Looking around the world in our days, the observer cannot but realize that democracy is under threat in many parts of the world. And there are reasons for this:
You will have noticed that since quite a time persons not only buy but also bully and lie their way into higher offices without having any intention others than serving their own interests. Bolsonaro, Trump, Johnson; the list is getting longer by the week. Currently, it seems fashionable to vote for those who serve the fantasy of a strongman getting it right, or a clown to entertain, or playing with the yearning of a person running the show with his own set of rules. The anxiety triggered by COVID-19 and now the war in Ukraine, the insecurities of the economic and social climate seems to override common sense.
There is another threat to democracy coming from China, even more so after Xi Jingping got his third term in office. So-called Social Harmony versus human rights, human dignity and civil liberty is indeed challenging the Western democratic systems. Surveillance Society, controlling each step of every citizen and openly punishing offenders via a social point system, is the antipode of the values of democracy.
Another reason why democracy is in danger is because a lot of democracies don’t deliver any more or never have, like in many African countries. Societies have forgotten to upgrade democracy and to make the systems fit for the 21st century. Winston Churchill once said: “(It) has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time; but there is the broad feeling in our country that the people should rule, and that public opinion expressed by all constitutional means, should shape, guide, and control the actions of Ministers who are their servants and not their masters.” Indeed, he certainly has a point, but people must feel that the system is holding them, that politics is supportive and beneficial to all concerned. And in a rapidly changing world, democratic structures must adapt to fulfil the mandate of serving the people. When it comes to empty promises, South Africa is certainly an example where hopes were dashed that the new democratic South Africa brings prosperity and economic freedom. Looking at the South African national Parliament, many MP’s playing according to the book but fail terribly to understand the meaning of democratic rules on that level.
So, democracy is under threat on many levels. And for those cherishing their freedoms, their civil liberties, their human rights and human dignity it is time to take a clear point of view. And not to let the bots and paid lout voices on social media, those anonymous keyboard warriors spreading lies and manipulating opinions; the algorithm of faceless social media running the show.
Democracy allows for everybody to be voted into office; still, when only money or manipulation determines the chance to be voted in, then there is something wrong in the system. It has to be fixed and developed.
Filed under: Politics and Society, Reflection, Society and living environment, South Africa, Bolsonaro, china, civil rights, democracy, harmony, human rights, Johnson, south africa, Trump, Winston Churchill, Xi Jingping
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