Democracy
If you google 'What is democracy' , the first result that shows up is a Stanford link - a lecture addressed to a University in Iraq, post war - 2004. It explains the key points - the rule of law, human rights, election of governments. It goes on to explain these points and state, among other things, that people should not resort to violence in disagreement, that they need to listen to the other side, that everyone has right to be heard, and finally, that if you neglect a certain group of people they get frustrated and rebel against the democracy.
Democracy is not dying in darkness, as some have come to believe, rather it is being abandoned in broad daylight. It is done by electing someone that represents nothing of the institutions of democracy, that often contradicts them. It is more of a rejection of an idea, rather than acceptance.
And the focus still hasn't shifted to the electorate - rather sticks to the elected, which would amaze anyone who is dead, or not yet born. The electorate is still scorned and ridiculed.
The elected may in theory represent the electorate, and even if you assume that it does in practice, the majority is far more reasonable and intelligent and capable of holding a conversation and having an argument, of negotiating - understanding that democracy is not that everyone wins every time, but over time, everyone wins something.
It is a pity to see how the new age resources are being squandered. With round the clock news broadcast, not one is ready to talk to people, not one special? Everyone assumes, or rather analyze, what people think and what are their reasons. One can go places, setup a stage, and ask them, you know that right?
I might as well provide you with my reason for looking up democracy. I was listening to a talk where Hitchens discusses Thomas Pain, and when asked a question about 'democracy being changed from pejorative to a badge of honour, and now going the other way', he comments:
Democracy is not dying in darkness, as some have come to believe, rather it is being abandoned in broad daylight. It is done by electing someone that represents nothing of the institutions of democracy, that often contradicts them. It is more of a rejection of an idea, rather than acceptance.
And the focus still hasn't shifted to the electorate - rather sticks to the elected, which would amaze anyone who is dead, or not yet born. The electorate is still scorned and ridiculed.
The elected may in theory represent the electorate, and even if you assume that it does in practice, the majority is far more reasonable and intelligent and capable of holding a conversation and having an argument, of negotiating - understanding that democracy is not that everyone wins every time, but over time, everyone wins something.
It is a pity to see how the new age resources are being squandered. With round the clock news broadcast, not one is ready to talk to people, not one special? Everyone assumes, or rather analyze, what people think and what are their reasons. One can go places, setup a stage, and ask them, you know that right?
I might as well provide you with my reason for looking up democracy. I was listening to a talk where Hitchens discusses Thomas Pain, and when asked a question about 'democracy being changed from pejorative to a badge of honour, and now going the other way', he comments:
"What we've done with democracy is to assume it's a measurement of public opinion. When I was young there was quite an argument as to whether newspapers should even publish opinion polls, because they were thought to be unscientific and probably too easy to skew. Now newspapers commission expensive opinion polls usually in concert with a television or broadcasting organisation. Commission their own polls and then print their own findings as news on the front page when they've got nothing else to do. This is a parody of democracy. It's not even populism really. It's pseudo-science for one thing and it's anti-democratic for another.Someone has condensed his related comments here
No I fear people have got so attached to it, they've forgotten what it means, that word now. So it's quite possible we're now due for a new word and I'll brood on that. And popular sovereignty, no."
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