perverted form of democracy. The disconnection, and voicelessness of our young people, I believe, is what currently manifests itself in all forms of acting-out.

I will vote every morning, if you will, in a democracy re-evolved to implement the actual, not imagined, will of the people.